Wuzza - AKA Wirksworth, Derbyshire

Morning Readers

       some of you may know that I had been trying to complete my post on myself and WK's trip to Liverpool back in May, but 2 weeks ago I was trying to complete it and whilst typing CAMRA it replaced the letters MRA over the entirety of my whole post - and as I came out and went back in it then,  proceeded to save the 3 letters - instead of 3 pages - of text - as just that. So its not a rejection of my trip to Liverpool, rather a distinct change in information.....

Not that this should in any way reflect on my appreciation of Wuzza, mind - despite the dubious quality of bus services from Sheffield and later into Derby, I do still go every few months or so - and out of the 5 pubs have been to, today I will concentrate on my favourite 2, regular, bowzers

First up is The Feather Star - previously known as the Red Lion, a large former coaching Inn on the side of the square previously run by Marstons - I think I only went in once or twice and they may have sold Pedigree? Either way, it was took over by the fab folks who ran - and run - the Feather Star.

As everyone knows, Feather Star is a term given to a fossil - possibly an Ammonite? Which is found locally. Their micropub was run out of a small former  Antiques shop a little further down the road, but I suspect the owners of the building may have wanted the venue to move on, and the Feather Star folk recognised the need for a bigger premises and so eventually managed to purchase - and move into - The Red Lion. 

The first thing to acknowledge is the massive increase in beer choice - The Feather Star has 5 or 6 handpumps for cask from the past and possibly 6 keg lines? Have had a number of marvelous pints of Cloudwater IPA around 6-7% on my visits and their range of breweries is fantastic! Often also sell Aldwark Ales which is reasonably close to Wuzza. I highly recommend a visit.

Nearby on what I thought was John Street but is listed as North End, is the fabulous Royal Oak, a possibly 17th (not sure) century, unspoilt locals pub with 5 handpumps for excellent cask from the past along with the addition of 2 guest keg lines, often serving kernel or Verdant. There is a large fire in both rooms and outside there is a walk through barn which has seating in it through to a pleasant garden with further outdoor drinking areas.

They regularly sell Whim Ales from the Hartington Brewery on cftp, including their IPA and Flower Power at 6% - but mainly the range changes regularly - also often sell Shiny and other small local independent brewery beers.

Also - the loos are outside, and although it no longer appears to be National Inventory listed

(?) - am certain it used to be - it still remains unspoilt and the interior appears to contain many numerous original features.

Although check the opening hours if you are panning a visit!

So - there are my 2 favourite pubs in glorious Wuzza!

Cheers

Wee Beefy

Back street boozers

Hello,

              if you have ever been lucky enough to visit the Hand & Heart in Peterborough or the Golden Ball in York you will have some understanding, and hopefully appreciation, of what a back street boozer is and can be. Often plain but with a number of rooms,usually a tap and a lounge and snug, mainly selling real ale and almost always full of characters, and, in the case of the above, possessing nationally noteworthy interior features.

Luckily, although we are only blessed with one National Inventory pub here in Sheffield (itself a back street boozer, albeit on a corner) we do have other notable survivals. Here are details of two I have recently visited.

The first is the Grapes on Trippet Lane. Granted, a back street boozer is often part of a row of houses or similar, but the Grapes stands alone only by virtue of driveways and demolitions nearby. Inside is where it really stands out as a back street boozer however. Trippet Lane is behind West Street and has 4 pubs on it, with the Grapes being owned, as the sign on the side proclaims, by the Flynn family. For years they leased the Grapes and ran the nearby Dog and Partridge until the pub company increased the rent to the extent where it was more profitable to take their own pub back under their control. Fixtures fittings staff and regulars alike moved a few doors up and we now have the Grapes in its current guise, showing its considerable original features off.

There are three rooms in the Grapes, plus the loos, and three real ales. There is also a decoratively tiled drinking corridor with a TV,  and a beautiful patio to sit on and soak up the sunshine. Or the rain. The beers are Tetley Bitter, Stancil Bitter and Abbeydale Moonshine. The Moonshine is perhaps the best I have tasted (apart from at Daves beer shop,  granted) and is served just cool enough to be refreshing without losing any of its flavour. The pub also sells the new Guinness Dublin Porter and Golden ale on keg, and the full range of new Guinness beers in bottle should the fancy take you.

