Quiet Woman falls silent

 Evening all,

               it's with sadness, and sadly less surprise, that I have to mention the death of Ken Mellor, long time landlord of the requisite jewel of the Quiet Woman at Earl Sterndale near Buxton and Longnor. I spoke to John Clarke on Saturday and he told me that the landlady had died, but a check online suggests it was Ken himself - although, sadly, my lack of trips into the peak district recently suggests that both may have passed away. According to the UKCaving website, Ken died a couple of days or so before 28th August 2020.

Regular readers may know that since about 2018 or so, things had sadly gone a little downhill at the Quiet Woman. I first went with Wee Fatha back in 1993 or similar - another ironic thing since Ken died shortly before my Dad. Wee Fatha always loved the pub, along with Ken - am hoping they are having a chin wag about times past, beers no more and dogs, as you read this.

On one visit with the lovely Tash Ken told us that he used to babysit Cliffe at the Royal Cottage when his mum and dad ran it - to be fair they both at least seemed a similar age, but am certain Ken would have been in his late 70s or 80s when he passed away. Checks on the internet as always have been frugal - one says that the place is looking for a new owner or tenant - this of course would depend very much upon whether or not it was still licensed, and of course, sadly, the circumstances of both Ken and his wife. Sadly I can't see it opening up as a pub again. We will see.

I have a mixture of memories of the pub - and I realise I may have already shared  some previously. I know that on my first visit in the early 1990s I had a now discontinued Marstons strong brew called something to do with monks - or royalty? Merry Monk is what I remember - and I recall it was on Cask from the Past as well. Not seen it even in bottles for years but it was a must have beer as I started drinking in 1992. There was also a mild beer on almost always, as well as Marsons Bitter - this was the last beer I ever had under Ken's Stewardship. He also sold Shaw's Brewery beers for a short while, along with Wincle. also for a short while.

People had also a mixed reaction to the pub - I recall visiting with my good friend Davefromtshop many years ago - when they changed requirements for licensees. As the only licensee of his bottle shop (selling draught cask from the past) Dave had to be contactable at all times - when we were in there once his phone went off twice. He apologised and Ken told him to go outside - when he got back in, Ken's wife said "wiv got a bin fo them things". Dave as the nicest man on earth was simultaneously saddened by his failure as well as quite shocked.

On the positive - not forgetting of course his entry on to the National Inventory of Unspoilt Pub Interioirs - was the sale of locally laid fresh eggs and locally made pork pies. Even when he sadly had to stop selling the ones made in Hollinsclough he still stayed loyal to his local suppliers!

Both WF and WK often picked up bottles of the Quiet Woman bottled beers made by Leek Brewery or similar, but sadly over time a few too may grim batches appeared and both parties lost interest.

Overall though, I would like to say that I will really miss both Ken and the pub, and to  pass on my regards and message of regret to the Mellor family for their recent loss.

R.i.P Ken Mellor

Wee Beefy 

Three down....

Hullur,

      I realise its literally hours before my trip away with the Wee's to Scotland, but I wanted to write this pre trip last post.....Details, it turns out, of three different closed boozers that we wished to attend....


The first I admit, is somewhere that I have known has ceased trading for some time. I admit we had formerly found it closed and thus never re-bothered but the tinterweb suggested that this happened in reality in 2015 or 16. Next to St Mary's Loch in southern Scotland is a place called Tibbie Shiels. I say this demonstrating my acknowledgeable lack of info or knowledge about the words - old photos on a Google search suggest equally that this was both the name of a former landlady and the area its in. Either way it has long ago left us. I went to and Enjoyed the Tibbie Shiels Inn in the 1990's. It has since become a hotel and masters lair of a lochside camping site. However, the building has since stopped trading as a real ale pub, or business, and has recently remained empty.

Prior to our mooch across the border we intend stopping in Penrith, a town with a rather less impressive local coloquialism for a name. Recently, before my stroke, myself and WF ventured into the same ancient Dockray Arms Hotel in the same, to find six real ales and a number of keg beers in a venue owned, am fairly sure, by Loweswater brewery.....or not. Alas a tinterweb search today lists this Cumbrian alehouse as permanently closed, so it seems we will miss out entirely on it's admittedly car unhelpful delights. A massive shame.

Finally, despite Wee Fatha's  early 2017 behaviour and, potential self barring, of the previously wonderful Geordies Byre in Newtown, in Ayr, I noticed today on a tinterweb search that the same pub, irrespective of WF's overreactions, is currently closed. He Tinterweb, whom is a person, cites recent bereavement. Having been there and enjoyed it immensely over the last 15 years, am hoping its not the landlord, or any of his staff, that this event has befallen. The Whatpub websites implies that it may reopen - I sincerely hope it does.....

I will write up my upcoming Scottish trundle upon my return, and, in the meantime, I wish you all the very best of your health...

Cheers!!

Wee Beefy

Milliguin at the Red Lion Inn, Wensley

Hulloo

       Its a good guess that very few readers will have been to the pub, sunk the "special" in the post title, or indeed have ever been to Wensley itself. For those who have not, a local song proclaims:

"At Winster wakes there's ale and cakes,
At Elton wakes there's quenchers.
At Bircher wakes there's knives and forks,
At Wensley wakes there's wenches"

Songs eh. What do they mean? In this case, perhaps something, but only from long in the past. I hope that has helped you gain an understanding about the local area. Although I doubt it has.

In more recent times, the post the title may raise a few questions - unless you actually went to this pub, which closed in or around 1998. I went in the 1990's having discovered to my surprise that the Crown, a coaching inn with a renown for food (according to Wee Fatha)  that stood in the square set back from the road had closed many years ago (seems in the late 1980s). Anybody who visited that pub, as well as this pub in its latter years, would probably be surprised that it was the Red Lion that persisted. Maybe not as surprised as I was by what I found.

Before continuing I am grateful to the National Inventory of Unspoilt Pub Interiors website, a link to which is here , the Wensley Peak District Villages website, an entry by Tom Bates on his "about Derbyshire" website which confirmed some of the pubby facts, and general comments on the tinterweb, for being able to expand on my single and my brother and Ray.L.F's single visit, to the pub. Its always good to find out more about a pub and its history and surroundings.

Wensley, it seems is a name derived from Woden, a Norse God of War. Its not clear how a small village between Darley Bridge and Winster was afforded such a moniker but it is, as am sure you are aware, not the only Wensley in the UK. Wensley Dale, a tiny fissure in the grand landscape, runs alongside the village. Having entered Wensley through that dale, I can safely say that footpaths aren't, and heinous sumps of mud are, prominent features. And prior to a little research, that and my visit to the Red Lion was almost everything I knew about the village.

Winster, Darley Bridge and nearby Elton are beautiful villages with Winster and Wensley sharing some similar features, namely a network of alleyways, snickets and undriveable tracks to link the houses. The other three also boast excellent pubs so its a shame that Wensley no longer has any. Am not sure in fact that other than a post and telephone box the village provides any services to the traveler. It is however well worth a stroll around, or rather along, to admire the architecture. You can always get a drink nearby.

On my visit myself and my companion had got lost following a public footpath from Bonsall Moor and had arrived with muddy hands and even muddier boots. A sign in the Red Lion doorway instructed us not to take our boots off, but to place them into plastic bags before we entered the premises. Am not sure if we did, I think we risked leaving our clodden footwear in the porch and went in our socks.

The interior was, I would assume, 1950's. There was cushioned seating, and coach station cafeteria style steel tables with formica tops. There was a lot of red, and an old Mackeson advert on the wall. Two old couples were in having sandwiches and pots of tea. A glance at the menu showed all sandwiches came with beetroot. Even the beetroot.

My companion and I went to the loos - she came out to ask for some water as there was none in the Ladies, and was passed a bowl of warm water from behind the bar to get the mud off. I ran the trickling cold tap to tackle mine. I can't remember what she had to drink, but I had a can of Youngers Tartan Special, as all the fonts were covered, apart from maybe one. We sat down at a table and briefly perused the beetroot heavy menu before asking one of the couples how far it was to anywhere more, um...foody. Or which served draught beer.

It seems the couple running the pub were not - they were Brother and Sister. The pub was no smoking from 1968 which is in my experience very unusual, and was at one time linked to the farm next door. I took one photograph whilst in the pub and the landlady reacted as if I had taken a bus to Be-elzebub. My excuse of snapping my companion at the time did not wash it seemed. After enjoying our interesting choice of drinks we left, never to return.

