Midnight Voices 10th Anniversary Concert, 9th September 2006
— directions to the Lantern Theatre (Sheffield)

The Lantern is a bizarre but beautiful Victorian relic, a miniature proscenium theatre: a bijou music-hall-style venue built in the 1890s by a Sheffield industrialist for his children's entertainment, allowed to fall into disrepair and then taken over and lovingly restored during the mid-20th Century by the Dilys Guite Players, an amateur theatre group. The then owner was so impressed he donated the building to the Players, who still use the theatre, but it also provides a performance space for various kinds of entertainment, including 'unpopular' music. Which is where we come in!

Sitting between Sharrow and Nether Edge, the district we're describing is one of Sheffield's longest-established residential areas, lying just over a mile south-west of the city centre. Sandwiched between the Asian enclave encompassing London Road, Abbeydale Road and Heeley to the south, and the lively student district of Sharrow Vale and lower Ecclesall Road to the north-west, it has retained, especially in the Kenwood Road area, an old-world air of leafy quiet and faded prosperity. It's also notoriously difficult to find your way around.

But first the approaches: the OS 50,000-series map is a good start for orientation. The image shown here loses some detail, but clicking on the map brings up a high resolution version for viewing or downloading.

[If you must use Internet Explorer, but in any case if your browser does that annoying Microsofty thing of scaling down the large picture to fit the window rather than letting you scroll around it (you'll know because the resolution will get worse!), go back and do <right-click>, <save target as>, and then view off-line in your favourite image editor program. Alternatively, turn off 'Automatic image resizing' in IE's advanced options.]

Most visitors unfamiliar with Sheffield will be approaching from the south, so I hope the others will understand and forgive my concentration on this side. There are a number of routes into Sheffield from the northbound M1, and none of them is very good. But the alternatives are worse, so I'll continue.

Residents of south-west Sheffield (myself included) exit M1 at Jct 29 (Heath) west onto the Chesterfield Parkway (A617). At the terminal roundabout they switch to the northbound A61 which bypasses Chesterfield and Dronfield, and pitches them onto Sheffield's southern ring road at the Norton/Meadowhead roundabout. From here they can wiggle down the slopes ahead and to their left into Abbeydale and Totley, or cross the Sheaf and up the other side to Whirlow and Dore and out into the Peak District. Or they can proceed on the A61 down through ever-congested Woodseats and Heeley to reach the city centre.

Jct 30 (Barlborough) accesses the A6135 (formerly A616) which takes a direct if slow route through run-down parts of the city to the centre.

Jct 31 (Aston) puts the traveller onto the A57, parts of which have been upgraded to bypass the villages inbetween, before it joins the Sheffield Parkway halfway between M1 Jct 33 and the city centre. Use this route if you like roundabouts.

Jct 33 (Catcliffe) is a little further on, the motorway having made a 90-degree looped turn through Jct 32, the M18 intersection. But (road works on this stretch permitting) it's worth the extra mile or five, as it deposits you straight onto the Sheffield Parkway (A630 at this point), and before you know it you'll fetch up at the Park Square roundabout on the edge of the city centre. Jct 33 is also recommended for southbound arrivals.

Off to the right at Park Square are the hotels Bristol, Hilton and Holiday Inn; for the city centre hotels Macdonald St Pauls and Novotel, carry straight on. For the venue take the 11 o'clock third exit (A61 south). This brings you past the railway station, Showroom cinema and Leadmill rock venue, after which you should hold centre or right lane and take the right fork at the Granville triangle (formerly a roundabout). If you didn't miss it, you're then heading west along the city's inner ring road towards the intersections at Bramall Lane (football stadium), London Road (the original A61, now A621 leading to Abbeydale Road), and Ecclesall Road (A625). Here's where you'll probably get lost, but this might help:

