Sheffield retro: Looking back at history of city's famous sex venues, including Spearmint Rhino and La Chambre

Today, Spearmint Rhino, which was just a short stroll from Sheffield station, has closed, while La Chambre swingers club in Attercliffe, which boasted 25,000 members, shut for good after the pandemic. City Sauna, meanwhile, which starred in ITV documentary A Very Yorkshire Brothel, has moved away from its old home at a historic pub in Attercliffe.

We’re taking a look back at the rise and fall of those well-known sex establishments, along with the tale of how Sheffield was reportedly close to getting a Hooters restaurant, known for their scantily clad waitresses.

Spearmint Rhino closed after inquiry found more than 200 breaches

The strip club Spearmint Rhino was based on Brown Street in Sheffield city centre for 18 years before surrendering its sexual entertainment venue licence in 2020, following years of controversy over its existence. Today, the venue is home to Extra Time Sports Bar.

In 2019, an inquiry by Sheffield City Council found regulations had been breached at the club more than 200 times, with evidence of ‘'sexual touching of customers by dancers', 'sexual touching between dancers', and sex acts performed by dancers upon themselves and with each other. The findings were based on undercover footage obtained by the campaign group Not Buying It, but the council report said ‘no evidence’ had been found that Spearmint Rhino’s management was aware of the breaches.

Earlier that year, dancers and supporters of the strip club had staged a protest defending its right to remain open, with employees claiming the licensing restrictions were made stricter each year in an effort to ‘squeeze them out’. One stripper, a mum-of-two, said the undercover filming had left dancers feeling ‘violated’ and facing online abuse.

Demise of La Chambre swingers club blamed on Covid

La Chambre was a hugely successful swingers club which ran for many years at the former Robin Hood pub on Attercliffe Road and had 25,000 members during its heyday. It closed for good in 2020, with Barry Calvert, who ran the venue with his wife Marie Calvert, later saying: “The church tried to shut us down, the powers that be tried to shut us down, but Covid did shut us down.”

Mr Calvert said two years after it closed that he and his wife were still getting hundreds of enquiries asking when it would reopen, but he told how he had been unable to find a suitable venue at which to revive the club. He explained that the building had been sold to the Canal and Rivers Trust and it is understood there are plans to use the site for housing.

City Sauna moved after starring in A Very Yorkshire Brothel TV show

City Sauna starred in the ITV documentary A Very Yorkshire Brothel and Channel 4’s A Very British Brothel. Viewers learned how some punters at the massage parlour, run by mother-and-daughter team Kath and Jenni Clark at the former Norfolk Arms pub in Attercliffe, paid to roll around in custard while others dressed in nappies for sexual thrills.

Kath announced at the end of the final show that it was moving to a new venue nearby, describing it as ‘the end of an era’.

Hooters nearly came to Sheffield

Hooters restaurants are famous in the US for their scantily clad waitresses and there were plans to open a branch in Sheffield city centre in 2008. Those plans never came to fruition after a campaign which included the creation of a NO to Hooters in Sheffield Facebook group. Nottingham is today home to the UK’s only Hooters restaurant, though last year the chain announced plans to open a new branch at Salford Quays.