Wee Keefy and Ray.L.F visited a year or two after us, and this is the first I heard about the legend that was Milliguin. WK would have probably opted for a soft drink - they did have a working milkshake making machine after all, but Ray.L.F was to try the "special". Milliguin, since you ask,  is a half a pint of Guinness and a half a pint of milk in a pint glass. Am guessing you probably have to drink it quite fast because the milk would likely curdle. As something of an alcohol enthusiast and sure this presented no barrier to Ray.L.F. I am not aware that he had more than one however. Having drunk late at night in the Farfield when it was part B&B with guests in their pygamas, am also willing to bet that nothing about this pub seemed strange to him.

This was a very unique pub and one which I was very glad I visited. Its similar, if only in it's unusual idiosyncrasies, to the Three Tuns, when run by Lucy in Hay on Wye, the Sun in Leintwardine Herefordshire, and the Seven Stars at Halfway House in Shropshire. All remnants of a simpler and now seemingly forgotten style of pub.

If any readers know of any unusual, unspolt or just completely unmodernised pubs in the UK, serving beer or milk related beverages, then please do let me know.

With kindest regards


Wee Beefy

The Bridge of Aln Hotel, Whittingham, Northumberland

Hello,

        I was recently sent a link to a report by Tash from a Professor of Entrepreneurship and Regional Economic Development at the University of Northumberland. This was about the important influence on the happiness of locals versus the often equal frailty of the local pub, in small communities. The link is here, and the report uses statistical analysis and sources including the Office for National Statistics, and Actions with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) to support the claim, that pubs in small communities are a positive focal point within them.

What I found interesting was I was sent this a couple of days after reading that the Bridge of Aln Hotel in Whittingham, Nortumberland, an isolated community not too far from Netherton with its famous Star Inn, was currently closed. No details were provided, but I always worry when an isolated pub closes, especially one on the National Inventory. There is a link to the listing here which gives some details and beautiful photos of this unspoilt former hotel.

I visited in 2013 with Wee Fatha. We were staying in Long Framlington, a long finger of habitation on the A697 just down the road. Having eaten in the village we headed for Whittingham and then to the Star at Netherton. The Bridge of Aln didn't look particularly open and you enter through a door at the back, having parked in the courtyard. I don't think the large front door is any longer in use. There were lights on so we knew it was open but am guessing it doesn't attract much passing trade.

Having found our way to the bar we found a gaggle of locals enjoying drinks and conversation about local life - despite its remoteness, the area has numerous small villages and hamlets and it appeared all those drinking there were local. It was quiet (if that makes sense given my description of the conversation) warm and relaxing and the locals soon started asking us where we were from and going. I had a pint of Youngers of McEwans on keg and WF a soft drink and we went for a wander about in the actually quite large building. To note, the Whatpub website states it sells real ale - am guessing this is seasonal, as there was none there when we visited.

The bar is 1950's in style, as are much of the furnishings, and one of the doors (maybe for the bar?) has a sign stating "Select Bar" on it. This is a feature I have never seen before and am guessing it relates to its former days as a hotel.  We didn't get to see the rear right room but it looks rather fine on the National Inventory pub website. When we got back to the bar we explained that we were going to see Vera at the nearby Star at Netherton and we were told to hurry as if there was nobody in around 21.30 she would shut - we arrived just as she was saying goodbye to the last customer so just in time!

Another pub in the area that, alas, I have not yet visited, is the Star at Harbottle. It is only 3.8 miles away from the Star at Netherton and is similarly isolated. I was disappointed to read that this pub is also currently closed - especially since the pub has diversified to provide a tourist information service, and sell crafts as well as becoming the local shop. In his report, Professor Ignazio Cabras states" this positive effect increased threefold between 2000 and 2010 (the period examined) - possibly because pubs have become increasingly important as other local services such as post offices and village shops have closed."  

It is interesting that both pubs are in Northumberland, given the provenance of the report, and that in this case, the diversification has (temporarily I hope) not kept the Star at Harbottle trading. Especially since in other rural communities the pub taking on the shop - such as the Sycamore at Parwich in Derbyshire, seems to have helped keep the pub open, and strengthened its place in the community.

Perhaps the details in the report show that, sadly, the pressures upon rural and isolated pubs are increasing ever more since 2010 and that even necessary diversification of the business is no guarantee of pub survival. In the end, you still need footfall. If people aren't coming to the pub to drink it will close. Lets hope both pubs reopen and continue to serve their communities, and that both communities in turn do their best to support them.

Your very good health

Wee Beefy

Red House. Dead House.

Hello,

          about this time last week, maybe an hour later, I had sent a tweet to the Red House Sheffield's new and largely unfindable Twitter account. In it, I asked them what times they opened on a Saturday, as I had been there at 19.00 last Saturday and found no signs of life. I did not receive a reply, and discussed this on Monday with W's K and F. When I returned that night, I received a message from Andy C telling me that he had been emailed by the pub. They had closed after three weeks, and the pub was now back in the hands of Punch.

This is not a surprise. Not at all. So what went wrong?

Well, here's a tip. If you are going to reopen a former live music and DJ venue in a hard to find back street area of Sheffield as a quiet, traditional back street boozer, you should advertise. Not simply put a piece of paper on the door (that is how I found out it was reopening) and let Sheffield CAMRA know, and then a week or so after opening create the worlds least informative Twitter account. No, you need to advertise and publicise the fact via as many mediums as possible.

I heard that Craig and Marie had been successful tenants of the Peaks Hotel in Castleton and the Castle at Bradway. I thought I remembers hearing that the peaks had started selling local real ales, which is a bonus for Castleton (although that is based on my last visit, about 8 years ago) and the Castle has always seemingly had a good reputation for food and real ales. Imagine my surprise then at finding the three real ales they had on their delayed opening night did not change two weeks in. I say did not change - am not suggesting they were the same casks - although the moonshine tasted like it was the first sold that week.

You see, their promises were not that watertight it turned out. For instance, on their advertisement, they claimed to sell local craft and real ales. The range never changed, as above, from Moonshine, York Guzzler and Castle Rock Harvest Pale. Myself and Mr P were in two weeks or more ago, and Marie showed us the Punch finest cask list she could choose beers from, and to be fair there were some that I have never tired, and some I would really like to. She said originally that they wanted to get onto the SIBA guest beers list but two weeks after opening, she said the pub co had confirmed that this was not going to happen. They also claimed to do food and high quality coffee, there is a sign up about food but I don't know if this ever got going. I never asked about a coffee, but I assume the machine required was also not delivered. Or not ordered.

When I last went in with Mr P Marie said she was fed up with it being so quiet - and as I was about to point out the lack of publicity, she said "but what do you expect wi' no advertising". I agreed, but found this a very strange statement. She ran the pub with Craig. Both of them should have been promoting it. It's almost like they opened it and assumed passers by, you know, mainly the Chinese student population would simply pop in and make it their go to place for a drink. Guess what? That didn't happen.

I thought Craig and Marie were friendly, knowledgeable and good hosts. And I only visited their pub three or four times. I can't for the life of me think why they took the pub on though, and did nothing to make it a success. And something that Mr P said, after, as a respected poet and performer of poetry, he offered to put on a poetry night and received no contact about doing so, stuck in my mind. Perhaps the pub company offered them the chance to run the pub badly for three or four weeks, and then agreed that they could leave - so that the pub could be deemed non-viable and turned into flats, like almost every other building of that age locally.

I understand a successful local firm on Upper Allen street have been offered vast sums to vacate their premises so they could be turned into student flats. Am sure that the Red House represents a great opportunity for conversion. If this is the case, and such plans are afoot, that is hugely disappointing.

I don't want to be writing a post six or twelve months down the line about another lost boozer in Sheffield. Granted the Red House has been more of a venue for some years now, but I think it could be turned into the pub promised last month - but not without extensive coverage and advertising, determination positivity and crucially, the right support from Punch. It wouldn't be competing directly with any of their pubs - because there are no pubs locally that aren't independent.

If anyone has any knowledge of the plans for th Red House do feel free to let me know. And if it does reopen as a pub, I would encourage you to visit it in huge numbers to prove it is viable.

Cheers

Wee Beefy

Ship aground

Hello,

         today I had some shocking news about the closure of another Sheffield real ale pub. On Saturday I did overtime and wanted a pint around 15.00 - en route I stopped by the pub and found a security sign in the window and no sign of life - as it was, I went on to the Wellington to enjoy two of the most relaxing quiet pints of my recent years. And I did mean to discuss the pub with someone but never did...

The Ship at Shalesmoor, I heard tonight, has closed, as the landlord has got into financial difficulties. The security signs therefore, were genuine, and the pub has ceased trading. I understand the family from which the current landlord came, had run the pub for three generations. This is no longer the case

What I liked most about the Ship was its quiet, and the ebb and flow of customers. Having been in a few times on Saturday afternoon there were always regulars in and football was on the telly. This did not override the ancient jukebox when it was on, although that became very rare I understand. On the bar were three, then four real ales, none of which were from owners Greene King. The landlord was stoic in his support for local, and guest beers, almost all regardless of strength, were sold for £2.70 a pint.