The pub can get very busy and crowded especially if there is a wake on, and when busy there are often drinkers spilling out onto the street. The rooms inside are small but the pub is clean and well run and homely, just like a back street hostelry should be.

The other pub I visited recently is the hostelry known locally as Fanny's on the corner of Earl Street and Arundel Lane. The pub stands alone as the only residential building on a street of factories and industrial units. The Lord Nelson as it is now known is a compact pub which, although slightly opened out inside still retains its three room layout, and in rare moments of clement weather, there are seats and tables outside for drinkers.

For years it was a Kimberly brewery pub (and possibly a Stones House previously?) and now owned by Greedy King. In the mid noughties I used to go in and have Kimberly or Hardy Hanson Olde Trip, but on a couple of occasions this was on its last legs. Since then, the beer range has improved significantly, as has the beer quality.

Of the 4 beers available on Monday we all had pints of the Toolmakers Die Sage Bier, a hoppy pale lager malted ale at 4.2% (ish) and £2.80 a pint. The beer was in perfect nick and although I don't remember what else was on, it was well worth three pints for each of us. More importantly, it was lovely to sit in the tiny room on the right and watch the world pass by, listening to conversations or the football on the telly and generally relaxing.

In years gone by both of these pubs used to be in the Good Beer Guide, and although maybe overtaken by other pubs in Sheffield regarding ale, their stoic unchanging attitude, mainly in respect of their interior features, makes them well worth a visit.

Lets hope I can try out some other similar pubs in Sheffield as well.

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

Bath Hotel, Victoria Street, Sheffield

Hulloo,

              its time, I think, to celebrate the pub stock that we love. To be precise, with the recent hopeful;;y temporary closure of the Red Lion at Ampney St Peter, its time to celebrate the unspoilt stock of UK pubs. Tonight, Sheffield's only full entry on the National Inventory of Unspoilt pub Interiors is the Bath Hotel.

I first went in the Bath Hotel when I was on the beer festival planning team in the nineties. The dark Tetley mild was off for the summer as the students were away so there we a choice of two real ales, Tetley, ad the Tetley rebadged "Bath Hotel Bitter" or similar. It seemed strange, I admit, to have a weaker version of Tetleys on. It was, after all, weak enough...

 A handful of visits followed before I heard about its refurbishment by Brian. Regulars, and regular readers, will remember that Brian was a significant player in a group of people who brought the pub to the attention of the Pub Heritage Group, and ultimately, affected its inclusion. His work restored damaged furniture and revealed original features and he reopened in 2008. Or 2007. Or 2004. Or 2005. I don't know.....

Soon after he reopened me and Christingpher went in late one night and experienced a carer looking after his large local chip shop employed care receiver. At some point the carer mentioned something about when his ward ought to attend the chip shop and the guy went, if you'll excuse my French, fucking ape shit. He punched the carer full in the face, repeated the phrase "y fuggin Basta" and threw glasses around, including at me and Christingpher.

Afterwards staff offered safe exit to drinkers but me and Christingpher remained, although I have never seen our glasses collected so quickly......

In 2012 Brian leased the pub to Thornbridge, and I was worried. I genuinely didn't trust them to make  careful job of looking after the interior - see my post from May that year re concerns. In the end, I slowly came to appreciate the work done (but sull not the dark grey paint!) and with Edd and Steff in charge, now Steff, fell in love with a reliable source of excellent ales and, for a while, Edd's homemade sausage rolls.

Recently, as you know, Edd has left and taken up residence in the Dronfield Arms, meanwhile Steff has taken over the role permanently, although she does not yet have a contract. And recently, over the last two nights. I have been in twice, exclusively drinking one of THE cask pints of the year. Rule of Thirds comprises Magic Rock High Wire, Beavertown Gamma Ray IPA and one from Siren Craft Brew. Its 6.4% and is frankly astonishing. Last night, my first pint only took 10 minutes to drink! I strongly urge you to go and get a taste, and hopefully several pints.

