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
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Friday, 18 February 2011
Sheffield crawl and news
Hello,
news from the cradle of Chartism (this may well be incorrect, but hey, not everything on the Internet is factually accurate) and news of a memory lane pub crawl and a new pub for yours truly.
I had planned to travel over the Pennines to marvel at Manchester's magnificent unspoilt and beer replete hostelries, but instead overslept and felt grim, so a jaunt around the home turf was required
After catching up with a friend and grabbing food at Gusto Italiano, we initially headed for Trippets for a quiet pint, which is more or less possible if you grab a pew on the left as you enter. The Bradfield Farmers Stout was tasty as always but inexplicably cold so had to put it near the radiator for 10 minutes to get the proper flavour.
Alas this first post hangover pint put me out of sorts and my companion was coming down with the plague so she headed to the comfort of home and I weighed up my options. I had thought about a quick jaunt to Chesterfield but decided instead to visit a few Sheffield pubs for a change.
I walked onto Arundel Gate towards St Mary's Gate and headed down past The Scream through the back lanes to the Rutland. Here I had a slow supped and much enjoyed half of Blue Bee brewery Lustin For Stout at 4.8%. This gave me chance to take stock and begin a fruitless search for a copy of beer matters, since I fancied gracing a new (to me) venue on my journey.
Alas no magazine but I headed to the Sheffield Tap and had a half of Great Ridge Moonlight Shadow, a beer that usually comes in keg as far as I know, since its stronger stable mate was on the row of fonts further down. A strange taste, perhaps, assuming its American, reflective of the low gravity which you rarely find in U.S beers ( it may have been 3.4 or 3.5%). No beer matters mind...
I headed on diagonally to the Royal Standard on St Mary's Gate, easily reached from the station by following Leadmill Road. Chala did her cellarmanship course here many moons ago, and I know Davefromtshop supped his first Darleys here as well, but neither would likely recognise the style and type of pub now, even if the layout might not have changed - I was last in about 12 years ago!
The pub appears aimed at students and offers a discount card, pool is popular and they seem to attract a mix of students and locals. There was one real ale on, St Austell tribute, so at least I had something decent to sup, but mid afternoon is not the Standard's cue to sparkle, and sat on a neutral coloured modern leather sofa surrounded by dark shaded areas of block colour and modern furnishings, I felt out of place. The size of the room on the right means that all but a full pub makes it seem bare and unenticing so I lingered only briefly before heading on.
Walking between Bramall lane and Queens Road I joined the main road at the Earl of Arundel and Surrey ( though I note its shared name now, which I forget ) - another pub from the past, perhaps 12 years ago as well, once a Wards pub used to trial seasonal real ales form the Vaux range. i didn't tarry as it looked shut and , perhaps unfairly since I didn't try and visit, assumed no real ale would be sold.
Further up Chesterfield road I reached the White Lion, a pub I have more recently visited when there have been bands on, still retaining its interesting and in Sheffield fairly unusual surviving multiroom layout. It also still serves real ales - 3 or 4 regulars and a couple of guests, my choice being Saltaire Blonde which was fantastic.
Here I picked up a copy of said beer tome and sat down to see where I might venture next. The February edition is perhaps prone to December and January news as its the first of the year, so that might explain why my next stop didn't work out - the Crown further up the road was apparently selling real ale but the two bare handpumps in the back room attested otherwise and I couldn't really quiz the barman since he was asking what I'd like whilst he was on the phone.
From here I took a slightly odd detour to Nether Edge, and the Union, bypassing the Broadfield, not on a beer basis but assuming that now 18.00, it would be heaving and no place for a quiet solitary pint.
I found the Union despite not having visited for perhaps 13 years, and I have to say was pleasantly surprised. I had recalled that it was traditional in decor and layout, but seemed to have remembered the bar somewhere else ( probably erroneously) and offering nowt but Whitbread and Greedy king on the bar. Thankfully this time there was Landlord, Pedigree and an Abbeydale brew on amongst others, with 7 handpumps in use.
The Abbeydale was very drinkable, as was the reassuringly Burton smelling Pedigree, although I worry that this statement may hide a misconception - is it still brewed in Burton ? You'd hope so....
I enjoyed a couple of pints watching the pub fill up with regulars and enjoying listening to gentle banbter at the bar, before heading off via purchasing fuel to the Byron, another long lost acquaintance. Last time i had visited the barmaid was murdering a pint of Tanglefoor through a sparkler and even after I suggested she remove it must have pulled 3 pints for me to end up with one
Now the pub has a good ale selection, including Kelham Island Riders on the storm which I enjoyed nearly as much as the song, whilst sitting in the bar on the right.
My trip took a more boomerang route now as I returned to Chesterfield Road and up to the Sheaf View, packed to the rafters and offering only a smoking shelter table to sit at. I bumped into a friend and enjoyed several pints of Phoenix porter and even managed to find a seat near the bar before caving in and ordering a taxi home about 23.30.
Overall I had some excellent beer and mostly really enjoyed my revisits of former haunts.
