The fetishes uncovered in documentary about Sheffield 'brothel' including custard baths for nappy wearer

Two documentary series filmed at City Sauna lifted the lid on just some of what went on at the Attercliffe Road massage parlour, housed within a landmark building for those living in the area, or coming into Sheffield on the train.

It was the location for both the Channel 4 show A Very British Brothel, which aired in 2015, and ITV’s 2019 show A Very Yorkshire Brothel.

Scores of viewers watched for a behind-the-scenes glimpse into a small part of the city’s sex industry, in which clients were showed engaging in food play – known as ‘sploshing’ – as well as S&M and balloon popping.

Nothing appeared to be off limits in the documentary. In one memorable clip, it was revealed that one customer liked to bring tins of custard to have poured over him in a bath with another wearing nappies.

One of the women working at the massage parlour said some clients even wore full-length babygrows and wanted to have nappies changed.

She said: “I ran out of the room the first time I did it. I absolutely howled.”

In another part of the series, two women were shown on camera giggling on a bed blowing up balloons for a client with fetish for bursting balloons, one revealing the first time a customer asked for the service, she found it impossible to keep a straight face.

Despite this, she built up a catalogue of clients with the same fetish. “Some like you to pop them between your legs and some with your hands,” she said.

It revealed another man wanted to be wrapped in cotton wool, but the most popular request, said one worker was nuru – a body to body massage using massage lotion all over.

One woman said: “I usually manage to slip off the end of the bed in a heap which is never very attractive.”

A 73-year-old customer said he made a 46-mile round trip by bus from Doncaster to see his favourite girl, while one worker revealed she saw up to 15 clients a day.

City Sauna moved elsewhere in Atterclife after the documentary aired, and the delapidated building that has been left behind has frequently been visited by urban explorers.

The adventurer behind ‘Lost Places & Forgotten Faces’ visited the site in September 2021.

The pictures he took show lists on the walls, as well as old mattresses, showers, tubs, and contraceptives still in the building after the business left the site.

Newer images taken by Darkside Spirit Seekers in January this year, showed the building has been badly damaged by fire since the business’s owners vacated.

Charred beams are visible in the pictures, which also show old mattresses stacked up inside the premises, ‘vacant’ and ‘in use’ signs, abandoned clothing and a discarded condom wrapper.

Dating back almost 200 years, the building that housed City Sauna began life as the Norfolk Arms pub. It first opened in 1830 and when the Industrial Revolution hit Sheffield, workers from nearby factories, foundries and steel works crowded into the bar to quench their thirsts.

The Norfolk Arms closed in the mid 1980s and operated as a massage parlour under a number of names before finally becoming City Sauna.

Speaking in January, Detective Superintendent Nikki Leach, said South Yorkshire Police would rather see sex workers employed in saunas over attempting to pick up trade on the streets or in ‘pop-up brothels,’ explaining that if a sex worker is employed in establishments the force can ‘engage with,’ it means they can ‘risk assess’ and ensure ‘safe practices are going on’.

When asked about how the force’s seeming lack of engagement with those responsible for running City Sauna may have been perceived when the documentary was broadcast, Det Supt Leach, continued: “To engage in in sex work within a premises is not actually a crime.”

“I think Rudyard Kipling referred to it as the oldest profession didn't he? There will always be sex work, it will always take place...I don't think we’re going to be in a position where we can manage it away,” she said, adding: “That risk management approach is the most sensible one to protect vulnerable women.”