Throughout this period, which started in the late 90's, the interior has, in fact, improved, and Brian's work remains virtually unchanged. The Bath is a reliably good, comfortable, friendly and vibrant boozer which has a beautiful, stunning unspoilt interior. I hope that we can all continue to enjoy the pub for what it is now, for many decades to come.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Leodis ii

Hello,
 
     well its taken a while but I finally made it back to Leeds, this time with dear friend Christingpher in tow. The plan was to start at Friends of Ham, therefore impressing my companion early on, and take him to a mix of ultra traditional and rather more achingly modern bars within tolerable walking distance.

Initially, having read about Clare at Feast and Glory venturing out to some of the suburbs to sample the pubs there, I thought about doing the same, but, truth be told, there's too much to see and too many good pubs not to be missed in and around the centre.

Starting in the Sheffield Tap, we sat in the new room with a half of Oakham Citra for Christingpher  and a rather unwise pint of Oakham Green Devil IPA for me. Not unwise because it wasn't nice - it was absolutely excellent. But I only had 20 minutes to drink it, and hadn't sobered up fully from the night before. A case of getting straight back on the horse I suppose....

Once in Leeds Friends Of Ham was our first stop, where Christingpher toyed with the idea of having a Brodies London Sour, but went for a half of the Ilkley Chocolate Chipotle Porter, which was a spicy but tasty dark beer that nicely hit the spot. I tried the Kernel Table Beer and quickly decided against having a half - essentially a cold fizzy blob of hops, about as subtle as a brick. Much better was the Wild Beer Co Stalker, Scotch ale, which was a 7% deep red if not black ultra smooth drinking strong beer that cut through the food flavours brilliantly.

Talking of which, we had a combo of 3 meats and 3 cheeses. I chose the Carne Salata Malenca, a cured and lightly smoked pink coloured beef, the Salchichon De Vic, cured leg and pancetta salami, and the incredible Lardo. Christingpher chose the unpasteurised Brie de Meaux, the hard golden Mayfield Farmhouse and the Garlic Leaf wrapped Cornish Yarg. This was the real star of the cheeses, especially since you can eat the rind, such as it is, being garlic leaf. This also came with insanely orange chilli jam, chutney and oatmeal biscuits. As always it was superb. Christingpher loved the designs of the menus and beer mats and the nice touches of furnishings and assorted tableware; I just kept mmming and oohing about the meat.

We moved onto Whitelocks next as I had a cunning plan - going at around 15.00 it would be quieter than later on. Of course, I was wrong. It was heaving, so we sat outside, and supped very good halves of Wilson Potter Making Progress. Christingpher was especially impressed by the antiquity of the pub and its amazing copper bar tops.

On to the Ship off Briggate next but a paucity of interesting ale versus our long list of venues meant we didn't stop for a beer. We did however at the White Swan, next to the City Varieties. A large modern Leeds Brewery pub it was busy and offering about 9 real ales, including 3 guests. From these we chose the impeccable Marble Dobber. Kept in tip top condition this was one of the best beers of the day.

Next we headed to North Bar. Nice to see it in daylight (and to appreciate the brilliant sign) Christingpher switched to coffee and I had a painfully disappointing beer. Having heard plenty of buzz about Hand Drawn Monkey and Quantum breweries, I couldn't resist buying a half of their 6.0% collaboration beer - perhaps I should have asked for a taste first. An unpleasant, poorly balanced ascorbic bitter ale with a slightly metallic harshness. We didn't have time to choose another, and this was treally hard to drink. Must choose more carefully next time!

The Templar is a pub I haven't been to since about 1998. Its a fantastic long, tiled pub, previously being staunchly Tetley only but now branching out into guest beers. I had a pint and Christingpher a half of the Two Roses Chinook, which was very refreshing and crucially, a well balanced beer.

We got sat down at the far end and got chatting to a local about the now closed City of Mabgate pub, and also found out that our later destination, the Duck and Drake on Kirkgate, used to be called the Broughms, after a type of carriage (he insisted it was spelled like that - so presumably not Broughams?). There had been news of the Templar being closed, which would be a terrific shame. Hopefully the draw of guest ales and quality of the interior can sustain it.

We walked a cross the back next to the Town Hall and popped in the Victoria and Commercial for halves of Black Cat mild for Christingpher and half of a Ridgeside Blonde beer for me. It was totally heaving, which is a pleasing and equally frustrating feature of Leeds hostelries, and alas this made it difficult to appreciate the fine interior details. A fruitless search for the bar "Nation of Shopkeepers" followed (we think its now a bar named after a bookshop, but aren't sure) before we made the long walk down to Kirkgate.

