Although this old Tomlinson's pub was officially called the Sportsman, it was universally known as the Boilers Rest. This was because of an incident that occurred in the late Victorian period when a wagon carrying a large boiler ran away down the hill and crashed through the front of the pub. This incident was much recorded in pictures that hung around the walls in the pub.
It is one of the few pubs that have disappeared from the Heeley area, and retained a beer only licence almost till the end.