Hello,
on Saturday, the day after payday assuring me of having funds, myself and my fab chum Vikkie went for a wander, billed as Crookes and Walkley, but mainly Walkley, and including Commonside. Co-incidentally, I did mostly the same crawl with Ale Ambler Charlie about 5 years ago, and I met with him Sunday, but details of that are to come in my next post.
I was meant to meet Vikkie at 12.00 in town so left the house at 11.15. The 52a, which runs every ten minutes, when it can be bothered, arrived 30 minutes after I arrived at the bus stop. Things could only get better. After the bus swapped drivers I found Vikkie on High Street and we both boarded the bus I had been on and got off on the top of Crookes. Our first job was to look at how the new micropub was progressing. A neb through the window suggests its potential name may be the builders yard....
Our first stop was the Princess Royal. From a range of four or five ales I started on a pint of Blue Bee Jester and Vikkie on a half of Welbeck Harley, and we sat round the side in the sunshine admiring the views and the wildlife, along with our beers. From here we walked down to gawp at the former Olde Heavygate, R.I.P old friend, and then headed down to Commonside to pop in the Closed Shop. Those of you who know me well will have heard me say numerous times that I would NEVER set foot in this pub whilst Stancil had it, but, you can't judge without visiting. So Vikkie had a half of Saltaire something or other on keg and me a half of full of Dank on cask, and we sat in the sunshine in the beer garden. The beer was OK. It wasn't very busy. Maybe the locals have taken a harder stance than myself.....
Across the road to the Hallamshire House and we sat in their beer garden with a pint of Hacksaw pale for me and a pint of Tangarine lager or ale for Vikkie. Both beers were well kept and we planned our route for the rest of the crawl. Ironically, heading up School Road we bumped into none other than the man of Ash, former manager at the HH. It was great to hear that his tenure at the Beer Engine was going well, and he provided some advice about our later destinations.
Up to the Cobden View next and being mid afternoon the pub was very quiet. After a somewhat lengthy wait we ordered a pint of Deuchars for me and a pint of Farmers for Vikkie and went and sat in their wonderful beer garden, enjoying the hot sunshine. After a quick scrump of some pears we headed down the path at the back onto Western Road then up past Binghams and back down to Commonside, then along to the Rose House.
When myself and Charlie had been they had two real ales on, and it still advertises that in paint on the wall but am not sure thy have served cask for two or three years now. We sat in the garden with halves of Guinness St James' Gold, which was on sale at a decent £2.60 a pint. After listening in on an urban soap opera, we headed on to the Palm on Palm Street.
Two real ales on here, and we both went for halves of Farmers Blonde and went and sat in their beer garden. The location was lovely, especially in the hot sun, but the beer alas was on its very last legs. We chatted to the landlady for some time about Punch but forgot to mention that it was time for her Farmers to retire. A quick visit next to the Florist, which no longer sells real ale so we had halves of Magnet in their beer garden, before we visited the Blind Monkey. Probably a pint each of Heathen in here, and once again enjoyed in the hot sunshine in their wonderful........beer garden!
A quick hoik up Carr Road followed and we settled down to our best beer of the day in the Walkley Beer Co. I had a pint of IPA at 6.8% that had been brewed at a brewery and had a name, and finished on a can of Cloudwater Citra DIPA. Vikkie also had drinks, which were imbibed from a glass.
We were to have popped in the Blake, once again utilising their beer garden, but were fair famished so headed straight for the Hillsborough Hotel for food. Unfortunately they weren't serving food, so we had crisps and enjoyed our pints of beer coloured liquids in the beer garden. Obviously.
Sup finished I know I got on a bus and there is every chance that I got home, so it was a case of mission accomplished. The Walkley Beer Co was the best pub of the day but the Hallamshire House and Cobden also stood out amongst many. Many reasons to make a visit to some or all of the pubs yourselves whilst the weather is still good!
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Olde Heavygate Crookes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olde Heavygate Crookes. Show all posts
Wednesday, 5 September 2018
Sunday, 26 May 2013
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
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
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
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
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Wee Beefy's Beer Bites - pubs die why exactly?
Good evening readers, and now news of demise and why demise...
Timeline to Dissatisfaction - when did we fall out of love with the pub?
Not a reference to this blog, but a topic that came up earlier tonight. I was enjoying the redoubtable delights of bar Fatha's in furthest Westfield and and along with Wee Keefy we were doing our usual analysis of world events, whilst drinking a small amount of beer (this is not sarcasm by the way).
There was Robinsons Unicorn, which in a bottle loses some of the rather icky branding of the pump clips and may well be stronger at something akin to 4.3% - very nice too by the way.
There was also the "Morrison's Own" beer, erm, brewed by Titanic, which this time was their quirky chocolate vanilla porter, which had strong flavours of both, but the chocolate was a bit too central, i.e. it wasn't an initial burst (that was vanilla) and it didn't linger long (that was also the vanilla) Perhaps a good time for me to give chocolate stout a break for a while methinks. We also had some very palatable White Horse Brewery Rudolph's nobody cares (no beer should have Rudolph in it, thematically, or literally), which was a very nice drop despite its cartoon logo and nobbish name.