One final word on a new pub for me, the Lescar. Everyone has probably heard of the above and many probably visited, but eating at Greedy Greek at Hunters bar on Saturday provided me a chance to try it at last. Very busy, which I had expected, the decor and range of drinks was a big surprise to me, including (perhaps a fleeting nod to Valentines night) subtle red lighting and candles and range of seating and old furniture. Better stil drinkers were well catered for what with Leffe and other continental classics on draught and regular regional real ales, plus on that night 2 Saltaire brewery beers including their Triple Chocolate stout. Best of all, was the fantastic Museum Brewing Co. White Shield, which despite its chewy, hoppy bite I demolished two of prior to eating.
Tomorrow am banished from my own home whilst Thangor the Mortherinlaw and wife take a sledgehammer to all we own, or tidying up as she calls it, so am off to the Blake and hopefully a couple of Crookes and Walkley pubs, before they knock anymore of the buggers down.
Wee Beefy.
news from the cradle of Chartism (this may well be incorrect, but hey, not everything on the Internet is factually accurate) and news of a memory lane pub crawl and a new pub for yours truly.
I had planned to travel over the Pennines to marvel at Manchester's magnificent unspoilt and beer replete hostelries, but instead overslept and felt grim, so a jaunt around the home turf was required
After catching up with a friend and grabbing food at Gusto Italiano, we initially headed for Trippets for a quiet pint, which is more or less possible if you grab a pew on the left as you enter. The Bradfield Farmers Stout was tasty as always but inexplicably cold so had to put it near the radiator for 10 minutes to get the proper flavour.
Alas this first post hangover pint put me out of sorts and my companion was coming down with the plague so she headed to the comfort of home and I weighed up my options. I had thought about a quick jaunt to Chesterfield but decided instead to visit a few Sheffield pubs for a change.
I walked onto Arundel Gate towards St Mary's Gate and headed down past The Scream through the back lanes to the Rutland. Here I had a slow supped and much enjoyed half of Blue Bee brewery Lustin For Stout at 4.8%. This gave me chance to take stock and begin a fruitless search for a copy of beer matters, since I fancied gracing a new (to me) venue on my journey.
Alas no magazine but I headed to the Sheffield Tap and had a half of Great Ridge Moonlight Shadow, a beer that usually comes in keg as far as I know, since its stronger stable mate was on the row of fonts further down. A strange taste, perhaps, assuming its American, reflective of the low gravity which you rarely find in U.S beers ( it may have been 3.4 or 3.5%). No beer matters mind...
I headed on diagonally to the Royal Standard on St Mary's Gate, easily reached from the station by following Leadmill Road. Chala did her cellarmanship course here many moons ago, and I know Davefromtshop supped his first Darleys here as well, but neither would likely recognise the style and type of pub now, even if the layout might not have changed - I was last in about 12 years ago!
The pub appears aimed at students and offers a discount card, pool is popular and they seem to attract a mix of students and locals. There was one real ale on, St Austell tribute, so at least I had something decent to sup, but mid afternoon is not the Standard's cue to sparkle, and sat on a neutral coloured modern leather sofa surrounded by dark shaded areas of block colour and modern furnishings, I felt out of place. The size of the room on the right means that all but a full pub makes it seem bare and unenticing so I lingered only briefly before heading on.
Walking between Bramall lane and Queens Road I joined the main road at the Earl of Arundel and Surrey ( though I note its shared name now, which I forget ) - another pub from the past, perhaps 12 years ago as well, once a Wards pub used to trial seasonal real ales form the Vaux range. i didn't tarry as it looked shut and , perhaps unfairly since I didn't try and visit, assumed no real ale would be sold.
Further up Chesterfield road I reached the White Lion, a pub I have more recently visited when there have been bands on, still retaining its interesting and in Sheffield fairly unusual surviving multiroom layout. It also still serves real ales - 3 or 4 regulars and a couple of guests, my choice being Saltaire Blonde which was fantastic.
Here I picked up a copy of said beer tome and sat down to see where I might venture next. The February edition is perhaps prone to December and January news as its the first of the year, so that might explain why my next stop didn't work out - the Crown further up the road was apparently selling real ale but the two bare handpumps in the back room attested otherwise and I couldn't really quiz the barman since he was asking what I'd like whilst he was on the phone.
From here I took a slightly odd detour to Nether Edge, and the Union, bypassing the Broadfield, not on a beer basis but assuming that now 18.00, it would be heaving and no place for a quiet solitary pint.
I found the Union despite not having visited for perhaps 13 years, and I have to say was pleasantly surprised. I had recalled that it was traditional in decor and layout, but seemed to have remembered the bar somewhere else ( probably erroneously) and offering nowt but Whitbread and Greedy king on the bar. Thankfully this time there was Landlord, Pedigree and an Abbeydale brew on amongst others, with 7 handpumps in use.
The Abbeydale was very drinkable, as was the reassuringly Burton smelling Pedigree, although I worry that this statement may hide a misconception - is it still brewed in Burton ? You'd hope so....