[Read this bit if you'd like explicit directions to the venue from here: proceed straight on. In 400yds you reach the St Mary's roundabout, church and Bramall Lane (Sheff Utd.) on your left. Go straight on, keeping in the left lane. In just 200yds take the left turn for "London Road Shopping Area". Immediately take right lane and first right turn at the next lights, into Cemetery Road. Climb the hill (200yd again) to the lights. For the venue go left (Washington Road), for the hotel carry straight on up Cemetery Road. Venue branch: Next lights are at intersection with Sharrow Vale Road. Go straight on (Wostenholm Road). Second right is at an offset mini-roundabout: straight on is effectively 2nd exit, Montgomery Road. You need third exit (1 o'clock right), Kenwood Park Road. 50 yds up there you find Priory Road on your right, and the Lantern Theatre is on your right just past the junction. Hotel branch: a half mile up to the top of Cemetery Road and you reach a 5-way roundabout: take the second exit, Kenwood Road, (sign: "Marriott Hotel"), which brings you to a 6-way mini-roundabout. The Marriott's barbican lies ahead of you. Take the 4th (1 o'clock) exit, Kenwood Road, and you'll find the hotel's main entrance on your left. From this roundabout you can also reach the venue: take instead the second exit (Kenwood Park Road) and the Lantern Theatre is 300yds down on your left.]

Don't be alarmed — it looks chaotic, but please click on the map to view or download the full-size image, which renders the street names legible. You might wish to print a copy to aid navigation. Park Square roundabout can be seen at top centre, with the railway station below it. I've highlighted the theatre and the nearby Marriott Hotel where several MVs are staying. The theatre is at the junction of Kenwood Park Road and Priory Road, and the hotel is on Kenwood Road. Also marked are a number of hostelries within a half-mile or so which I'm led to believe serve a good pint of the proper sorts of brew (ale at least — I'll bet their tea's not so hot). Here's a close-up:

Some of the pubs shown here offer food service too, the closest to the venue being the Nether Edge Hotel and Tavern on Montgomery Road (300yds). But if you prefer restaurant dining, consider Ecclesall Road for a meal before the show — in the 'golden mile' between the Hunter's Bar roundabout and the inner ring road you'll find excellent eateries to suit all tastes. If you're walking down there, note the secluded footpath (shown by the red broken line) between the Sharrow Head roundabout and Ecclesall Road, crossing the lower Porter Valley. Just a word of warning: don't risk the path if alone or vulnerable, or after dark — there have been a couple of muggings reported. Go down Sharrow Vale Road instead. Note also that the distances involved may require an early start to your meal, which might rule out some contenders: for instance the point where Ecclesall Road and London Road meet the ring road (Waitrose and Baan Thai) is about a mile's walk from the theatre, and it's uphill all the way back — a taxi might be a good idea!