Anyhoo the main crux of the matter is an idea Wee Keefy related based on a discussion he'd had at work. Many people have a fairly strong idea about why pubs have been closing so much recently, and the antecedence of these factors means highlighting them then attributes a specific time to the event.
Broadly, I think people agree its down to the smoking ban, cheap supermarket alcohol, reductions in drink driving limits, relaxed beer import laws and a general lack of personal disposable income. In which case, this mounting storm of cataclysmic forces has been generated mainly in the last 6 or 7 years. I don't think you can disagree with any of the above, but I think I might also suggest changing attitudes to drinking and eating (which pubs on the whole have found very difficult to keep up with), real or perceived threats of trouble in many pubs, and the fact that the pub drinking public has become much more diverse, and that in trying to embody the differences therein, changes in pub style and direction have alienated many.
Assuming we have this sewn up then, what abut the idea that the decline actually started in November 1999?
The Millennium, as you may recall, was the epitome of anti climax. It was overpriced, oversubscribed, over long in build up and over in, well a second (although, strictly the millennium is in fact the whole thousand years, so it isn't over yet, but you get the idea). The thing is, in order to maximise their involvement in this frenzy pubs went a little bit stratospheric.
Huge numbers of pubs became venues and nightspots for the night. Pubs that you may have been going in for 20 years or more including every New Years eve, suddenly wanted you to pay to get in. They wanted you to have a ticket, in some absurd cases to adhere to a dress code, or you had to purchase a triple priced meal into the bargain. If you found a bar asking only a small fee and putting on entertainment you needed to be one of a lucky few to get tickets, and anyone washed up in a none paying venue was inevitably left to fish around in the their least favourite haunt for a decent beer and someone they knew who hadn't secured tickets elsewhere.
People rightly got wise to this and gave such places the cold shoulder. They planned in advance and bought booze and snacks from Supermarkets at heavily discounted prices, then stayed in on the big night watching the best fireworks man could buy, albeit on the telly, listening to the music they wanted, and, although this would not have played on their minds at the time, smoking to their hearts content. And they never forgot that night.
Meanwhile, party poppers fell in overpriced drinks, brawls and karaoke broke out (am not quite sure if one is worse than the other), taxis charged 4 times the going rate, many bars shut earlier than advertised and overall even those that got in the good places probably thought it was good for the event, rather than for the money. Below is an illustrative device depicting myself and Christingpher a trifle drunk in not exactly 2000. That's what the Millennium eve looked like to a lot of people though....
So the pubs shot themselves in the foot. They tried to price people out of a decent night out and fleeced the ones who paid over the odds to go in them. People found more enjoyable and affordable alternatives, and then over the next few years when prices started to rise, the smoking ban was introduced, the drink drive limit reduced further, and supermarket booze got even cheaper, they no longer trusted the pubs, and many probably felt they no longer deserved their loyalty. So more and more people started to make alternative arrangements for more and more occasions, and soon for everyday nights.
What I like about this idea, not that I am necessarily saying its the the best explanation out there, is that it demonstrates a plausible and recuontable time line of pub dissatisfaction. And at the very start of that decline is greedy pubs. Now where can we see this menacing spectre starting to appear more and more these days.... ?
Pub Company News
Earlier the W's also noted that, according to once exemplary beer magazine Beer Matters, (that spirited old hairy man no longer seems to be printed in there, not the same since) the Old Heavygate Inn on Matlock Road at Crookes has been granted permission for conversion into residential use. Time methinks to tell you a smidgen about the Heavygate.
When I was at school, a lass I knew lived at the pub. Her Dad Ron kept the pub for 127 years - or similar. She was the first person I remember telling me about a pub, and although I didn't really recall or indeed properly understand most of what she was describing, I can vividly recall the immense kudos that this address afforded her.
When I needed to learn how to go to the pub and handle my carefully chosen real ale, at the age of, erm, you know, 17 and 3 quarters, I went there. It was possible to go in and drink, even if mild concerns existed about your vintage, as long as you were polite and largely quiet and didn't cause a problem, like drinking 6 pints of bitter and a snakebite and then throwing up on your shoes outside. Which I only did once, for the record. Sorry Cath....
There was also a well deserved reputation for a late drink and a lock in from time to time, marshaled expertly by the staff on the basis of etiquette - yes, you could come in at 10pm and reorder after last orders, but no, you couldn't waltz in off the 52 at 25 to midnight and try the same.
There was one long, more modern room on the right as you entered in the centre of the pub, but that would have been the right hand corner of the original very old building. Though this was a recent addition, with fixed seating and a big window at one end where the jukebox was, it was still full of regulars of all ages, and a doughty cabninet behind the bar selling traditional spirits miniatures like Sheepdip Whisky, which I don't think I have ever tried, but which made me think it must be a connoisseurs drop...