Via a much needed snaffle from the German sausage stall we arrived at the Duck and Drake to find a great range of beers. We both had halves of the Liverpool Organic Jade and I also had a brilliant half of porter from a brewery I can't recall - which is a shame since it was really very good. One of the things I like about the DnD is that its unpretentious, a little rough round the edges, and seems to attract a varied crowd. Much less facial hair and knitwear than North, but also featuring some truly austere outside loos!

Further down Kirkgate we made our first visit to the Palace. A large Nicholsons pub selling a decent range of beers, we both had halves of Petersfield Porter from Nethergate, along with a half of California, a delightfully dark reddish ale from Bristol Beer factory. Both beers were in good condition.

The Adelphi was its usual vision of splendour when we arrived and there was quite a scrum at the bar to order. Christingpher finally caved in and tried the Kirkstall Three Swords, a beer that we had seen on in many pubs that day, and which he described as "alright", and me a tasty half of Revolutions Atomic Blonde.

A wander along main tributaries followed, down to what is described as Holbeck Urban Village, and the Grove. Well worth the walk, this is a traditional boozer incongruously situated amidst grim  modern buildings on a dead end street off Water Lane. Probably the joint best pub of the night, I had a pint of Wharfebank Aramis, which had their signature flavour, and Christingpher a half of Old Moor Porter from Acorn, before I also had a half of the Black Cat Mild. This traditional multi roomed pub was full of great features and nooks and crannies and was as unspoilt as The Adelphi and Whitelocks, but in a more restrained and functional way. A must revisit pub.

Our penultimate stop off was at the Midnight Bell a few minutes walk away. We had a half and a pint of the excellent Geeves Smokey Joe Stout, another astonishingly tasty dark beer from this brewery, which we supped whilst keeping an eye on the time. I only ever went to the Midnight Bell once before and it didn't seem anything like I remembered! Mind you that was after a crawl of Huddersfield so maybe that explains he fuzzy uncertainty.

We finished back at Friends of Ham, this time with me on the Ikley Chocolate Chipotle Porter and a third of the Redchurch IPA, and Christingpher on a half of the porter as well. A fitting place to end our lengthy stumble around Leeds, and another great advert for going back again.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Ringing in the changes (a little bit late)

Now then,

     this is really just a bit of confirmation of a little change I have made.

Not a rash drunken new years resolution to stop drinking or similar untenable nonsense, nor a self indulgent proclamation to "change the world " or other pie in the sky targets. No, I just thought I should change my blog name.

You see, back in the naive (never liked that spelling!) innocent days of 2009 I was smarting from a lack of success or indeed desire to carry on with my Cretan travels blog - forgetting the password 15 times then changing email address seemed an insurmountable obstacle to overcome, so I gave up and created a new blog.

I intended to celebrate my passion for unspoilt British pubs, whilst simultaneously writing about my interest in and love of Cretan kafenions, the venerable Kriti coffee houses. These were stoic, unchanging, bastions of tradition who's charm and sadly rapid decline so perfectly mirrored that of the traditional hostelries I loved to get back to when I returned to dear old Yorkshire. (note: the below picture depicts the Seymour Arms, Witham Friary, in, erm, Somerset, but hey you get the idea....)

But things change. Firstly, I find myself writing mainly about pubs in Sheffield and those on my travels in the UK. The very nature of the industry means that, sadly, not all in fact very few, are unspoilt these days. I also write about the charms and foibles of real ale, but that is sidestepped in my original title, and there is no hint of the bottled beer reviews I am testing the water with. Not only that, but I haven't been to Crete for two years, and even when I did in 2009 and 2010, I didn't write up or even photograph a kafenion.

So, as an acknowledgement of the above, from now on this blog will be Wee Beefy's beer and pub blog, reflective of my search for and experiences of beer, in pubs, bars or containers, and the pubs themselves, my first choice place to consume beer in.

I hope you will understand and support me under my new name. Don't forget of course, the URL has not changed, so no need to worry about finding your way back. Here's to the future.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy.