Nether Edge, Sheffield: Is this Yorkshire suburb really one of the best places to live in the UK?

Welcome to Nether Edge - a place with annual neighbourhood yard sales and a prime location, cushioned between the urban delights of Sheffield city centre and the stunning countryside of the Peak District.

When comedian Mark Steel visited this Sheffield suburb, he certainly wasn’t short of material to talk about on his BBC Radio 4 series In Town.

He described the area as having, ‘a houmous belt and a lentil belt’, although many Sheffielders feel that

Nether Edge, known for its independent shops and bohemian cafes, is not ‘real Sheffield’.

With the area’s own campaign to become a village, our reporter Sophie Mei Lan went to find out what sets

Nether Edge apart.

Much to my initial misery, my family decided to relocate in between the houmous and lentil belt sandwiching themselves in the heart of Nether Edge.

While I could see the attraction for my family I selfishly wanted my children to stay where I had been born and bred, at the other side of the city. I may have moved away for university and work but I am fond of my birthplace.

The life expectancy may be lower where I was born but it is the community, the area and the surroundings that I know and love.

It feels very New York in Nether Edge.

With hot yoga, yard sales and open studios where people show off their artwork inside their homes,

Nether Edge has a bourgeois yet bohemian vibe.

The Abbeydale Road side of the area is brimming with quirky independent shops, bars and cafes, similar to that of Williamsburg, a creative suburb of NYC. It is also home to Sheffield Antiques Quarter as well as regular flea markets at Abbeydale Picture House.

Then the heart of “Nether Edge village” is the crossroads where you can find Cafe #9, Oxfam, Zeds Wholefoods and Kollective Coffee Shop. It is here where you’ll also find the quarterly Nether Edge Farmers Market selling a range of local goods.

The crossroads and the surrounding Victorian properties could easily be mistaken for a historic neighbourhood in Brooklyn.

The original beating heart of Nether Edge wasn’t the crossroads.

Nether Edge was never a village. It had been farmland before a mansion and gardens called Kenwood Park was built by a steel mogul, before it later became a luxury hotel where visiting celebrities to the city would reside.

Then you’ve got the more Manhattan part on the periphery where you’ll find trendy bars and restaurants on Ecclesall Road.

As they say it’s all “location, location, location.”

The Sunday Times said: “It’s in the catchment area for some of the city’s best schools and the wilderness of the Peak District is a short drive away."

For my mum however, it was the lure of the spacious Victorian homes, the vast gardens, the community and the places to meet people which drew them in.

She said: “I love living in Nether Edge because of the Edge- Brincliffe Edge made of Greenmoor rock and especially as it’s covered in Brincliffe Woods which house a woodpecker, badgers, foxes, a very territorial crow name Russel known to attack anyone approaching its nest and owls that hoot through the night. “Then there’s the lovely Chelsea park where dogs can run free as the playground has its own fence.

“The bowling green is a lovely space with a vista over the Main Street with gardens and events happening.”

I was sceptical that it may be all organic faux fur coats and no knickers. I was wrong.

The biggest difference I noticed was their social calendar filling up with a diverse array of engagements: art groups, sporting socials, dinner parties, meals out and community events.

Nether Edge seems like a creative campus for mature graduates.

To my relief, it is also fairly diverse and down to earth.

There are informal community groups galore, neighbourhood WhatsApp groups sharing surplus food and people even putting on their own seasonal trails by decorating their windows.

It wasn’t snobbery about “keeping up with the neighbours” with perfectly mowed lawns and trimmed bushes, it was more a fun and friendly competition between friends to who had the most creatively themed windows.

Nowadays when seeing family, I’m spoilt for choice when it comes to activities and places to go.

With Sheffield being so close to the Peak District, it’s known for being the UK’s city of climbing. Netheredge boasts The Climbing Works as well as being close to the countryside where you can boulder in nature.

There’s also parks and green spaces as well as purpose built play centres such as Yard Ball which is a ‘crazy golf style’ football experience as Sheffield is the “home of football.”

When it comes to eating out I don’t think I’ve ever known a place with so many options in its close proximity which are walkable such as The Greek Village, Forge Bakehouse and a taste of the middle east with PUCK'A'FOOD.

Nether Edge is the perfect hub for life long city dwellers and older professionals who want a taste of village life. Not to mention down-to-earth cultural venues with Merlin Theatre and Sheffield’s oldest surviving theatre the Lantern Theatre being based here.

I had largely misjudged the area. Yes, there’s a wealth about it but from hard working people who’ve done good and continue to do good through its enviable community gatherings and noble efforts to save the city’s trees.

With Sheffield being nicknamed the “steel city,” we like to see it through “The Full Monty” tinted glasses.

Comedian Mark Steel said that many people he spoke to thought Netheredge was not ‘real Sheffield’.

“You hear people in other parts of Sheffield go ‘Netheredge isn’t real Sheffield, real Sheffield is farting outside the Penny Black at 1am in the morning’.”

And perhaps I too was reluctant to accept a more refined part of the city.

I’m loath to say it but I’ve fallen in love with Nether Edge . From the tree lined streets to the independent theatres, the range of coffee shops, places to eat and the abundance of acquaintances you can meet.

Perhaps I’m a bigger fan of houmous than I first thought.