We’re talking, of course, about Sheffield’s popular Crystal Peaks shopping centre, in Waterthorpe.
The little sister to Meadowhall opened two years earlier, in 1988, cost £30 million to build and boasted Sheffield’s first multiplex cinema, plus a miniature alpine world with waterfalls.
The first shoppers came pouring in on March 1, 1988, but the mall opened in stages, and the most spectacular of those openings involved Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards.
Fresh from his exploits at that year’s Winter Olympics in Calgary, he flew through the air at Crystal Peaks before landing in fake snow to open the centre’s Glacier Express on June 14, 1988.
As the 2026 Winter Olympics near their climax, we’re taking a leap back in time with this retro photo gallery, showing Crystal Peaks as you might remember it in the 80s, 90s and noughties.
It shows lost shops, including Toymaster, old restaurants like The Fast Lane and Deep Pan Pizza Co, and, of course, the 10-screen AMC Cinema, which was a first for Sheffield.
Christmas lights switch-ons, famous visitors, and brave shoppers baring (nearly) all for freebies also feature in this trip down memory lane.
Do these photos bring back any memories for you, and which lost shop or restaurant from down the years do you miss most?
1. The Fast Lane
The Fast Lane, at Crystal Peaks shopping centre, in 1988 | Picture Sheffield Photo: Picture Sheffield
2. Currys
Crystal Peaks shopping centre in December 1988, with the electrical retailer Currys to the left | Picture Sheffield Photo: Picture Sheffield
3. 90s shops
Crystal Peaks shopping centre pictured in 1997 | Sheffield Newspapers Photo: Mike Waistell
4. GT News
Eagleman cuts the tape at GT News in Crystal Peaks with store manager Jonathan Langston, Jill Harrison and Eagles manager Mike Turner in 1999 | Sheffield Newspapers Photo: Sheffield Newspapers