On Fridays and perhaps Saturdays, if you stayed long you could hear the landlady walking round and asking about who wanted a Chinese (meal) around 23.30. This was then delivered, and anyone was welcome to order. The doors seemed t look late and service went on lat most nights.

The landlord was knowledgeabe and friendly and crucially, knew what he and his customers liked. It is a great shame that he will no longer be behind that great bar to pull delicious pints of real ale. Lets hope, now, that the pub remains open.

Cheers

Wee Beefy

Ta-ra, DaDa

Hello,

       I am informed by a number of reliable sources (hoping not to be hoist by my own petard here!) that tonight will be the last night of trading at DaDa on Trippet Lane Sheffield. I understand the business and therefore assumedly the building (?) has been sold and therefore, of course, DaDa will be no more.

This is disappointing, but not entirely surprising news. I used to like DaDa especially because it was quiet. I was well aware that this was not good for the business, and so it proved. This, even against the backdrop of numerous managers and excellent members of staff, many of whom have gone onto manage other Thornbridge pubs. On that basis, the renowned quietness and inability to attract drinkers other than on Friday and Saturday nights is somewhat a puzzle. Or is it?

My first impressions of DAda or DaDa or similar weren't all that positive. Here is my blog post from November 2011 which sets out my concerns about its decor and lack of prominence for cask ales. Although I came to love Dada (no use fannying around with extra capital letters now eh?) I think some of my initial observations rang true when I last visited om January and had a half of pale ale before meeting Tash. Its not comfortable. Its noisy. It lacks atmosphere.

The strange thing is, Thornbridge has won national awards as a pub owning brewery. Like its brands or venues or not, its hardly unsuccessful in respect of running bars and boozers. The problem with Dada was, nobody really got what it was about. In fact, Dada never really got what it was about.

I understand the design was the brainchild or dream of the directors of Thornbridge. And it shows. Its not really the kind of place someone not in their middle age would want to go. It is pleasingly unconventional, but not enough to woo those seeking an unusual night out, whilst not being sufficiently traditional to win over many of the CAMRA crowd. It is and was a beer bar where people were for the most part, not there for the beer. The concept didn't work and it seems Thornbridge, possibly out of blind determination to stick with their vision of the bar and its themes, didn't want to change it.

On Thursday I was in the Bath Hotel drinking the rather amazing Jaipur X, a special keg 10% version of the excellent pale ale. I was with former Dada regulars Mike, Josh, Amy and Ben. As Mike summarised, the final straw was the two absurd huge frozen Heineken posts that were installed on the bar to absolutely no-ones rejoice. That, and long term staff like James, Emily, Steff and Jamie having left, started, or rather accelerated, what had been  a slow decline. The music got louder. The gas ran out more often than it should. They stopped serving bar snacks. They bought near out of date keg beer to sell cheap. It was a venue that needed to do one thing to change which it couldn't. It needed to not be Dada.

Its important to point out that I have had some cracking nights in Dada. I have also drunk some amazing beers. I have met friends in there, and supped til closing time, I have reveled in the Halcyon, the Chiron, the Schlenkerla and the Melba and others. I have enjoyed its silence, its lack of customers, and its ska. Unfortunately, not enough other people did.

So long, ta-ra and it was good knowing you Dada.

Wee Beefy

Keeping it moist

Hello there,

       it may seem an unusual position to adopt, given my attempted (and almost entirely failed) "Dryvember" experiment, and the fact that we are nearly half way through the month, but I wanted to write today about the campaign for people to not drink alcohol in January. What I want to say is: "don't". Or possibly "do". Let me explain.......

Dry January is a campaign run in the UK by Alcohol Concern. For those rebels among you, here is a link to their registration page, and other sections including a list of corporate supporters. Dryathlon is slightly more hip in it's approach, and is undoubtedly* going to stop babies and kittens dying of cancer since its run by otherwise admirable organisation Cancer Research UK, as shown here. All the newspapers have written articles about "going dry" this January, (although using my usual rigorous level of research I haven't read any) and as always, there is much medical opinion flying around to support it. So who can resist?

Well, I can for one. Why? Because I used to work in a real ale off license. December was far and away our most profitable month, whilst in January it was hardly worth being open. So as to restrict the level of impact on sales figures it was often necessary to combine, for our own records at least, the earnings of both and divide them in half. January was the only month we ever had a week where we didn't sell a single pint of real ale. January was a millstone round our necks.

This phenomena continues to exist outside of pressures on pub attendance such as the smoking ban, drinkers preferring to stay at home, and previous vast increases in the price of beer. January now even more so, haunts pubs like a jaundiced spectre of temperance led regret, that seeks to undermine the hard work of the year before, and start the new year off on a low.

A friend of mine recently said he was giving up alcohol for January. He wasn't doing it as part of a charity campaign, but he noticed his friends were doing it and wanted to join in. I'm not for a second suggesting that my pub and bus stop learnt medical acumen stretches to doubting the benefits of a dry month, but I do know that January is not the month to do it. Someone who works in one of Sheffield's numerous real ale pubs said he had friends who'd made the same threat, sorry, promise. His response had been "well, I wonder if there's some way I can go and fuck up your business in January as well". He was joking, of course. Sort of.

No-one is suggesting you should, say, drink to excess at Christmas and then carry on a booze fueled orgy of over indulgence into January. What I am saying is, do continue to go to the pub, and keep money running through the tills of the places you would expect to drink in, or outside of, when the summer sun comes.

Last year we had the counter campaign of Drinkuary, this year possibly something like Tryuary or Dampuary exists. In truth, all we need to do is drink in January as we would at any other time.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy


*this is an example of exaggeration. And you are more likely to contribute to closing a pub where a cancer patient drinks by not drinking in it.....

I forgot to mention.....

Now then,

 just to quickly let you know a few bits of "news"....

The long closed Wellington pub in Darnall has had a repaint and the steels shutters removed and is To Let. No indication yet that anyone has taken it on but it has been for sale (I think) through Colliers CRE since at least 2009 so maybe this will be its best hope? It was widely tipped to become the new Doctors back in 2011 but that plan was shelved. Having never visited this local pub to me, I'd love to see it reopen, preferably of course, with real ale.

The little altered (I am told!) Old Crown Inn on London Road is to reopen on 25 September 2014 offering live bands and real ales. This is another pub which has escaped me but was one which Dave Barraharri wanted to list on our Sheffield pub crawl, an ambitious plan which never got off the ground (and which is now operated on a similar basis by Real Ale Trails). It will be interesting to see who runs the new venue and indeed which real ales will be on offer. This is especially prominent since the Bell Jar has been closed on my last three visits. According to the following website the pub currently, or rather did, sell Moonshine....

Coming to the much loved National Inventory listed local The Bath Hotel on Victoria Street in October is Sheffield Brew Fest - a curated celebration of Sheffield and further afield brews. The festival, which has a website link here has already acquired beers from Siren Craft Brew - follow them on Twitter and access the website for updates on available beers.

On West Street on 13 June this year Maida Vale opened its doors, offering, much like the Old Crown, live bands and real ales. I ventured in on the Saturday and had halves of Osset Silver King and chatted to someone behind the bar who stated that the last incarnation only stayed open for a weekend or similar. It is noticeable therefore that I'm not certain the venue is still open, but will try and find out and update you.

The Three Cranes on Queen Street also appears to be closed, or keeping very restricted hours. If anyone knows what the situation is, please let me know!

Finally, the very long closed Cannon on King Street is To Let as retail units. Closed down some time ago it seems nobody wanted to take it on as a pub. This brings into focus the extent to which the potential reopening of the Wellington at Darnall is a surprising development.

All the best

Wee Beefy

We're on the road to go-where?

Now then,

        my recent trips to and from the Northern General Hospital have shown a familiar but  unfortunate picture of pub life in the S4 and S9 areas of Sheffield. The areas along the route present an increasing roll call of closed and demolished pubs which have either been put to alternative use, struggle on in defiance of their circumstances. or worse still have been bulldozed.

The route starts in Darnall where The Industry, still showing obvious pub tiling, and the Ball, further down Main Road, are notable losses from the last two decades. The route taken doesn't go down Main Road or indeed York Road in Darnall, but York Road has two boozers worth a mention. The Duke Of York has been closed for many years now, having undergone a name change (possibly, and very ironically to "Goldmine"...) and succumbed to a theme makeover, before succumbing to  a rather more pernicious theme. Of pub closures. Across the road the Terminus Tavern, previously called the Bradley Well, still survives and I even heard once that it sold real ale. I haven't been in to find out, but its notable for being the only open pub in that part of Darnall.