There was Kimberley Best and Kimberley Classic on handpump as well as the usual suspects for lager and cider, all served in seemingly ginormous oversize glasses. Up the steps on the left was a much older and more traditional Lounge, where the more venerable characters sat, which also had a jukebox, curiously I seem to think it was different, but I may have imagined this. For untold years, the CAMRA Good Beer Guide listed the pub, with the now legendary unchanging line "the lounge features potted plants", a description so scathingly innocuous as to make youi think you may have walked into a building that was otherwise almost entirely white and bereft of decoration or ephemera.
Pubmageddon
All good things come to an end of course and Ron packed it in many years ago, a succession of managers followed, and I have to say I probably didn't visit at this time. I did however start taking an interest during my "Walkley Renaissance" period in February and March last year, when it briefly reopened, allowing me two visits and Davefromtshop 1 visit before it creaked to an undignified end again.
Interestingly, I understand that the person running the Dog and Partridge whilst it sinks into certain irretrievable oblivion was offered the dizzying chance to run the Heavygate, as I rather lamely and without detail tried to hint at in one of my least successful rumour mill posts. I wonder then if the pub company responsible for the heinous crime of letting a thriving community pub die on its knees (bearing in mind pubmageddon blandification experts Greedy King will have been involved in shafting the Heavygate at some point) is the same one throwing away the keys to the venerable Dog and Partridge, with its rare multi-roomed interior and fascinating rooms and history?
I bet you a tidy sum it is. Its imaginable that, assuming the permission is not withdrawn, one boardroom of money grabbing execs who have never run a pub in their life will have condemned a 16th century former toll house and an amazingly intatct city centre institution to death, for the sake of a quick profit, because through their meddling and outrageous ureasonable demands, no-one could turn round the venue's fortunes in 30 days (insert arbitrary number as required) and meet their exorbitant targets.
What a disaster for Sheffield's pubs that would be. And what a sad reflection on the moral outlook of pub companies in this case that they lacked the imagination and flexibility to save what were two, albeit different, well run profitable businesses.
So what was I saying about greed in the pub business again?
Wee Beefy
Timeline to Dissatisfaction - when did we fall out of love with the pub?
Not a reference to this blog, but a topic that came up earlier tonight. I was enjoying the redoubtable delights of bar Fatha's in furthest Westfield and and along with Wee Keefy we were doing our usual analysis of world events, whilst drinking a small amount of beer (this is not sarcasm by the way).
There was Robinsons Unicorn, which in a bottle loses some of the rather icky branding of the pump clips and may well be stronger at something akin to 4.3% - very nice too by the way.
There was also the "Morrison's Own" beer, erm, brewed by Titanic, which this time was their quirky chocolate vanilla porter, which had strong flavours of both, but the chocolate was a bit too central, i.e. it wasn't an initial burst (that was vanilla) and it didn't linger long (that was also the vanilla) Perhaps a good time for me to give chocolate stout a break for a while methinks. We also had some very palatable White Horse Brewery Rudolph's nobody cares (no beer should have Rudolph in it, thematically, or literally), which was a very nice drop despite its cartoon logo and nobbish name.
Anyhoo the main crux of the matter is an idea Wee Keefy related based on a discussion he'd had at work. Many people have a fairly strong idea about why pubs have been closing so much recently, and the antecedence of these factors means highlighting them then attributes a specific time to the event.
Broadly, I think people agree its down to the smoking ban, cheap supermarket alcohol, reductions in drink driving limits, relaxed beer import laws and a general lack of personal disposable income. In which case, this mounting storm of cataclysmic forces has been generated mainly in the last 6 or 7 years. I don't think you can disagree with any of the above, but I think I might also suggest changing attitudes to drinking and eating (which pubs on the whole have found very difficult to keep up with), real or perceived threats of trouble in many pubs, and the fact that the pub drinking public has become much more diverse, and that in trying to embody the differences therein, changes in pub style and direction have alienated many.
Assuming we have this sewn up then, what abut the idea that the decline actually started in November 1999?
The Millennium, as you may recall, was the epitome of anti climax. It was overpriced, oversubscribed, over long in build up and over in, well a second (although, strictly the millennium is in fact the whole thousand years, so it isn't over yet, but you get the idea). The thing is, in order to maximise their involvement in this frenzy pubs went a little bit stratospheric.
Huge numbers of pubs became venues and nightspots for the night. Pubs that you may have been going in for 20 years or more including every New Years eve, suddenly wanted you to pay to get in. They wanted you to have a ticket, in some absurd cases to adhere to a dress code, or you had to purchase a triple priced meal into the bargain. If you found a bar asking only a small fee and putting on entertainment you needed to be one of a lucky few to get tickets, and anyone washed up in a none paying venue was inevitably left to fish around in the their least favourite haunt for a decent beer and someone they knew who hadn't secured tickets elsewhere.
People rightly got wise to this and gave such places the cold shoulder. They planned in advance and bought booze and snacks from Supermarkets at heavily discounted prices, then stayed in on the big night watching the best fireworks man could buy, albeit on the telly, listening to the music they wanted, and, although this would not have played on their minds at the time, smoking to their hearts content. And they never forgot that night.