I enjoyed a couple of pints watching the pub fill up with regulars and enjoying listening to gentle banbter at the bar, before heading off via purchasing fuel to the Byron, another long lost acquaintance. Last time i had visited the barmaid was murdering a pint of Tanglefoor through a sparkler and even after I suggested she remove it must have pulled 3 pints for me to end up with one
Now the pub has a good ale selection, including Kelham Island Riders on the storm which I enjoyed nearly as much as the song, whilst sitting in the bar on the right.
My trip took a more boomerang route now as I returned to Chesterfield Road and up to the Sheaf View, packed to the rafters and offering only a smoking shelter table to sit at. I bumped into a friend and enjoyed several pints of Phoenix porter and even managed to find a seat near the bar before caving in and ordering a taxi home about 23.30.
Overall I had some excellent beer and mostly really enjoyed my revisits of former haunts.
One final word on a new pub for me, the Lescar. Everyone has probably heard of the above and many probably visited, but eating at Greedy Greek at Hunters bar on Saturday provided me a chance to try it at last. Very busy, which I had expected, the decor and range of drinks was a big surprise to me, including (perhaps a fleeting nod to Valentines night) subtle red lighting and candles and range of seating and old furniture. Better stil drinkers were well catered for what with Leffe and other continental classics on draught and regular regional real ales, plus on that night 2 Saltaire brewery beers including their Triple Chocolate stout. Best of all, was the fantastic Museum Brewing Co. White Shield, which despite its chewy, hoppy bite I demolished two of prior to eating.
Tomorrow am banished from my own home whilst Thangor the Mortherinlaw and wife take a sledgehammer to all we own, or tidying up as she calls it, so am off to the Blake and hopefully a couple of Crookes and Walkley pubs, before they knock anymore of the buggers down.
Wee Beefy.
Monday, 7 February 2011
Trans pennine ale
Hello,
I planned a walk cum pub crawl around the route of the Transpennine trail, but so taxing was the trudge through miles of black mud that we scarcely touched any of the proposed pub stops. However, we did reach a few pubs, and the details are below.
Starting at Penistone, the trail is quite ;clear and we embarked in strong wind and some sunshine. Oxspring was a bit tricky as many versions of the trail seem to appear at once, but we made it out and as far as the Travellers om the outskirts. Alas, being Sunday and 11.25 it was shut so we ploughed on, trying to decipher the woeful signage that sent us either miles in the completely wrong direction or potentially back on ourselves missing our first stop.
Luckily, walking companion Christingfer had brought along a handy googlemap app on his phone so we were able to find a road to take us towards Silkstone.
We picked up the trail half a mile from the village and decided not to venture to the once GBG listed Ring O Bells, and ploughed on instead to Worsbrough. The trail in this section is framed by interesting countryside, and we did think briefly of alighting at Stainborough for the pub marked on the map, but ploughed on.
At Worsborough we had our first pub stop at the Button Mill Inn, a large pub opposite the Worsborough country park car park, serving food and one real ale, Black Sheep bitter. The beer was OK, and went down fast, but we were off all too soon heading for our intended finishing point in Darfield.
Alas, the cloying boot ruining sludge and puddles of the trail meant we were knackered by Wombwell, so we did not head for Darfield, and arrived back in Sheffield in the evening. We took the opportunity to visit the Sheffield Tap and I had a few pints of the delicious but enthusiastically priced Highland Dark Munro as well as the Strong Ox 5.6% lager from Bernard and a half of the Orkney Porter at 9.0%.
I reckon this is probably different to the Orkney brewery operation but a welcome change irrespective of that and all good quality beers.
If you try the walk yourself then I think the Station at Darfield and, albeit Greedy King only, the Ring O bells would be worth a look, maybe also the keel or similar in Barnsley. I am paying today with aches and pains but the Tap beers were worth the effort.
Wee Beefy.
I planned a walk cum pub crawl around the route of the Transpennine trail, but so taxing was the trudge through miles of black mud that we scarcely touched any of the proposed pub stops. However, we did reach a few pubs, and the details are below.
Starting at Penistone, the trail is quite ;clear and we embarked in strong wind and some sunshine. Oxspring was a bit tricky as many versions of the trail seem to appear at once, but we made it out and as far as the Travellers om the outskirts. Alas, being Sunday and 11.25 it was shut so we ploughed on, trying to decipher the woeful signage that sent us either miles in the completely wrong direction or potentially back on ourselves missing our first stop.
Luckily, walking companion Christingfer had brought along a handy googlemap app on his phone so we were able to find a road to take us towards Silkstone.
We picked up the trail half a mile from the village and decided not to venture to the once GBG listed Ring O Bells, and ploughed on instead to Worsbrough. The trail in this section is framed by interesting countryside, and we did think briefly of alighting at Stainborough for the pub marked on the map, but ploughed on.
At Worsborough we had our first pub stop at the Button Mill Inn, a large pub opposite the Worsborough country park car park, serving food and one real ale, Black Sheep bitter. The beer was OK, and went down fast, but we were off all too soon heading for our intended finishing point in Darfield.
Alas, the cloying boot ruining sludge and puddles of the trail meant we were knackered by Wombwell, so we did not head for Darfield, and arrived back in Sheffield in the evening. We took the opportunity to visit the Sheffield Tap and I had a few pints of the delicious but enthusiastically priced Highland Dark Munro as well as the Strong Ox 5.6% lager from Bernard and a half of the Orkney Porter at 9.0%.
I reckon this is probably different to the Orkney brewery operation but a welcome change irrespective of that and all good quality beers.
If you try the walk yourself then I think the Station at Darfield and, albeit Greedy King only, the Ring O bells would be worth a look, maybe also the keel or similar in Barnsley. I am paying today with aches and pains but the Tap beers were worth the effort.
Wee Beefy.
Friday, 4 February 2011
News from sheffield and west yorkshire pubs
Hello,
during the (literally and metaphorically ) foggy days of the Christmas break, I did manage to to visit a few pubs that i don't usually do, and some new ones, so here is a quick run down.
Between Christmas and new year me and Wee Keefy went out for a drive between Barnsley and Penistone, coming off the M1 at Darton. We were soon out into countryside heading for a very British experience, going for a drive and then a a walk in dense fog, and visiting a pub renowned for its views.
The Cherry Tree at High Hoyland has been in the GBG for a good few years now ( possibly not 2011 ) and is a traditional long stone building, which, i am assured, affords spectacular views to the visitor. Alas, the fog put paid to that idea, but I was feeling good about my choice when I saw a chalkboard sign outside advertising a husband creche. Inside is a long bar and 3 different areas, the end two being intended, I think for diners.
The beer was Black Sheep and something Greedy King based, and possibly another national. Much is made in the last 2 beer guides about the Eastwood and Sanders beers, which, from personal experience, i can confirm are excellent. There didn't look much chance of a guest beer though so opted for the Sheep, which was a well kept if uninspiring choice.
In keeping with the British theme, we were able to witness some archetypal British service when a customer rang requiring a table for 20 or so for that afternoon. The lady at the bar was very helpful and went to chck the bookings in what is a notoriously quiet period after Christmas, but the bloke at the bar, who i wished for the pub's sake was a customer but later it seemed more like he worked there, chuntered loudly about the potential customers lack of planning and called them wankers. When the lady returned it seemed that was not heard by the customer on the phone, but that is a miracle. The grumpy bloke carried on complaining after she had finished the conversation, which gave the bar person chance to say just how few customers they had of late, and to suggest that it was customers that helped him get paid. We left thinking that this wouldn't happen in other places in Europe, where thy appreciate the custom and sometimes the company of visits, and do not share our bizarre mind set of customers being an inconvenience that keeps us away from doing what we love.
Anyway, we headed on through the soup and into West Yorkshire and the village of Emley. The fog was so thick here that even when we found the White Horse you almost couldn't see it through the mists. Inside there were about 8 ales on the bar as you enter and a long room with a real fire and a large tastefully decorated Christmas tree, with another room off and one at the end.
We had the Ossett Christmas beer and a strong stout from Fernandes and another porter, which I think was from Ossett. Adding friendly and helpful staff and customers meant we would, with hindsight, have come straight here. A must return to pub I reckon.
Next we headed for Ingbirchworth and the reservoir, where we had our walk in the fog. The dense plumes on the frozen reservoir made an eerie and surprisingly photogenic subject and it was an enjoyable if brief couple of miles round and back to the car. From here we headed to Victoria - by accident, and the pub wasn't open anyway - before making our way to flouch and on to the Dog and Partridge at Hazelhead.
Inside this very large roadside inn is a comparatively small old wooden bar, with 4 handpumps dispensing Barnsley bittier ( which I had ) a regional and a Robinsons guest - Wee Keefy had a hot drink since he was driving. There is also an enormous fireplace with a fire roaring away, although you probably have to queue to get a seat at the table nearest to it. For all its old world features there's no escaping that this is a food orientated pub, but it was a decent pint of Acorn nonetheless, and a nice change.
Sheffield
Back to Sheffield news, and in January I visited the Sportsman at Lodge moor, heading out to Redmires. I was meeting for a family meal, and this too is a pub that makes a lot of its money and attracts a lot of its patrons from food. The Sunday lunch comes highly recommended ( not stingy with the meat ) and there are two real ales, tetley and Landlord. I had a few pints of the landlord which was nice, but the price is steep - £3.20 a pint (if my maths is right) making it nearer to town prices.
The thing is though, the pub is always full when I have been in the last 4 times, and I'd rather have sensibly priced food with two albeit standard expensive real ales, than expensive food and nothing to sup.
My final news is of them what er in town. To my surprise, the other night All bar One was selling real ale with two somewhat overly modern handpumps in evidence, Black Sheep and Sharps Doom Bar being on offer, not sure of the price. This is supplemented with some excellent continental draught beers such as Rothaus wheat beer and Paulaner lager from Germany, and Sierra Nevada from the U.S, a fine strong hoppy pale ale ( which is orange in colour, but will let them off ) which packs in a huge amount of flavour. Granted its not everyones idea of a pub, and it can be pricey, but its still a positive development to see cask available.
Round on Trippets lane, the Trippets wine bar (above) is open as a pub, with predominantly Thornbridge and Kelham beers on, but all locally brewed. We go in fairly regularly, probably once a fortnight, and the picture above us from our anniversary drinks back in October last year.