On the corner of Prince of Wales and Staniforth roads is the Wellington, still for sale through Colliers CRE and once mooted as the siting of a new medical centre. This has been closed for nearly as long as the Duke, 2008 potentially, but before I moved to the area was the winner of the Community pub of the year in the late nineties. Diagonally across, the Rose and Crown, a former Wards Irish themed pub closed its doors sometime after being renamed Connells and is currently a community centro and post office. Most depressing though is the site of the former Halfway House.

This was off Senior Road  near the allotments on a dead end beside Greenland Road. It was closed, its bowling green grew over and it was left to lose its windows and large amounts of roof before it was flattened in about 2009. The question is...why? The site remains unused and there is no evidence that anyone plans to do anything with it. A pub of the month winner in the nineties, if memory serves, which sold Glentworth beer at one stage, it seems to have been easy to flatten the pub but having taken that drastic step, harder to use the space it left behind.

After Greenland Road things start to improve - but only slightly. Broughton Lane comes next and towards where it joins Attercliffe Common the Bing maps for the area fails to mention the surviving Noose and Gibbet but rather optimistically notes the Enfield Arms. This pub was built in 1825 but was likewise demolished, in 2008 to make way for....nothing. Except they left about a foot of tiled walls as an outline. I went in the Enfield a couple of times and it seemed to be a decent honest boozer with three real ales. Once again, someone seems to have prioritised flattening it without having any firm ideas (or possibly firm finances) to do anything afterwards.

Crossing Attercliffe Common there is an old and new pub combo of the Arena Square and the Wentworth House. The Wentworth was doing really well when I went a few times in 2007 and 2008 although it hasn't sold real ale for years. Its new build neighbour sells one or two real ales but is ostensibly a large restaurant. The positive thing is both are still open. With the senseless loss of the regional inventory listed Stumble Inn to an Indian Restaurant just up the road, and the demolition of the Commercial  at the junction with Weedon Street, its good to see that there is still a traditional pub to go drinking in round there.

Down Hawke Street you pass the site of the Wellington which had stopped trading but was still standing in the late nineties, and joining Upwell Street there are further tales of woe. The Sheffield Arms seems to have closed down although I understand it was open recently, but the Ball, a sturdy looking pub which appears to inhabit half of a much larger red brick building, with a decent Bentleys sign on the Page Hall end, is certainly open. Alas the Firth Park Hotel a little further on is now a community centre - although I suspect the banner advertising bed and breakfast, function room and bar meals is a legacy from its days as a pub. Finally, as you come out onto Barnsley Road you are nearly at the hospital -  and slightly up hill on your left is the site of the former Cannon Hall pub, which I remember being Whitbread, and which I recall drinking Castle Eden in around 1994....

In essence there are three areas which have seen some sort of change, and a decline in pubs as a result. Certainly Darnall and Fir Vale/Page Hall have seen what would best be described as a change in their cultural make up. Darnall perhaps less so, but no less bereft of pubs for also having an increasingly tee total population. Sandwiched in between which is Attercliffe Common, a hub of heavy industry which surprisingly isn't a beer desert but is a pale shadow of its former self in terms of boozers.

However, don't be disheartened. Because, even against this backdrop of increasing depletion of pub stock, its pleasing to find out that in addition to the already admirable selection of pubs to be found elsewhere in Sheffield, there is to be a new pub.

A "pop up" micro pub is to open at number 170 Crookes Road in what used to be Mr Ben's fancy dress shop. Called the Crookes Ale House, it opens at 12.30 on 27th December (today) and is open until 22.00 and keeps those hours everyday until it closes on 30 December. There isn't a website but as you find so often these days they have a "social media presence" - here is  a link to their Facebook page, and they are on Twitter as well.

Given the tales of decline and closure above, its nice to see a pub spring into life and close in a positive way. Magic Rock and Sheffield brewery Co beers are to be on sale and bottles form Europe and America, so get up there for a look whilst you can.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Oh dear God, he's on about old pubs again...

I know, I know.

     however, I have something to reflect, about how an overheard conversation about a lost boozer (that's a building, not a sot) can stand out strikingly in the hub-ub of bar room noise.

The other night in the Closed Shop I overheard a bloke who seemed to be describing his impending move into or ongoing conversion of, the former Old Heavygate Inn, at nearby Crookes. A subtle nod from a member of staff that perhaps former customers may be in this pub and not share in his weird self congratulatory pleasure made no odds, and instead  elicited the response "perhaps if some of those customers had gone to the pub it would still be open".

Boom.

I can't really tell you how I felt about that blithe remark.

Because I hadn't ever expected to encounter someone not only taking joy in destroying hundreds of years of history, but even admitting to converting a pub intro a house, (or worse still developing the property into flats for profit). Yet here was a man who as well as having the dubious honour of confirming the above, also combined a glaringly simplistic assessment of the malaise affecting the urban pub, with a distasteful lack of awareness of the magnitude of the act he was talking about performing.

I cut short my conversation with Dave to hear the rest of the raconteur's musings but alas he slipped away with his drink and I never saw him again.

Maybe I can be prone to a slight case of over romanticising when it comes to old buildings, pubs especially, and the role they play. But in my defence, I really think it's rare to find someone not even slightly sympathetic toward those whose memories he, even in a small way, has played a part in trampling over, or that isn't attuned to the feelings that they might have. Especially when I find myself being one of that group of people.

Its a curious sensation. And quite frankly, one I'd rather not experience again.

How strange our race, who love bricks and mortar,
Near as much as hops and malt, and water.

Wee Beefy

Going, gone, definitely gone.

Evenin

      yesterday's post focused mainly on the closure of the Hadfield in Sheffield. Not only because it was entirely topical, but also because I had quite a few other examples of closed and threatened pubs which were different from the Hadfield  in that they have or had certain classic, unspoilt characteristics.

I'm not suggesting that the Hadfield was in anyway the opposite - but I only went in when it was still really a pub when I was 17, and don't remember very much about it, apart from feeling simultaneously daring and conspicuous. In contrast, tonight's post is about pubs that I either knew, know, or you need to know about. All either closed for good, or under threat.

On Sunday I was in Salford visiting an unfathomably giant edifice of a pub. Monstrously dramatic in scale, built for an almost unimaginable heyday of buoyant patronage, with hoards of visitors thirsty for refreshment and entertainment of every kind, high on the drama of race days and gambling, and where all their identified leisure needs were met (I've rewritten this 3 times and it still sounds like I'm describing a brothel. That is absolutely not my intention!)

The Racecourse Hotel in Salford will close on Sunday 26th May. Admittedly its not guaranteed to be forever, but even putting on my most optimistic face, I just can't see anyone with the cash, the time, the dedication and sheer stubbornness to turn such a place round. It would be quite an undertaking to attempt to steer the pub away from the rocks - but if it goes, as seems inevitable since the pub is not listed, we will lose another great architectural accomplishment, and another National Inventory classic .

As an aside, the situation of its closing is complicated by the obfuscate business behavior of current owners Oakwell Brewery. All sorts of rumours have have surfaced re what is happening, but am not going to share them - because the only key factor here is their decision to close the Racecourse Hotel.

For your puzzlement, here's a link to their website "our pubs" section. You have to admire their unfussy process of removing the photo's of pubs they've given up on. Whilst simultaneously being baffled by the sheer grimness of so many of their acquisitions . (with thanks to Curmudgeon and Tyson and Dimpled Mug for links and info).

Next up is the Drovers Inn at Dallowgill near Ripon. Up on the moors and undoubtedly a welcome sight for winter walkers, I have been a couple of times only, but found its cosy traditional layout and friendly atmosphere highly enjoyable. It did occur to me that its isolated location on a quiet road meant it would struggle but it regularly appeared in the GBG so I figured it must have been getting by OK. And besides, even though only twice, it was rammed each time I visited, and Wee Fatha said he same on his visits. When I read in Whats Brewing that it had been deleted from the beer guide, closed I immediately raced to the conclusion it had been converted to a house or closed awaiting change of use consent.

In fact, a change of use had indeed taken place. It was now a burnt down pub. Luckily no-one was injured in the blaze, but its a tragedy nonetheless to see a great pub like the "little drovers"wiped off the map. Its quite a blow for local pub-goers as well, since the other Drovers at nearby Bishop Thornton is also all but destroyed itself.