Ecclesall Road district: food and drink outlets, in order from Sharrow Vale Road via Hunters Bar roundabout (just off the left of the zoomed map), turning right then east down Ecclesall Road, and right again into the bottom of London Road
Two Steps		SV	takeaway fish & chips		**
Mediterranean	Info	SV	fish, tapas		****
At this point you may choose to cut out the western excursion to Hunter's Bar, instead turning right into Hickmott Road, which in 100yds brings you to Ecclesall Road between 543 and Nonna's (see below). But continuing on Sharrow Vale Road...
Elina's		SV	Indian	E	***
Porter Cottage		SV	pub		*
Hing Lung		SV	takeaway Chinese	E	*
Lascar Hotel		SV	pub food		**
San Lorenzo	Info	SV	Italian	E	**
Bilash		SV	takeaway Indian	E	**
La Terrazza		SV	Italian	E	*
Café Ceres		SV	vegetarian	D	***
Blue Fin	Info	HB	seafood & grill		****
Now sharp right into Ecclesall Road proper...
Woody's		ES	takeaway sandwiches	D	*
Taste	Info	ES	breakfast, lunch	D	***
Yummy Hut		ES	takeaway kebab, pizza		*
Noodle King	Info	ES	Thai/Chinese		***
Caffè Uno	Info	ES	Italian style		***
Yorkies	Info	ES	Yorkshire Pudding	D	***
La Patisserie		ES	cakes	D	**
Porter Brook	Info	ES	food pub		***
543	Info	ES	contemporary		*****
Nonna's	Info	ES	Italian		*****
Elif		ES	takeaway kebab, pizza		*
Felicini	Info	ES	Italian		(opening soon)
La Viña	Info	ES	Spanish style: tapas		*****
Marco's		ES	sandwiches	D	*
Coffee Revolution	Info	ES	coffee		**
Maranello's	Info	EN	Italian	E	***
Spoilt For Choice		EN	sandwiches	D	***
Pizza Hut	Info	ES	pizza		**
Yankees		EN	US & Mexican		*
Ayesha's		ES	Indian	E	****
Starbucks	Info	ES	coffee		***
Café Rouge	Info	ES	French style		****
Santino's	Info	ES	Italian		**
Vittoria's		ES	Italian		***
Harlequin		ES	takeaway pizza kebab burger		*
Uncle Sam's		EN	US & Mexican		**
The Bread Stop		EN	takeaway sandwiches	D	*
Champs	Info	ES	sports bar & restaurant		***
Subway	Info	ES	sandwiches		**
Ashoka		ES	Indian	E	****
282 Sandwich Bar		EN	takeaway sandwiches	D	*
Menzel's	Info	ES	wine bar (no longer serves food)		**
Nursery Tavern		EN	pub food		*
KFC	Info	ES	takeaway KFC		*
Bagel Time		ES	takeaway bagels	D	**
Caffè Nero	Info	ES	coffee	D	**
Varsity		ES	pub food		**
The Pomona	Info	ES	food pub		**
Devonshire Arms		EN	pub food		*
Waitrose	Info	ES	supermarket cafeteria	D	*
...and round the corner into London Road -- cut through the Waitrose car park, keeping the store on your right
Baan Thai	Info	ES/LW	Thai	E	*****
R&R Bar		LE	bar food		*
Chino's takeaway		LE	takeaway		*
Tim Po		LW	Chinese		**
Candytown		LE	Chinese		**
There are more good restaurants further up (south on) London Road, including Kashmiri, Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese specialities. Note especially Wasabi Sabi (Japanese *****) and Rossi's (Italian ****). These are both close to the junction with Sharrow Lane and so within easy walking distance of the theatre
		SV = Sharrow Vale Road HB = Hunters Bar roundabout ES = Ecclesall Road, south side EN = Ecclesall Road, north side LW = London Road, west side LE = London Road, east side		D = open daytime only E = open evening only   Restaurants rated **** or ***** : booking advised

Sheffield City Centre has a thriving bar and club scene, but it's a bit of a hike from the theatre — better to hail a black cab, of which there are plenty to be had cruising the Ecclesall Road area. Should you ever need to telephone for a mini-cab, the principal operator can be reached on 0114 266 2662. If contemplating the drive into the centre, be aware that the free-flow system of the '60s has long been demolished, since when short-sighted errors of design have accumulated into an irreversible mess. Today's Sheffield highway planners have some dangerously curious conceptions: here you will find bus and cycle lanes coming and going, intersections, bollards, kerbs and crossings deliberately made hazardous to improve road safety, and prohibited-turn systems which require one to pass each point twice (in different directions) in order to reduce congestion. There are some streets you can see, but just can't get to without a two-mile detour.

To complete the presentation, here's a photo (taken in winter, so not so many leaves!) of the theatre's neighbourhood. As always, there's a high-resolution version yours for the clicking:

[If despite all attempts (see my note above) you can't view or download the high-resolution images in a form suitable for printing, grab instead this PDF file (3.72MB).]

See you at ThOD!

Steve Birkill, MV administrator

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