Over the road, the Grapes, for decades a music pub with a strangely ultra traditional interior, has always had a Flynns sign on the side. It turns out the Flynns own the Grapes but leased it, as well as the Dog and Partridge. The Grapes now has a traditional carpeted interior and, alas, no pool table, but one piece of excellent news is that they have reopened the snug bar on the left. I admit that regulars of the Grapes who went for the music are likely to be bewildered and disappointed by what is quite a big change, but the bigger impact appears to be on the dog and partridge.
Visiting the other night was like stepping into an empty house, with almost nobody in, only Tetley on the bar ( I know it was never renowned for real ale but usually had some Abbeydale on, which has been retained at the Grapes ) and absolutely no atmosphere. Hopefully this won't see the decline of this great old building, with its fantastic and unusual back snug, and the small room on the left. I will certainly go to the dog and partridge again to see how it is going, but I can't overemphasise the change. So overall positive real ale news and some new pubs that i have tried. I will update again soon on South Derbyshire and elsewhere.
Wee Beefy.
during the (literally and metaphorically ) foggy days of the Christmas break, I did manage to to visit a few pubs that i don't usually do, and some new ones, so here is a quick run down.
Between Christmas and new year me and Wee Keefy went out for a drive between Barnsley and Penistone, coming off the M1 at Darton. We were soon out into countryside heading for a very British experience, going for a drive and then a a walk in dense fog, and visiting a pub renowned for its views.
The Cherry Tree at High Hoyland has been in the GBG for a good few years now ( possibly not 2011 ) and is a traditional long stone building, which, i am assured, affords spectacular views to the visitor. Alas, the fog put paid to that idea, but I was feeling good about my choice when I saw a chalkboard sign outside advertising a husband creche. Inside is a long bar and 3 different areas, the end two being intended, I think for diners.
The beer was Black Sheep and something Greedy King based, and possibly another national. Much is made in the last 2 beer guides about the Eastwood and Sanders beers, which, from personal experience, i can confirm are excellent. There didn't look much chance of a guest beer though so opted for the Sheep, which was a well kept if uninspiring choice.
In keeping with the British theme, we were able to witness some archetypal British service when a customer rang requiring a table for 20 or so for that afternoon. The lady at the bar was very helpful and went to chck the bookings in what is a notoriously quiet period after Christmas, but the bloke at the bar, who i wished for the pub's sake was a customer but later it seemed more like he worked there, chuntered loudly about the potential customers lack of planning and called them wankers. When the lady returned it seemed that was not heard by the customer on the phone, but that is a miracle. The grumpy bloke carried on complaining after she had finished the conversation, which gave the bar person chance to say just how few customers they had of late, and to suggest that it was customers that helped him get paid. We left thinking that this wouldn't happen in other places in Europe, where thy appreciate the custom and sometimes the company of visits, and do not share our bizarre mind set of customers being an inconvenience that keeps us away from doing what we love.
Anyway, we headed on through the soup and into West Yorkshire and the village of Emley. The fog was so thick here that even when we found the White Horse you almost couldn't see it through the mists. Inside there were about 8 ales on the bar as you enter and a long room with a real fire and a large tastefully decorated Christmas tree, with another room off and one at the end.
We had the Ossett Christmas beer and a strong stout from Fernandes and another porter, which I think was from Ossett. Adding friendly and helpful staff and customers meant we would, with hindsight, have come straight here. A must return to pub I reckon.
Next we headed for Ingbirchworth and the reservoir, where we had our walk in the fog. The dense plumes on the frozen reservoir made an eerie and surprisingly photogenic subject and it was an enjoyable if brief couple of miles round and back to the car. From here we headed to Victoria - by accident, and the pub wasn't open anyway - before making our way to flouch and on to the Dog and Partridge at Hazelhead.
Inside this very large roadside inn is a comparatively small old wooden bar, with 4 handpumps dispensing Barnsley bittier ( which I had ) a regional and a Robinsons guest - Wee Keefy had a hot drink since he was driving. There is also an enormous fireplace with a fire roaring away, although you probably have to queue to get a seat at the table nearest to it. For all its old world features there's no escaping that this is a food orientated pub, but it was a decent pint of Acorn nonetheless, and a nice change.
Sheffield
Back to Sheffield news, and in January I visited the Sportsman at Lodge moor, heading out to Redmires. I was meeting for a family meal, and this too is a pub that makes a lot of its money and attracts a lot of its patrons from food. The Sunday lunch comes highly recommended ( not stingy with the meat ) and there are two real ales, tetley and Landlord. I had a few pints of the landlord which was nice, but the price is steep - £3.20 a pint (if my maths is right) making it nearer to town prices.
The thing is though, the pub is always full when I have been in the last 4 times, and I'd rather have sensibly priced food with two albeit standard expensive real ales, than expensive food and nothing to sup.