Moving into West Yorkshire and you may have heard about the unfortunate state, and ongoing campaign to save, the Cock and Bottle in Bradford. Its fair to say this Grade 2 listed National Inventory pub has had a chequered and at times inglorious history, but the fact that its currently closed and appears to be having unapproved work done on its interior is a real cause for concern.

As fans of Tommy Ducks in Manchester will know, the punishment meted out for knocking down pubs when you haven't the authority to do so is a pittance, so God only knows what type of mild slap on the wrist the desecration of the rare interior of the Cock and Bottle will entail. The lack of any website for the campaign (so far) is a shame but for the twits among you there are updates, albeit in a slightly odd pub as human perspective, from the following account @ajheyes50.

Other recent examples have included the formerly village owned Drewe Arms in Drewesteington, Devon.  I visited in 2004 and it was probably about 10 years too late to appreciate at as a truly unspoilt country boozer but it was still interesting and aesthetically pleasing, and importantly, busy. The fact that Enterprise are looking for new tenants after the previous ones left after a rent price hike does not bode well - I don't have much faith in their selling it to an interested party at a reasonable price, but we'll see.

Closer to home and Sheffield encapsulates many different pub styles and designs in its now much reduced stock, and quite a few sad closures have happened in the last few years. Yet in contrast to blazing country pubs and unloved inner city boozers , almost all of Sheffield's pub losses of late have been squarely down to conversion into dwellings.

The Robin Hood in Little Matlock, Stannington, closed at the end of August 2011, after the owners tried to market it as a pub with high quality food and accommodation. Such a scheme would have been beautifully romantic had it come off, with the pub hiding at the end of a long tree lined lane, but it was alas, a bad judgement call. Once the owners realised their dream of making the huge building pay its way it was closed as a pub, and the plan was to convert it to apartments.

Interestingly, on my later visits I still considered it to be a traditional pub, with its huge central beam in the top bar and the downstairs bar linked by stairs, gloriously cool with its high ceilings. However, I recently discovered that as well as having changed its name at some point (clearly to capitalise on the nearby Loxley legend) having been called the Rock, it also previously had two rooms in the small top floor area with the back bar for darts above the fireplace. It seems likely the bottom bar would therefore have been domestic rooms, with the cellar beneath (given that he drop was on a steep slope running down into the valley, a very long way from the bar at the top).

Its lucky that I started walking in the Loxley valley area again or I might have never rediscovered the pub - I used to go there throughout the summer holidays with my parents for an al fresco coke (for me) and a clamber on the rocks on the bank which the path to the pub descends.

Another childhood pub that my Mum and Dad would take me and my brother to, usually whenever there was a promising sunset, was the Bell Hagg Inn, on Manchester Road. Although a fair walk from nearby housing it should really have been a success, based on its location alone (even if it did change its name to the John Thomas when it was acquired by Banks'....)

The other day I discovered this explanation for its closure on the rather excellent Lost pubs website. Its puzzling that Banks' Brewery seem to have no interest in securing the now perilously derelict building, even if they don't intend to reopen it as a pub. A sorry tale all round. Admittedly this is slightly off the theme having not been converted into flats, but its still a woeful fate to befall a good pub.

The final crop concerns both of the Freedoms in Walkley - most lately the House, converted into, um, flats  with the View having been cruelly sacrificed for crap student flats early in the century. Add to that the Albion, not exactly an unspoilt gem, but noted as selling more Stones than any other pub in Sheffield, if not the UK, which was "offloaded" by the pub-co and became, well, yet more student flats, likewise the Springfield on Broomspring lane, the Crown on Walkley Bank, and of course, the dear old Heavygate.

However, against this backdrop its nice to hear some good news! And its my public duty to share it with you pub lovers so you don't end up psychologically damaged by this post.

Firstly, the Commercial at Wheelock, according to Dimpled Mug, has reopened. Possibly one of the least prepossessing pubs from the outside, it didn't look exactly in rude health trade wise when I visited a few years ago, but it has an outstanding unspoilt interior. Make sure you go visit it and maybe it will stay open.

And finally  though this may be unsubstantiated, but I hear the Lower Turks Head on Shudehill in Manchester really really is going to open! A quick Google search leads to numerous similar claims and worries about its conversion over the years, but aside from all of that, if nothing else, this fantastic picture shows that the building appears to be in good nick (though am not sure about its neighbour...).

Having walked past its glorious frontage many times en route to the Hare and Hounds, I've always thought what a brilliant sight it would be to see the pub reopen. Lets hope the sun actually rises on this project, finally, and the pub is once more open to the public.

Cheers

Wee Beefy

A quick addition - have a butchers at this post on a similar theme from Alan Burnett. He's a big fan of traditional Yorkshire pubs, and now he's back blogging after a significant break you might like to give his site a look. WB

RIP The Hadfield

Hello

    plenty has been written about the reason behind the decline in pub visiting, and it's inevitable side effect,  pub closures. Drinking and social trends have been analysed, reasons for change of use explored, possible explanations and solutions sought, and much has been said about the general malaise, the wider picture.

Meanwhile, whereas the writers have written and the observers stroked their chins, another Sheffield pub has given up its fight and has closed. And it got me thinking. I can't pretend to know all the reasons for pubs closing but this one, is fairly clear cut.

You may remember my post here about the last chance saloon situation that the Hadfield  found itself in. Initially my surprise at finding it open was topped with cautious optimism - after all, any open pub is more viable than an already closed pub. However, as the weeks passed and I simultaneously discovered a bit more, and found the pub open a bit less, i.e. not at all, it seemed the comparisons I drew then with the Meadow Street Hotel were valid - except, the Meadow really did have a regular band of customers, and, was pretty much always open. Small differences, and ultimately in no way having an influence on the final outcome.

I heard on Friday night that the fight for the Hadfield was lost, and they used their Facebook page to announce the same earlier today - below is their statement :


Friends, supporters, workers, bands, DJ’s, performers, and promoters; the people of Sheffield and further afield whose lives have been touched by the pub nestled within the small diverse community on the corner of Barber Road. It is with a heavy heart that the sad news must be told of the demise of the once grand drinking establishment; its fate, one which has befallen many a fellow institution in these times of austerity, is to be a transformation into yet another “little shop of horrors”.

Sainsbury’s, the orange behemoth, that demon from the very pits of corporate hell has felled yet another comrade and invaded its very thresholds. And we, the so called free people, stood and stared powerless to prevent the travesty that on this day has been committed.

So we salute you Hadfield Hotel. We stand in testament to the good you brought to all who have shared in your chequered and varied past. We will not forget you in living memory, there’s some corner of our beating hearts that is forever Hadfield. A pub whom England bore, shaped, made aware. A pub of England's, serving English fare, blest by suns of home.

We shall regale our friends with tales of laughter and frivolity, of good times (and bad); matches made, drinks drank, games won and lost. Rest easy that the passing of the years and of times been and gone will be celebrated in age old fashion and will dress the lips of all who knew and played within your hallowed walls.

The above is obviously a passionate and slightly tongue in cheek response, and one which doesn't really shed any light on the underlying problems that the pub faced. I am not naive enough to think that there aren't multiple reasons why the pub reached a state where a supermarket thought it was cheap enough to buy and then convert into another of their stores. Pubcos, drinking trends, fads, mismanagement, beer duty, smoking bans, predatory retailers, you name it, any of those could have contributed to this sorry state of affairs. It would be very difficult to pinpoint just one factor.

That this outcome came about alas is hardly surprising, in fact it may even seem inevitable. One thing that is surprising though is the slew of recent closures of pubs in Sheffield and further beyond, for a multitude of different reasons. And the link between them? Well, almost exclusively, with the exception of the above, these appear to be traditional, unspoilt and even listed pubs.

More to come in my next post on this, but for now, lets all have strike a frown and release a disheartened sigh and have a think about  the ethics and community ethos of Sainsburys. The Hadfield may not have been a classic in my drinking years, but as I know well, each pub means something, potentially very much, to someone.

Shamesburys indeed.

Wee Beefy

Heavyhearted at lost local.

Hello,

      almost all credit, at least in terms of inspiration, must go to Pete Green from the world of writing. His post  yesterday about his nearest boozer the Olde Heavygate Inn, and its conversion into housing, against the backdrop of its venerable age, struck a real chord with me. I have written about the pub before, but I feel I need to contribute to the story further since it was my first ever, proper, local.

I should start by saying I think it closed in 2011. I posted about it in February 2012 after reading in Beer Matters that it would not reopen.

I also recall the start of 2011 saw endless upheaval and changes of managers, some of whom couldn't seem to sell beer, some of whom couldn't settle, some of whom were hired hands brought in to keep a pub open without any other long term benefits. Either way it was a sorry procession of empty promises, desperation and mismanagement on the part of the Pubco, Greedy King. Ultimately they will have made a tidy sum on the sale of the building. And pissed away a huge irreplaceable body of history into the bargain.