Meanwhile, party poppers fell in overpriced drinks, brawls and karaoke broke out (am not quite sure if one is worse than the other), taxis charged 4 times the going rate, many bars shut earlier than advertised and overall even those that got in the good places probably thought it was good for the event, rather than for the money. Below is an illustrative device depicting myself and Christingpher a trifle drunk in not exactly 2000. That's what the Millennium eve looked like to a lot of people though....
So the pubs shot themselves in the foot. They tried to price people out of a decent night out and fleeced the ones who paid over the odds to go in them. People found more enjoyable and affordable alternatives, and then over the next few years when prices started to rise, the smoking ban was introduced, the drink drive limit reduced further, and supermarket booze got even cheaper, they no longer trusted the pubs, and many probably felt they no longer deserved their loyalty. So more and more people started to make alternative arrangements for more and more occasions, and soon for everyday nights.
What I like about this idea, not that I am necessarily saying its the the best explanation out there, is that it demonstrates a plausible and recuontable time line of pub dissatisfaction. And at the very start of that decline is greedy pubs. Now where can we see this menacing spectre starting to appear more and more these days.... ?
Pub Company News
Earlier the W's also noted that, according to once exemplary beer magazine Beer Matters, (that spirited old hairy man no longer seems to be printed in there, not the same since) the Old Heavygate Inn on Matlock Road at Crookes has been granted permission for conversion into residential use. Time methinks to tell you a smidgen about the Heavygate.
When I was at school, a lass I knew lived at the pub. Her Dad Ron kept the pub for 127 years - or similar. She was the first person I remember telling me about a pub, and although I didn't really recall or indeed properly understand most of what she was describing, I can vividly recall the immense kudos that this address afforded her.
When I needed to learn how to go to the pub and handle my carefully chosen real ale, at the age of, erm, you know, 17 and 3 quarters, I went there. It was possible to go in and drink, even if mild concerns existed about your vintage, as long as you were polite and largely quiet and didn't cause a problem, like drinking 6 pints of bitter and a snakebite and then throwing up on your shoes outside. Which I only did once, for the record. Sorry Cath....
There was also a well deserved reputation for a late drink and a lock in from time to time, marshaled expertly by the staff on the basis of etiquette - yes, you could come in at 10pm and reorder after last orders, but no, you couldn't waltz in off the 52 at 25 to midnight and try the same.
There was one long, more modern room on the right as you entered in the centre of the pub, but that would have been the right hand corner of the original very old building. Though this was a recent addition, with fixed seating and a big window at one end where the jukebox was, it was still full of regulars of all ages, and a doughty cabninet behind the bar selling traditional spirits miniatures like Sheepdip Whisky, which I don't think I have ever tried, but which made me think it must be a connoisseurs drop...
There was Kimberley Best and Kimberley Classic on handpump as well as the usual suspects for lager and cider, all served in seemingly ginormous oversize glasses. Up the steps on the left was a much older and more traditional Lounge, where the more venerable characters sat, which also had a jukebox, curiously I seem to think it was different, but I may have imagined this. For untold years, the CAMRA Good Beer Guide listed the pub, with the now legendary unchanging line "the lounge features potted plants", a description so scathingly innocuous as to make youi think you may have walked into a building that was otherwise almost entirely white and bereft of decoration or ephemera.
Pubmageddon
All good things come to an end of course and Ron packed it in many years ago, a succession of managers followed, and I have to say I probably didn't visit at this time. I did however start taking an interest during my "Walkley Renaissance" period in February and March last year, when it briefly reopened, allowing me two visits and Davefromtshop 1 visit before it creaked to an undignified end again.
Interestingly, I understand that the person running the Dog and Partridge whilst it sinks into certain irretrievable oblivion was offered the dizzying chance to run the Heavygate, as I rather lamely and without detail tried to hint at in one of my least successful rumour mill posts. I wonder then if the pub company responsible for the heinous crime of letting a thriving community pub die on its knees (bearing in mind pubmageddon blandification experts Greedy King will have been involved in shafting the Heavygate at some point) is the same one throwing away the keys to the venerable Dog and Partridge, with its rare multi-roomed interior and fascinating rooms and history?
I bet you a tidy sum it is. Its imaginable that, assuming the permission is not withdrawn, one boardroom of money grabbing execs who have never run a pub in their life will have condemned a 16th century former toll house and an amazingly intatct city centre institution to death, for the sake of a quick profit, because through their meddling and outrageous ureasonable demands, no-one could turn round the venue's fortunes in 30 days (insert arbitrary number as required) and meet their exorbitant targets.
What a disaster for Sheffield's pubs that would be. And what a sad reflection on the moral outlook of pub companies in this case that they lacked the imagination and flexibility to save what were two, albeit different, well run profitable businesses.
So what was I saying about greed in the pub business again?
Wee Beefy
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Pubs in Walkley, town side of Hillsborough, Commonside Crookes and Brook Hill.
Hello drinkers and pub lovers,
as promised here are the details of my Hillsborough and Walkley pub crawl.
I started in Crookes actually, mainly so that as we picked our way down the snow and slush covered roads I could see if the Princess Royal was open, which it was – I knew then there was a point in visiting later.
Me and Mr P got to the Blake about 14.30 and found one person in – Big Ron, a former colleague of ours, propping up the bar and discussing the only thing worth discussing – pubs – with the barman.
Beer wise there was a good range, I had two pints of the Okells smoked porter which was about 4.8% and Mr P started with the IPA – who’s IPA I never thought to record, even though I also had a pint, but it was very nice, almost as good as the porter. Mr P also tried halves of Springhead Robin Hood and a lower gravity bitter from Pictish.
It’s a good time to go to the Blake during the day because it gives you the opportunity to walk around and admire the layout and the old beer posters and get a feel for the overall ambiance, which can’t really be done when its busy.
We headed from here to the Hillsborough Hotel, past the closed and metal shuttered Bath on Burgoyne Road, where we both had pints of Crown Hillsborough Pale Ale, despite the various strong offerings available. This was mainly because I knew I had a few more pubs to come so wanted to try and remain vaguely sober – achieved in part with the delicious pork pie I had at the Blake.
We parted company here and I headed up Infirmary road, noticing that the Cuthbert Bank was now only a building, with the pub signage having been removed, and the Burgoyne looking forlorn and closed. Further along is a pub I have never been to, the Masons, an ex Wards pub retaining separate rooms in a timeworn if slightly kitsch in places interior. The sign outside says real ales but there was none to be found, the landlord did explain that there was no call for it so he hadn’t kept them on, but surprisingly I noticed he had handpulled old rosie cider – not wanting to jeopardise my crawl I declined to try but may pop back to give it a go some time.
Similar ale free outcomes were achieved at the Queens Ground, which is a shame because it too has an interesting traditional interior, and the Firwood Cottage. I did visit this pub a couple of times when I lived on Tennyson road, they only had Tetley on but it was at least real ale, this is another pub that over the years seems to have changed landlord and manager with alarming regularity, a destabilising influence that prevents a pub from developing. The present incumbent was friendly and offered me a half of Magnet keg instead, which had I not been on a crawl I might have tried, especially with its demise as a cask ale.
Along towards the Florist next I headed up Palm Street and finally got to visit the Palm. Breathless from the steep slippy snow covered hill I was relieved to spot a handpump, and had a very quaffable pint of Black Sheep whilst sat to the left of the bar trying not to hear the football results. The Palm retains a traditional layout with a tiny snug on the right and a games room at the back.
I struggled up to South Road from here, stopping off to buy some food to soak up the ale, and tried the Rose House whilst I was in the area. Given its previous dire fortunes it was good to see it busy but alas it was selling no real ale so I moved on. The Freedom House further along had the door open but no lights on so decided it must be shut, before I headed up the incredibly steep hill up to the bottom part of Crookes, and then onto Heavygate road and the Heavygate.
We are in young wee beefy territory now since I used to drink in this area between 17 ( yes, I know, naughty of me) and 22 – all you need to know is that it was the 1990’s. On entering I headed as I had always done to the right hand side room which now has a pool table in, and two handpumps with the clips turned round.
Up the steps on the left is the more (but now less) traditional lounge where the bar had another couple of handpumps with clips turned round. Upon enquiring, landlord/manager/licensee Ian informed me that it would be a week or two before he got real ales, which suggests he is a new incumbent. He made it clear it would be Greedy King IPA and Abbot but that he wanted to sell some guests so maybe I ‘ll go back in a few weeks to see how its going.
Next to the Princess Royal, which I went in about 16 years ago. If anything, to me, it now looks even more traditional, still retaining a layout of separate rooms and drinking areas , and dark wood panelling. The real change for me was the beer range – I may only have been in about three times ever but recall Tetley was the only beer sold. It still is sold here, but now there are two guests and Black Sheep (and another that I didn’t record). I had a couple of pints of the Sheffield Brewing Co Five Rivers, and a pint of Kelham Easy Rider, and met up briefly with Wee Keefy for a chat. The atmosphere is friendly and the pub warm and cosy – I can see any revisit to any of the pubs will have to include the Prinny.
From here I headed for Commonside, including popping into the Dram Shop to buy a couple of strong beers, and first to the Springvale. I never really took to the Springvale, but it did always have real ale, and still does. Its squarely aimed at the younger end of the market but I think not exclusively students – its too wannabe nightclub for the wide range of drinking tastes that you find within the university community.
I stayed only briefly in the empty part on the left of the bar drinking some very average Black Sheep, before heading to the Hallamshire House, where I bumped into my third Ian of the night, this being the one that works at Archer Road Beer Stop. I had a half of Sharps Doom Bar, unfortunately there was no Sheffield brewing Co beers this time, and I was concerned to see the spectre of a Greedy king pump clip on the bar, hopefully this will not spell the end of the good range of real ales that the pub has served over the last 12 years.
I was heading for the University Arms next so stopped in the pubs along the way – or rather I would have, had they been pubs instead of bars forced incongruously into pub buildings. The Hadfield on Barber Road was always a busy student venue in the 90’s but always sold real ale, probably but not exclusively Tetley – now it is like a city centre bar but without the trend for interesting beers – no real ale on and no sign of continental beers to fill the void.
