Fascinating tales of Victorian Walkley

The talks are entitled Hand-Pulled History '“ Victorian Tales of Victorian Walkley Pubs.

Have you wondered where the city's pubs came from '“ and what went on in them? You can discover the history of Walkley's Victorian pubs in a series of storytelling and musical events in some of the suburb's pubs in November.

Based on the research of Walkley Historians, the events tell the story of the growth of pubs in Walkley as the suburb expanded through the 19th century from the 1840s to 1900. Before the 1840s Walkley was an area of farms, fields and trackways. The few pubs that existed then served travellers, farmers and labourers. Until the 1850s Walkley was a sparsely populated rural area outlying Sheffield..

Walkley historian, Bill Bevan, said: 'Pubs have been central to social life for centuries and never more so than in the Victorian period where there was a pub on almost every street corner. The historians have turned up some fascinating stories about what went on in Walkley's pubs and some of the stories are truly surprising.'

From the 1850s to 1870s rural Walkley grew into a busy suburb housing workers from steelworkers to highly skilled designers, artisan metal cutters, grinders and smiths '“ as well as the shops and people who served them. Pubs opened up across the suburb, with 24 known public houses serving locals by 1900. As well as being drinking dens, pubs were social hubs and the scenes of some notorious goings on. To find out more about Walkley's historic pubs join internationally acclaimed storyteller, Tim Ralphs, and folk musician Roo Bramley for two nights of tales and music hosted by The Beer Monkey, November 14  and Walkley Cottage, 1 9th. Each event is free and starts at 7:30pm. The event is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.