I went to school with a lass called Louise Parkes and she lived at the pub when her Dad Ron, ran it for absolutely years. It was a very popular pub around 1991, which is when I first started regularly going in, and continued to be so until Ron left, and for a while afterwards. Yet, its rate of decline was breathtaking, especially when you consider it could have been avoided had Pubco greed and shortsighted meddling not been allowed to prevail.

The nearest pub then was the Florist, probably 10 minutes walk, The Prinny, maybe less actually, or down to one of the South Road boozers, one of which has now gone the way of the Heavygate. So it was in a good position, surrounded by housing and virtually on one of the busiest bus routes in the city, with car parking on the front. It had history, it had character, and it had no right being neglected.

It also had the distinction of being central to several benchmarks in my drinking career.

First of all, I supped in there when I was perhaps, technically, a little bit too young to do so. I got the impression that the opinion of the landlord was, if you looked about the right age, and you didn't cause trouble that was OK. I think that is ostensibly a very sensible approach (although that may be undermined by some of what I have written later on!). The only time I ever pushed my luck was when I was 19 and brought in "younger folks" and bought them drinks. This rightly attracted a reprimand. I took it on board, and never repeated the trick.

The Heavygate was a regular venue for huge bonfires on, well, bonfire night, and so was one of the first pubs I ever remember going to as a child. I'm sure plenty of kids from my school were taken to the pub by their parents to watch that same spectacle.

There always seemed to be a good atmosphere, whether it was a celebration, public holiday or a damp Tuesday in January. It was usually busy (more so later on), the pints were served in maseev glasses that held 650ml (it seemed) and in direct contrast to the rather demure atmosphere and advanced years of some of the regulars, the jukebox featured Firestarter by Prodigy. I remember some old guy looking up from his paper when me and a mate put it on for the the 3rd time in a row, and him saying"I quite like this. Its got a very good pace to it". I swear to this day he wasn't being sarcastic.

The Heavygate was also the only pub I ever took my Canadian cousin Graham to, and advised him not to give the landlord a tip unless it was sage advice, and the first place I chose to take a lady on a date. I'm sure Catherine Skidmore was blown away by the brown decor and smell of fags and a jukebox with all of four decent tunes on, whilst I supped pints of Kimberley Classic, then in a piece de resistance, after 7 or 8 pints, threw up on my para boots whilst she waited for a taxi....

The Heavygate is also the first place I tried Sheep Dip whisky, the last place I bought a pint of Snakebite, the only place a man in his late fifties asked me for a fight (or indeed a person of any age or gender), the first place I had a lengthy session, the first place I broke a glass (when "helpfully" tidying up whilst a bit drunk) and the first pub I ever actually suggested to anyone that we went in for a few pints.

My final memory is going in one night about 21.45 with Carlos, and finding the lounge (which the CAMRA Good beer guide unfailingly stated for all of its 15 or something years of entries "features potted plants" ) was being used for a private party. There weren't many folks in the right hand side but the jukebox was working and it was no doubt about £1.40 for a pint of the Kimberley Classic, so we settled down with drinks and set about supping.

As it got late we were still getting served, not by the landlord I recall but by new staff, but by now the other right hand folks had left. Having reached a natural physical barrier (Kimberley was very bloaty I recall) we dawdled through our last drinks for an hour before the landlord came through and said "I didn't realise you two were still here!". It was about 3am. It appeared we had been served by other party guests who assumed we were friends of the family so hadn't mentioned we were there...

With such a useful training role in my drinking experience, its really sad to see it being vandalised now, after serving so many pints and customers. I don't think it had to close. I think it maybe had to change, but not in the way it did prior to finally shutting down.

My last memory, probably from April 2011, was of being in with davefromtshop, sat in the chasm of loneliness that was the sad pastel coloured modernity of the newer right hand room, staring out at an unkempt car park whilst really crap music blared out of the radio to precisely nobody, and the barman stood outside smoking. I knew then that things were not looking promising. I wasn't even surprised when it was sold for housing. Just disappointed and annoyed.

Shame on you Greedy King.

Wee Beefy

Shamesburys and the Hadfield

Hello,

   a short post this, via expectation and assumption of inevitability  I had assumed a dire outcome for the  following pub. But it seems, I was wrong...

Walking down from the Hallamshire House I walked past the doomed Hadfield. I stopped to take some pics as it was inevitably, as reported in Beer Matters, the end of the pub as a pub; the end of the building as a pub at least. Shitty multinational conglomerate Sainsbury's planned to turn this pub into another morally baseless cash cow unit. The locals thought otherwise.

So it was I spotted a light on photographing the pub, and people behind he bar. So I went in. Inside was the buzz of opening a new venue. Three bands were ready to play a gig. And the man behind the bar confirmed, it was a reopening gig. Until Sainsbury's won the battle,  the pub company had set them the task of making a go of it.

You'll remember of course the failure of the Meadow Street Hotel  - the pubco offered them the chance to keep the pub if they made a success of it, then they took it off them even though they made the profit. Ultimately they wanted the building for flats - am not sure if they want this building for retail however......

So make sure you go to the Hadfield. It may only have one real ale, Hobgoblin at £3.00 a pint (and Westons cider at £3.45)  but under Jeff at the Red House I'm sure it can work. And showing this to Shamesbury's means they will understand that its a viable pub, and this may influence the council, whom ultimately give the go ahead for change of use.

Use it or lose it then Sheffield folk.

Wee Beefy.

All hail to the Lords of the Manor House....

Hello,

      following my lengthy yomp around the countryside (and A-roads) around Stretton to find "The Lodge" I have finally managed to put a location to the elusive pub known, correctly but colloquially, as Bill and Ben's.

However, this wasn't the result of toiling down muddy footpaths and haranguing Wee Fatha to drive me out to the wilds of Tupton, Wingerworth and Press. Oh no. Somewhat shamefully, the answer to the mystery lay at my fingertips for weeks. I, in fact, had the evidence all along. And only a misconception stopped me from finding it.

You see, when WF kindly lent me his copy of the Chesterfield Round Walk original guide, he had kindly and thoughtfully placed the "relevant" Ashover New Road/Stretton to Woodthorpe Mill section at the back. Because we both thought the pub was virtually in Handley it seemed that all the info I needed was there on that single page.

As it turned out of course, I succeeded only in finding "The Hideaway" on Highstairs Lane, and The Buck at Henmoor. Even when I was told that Bill and Ben's was at Press, I never thought to see where the walk went after Woodthorpe Mill. However, when copying the guide prior to returning it to WF, I noticed the next page went to Stone Edge. It is, after all, a round walk. So I looked, on the off chance, to see if it passed near Press.

I can now reveal it goes...through Press. Not only that, it passes Press Farm, as I had noted on the modern map, but better still, en route to Wingerworth and Stone Edge, it goes right past Bill and Ben's. And its even marked on the 1980's OS map as a pub!

What's more the guide dates the building to 1669, and confirms its proper name. The Manor House Inn, which it describes as a farm/pub, is between Bolehill Lane, just past the hamlet of Press, and Birkin Lane, on a track linking the two roads which is even shown on the road map, overlooking Press reservoirs. A brief Internet investigation reveals that the building is probably now Press Manor Fisheries, although its a bit up the hill, and there are buildings nearer by so am not sure.

So irrespective of whether it was called the Press (that's the only bit I haven't verified) it certainly wasn't called the Lodge.

Hopefully me and Wee Fatha will get out that way soon and at least get to look at the building, so that I can stand in the same position looking at the farm from the same angle and reassure myself that I didn't imagine the whole episode. Even better, would be if the pub opened again, but that seems unlikely. At least I know where the bugger is now.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

All hail to the Lodge!

Hello,

    there's been a pleasing upsurge of interest and coverage of the subject of unspoilt pubs recently. Paul Bailey kicked it all off with a post making reference to his Kent pub guide and the subject was covered on this blog here. The linchpin of this developing interest was the list of Classic Basic Unspoilt Pubs of Great Britain.

Rodney Wolf Coe's list only ever featured pubs that sold real ale, and was compiled, it seemed, largely as the result of tips and recommendations from throughout the UK. It got me thinking about 2 notable farmhouse pubs in Derbyshire - The Queen Adelaide at Snelston Common* and the Lodge, near Stretton, which never featured on the list versions I've seen. The problem was, there seemed to be a dearth of info about The Lodge (this info itself came about as a discussion in 2010 between Wee Fatha and a couple of blokes in a pub in Ashover!) so I tried to conduct a bit of research.

