Sheffield was founded in the second half of 1 AD, some 2,000 years ago, though it’s thought humans may have lived there for at least 10,000 years – that’s some going. Back then they didn’t have inline skates so this blog article wasn’t needed, but we do now so here it is to explain where to skate in Sheffield.
(interesting fact: Sheffield was the centre of “blade” production since the 14th century – blade as in, cutting implement, not wheeled boots)
Rollerblading in Sheffield, where and how? There are plenty of great options to skate in the city, from city parks like Hillsborough park, indoor skating rinks like Skate Central and Simply Skate, roller disco options like Roller Energy, and skateparks like the indoor skateparks The House or Onboard, or outdoor skate parks like Millhouse, Devonshire Green, Cookson and Stockbridge.
That was basically a pretty good overview of most of the skate spots and it will depend on whether you’re after ramps or something more recreational. Have a look below for the full list of locations, places with some helpful information.
First, let’s look at the Sheffield inline Skate centres (good for all the family)
Skate central
This is Sheffield’s main big indoor skating centre open for big group skates a couple of times a week, see below.
What?
open all year round for public skating and private hire.
Opened in 2005, used to be the ice rink, and now hosts weekly sessions, as well as being available for private hire, roller hockey etc. also sometimes used for music and amateur boxing.
If you do not own a pair of skates, hire a pair for £2 and choose to hire either inline skates or quad skates.
When?
Thursday has a love to skate night between 5 – 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday have weekend rave afternoons between 2 – 4pm. They also offer a 12 – 4pm every day during the school holidays. A lot of private hire otherwise, but check it out here.
Where?
1 Queens Rd, Sheffield, S2 4DF
Cost?
£4 per person, but have group discounts
Simply skate – Sadly Now Closed
For posterity’s sake I’m leaving this here… but it is sadly now closed…
Rollerdiscos in Sheffield – Roller Energy
Ok, again perhaps cheating as most of these aren’t in Sheffield, they are in the surrounding towns and further afield. But you could drive to a couple…
These all have a dedicated beginners area where you can learn from experienced instructions, and they rent skates in both quads and inlines from junior size 8 up to adult 12, so my feet would just about fit. They also have pads in adults and kids sizes.
A combination of high energy, thumping beats and colourful lighting shows…
Around this area of the country there are a bunch of roller discos that are either weekly or fortnightly but subject to change at various points along the seasons.
One near to Sheffield is:
WISEWOOD SPORTS CENTRE SHEFFIELD S6 4BS
Sundays Fortnightly | Family Session (all ages) TIME TBC
But, it had been cancelled at one stage, so you need to keep an eye and see if it is still on.
There are a couple of others in Chesterfield and some of the surrounding areas.
…
(interesting fact: Sheffield has shifted its focus after its days of being an industrial powerhouse in the 70s and before have faded somewhat, and now focuses taking the hollowed-out husks of its factories and fitting them with galleries, theatres and the like to be part of the UK arts and culture scene).
Fitness skating outdoors in Sheffield?
If you’re a recreational or fitness skater looking for somewhere the city has a bunch of parks you can try out, a couple of good ones are:
Skate parks in Sheffield
Below are all the skateparks in Sheffield… some of them are proper indoors, some small, medium, outdoors in parks you can access for free.
In case you haven’t come across it there’s a great resource called The Skateparks Project which tries to create the UK’s largest directory of skateparks, so if you’re looking for a skatepark in your area check it out. I think you might be able to submit to them if they’ve got any missing too…
The House Skate Park
An actual full-on indoor skatepark in a giant warehouse with ramps and everything, awesome!
Like most skate parks, this is likely more full with skateboarders and scooters than inline skates, but all the more reason to go and represent.
This is for people who can skate well enough to go on ramps basically… if that wasn’t obvious.
Where is it?
Cookson skate park
Free, outdoors concrete skateparks, one of the better of that type in Sheffield.
Devonshire green skatepark
Another free outdoors concrete park, perhaps not as great as cookson, but has some nice lines.
Millhouse skate park
Onboard Skatepark
Wood obstacles on concrete base in a warehouse, not super huge but good.
Costs some money and has a set of opening times.
Visit their website for more information
Stocksbridge Skatepark
A decent outdoor skate park, if a little basic, fitted with metal ramps.
Skating shops in Sheffield
I’m sorry to say like a lot of places across the UK the selection of inline skating shops is actually not that amazing. As in, there aren’t any. Not really. You can buy skates in decathalon but it’s not like they’re specialising and they have a very limited selection ,they just do their own range of brands. Which I cant speak to but I doubt they’ll be quite as good as the great skating brands out there that specialise in inline skates (although, that said, some of their racing bikes are bloody awesome for the price).