My final news is of them what er in town. To my surprise, the other night All bar One was selling real ale with two somewhat overly modern handpumps in evidence, Black Sheep and Sharps Doom Bar being on offer, not sure of the price. This is supplemented with some excellent continental draught beers such as Rothaus wheat beer and Paulaner lager from Germany, and Sierra Nevada from the U.S, a fine strong hoppy pale ale ( which is orange in colour, but will let them off ) which packs in a huge amount of flavour. Granted its not everyones idea of a pub, and it can be pricey, but its still a positive development to see cask available.
Round on Trippets lane, the Trippets wine bar (above) is open as a pub, with predominantly Thornbridge and Kelham beers on, but all locally brewed. We go in fairly regularly, probably once a fortnight, and the picture above us from our anniversary drinks back in October last year. Over the road, the Grapes, for decades a music pub with a strangely ultra traditional interior, has always had a Flynns sign on the side. It turns out the Flynns own the Grapes but leased it, as well as the Dog and Partridge. The Grapes now has a traditional carpeted interior and, alas, no pool table, but one piece of excellent news is that they have reopened the snug bar on the left. I admit that regulars of the Grapes who went for the music are likely to be bewildered and disappointed by what is quite a big change, but the bigger impact appears to be on the dog and partridge.
Visiting the other night was like stepping into an empty house, with almost nobody in, only Tetley on the bar ( I know it was never renowned for real ale but usually had some Abbeydale on, which has been retained at the Grapes ) and absolutely no atmosphere. Hopefully this won't see the decline of this great old building, with its fantastic and unusual back snug, and the small room on the left. I will certainly go to the dog and partridge again to see how it is going, but I can't overemphasise the change. So overall positive real ale news and some new pubs that i have tried. I will update again soon on South Derbyshire and elsewhere.
Wee Beefy.
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Huddersfield area pub crawl
Hello,
Most people know that Huddersfield has some cracking pubs, and its probably also been established already that there are some cracking pubs on the outskirts, so I can’t promise any bamboozling surprises on this crawl write up, but I can assure you that I would heartily recommend every pub.
Back in November me and Davefromtshop caught a sleeper train to Huddersfield – not one with beds in you understand, instead one which needed them, given that it took 1 hour 50 minutes to get there. It took so long in fact that we missed the hourly bus out to our intended first pub.
Being Sunday no pubs were open before 12.00 so we walked to the bus station and back to check the timetable and see how long it takes to walk there from the station, before returning to stand balefully outside the Head of Steam like alcos.
Once in, we had some White Bear Original. I can’t say I was won over by it, lacking any stand out flavour and with a strange Whitbread full mash like aftertaste hanging around. Given that the 3 bottles of their Bruin I bought have been off, I decided that they would have to produce something far better before I’d try them again, so sipped their biter and then headed ff to the bus station.
We headed out to Sowood, a large parish area than a village I would say, the effect being that we didn’t really know where to get off and neither could anyone on the bus suggest where. Despite this we soon found a local who directed us towards Forest Hill road and the Dog and partridge.
This is a tiny two roomed pub with small windows running along the front of each room and a timeworn bar, low beams and fireplaces. Its run by an enthusiastic landlord with an incredible 50 years in charge, who helped us to get back to the bus route, and thanked us warmly for making the effort to visit - its seldom you meet that kind of publican these days. There are 3 real ales, Black sheep plus two guests, on this occasion an astringent but enjoyable beer from Brass Monkey called Gold Monkey. Dave suggested this was following a recent trend of using what I may well have misremembered as Nelson Sauvin hops – intensely dry flavour that can, when used liberally, make a beer orangey and sharp and very dry.
We also had halves of a Great Newsome beer that neither of us could remember the name of, which is a sham,e because it was marginally better than the Gold Monkey.
A walk to Outlane followed for the bus, but we just had chance to nip for a half of Taylors at the Waggon and Horses, a large two roomed eateries that reminded me of an inter war hotel. The landlord was acceptably kept and enthusiastically priced.
Back in Huddersfield we contrived to get separated and missed the opportunity to cram a quick pint in somewhere in town, so headed off a little earlier than planned to Marsden, and the excellent Ossett brewery owned Riverhead tap.
We started with a pint of Town Terrier from Riverhead and a fantastic dark malty German style beer Marzendlen. This was so exquisite we had to have another 3 halves of it, before caving ion and trying the Sparth bitter and Ossett Galena. Although this refusal to leave cost us a trip to Greenfield, I can’t speak highly enough about the excellent Marzen beer and the comfortable relaxing pub that we sampled it in.
With darkness nearing we caught the bus to Slaithwaite (Slowitt) and walked form the main road up to the Commercial, opposite the Huddersield narrow Canal. This is owned by the landlord of the nearby Swan Inn and serves an excellent range of about 8 ales always with one or two from Empire brewery. We both had a pint of their Moonraker mild which was on sale at a sensible £1.90 a pint – had we not been mid crawl we could have stayed on it all night.
Alas we had to grab some food from the chippy and walk up to the delightfully named area of crimble to visit the Swan. This is a more traditional affair but with slightly less beer choice, never the less we enjoyed 2 pints of what according to my scribbled on sheet of paper was Empire Mallrs Lallrs. Yes, that’s right, I have no idea either. No doubt the long walk up the hill was to blame for our inability to read and write.