As far as me and WF could ascertain, The Lodge was a farmhouse pub, located up a road that soon became a track, near Stretton in Derbyshire. I only ever went there once (assuming I ever did!?) and I'm not even certain when that was. My mind tells me it had a barn door reminiscent of a hatch, and some sort of signage, and beer kegs outside. And that's it.

Frustratingly my visit wasn't even as a drinker - it never opened during the day and we just happened to be passing and wanted to know if I could get a soft drink.

Further uncertainty surrounds the name. Colloquially it was referred to as Bill and Ben's, a haunt for local farmers who'd gather after the work was done late into the night drinking probably keg Mansfield. WF described it as a "Mansfield house" but I think given the location of the pub I'm not so sure. Convinced that it wasn't a proper tied establishment, we tried to work out the pub, such as it was, name, based on a map of the area. There is a Handley Lodge farm in about the right place, linked to a road by a track, and there is another farm further up called Stretton hall farm, WF claims the pub had hall in the name but I think a more likely pub name was the Handley Lodge, shortened simply to "The Lodge". But is any of this true?

I have now received an early copy of the Ramblers Association guide to the fledgling Chesterfied Round Walk. It uses 1980's Ordnance Survey map fragments to assist walkers in interpreting its directions. There is a pub marked off New Road (as WF insisted) but on the A61 side of the railway - where the walk doesn't go. So to locate the pub I need to head off that way and knock on a door or two! Here's what I found.....

Ashover New Road isn't a joy to walk along since large stretches have no pavement. I joined the guides directions at the point the walk joins the road and first started up a bridleway that headed for Handley Lane and Handley Lodge farm. My plan was to also see if there was or had been a pub the other side of the railway, where its marked. Luckily, I bumped into a local couple out walking their dog, and despite my rather fractured picture and poorly sourced info, they knew where Bill and Ben's was. It was 3 miles away. And there had been a pub on the other side of the railway. Cue a walking history lesson!

The couple told me that Bill and Ben's was a farmhouse pub. However, it was called The Press, and is in the Alton and Press area of Ashover, near to Old Tupton and Wingerworth. Bill and Ben it seems have long since passed away, but there was agreement that a new license application was considered or even lodged in the last 5 years or so, possibly by a Mr Bigley. It was also suggested that Bill and Ben were quite old when they were running the pub, and that when it got late they'd retire to bed and leave a tin for the customers to put the money for their beer in.

There are a few candidates in Press, looking at the map, most notably Northedge Hall Farm and the higher of two Press Farm's. This, however, is still based on my farm up a track idea - and now I'm not so sure about that even! I will do a bit more searching and may even twist Wee Fatha's arm to drive out to Press and Alton one day for a neb, but the chances of getting a pic, either now or from the past seems slim.

One final point is that the 1980's Ordnance Survey map which I assumed had placed the PH sign on the wrong side of the railway due to a lack of space, is in fact correct, in that there really was a pub on Highstairs Lane called the Hideaway - now a much extended private house, but having a possibly 17th core, the front of which was the pub.

So, although not scientific, I think I trust local knowledge better than my fragmented memories, so am happy to have some certainty about the location of Bill and Ben's but disappointed that I have still not seen the building. And, the 1980's map also shows a no longer trading pub near Poplar Farm on Holmgate Lane at Henmoor, which is only just off the Chesterfield Round Walk route. Which makes me wonder - have I simply attached the idea of the farmhouse pub I visited being Bill and Ben's, when in fact it was Poplar farm?

There in lies another expedition.....


Wee Beefy

N.B : Nearby was another unusual licensed building, this one surviving until very recently (and one which I managed to visit one summers evening in 2008) , that being the New Napoleon, overlooking Ogston Reservoir. This presumably wasn't always a pub, obvious not least by its unusual interior layout, but also because when Ogston Reservoir flooded the valley, it covered the Ashover Light Railway and a pub, The Napoleons Home. And carrying on through Ashover, on Slack Hill, A632, a farm on one of the two left hand turns (Slack Lane being one, as you head towards Matlock) also used to be a pub. If anyone has any info on any of these pubs I'd love to hear about them.

*Update : I have finally found a picture of the Queen Adelaide (I just discovered that in a Freudian slip I called it the Quiet Woman...) - here's a link on the excellent Lost Pubs Project website .

A fascinating but dwindling list

Good evening,

     I spotted an interesting post on Paul Bailey's blog here about the resignation from the CAMRA (you've seen the CAMRA) of legendary unspoilt pub hunter Rodney Wolfe Coe.

It struck me that not only does the list he is renowned for compiling, the Classic, basic, unspoilt pubs of Great Britain, link together through its possession a wide range of unspoilt pub lovers over a huge area, but also that of those who have a copy, very few have thought to reprint them online. I think we (sic) are missing a trick.

Of course, there is the issue of whether RWC would mind. Given that his denouncement of CAMRA's dedication to the modern at the expense of the traditional, as its claimed he stated in a letter to Whats Brewing, it seems unlikely that he would have considered making his list an online tool, or that he would stumble across it via Google on a quiet evening. Its still his list though, irrespective of the level of perceived assistance he had in compiling it.

I picked my copy up in the Duke of York in Elton (above) years ago, and have carefully, erm, misplaced it since. I remember there were plenty of pubs I had never visited, but a version I discovered online last year lists plenty I had never even heard of, testimonies to the existence of which linger on only by virtue of the scantest of references in disparate bodies of text across the worldwide web.  

More frustratingly, having found a copy of the 1994 list online, the address www.btinternet.com/~stannett/worth-a-visit/old_pubs.htm 
no longer works.  Having been known to me for a long time its particularly frustrating that I never thought to copy it.

A quick look around the Tinterweb shows a copy of Worcestershire CAMRA's Pint Taken magazine, which, on Page 13 of the Winter 2005 edition mentions a final 11th edition of the list, now featuring just 12 pubs! Since I don't have Word and this is a PDf I have saved what I hope is a "picture" of page 13 which, with any luck, will be shown below. Apologies to Worcester CAMRA if it does work. Apologies to everyone if it doesn't... (there is also a link here )

I don't know how to make the text larger, sorry!

It's noticeable that there are a few pubs that I know are on one of the lists that I have never been to, and now never will. The Welcome Stranger at Herstmonceaux, Eagle at Skerne, Fir Tree at Cornsay Colliery, and, having to do this from memory, I think the Dun Cow at Billy Row in County Durham are all pubs I've either only stood outside, or didn't know about the existence of in time to visit. Frustrating as this information is, the comparison between just two of the lists is a fascinating study.

I wonder therefore, given that the leaflet allegedly started out with over 160 pubs, if anyone would be willing to dig out the editions in their possession and copy them into the blog comments (or better still blog or host them and post the link), or, whether anyone out there knows RWC and would ask for his thoughts on such an idea? It would be fantastic, whatever the route taken, to arrive at having this invaluable picture of our fast disappearing pub heritage in one place.

It would certainly be interesting to find out whether potential inclusions that I also never got to, such as the Lodge at Shirland and Queen Adelaide on Snelston Common, both in Derbyshire, ever made the mark.

Finally, in response to the question posed at the end of Paul Bailey's blog :

of the pubs listed, the Welcome Stranger, Eagle at Skerne, Red Lion at Llandovery, Red Lion at Stoke Talmage, Horse and Trumpet at Medbourne and Seven Stars at Halfway House no longer trade, and the Bath in Cheltenham, Three Tuns in Hay on Wye (now a pub and restaurant, shudder...)  and even the Sun at Leintwardine, have had varying levels of change that would or might disbar them from a 2012 list. Hope that helps.

Wee Beefy.

 

Stalwarts and starlets of the South Yorkshire pub scene

Hello,

    on Sunday, despite promises of dreadful weather, and the fact that Christingpher was coming for tea and considerable alcohol the night and morning before, I rashly agreed to go for a walk. We planned to find the source of the Don, but that's a bit disingenuous since it appears that its beginning is around the grains moss area, the nearest settlement being White Gate near Hade Edge.

So myself and Mr P conceded that having thought originally it sprang from Dunford Bridge we'd catch the bus there and walk along the Trans Pennine Trail as far as our hollow legs would carry us. Luckily, Mr P had escaped the chains of a temporary ban on alcohol so was keen to utilise a facility or two along the way.

We started off on the novelty joke train line between Sheffield and Huddersfield, where although our train was vaguely on time we heard the one coming the other way had broken down. Par for the course in my experience. We alighted at Penistone and caught the 21 bus to Dunford Bridge via a tour of local villages. On the way we passed the Victoria Inn at in the middle of nowhere. I can't say as it looked like its still trading, and if that's the case is a shame. I went there in the late nineties with Wee Keefy for a pint of well kept Tetley, from a landlord who must have been late seventies in vintage then.