Down the road towards Brook Hill the Star and Garter used to be a decent real ale pub, in fact it may even have been in the good beer guide in the last 10 years, and was certainly selling real ale as recently as 2007 when some friends from work were going for regular poker nights there. Now alas, its lager and Karaoke, which smacks slightly of desperation.
I headed round the corner to the University Arms and grabbed a half of Sheffield Brewing Co mild, whilst taking the opportunity to sit in the tiny bar snug to the right of the bar. Nothing seems to have changed since Mr Pigeon left and the ale range is still good so hopefully this will continue to be a good pub.
My final stop was the Bath Hotel, crammed as you would expect on a Saturday night, and offering amongst others, a delicious Hornbeam mild. I decided I’d initially only have a half of it, but ended up having three as I got chatting to other drinkers and a Canadian bloke who’s group was heading to the Blake – they were put off by the long walk, which made me smile since I had walked from there in a giant loop via Hillsborough throughout the day. I got home for 23.00 ish to begin making an impractical meal of haggis – when you are starving hungry after some serious refreshment, meals that you wait 1 hour 20 minutes for are never a good idea.
In conclusion, the town side edges of Hillsborough contain a lot of traditional pubs but no real ale, and many closed ones, with only the Hillsborouigh Hotel and New Barrack Tavern offering a decent beer until you reach the Rawson Spring.Walkley is, in places, a dreadful real ale desert, but there are oasis, such as the Palm, the Blake, and if it reopens which I hope it will, the Walkley Cottage. The lower parts of Crookes are blessed with the Princess Royal and maybe the Heavygate, Commonside has one great pub, two if you can ignore the rudeness of the landlord at the Closed Shop, and Brook Hill and beyond is a stark reminder that for every good pub there are the dreadful many waiting in the wings.
It could be argued that too many pubs in one area is unsustainable, so conversely, a mix of well run, friendly, individual or traditional ale pubs and the unloved font festival venues run by transient career pub managers, should allow the best ones to thrive. However, this is how we lose traditional pubs. A step by step teeter towards closure follows the recipe below:
1. It starts with all too often ill conceived changes and novelty schemes.
2. Combine this with a lack of ambition, leadership and support (especially from greedy pub companies who see the operation of prime real estate as pubs to be a hindrance) which creates lack of interest from customers and gimmicks and cutting of corners for short term gain means people look elsewhere.
3. Falling profits leads to a merry-go-round of managers and landlords, the favoured solution of pubco's.
4. This means incoming hosts need to maintain the status quo whether it be good or bad, so often retain disinterested staff and rarely go back to real ale.
5. The constant unreliability and change puts off regulars and the pub relies on making short term gains from new passing trade, which is unsustainable.
6. In the end, instead of building up a nucleus of regulars which comprises drinkers from a wide spectrum of pubgoers the pub caters for a more and more narrow customer base and the ensuing downturn from this means the process begins again in the pursuit of often unachievable targets.
7. The pubco gets tired of waiting and closes the pub to make a killing selling it for development.
I won’t pretend I spent the best nights of my life in the Hadfield, Star and Garter, Royal (not visited since I think its been demolished, I think it was on Walkley Lane), Rose House and Freedom House, but all these pubs used to sell a decent pint and now are a shadow of what they used to be (literally for the Royal) and a millon miles form what the could be.
How strange that Walkley’s current best pubs are two that never in my drinking years used to sell real ale at all, whilst the ones that used to be reliable if unincredible stalwarts of tradition are either trying to stop being a pub at all, or are eschewing the sale of traditional beer in favour of identikit ranges which means they have to stand out on venue and atmosphere alone.
On the other hand, its very important to point out that pubs don’t have to sell real ale to be popular and successful or even to be good – look at some of the incredible examples on the National Inventory such as Duke of York at Leysters Herefordshire, The Comm at Lochgilphead, Argyle and the Lion Royal hotel in Rhayader – but they are good at what they do and thrive on that basis. So although the real ale free venues of Infirmary road are dwindling in number what with the George, Burgoyne and Cuthbert closed, and having probably not sold real ale in the last 20 years ( except the George briefly, and perhaps the Masons), those remaining are at least still traditional in outlook and maintain the ambiance and appearance of a traditional boozer. This is the flipside. I’d love them to be selling real ale, but they don’t. and against my nightmare scenario recipe above, the introduction of real ale would probably be a short term gimmick or unnecessary change, because not every pub can sell real ale – as the man at the Masons knows.
I’d be willing to bet that the Hadfield and Star and Garter will have changed hands before 2012 and possibly closed and reopened along the way. I hope it won’t but there’s a strong chance the Heavygate will change hands again, not because of poor staffing, but because Greedy King are not all of a sudden a good pub copmany just because they brew beer. I also reckon that one of the Florist or the Crown at Walkley will be lost. Through all this, consistent reliable pubs like the Prinny and Hallamshire House will stoically stick to what they know and still be popular viable prospects.
Positive pub news to come in he next couple of weeks – don’t be disheartened !
Wee Beefy
as promised here are the details of my Hillsborough and Walkley pub crawl.
I started in Crookes actually, mainly so that as we picked our way down the snow and slush covered roads I could see if the Princess Royal was open, which it was – I knew then there was a point in visiting later.
