Great vibe but really hard to navigate in a wheelchair
2
2
Date of visit: September 2025
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.
I use or have experience of: disabled toilet, wheelchair
Overall Rating
Poor
Leah’s Yard is a Grade II listed location and it is home to independent shops and food vendors. It also offers work spaces where people can work within the courtyard too. The atmosphere of the courtyard was really lovely and I’m really pleased I went but I wouldn’t go back as it was too tricky to navigate as a wheelchair user. Due to its Grade II listed status, flooring was a major obstacle to me being able to easily navigate the space. The floor was made up of large stone slabs but because of their age they are similar to cobblestones with large gaps and dips between them. However, because they are much bigger than cobblestones it made it much harder and more uncomfortable to navigate. I am a wheelchair user and I had to go really slowly to not injure myself or damage my wheelchair. Anyone with a mobility aid would likely struggle as walking sticks could slip on the edges of the stones or get caught and anything with wheels would struggle. Even walking, I imagine the stones could be tricky to walk on because of how uneven they were. I did think this was a really lovely space with some great shops but I would probably only recommend it to people who are very confident on their feet.
Disabled Access In and Around
Poor
There are two main entrances to Leah’s Yard. The entrance on Cambridge Street is marked with a simple clapper board and you walk through an archway into the courtyard. This requires you to walk up a pathway with the very uneven stone flooring before reaching the largest part of the courtyard. The other entrance is down a side road between Cambridge Street and Backfields. This has a smoothly paved ramp and a covered walkway which brings you straight into the main part of the courtyard. The trickiest part of navigating Leah’s Yard is the flooring. The stone is so uneven that I had to be very slow and careful so I didn’t injure myself or damage my wheelchair. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone using a mobility aid or who might be unsteady on their feet. I also think this would be unsettling for someone with a visual impairment as the flooring is so uneven that it would be very hard to know where to put your feet without stumbling. Some of the shops have step-free access into them from the courtyard but some have a step up into the doorway.
Accessible facilities: Step-free entrance
Parking & Transport
Average
I travelled to this place by walk or wheel
The closest tram stop is City Hall which is around 300 metres from Leah’s Yard. From this stop, you can access trams on the blue and yellow services. The yellow services travel between Middlewood and Meadowhall. The blue services travel between Malin Bridge and Halfway. There are a number of bus stops on Rockingham Street which is roughly 250 metres from Leah’s Yard. From these stops the following bus services are available: 6, 30, 30a, 51, 52, 52a, 95, 95s, 120, 120k, 181, 257a, 257b, SC1, and X30. There are some public, paid car parks nearby but there is no designated parking. The Rockingham Street car park is a small, open air car park that is run by the council. It’s around 220 metres from Leah’s Yard but details about the number of spaces, height restrictions, and whether it has accessible parking spaces is not clear. Another option is the NCP Sheffield Wellington Street which is 250 metres away. This is a paid, multi-storey car park which has a height restriction of 2.11 metres. It has a total of 449 spaces, including four accessible parking spaces. There are lifts in this car park but there are signs saying that it is unsuitable for those in wheelchairs. So the accessible parking spaces are on the lowest floor and the step-free route for pedestrians is via a steep ramp.
