Sheffield retro: 40 memorable photos to take you back to 1985, from lost landmarks to bomb drama

They were all taken in 1985, the year in which Back to the Future catapulted a young Michael J Fox to global stardom.

In Sheffield that year, a piece of cinematic history was lost as the old Gaumont picture house at Barker’s Pool, in the city centre, was reduced to rubble.

That was also the year a huge unexploded bomb was discovered on a residential street, leading to a mass evacuation of surrounding homes and the cancellation of Sheffield United’s match against Oldham.

This retro photo gallery captures those dramatic moments and other memorable occasions from 1985.

Life at popular working men’s clubs of the era, lost nightclubs including the Locarno and Romeo’s and Juliet’s, and a famous pub paying tribute to a legendary landlord also feature in this trip down memory lane.

Shops and cafes on Ecclesall Road and Abbeydale Road, entertainment on The Moor, and an epic snooker match at the city’s Crucible theatre are pictured too.

These nostalgic black and white images also chronicle the final shift before the closure of a South Yorkshire coal mine, the aftermath of a devastating fire at a Sheffield school, and traders at Sheffield’s old Sheaf Market, plus much more.

What are your abiding memories of 1985 and the 80s as a whole?