Can you catch 'em all in Rotherham?

Today, the scenic spot provides supplies to intrepid Pokemon hunters.

Some of Rotherham town centre’s familiar landmarks and hidden gems have been given a new role - in the virtual world.

Mobile phone release Pokemon Go uses GPS maps to create a game world with the titular critters appearing as if in real life on the camera screen.

The idea - just as in Nintendo’s mid-90s original for the Game Boy - is to “catch ‘em all”.

The 18th century walled garden is one of the many spots which players can travel to - in the real world - in order to gain bonuses within the game.

These Pokestops make use of some obvious landmarks in Rotherham. Staying in Clifton Park, players can boost their scores by wandering to the museum, the bandstand, the Sam Walker sundial and the coronation beech tree, planted in 1838 to celebrate Queen Victoria taking the throne the previous year.

Rotherham Minster and the Bluecoat pub both feature in the game as gyms, where players can join up and battle their monsters with other Pokemon collectors.

Many of the landmarks used in the game by developers Niantic are churches and pubs, meaning a fair chunk of local history is built into playing it - wherever you might travel.

The stone signs above the doors of the old vestry offices halfway up Moorgate Street or the church wardens’ offices on Wellgate are easily missed when walking the pavement outside. There will be a few more people familiar with these little slices of history thanks to Pokemon Go.

And there is little evidence now of the Ring O’Bells pub which stood in the minster’s shadow from the early 1800s until its demolition in 1963. The little brass studs marking its footprint on Church Street might be noticed slightly more now.

Art is also well represented in Pokemon Go’s Rotherham. Lauren Baldwin’s Crazy Hair on Ship Hill and the row of pieces tucked down College Lane are among the Gallery Town works featured in the virtual world.

The Lovers’ Mural at the top of Main Street and the old shops paintings on Domine Lane are other less-than-obvious picks for Pokemon collectors to take a look at.

Finding some of Rotherham’s historical treasures often requires being inquisitive and straying away from street level views. At its core, the newest Pokemon craze encourages just that.