Off next to Linthwaite (Linfit), where we reached the Sair by climbing up the horrendously steep Hoyle Ing, which was only possible thanks to the knowledge of the bus driver, since you can’t see the Sair Inn sign heading towards Huddersfield.
We breathlessly stumbled into find faint orange lights and candle light, low beams, flagstone floors, an eclectic jukebox and a fire in every room. Alas there was no Linfit ale on the bar, I hadn’t heard that they’d stopped brewing but they do only sell the beer there nowadays, so it was a bit of a surprise. Instead we had a pint each of a bizarre Otley beer that I can’t read, and 2 fantastic halves of Phoenix mocha, which we would have preferred to have had as our pint.
We soon arrived back in Huddersfield, and just had time to get to the Kings Head on the station, a large pub split into 3 rooms, a noisy and cosy bar snug, a large concert room sized bar and an adjacent room that doesn’t appear to get used very much. From the amazing number of beers on offer, all were from Yorkshire, and we both had a half of Bobs Brewing super chief, which was very nice.
We now had to get home, which at that time of night involves a detour to Leeds. We had an hour here so tried the Scarborough Arms, which was a little disappointing, in which we had halves of Lees mild, and then took a long walk to a leeds brewery pub at the side of the river Aire. Until Dave rings me to confirm, I am afraid I can’t tell you what the pub was called, or what we drank, but I know it was a pint each of a Leeds brewery beer that may have been brewed for the pub, and it was a decent pint as well.
All in all then, a fantastic and varied day out, with country pubs, town pubs and city ones, notable for the Sair, Riverhead Tap and Dog and Partridge especially, and unforgettable on the basis of the excellent Marzen from Marsden.
And please be aware should this tempt you out West, travelling around West Yorkshire is inexpensive with a day saver , but unfortuntaely fares into the county from sunny Sheff are very high.
Next time I'll tell you about more January jaunts in lincolnshire and South Derbyshire.
Wee Beefy.
Most people know that Huddersfield has some cracking pubs, and its probably also been established already that there are some cracking pubs on the outskirts, so I can’t promise any bamboozling surprises on this crawl write up, but I can assure you that I would heartily recommend every pub.
Back in November me and Davefromtshop caught a sleeper train to Huddersfield – not one with beds in you understand, instead one which needed them, given that it took 1 hour 50 minutes to get there. It took so long in fact that we missed the hourly bus out to our intended first pub.
Being Sunday no pubs were open before 12.00 so we walked to the bus station and back to check the timetable and see how long it takes to walk there from the station, before returning to stand balefully outside the Head of Steam like alcos.
Once in, we had some White Bear Original. I can’t say I was won over by it, lacking any stand out flavour and with a strange Whitbread full mash like aftertaste hanging around. Given that the 3 bottles of their Bruin I bought have been off, I decided that they would have to produce something far better before I’d try them again, so sipped their biter and then headed ff to the bus station.
We headed out to Sowood, a large parish area than a village I would say, the effect being that we didn’t really know where to get off and neither could anyone on the bus suggest where. Despite this we soon found a local who directed us towards Forest Hill road and the Dog and partridge.
This is a tiny two roomed pub with small windows running along the front of each room and a timeworn bar, low beams and fireplaces. Its run by an enthusiastic landlord with an incredible 50 years in charge, who helped us to get back to the bus route, and thanked us warmly for making the effort to visit - its seldom you meet that kind of publican these days. There are 3 real ales, Black sheep plus two guests, on this occasion an astringent but enjoyable beer from Brass Monkey called Gold Monkey. Dave suggested this was following a recent trend of using what I may well have misremembered as Nelson Sauvin hops – intensely dry flavour that can, when used liberally, make a beer orangey and sharp and very dry.
We also had halves of a Great Newsome beer that neither of us could remember the name of, which is a sham,e because it was marginally better than the Gold Monkey.
A walk to Outlane followed for the bus, but we just had chance to nip for a half of Taylors at the Waggon and Horses, a large two roomed eateries that reminded me of an inter war hotel. The landlord was acceptably kept and enthusiastically priced.
Back in Huddersfield we contrived to get separated and missed the opportunity to cram a quick pint in somewhere in town, so headed off a little earlier than planned to Marsden, and the excellent Ossett brewery owned Riverhead tap.
We started with a pint of Town Terrier from Riverhead and a fantastic dark malty German style beer Marzendlen. This was so exquisite we had to have another 3 halves of it, before caving ion and trying the Sparth bitter and Ossett Galena. Although this refusal to leave cost us a trip to Greenfield, I can’t speak highly enough about the excellent Marzen beer and the comfortable relaxing pub that we sampled it in.
With darkness nearing we caught the bus to Slaithwaite (Slowitt) and walked form the main road up to the Commercial, opposite the Huddersield narrow Canal. This is owned by the landlord of the nearby Swan Inn and serves an excellent range of about 8 ales always with one or two from Empire brewery. We both had a pint of their Moonraker mild which was on sale at a sensible £1.90 a pint – had we not been mid crawl we could have stayed on it all night.