Me and Mr P got to the Blake about 14.30 and found one person in – Big Ron, a former colleague of ours, propping up the bar and discussing the only thing worth discussing – pubs – with the barman.
Beer wise there was a good range, I had two pints of the Okells smoked porter which was about 4.8% and Mr P started with the IPA – who’s IPA I never thought to record, even though I also had a pint, but it was very nice, almost as good as the porter. Mr P also tried halves of Springhead Robin Hood and a lower gravity bitter from Pictish.
It’s a good time to go to the Blake during the day because it gives you the opportunity to walk around and admire the layout and the old beer posters and get a feel for the overall ambiance, which can’t really be done when its busy.
We headed from here to the Hillsborough Hotel, past the closed and metal shuttered Bath on Burgoyne Road, where we both had pints of Crown Hillsborough Pale Ale, despite the various strong offerings available. This was mainly because I knew I had a few more pubs to come so wanted to try and remain vaguely sober – achieved in part with the delicious pork pie I had at the Blake.
We parted company here and I headed up Infirmary road, noticing that the Cuthbert Bank was now only a building, with the pub signage having been removed, and the Burgoyne looking forlorn and closed. Further along is a pub I have never been to, the Masons, an ex Wards pub retaining separate rooms in a timeworn if slightly kitsch in places interior. The sign outside says real ales but there was none to be found, the landlord did explain that there was no call for it so he hadn’t kept them on, but surprisingly I noticed he had handpulled old rosie cider – not wanting to jeopardise my crawl I declined to try but may pop back to give it a go some time.
Similar ale free outcomes were achieved at the Queens Ground, which is a shame because it too has an interesting traditional interior, and the Firwood Cottage. I did visit this pub a couple of times when I lived on Tennyson road, they only had Tetley on but it was at least real ale, this is another pub that over the years seems to have changed landlord and manager with alarming regularity, a destabilising influence that prevents a pub from developing. The present incumbent was friendly and offered me a half of Magnet keg instead, which had I not been on a crawl I might have tried, especially with its demise as a cask ale.
Along towards the Florist next I headed up Palm Street and finally got to visit the Palm. Breathless from the steep slippy snow covered hill I was relieved to spot a handpump, and had a very quaffable pint of Black Sheep whilst sat to the left of the bar trying not to hear the football results. The Palm retains a traditional layout with a tiny snug on the right and a games room at the back.
I struggled up to South Road from here, stopping off to buy some food to soak up the ale, and tried the Rose House whilst I was in the area. Given its previous dire fortunes it was good to see it busy but alas it was selling no real ale so I moved on. The Freedom House further along had the door open but no lights on so decided it must be shut, before I headed up the incredibly steep hill up to the bottom part of Crookes, and then onto Heavygate road and the Heavygate.
We are in young wee beefy territory now since I used to drink in this area between 17 ( yes, I know, naughty of me) and 22 – all you need to know is that it was the 1990’s. On entering I headed as I had always done to the right hand side room which now has a pool table in, and two handpumps with the clips turned round.
Up the steps on the left is the more (but now less) traditional lounge where the bar had another couple of handpumps with clips turned round. Upon enquiring, landlord/manager/licensee Ian informed me that it would be a week or two before he got real ales, which suggests he is a new incumbent. He made it clear it would be Greedy King IPA and Abbot but that he wanted to sell some guests so maybe I ‘ll go back in a few weeks to see how its going.
Next to the Princess Royal, which I went in about 16 years ago. If anything, to me, it now looks even more traditional, still retaining a layout of separate rooms and drinking areas , and dark wood panelling. The real change for me was the beer range – I may only have been in about three times ever but recall Tetley was the only beer sold. It still is sold here, but now there are two guests and Black Sheep (and another that I didn’t record). I had a couple of pints of the Sheffield Brewing Co Five Rivers, and a pint of Kelham Easy Rider, and met up briefly with Wee Keefy for a chat. The atmosphere is friendly and the pub warm and cosy – I can see any revisit to any of the pubs will have to include the Prinny.
From here I headed for Commonside, including popping into the Dram Shop to buy a couple of strong beers, and first to the Springvale. I never really took to the Springvale, but it did always have real ale, and still does. Its squarely aimed at the younger end of the market but I think not exclusively students – its too wannabe nightclub for the wide range of drinking tastes that you find within the university community.
I stayed only briefly in the empty part on the left of the bar drinking some very average Black Sheep, before heading to the Hallamshire House, where I bumped into my third Ian of the night, this being the one that works at Archer Road Beer Stop. I had a half of Sharps Doom Bar, unfortunately there was no Sheffield brewing Co beers this time, and I was concerned to see the spectre of a Greedy king pump clip on the bar, hopefully this will not spell the end of the good range of real ales that the pub has served over the last 12 years.
I was heading for the University Arms next so stopped in the pubs along the way – or rather I would have, had they been pubs instead of bars forced incongruously into pub buildings. The Hadfield on Barber Road was always a busy student venue in the 90’s but always sold real ale, probably but not exclusively Tetley – now it is like a city centre bar but without the trend for interesting beers – no real ale on and no sign of continental beers to fill the void.