Dunford bridge of course has definitely lost its most important asset. Some time around 2005 or so the perfectly fine as it was, GBG listed Stanhope Arms was purchased and turned into the destined to fail "Stanhope Restaurant and Bar" with inevitable results. Its now a theatre company premises. Still, there is at least a phone box in Dunford so you can't say its without facilities....

Speedwell growing near Thurlstone

We made brisk progress in rain and mist following the Don, sometimes with views, often with none, occasionally spotting the sun trying to shine through the knitted grey quilt of cloud. Soon we were  opposite Millhouse Green, and shortly after departed the trail to walk onto Manchester Road and visit the Huntsman at Thurlstone.

I have only ever been twice, both times at night, so it was nice to have a daylight visit, alas this brightness also coincided with almost half of the village arriving at the same time to order drinks and Sunday lunch. At first we appeared to be in a queue down the bar in the narrow pub, and that was working out well, even though the lady serving stopped to serve a regular at the other end, but he may have been there already. Finishing his order another couple arrived and went to the opposite end of the bar to us. And then ordered 5 lunches and a round of drinks.

I would assume the barmaid noticed they had only just materialised but to be fair to her she was rushed off her feet - something made obvious by her getting half of our 3 drink order wrong; but what exactly the hell did the woman waltzing at at the other end of the bar think we were doing stood with no drinks in our hands and wallets at the ready?

As we were getting served a local came to say goodbye to someone and pointed out that we had been waiting nearly 10 minutes to get served before she pushed in. I do like a shared dislike of ignorant queue jumpers!

When we finally got served the beer was excellent. Mr P eased himself into drinking with a pint of Tetleys which he reckoned was one of the best he'd had for a long time, whilst I had a pint of Acorn Quantum and Geeves Coco Canal. There were three other beers on offer including one from Slightly Foxed brewery.

We managed to find a seat and set about warming up, drying off (dressing for th outdoors whilst still drunk inevitably leads to cold), and savouring the brilliantly kept beers. By now the maelstrom of customers had dissipated, and we could have walked up and got served straight away, but you need the co-operation of other punters for that. They bought soft drinks by the way....

We walked into Penistone next and failed to find some shelter to have our dinner. In the end we picked the least wet bench under a tree to consume our pack up - I think my lunch tongue sandwich, Polish kabanos and wasabi peas was an eclectic, if mildly preposterous combination, neither enhanceed or ruined by having rain and leaves blown in my face mid-chomp.

Alas we hadn't time to hang around so bypassed the delights of the Wentworth Arms (former GBG entry now to let) and ploughed on towards Oxspring. Here we also missed out the Travellers on Sheffield Road and continued towards Silkstone Common. It was just gone 16.00 when we saw a sign off the trail for the station so we decided, given the distance to Dodworth, to get off and catch the train back. As it was the bus came first so we caught it into Barnsley - nicely demonstrating why it would have been foolhardy to walk to the Ring Of Bells and back to the Station as I had planned.

In Barnsley I persuaded Mr P that we should call in at the Old No.7 (above) .This was our first visit, and we weren't disappointed. An unusually long pub with a pleasing topping of handpumps on the bar, we had about 6 Acorn beers to choose form plus a couple of guests. I had a pint of the excellent Acorn Tangerine Dream that I'd enjoyed at the Sheffield beer fest, and Mr P a pint of the Herkules IPA - although interestingly, if anything the Tangerine was hoppier. The two pints came to a creditable £5.45, not a bad price for strongish beers.

Passing the time I wandered back for a half of Gorlovka (£1.50) and then noticed that Mr P had found the beer menu. And what a delight! Loads of Brewdog offerings, plenty of American exotica and, whilst its important not to base your appreciation of a range on one bottle, I was tingly with joy to spot the amazing Petra Brewery Columba wheat beer from Corsica. I didn't see the bottle prices but I know I will have to go back.

We caught the train to Sheffield next, when it finally turned up, 20 minutes late that is, and Mr P went home whilst I popped in the Sheffield Tap for some expensive if delicious ales. There were 3 from Hawkshead, 2 from Fyne Ales plus Thornbridge and possibly Tapped, but I didn't check. From the fabulous selection I chose a pint of Dry Stone Stout from Hawkshead, and a half of the 6.9% Fyne Ales Sublime Stout.

Obviously I got spanked for the cost - even considering I had a pack of crisps, it came to £6.45. That didn't matter so much though when you consider how fine the ales were. The Hawkshead was erm, well ironically "sublime", and the Sublime was, ironically, dryish, but not too much. In fact, both were excellent beers, but the Hawkshead was incredibly good. A brilliant choice from which I could have drunk a lot more.

So, a cold, tiring, and refreshing day seeking out some excellent pubs, but most refreshing of all, not a duff beer was to be had anywhere. Top marks to all the pubs for their cellar skills.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Open No Hours

Morning,

        I thought I might write a word or 200 about opening hours today. My indignation at standing in front of a closed Coach and Horses in Dronfield is still raw, and, I appear to be failing to "get over it" but there's history here. Not just in terms of inexplicable Coach and Horses closings, but also in my whole drinking and particularly beer travel experiences, over the years.

Here, by way of cathartic naming and shaming and general bad tempered mardiness, is a list of some of the choicest examples :

Cherry Tree, Stoke Row Oxfordshire c1999: before this became a homogenised Brakspear eatery with a bar, (along with the also formerly excellent before it became a restaurant Crooked Billet not far away), the Cherry Tree was in the GBG and described as an unspoilt traditional pub. We were on a whistle stop tour of the area, and rang them two days prior to confirm their opening hours. They closed at 15.00, but as long as we were there by 5 to it was flexible so we'd get served. We arrived at 14.45 to find them locking the door.

King William 4th, Ipsden, Oxfordshire c1999: Also on the above trip I wanted, having somehow found the Black Horse at Checkendon, the challenge of finding this pub which the 2001 GBG states opens 11-14.30 Saturdays. We rang two days in advance to check and arrived at 14.00 to find it closed.

King John Inn Tollard Royal Wiltshire 2004 - used to be in the GBG, advertised conservative but prevalent rural opening hours of 12-15.00 when we were there (as well as on the board on the wall of the pub). We arrived at 14.20 to see a large A frame outside saying "customers wanted". Happy to oblige, we went inside to find the manager with the keys heading off out. When we queried why he was shutting early when we would have wanted to come in for a few pints  he said it was because he was going out. Couldn't wait that extra 40 minutes it seemed.

Royal Oak, Ledbury, Herefordshire 1995/6 the brewery tap for the Ledbury Brewery this was quite a large building which sold the Ledbury Brewery Ales and their hard to get beer mats. It was meant to be open (all day if memory serves, but, erm, its yonks ago) and we found it at just gone 13.00 with no signs of life. We noticed that the licensee was milling around and we asked when he opened, which was later that evening, and when we asked if we could come in for a few pints, which would not require him to put the lights on even, he said it "wasn't worth the effort and cost".

Grainstore Brewery Tap, Oakham, Rutland 2007(ish). I admit I didn't believe the GBG when it stated that the pub opened at 10.00 on a Sunday because that's very rare but we had a lot to fit in so arriving at 10.30 this would have been a useful first stop. The lights were on. The staff were in and working. To all intents and purposes the pub was open. But you couldn't go in because they didn't officially open until 11.00. Saving who what, one wonders? Note : I can't find the offending GBG, so it could have been a typo, but GBG 2006, 8,9,10 and 11 have its Sunday opening hours swapping between 11-11 and 12-14.30 in that period.

These are just 5 great examples of the determination of licensees, managers, landlords or tenants to steadfastly shut the doors and not serve pesky customers, with their "cash" and other inconveniences. I'm well aware that there are costs associated with opening the pub (but then, why not keep one room locked and rely on sun/natural light, like the Gate at Troway?) but in my experience the better pubs let you in early if that's the issue or stay open until their advertised hours have passed, or remain open when someones in. Remember, there is no greater persuasion in the mind of the drinker than the spectre of expectation. Fail to sate that thirsty beast, and bad feeling prevails...

The long and the short of it is, I can't spend my money in your pub if the pub is shut, and if I am travelling from afar, or by infrequent public transport, and you are closed, then I will be annoyed and likely not come back.

That's my outlook - but am I being too rigid? Do I just need to get over it?

Or should I just avoid pubs with a Royal or agricultural theme to their name? I don't know, but as you can see from the dates above, I've definitely got over these experiences in the intervening years......

Wee Beefy