Down the road towards Brook Hill the Star and Garter used to be a decent real ale pub, in fact it may even have been in the good beer guide in the last 10 years, and was certainly selling real ale as recently as 2007 when some friends from work were going for regular poker nights there. Now alas, its lager and Karaoke, which smacks slightly of desperation.
I headed round the corner to the University Arms and grabbed a half of Sheffield Brewing Co mild, whilst taking the opportunity to sit in the tiny bar snug to the right of the bar. Nothing seems to have changed since Mr Pigeon left and the ale range is still good so hopefully this will continue to be a good pub.
My final stop was the Bath Hotel, crammed as you would expect on a Saturday night, and offering amongst others, a delicious Hornbeam mild. I decided I’d initially only have a half of it, but ended up having three as I got chatting to other drinkers and a Canadian bloke who’s group was heading to the Blake – they were put off by the long walk, which made me smile since I had walked from there in a giant loop via Hillsborough throughout the day. I got home for 23.00 ish to begin making an impractical meal of haggis – when you are starving hungry after some serious refreshment, meals that you wait 1 hour 20 minutes for are never a good idea.
In conclusion, the town side edges of Hillsborough contain a lot of traditional pubs but no real ale, and many closed ones, with only the Hillsborouigh Hotel and New Barrack Tavern offering a decent beer until you reach the Rawson Spring.Walkley is, in places, a dreadful real ale desert, but there are oasis, such as the Palm, the Blake, and if it reopens which I hope it will, the Walkley Cottage. The lower parts of Crookes are blessed with the Princess Royal and maybe the Heavygate, Commonside has one great pub, two if you can ignore the rudeness of the landlord at the Closed Shop, and Brook Hill and beyond is a stark reminder that for every good pub there are the dreadful many waiting in the wings.
It could be argued that too many pubs in one area is unsustainable, so conversely, a mix of well run, friendly, individual or traditional ale pubs and the unloved font festival venues run by transient career pub managers, should allow the best ones to thrive. However, this is how we lose traditional pubs. A step by step teeter towards closure follows the recipe below:
1. It starts with all too often ill conceived changes and novelty schemes.
2. Combine this with a lack of ambition, leadership and support (especially from greedy pub companies who see the operation of prime real estate as pubs to be a hindrance) which creates lack of interest from customers and gimmicks and cutting of corners for short term gain means people look elsewhere.
3. Falling profits leads to a merry-go-round of managers and landlords, the favoured solution of pubco's.
4. This means incoming hosts need to maintain the status quo whether it be good or bad, so often retain disinterested staff and rarely go back to real ale.
5. The constant unreliability and change puts off regulars and the pub relies on making short term gains from new passing trade, which is unsustainable.
6. In the end, instead of building up a nucleus of regulars which comprises drinkers from a wide spectrum of pubgoers the pub caters for a more and more narrow customer base and the ensuing downturn from this means the process begins again in the pursuit of often unachievable targets.
7. The pubco gets tired of waiting and closes the pub to make a killing selling it for development.
I won’t pretend I spent the best nights of my life in the Hadfield, Star and Garter, Royal (not visited since I think its been demolished, I think it was on Walkley Lane), Rose House and Freedom House, but all these pubs used to sell a decent pint and now are a shadow of what they used to be (literally for the Royal) and a millon miles form what the could be.
How strange that Walkley’s current best pubs are two that never in my drinking years used to sell real ale at all, whilst the ones that used to be reliable if unincredible stalwarts of tradition are either trying to stop being a pub at all, or are eschewing the sale of traditional beer in favour of identikit ranges which means they have to stand out on venue and atmosphere alone.
On the other hand, its very important to point out that pubs don’t have to sell real ale to be popular and successful or even to be good – look at some of the incredible examples on the National Inventory such as Duke of York at Leysters Herefordshire, The Comm at Lochgilphead, Argyle and the Lion Royal hotel in Rhayader – but they are good at what they do and thrive on that basis. So although the real ale free venues of Infirmary road are dwindling in number what with the George, Burgoyne and Cuthbert closed, and having probably not sold real ale in the last 20 years ( except the George briefly, and perhaps the Masons), those remaining are at least still traditional in outlook and maintain the ambiance and appearance of a traditional boozer. This is the flipside. I’d love them to be selling real ale, but they don’t. and against my nightmare scenario recipe above, the introduction of real ale would probably be a short term gimmick or unnecessary change, because not every pub can sell real ale – as the man at the Masons knows.
I’d be willing to bet that the Hadfield and Star and Garter will have changed hands before 2012 and possibly closed and reopened along the way. I hope it won’t but there’s a strong chance the Heavygate will change hands again, not because of poor staffing, but because Greedy King are not all of a sudden a good pub copmany just because they brew beer. I also reckon that one of the Florist or the Crown at Walkley will be lost. Through all this, consistent reliable pubs like the Prinny and Hallamshire House will stoically stick to what they know and still be popular viable prospects.
Positive pub news to come in he next couple of weeks – don’t be disheartened !
Wee Beefy
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