Alas we had to grab some food from the chippy and walk up to the delightfully named area of crimble to visit the Swan. This is a more traditional affair but with slightly less beer choice, never the less we enjoyed 2 pints of what according to my scribbled on sheet of paper was Empire Mallrs Lallrs. Yes, that’s right, I have no idea either. No doubt the long walk up the hill was to blame for our inability to read and write.
Off next to Linthwaite (Linfit), where we reached the Sair by climbing up the horrendously steep Hoyle Ing, which was only possible thanks to the knowledge of the bus driver, since you can’t see the Sair Inn sign heading towards Huddersfield.
We breathlessly stumbled into find faint orange lights and candle light, low beams, flagstone floors, an eclectic jukebox and a fire in every room. Alas there was no Linfit ale on the bar, I hadn’t heard that they’d stopped brewing but they do only sell the beer there nowadays, so it was a bit of a surprise. Instead we had a pint each of a bizarre Otley beer that I can’t read, and 2 fantastic halves of Phoenix mocha, which we would have preferred to have had as our pint.
We soon arrived back in Huddersfield, and just had time to get to the Kings Head on the station, a large pub split into 3 rooms, a noisy and cosy bar snug, a large concert room sized bar and an adjacent room that doesn’t appear to get used very much. From the amazing number of beers on offer, all were from Yorkshire, and we both had a half of Bobs Brewing super chief, which was very nice.
We now had to get home, which at that time of night involves a detour to Leeds. We had an hour here so tried the Scarborough Arms, which was a little disappointing, in which we had halves of Lees mild, and then took a long walk to a leeds brewery pub at the side of the river Aire. Until Dave rings me to confirm, I am afraid I can’t tell you what the pub was called, or what we drank, but I know it was a pint each of a Leeds brewery beer that may have been brewed for the pub, and it was a decent pint as well.
All in all then, a fantastic and varied day out, with country pubs, town pubs and city ones, notable for the Sair, Riverhead Tap and Dog and Partridge especially, and unforgettable on the basis of the excellent Marzen from Marsden.
And please be aware should this tempt you out West, travelling around West Yorkshire is inexpensive with a day saver , but unfortuntaely fares into the county from sunny Sheff are very high.
Next time I'll tell you about more January jaunts in lincolnshire and South Derbyshire.
Wee Beefy.
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Sheffield pubs update
I am finally back on the site after B.T contrived to piss away my Internet connection for 3 weeks and my computer got ill - twice. Its still not fixed but can now mercifully access tinterweb, and here I am to bring you up to date.
Me and Davefromtshop, Wee Fatha and Mr P went to the South in October - a detailed trip report will follow in the next few weeks.
For now, I am able only to update you on dearest Sheffield and its weird beery ways.
The Blake on Blake Street has reopened, possibly but not definitely 4 years after anti competitive pub closure specialist enterprise inns ( although you could insert the name of any faceless bank owned foreign pub company ) closed it and put a restrictive covenant on the lease preventing its reopening as a pub. This weak minded two fingers to free trade was designed no doubt to protect other nearby gems they owned that didn't sell real ale, seemed unnervingly similar to other pubs and were being run into the ground to prime them for housing stock. It says a lot about the company's interest in viable pubs, and about how crap they know some of their boozers are....
Mercifully the pubco lost and James Birkett of Sheaf view pedigree has opened it up selling a range of ales, bottled foreign beers and cider. Its changed a bit since my last visit 11 years ago, when I recall only the far side of the bar area and part of the room with the entrance now in it. Perhaps the passage of time has made me remember it smaller than it is now…
Anyhoo, supposing you are fit you can reach it by walking up Whitehouse lane then Burgoyne road from the Hillsborough Hotel and across the park, or downhill from South road, likely Industry Street and right at the bottom.
Have only made it in twice but the highlight last time ( apart from the range and the convivial atmosphere ) was the Globe porter from Glossop and a Dark Star IPA.
Up in sunny Handsworth changes are afoot, albeit slowly.
I may have previously mentioned that the Cross keys was up for sale, or it maybe just the lease - not very good at technical and legal stuff am afraid. Landlord Lee has decided to move on to another challenge and although he was in before Christmas on my last 4 visits there have been other people behind the bar.
It’s a real shame, but, possibly down to the uncertainty, or perhaps because the beer is cheaper next dooreven after a winter price cut at the keys, there seems to be considerably fewer customers in these days. Not because of that, but I wasn't in at new year as I usually would be, and a friend of mine reported the pub virtually deserted after 22.00. I know myself that in the past after an initial scrum from 20.00 to 21.30, from 22.00 is a quiet period and then it fills up again nearer 23.00 and onwards, but that sounds like bad news. Poor trade begets poorer trade, people are maybe less inclined to visit if it always seems empty. Mind you, as a miserable arse whinger I quite like the silence, but not at the expense of viability. And I can confirm that the beer has been fine or every good the last 4 times have been in.
Meanwhile the Old Crown continues to sell Bradfield and Acorn beers and now advertises Marstons, and real ale is £2.30 a pint. The added attraction of Zlatec lager on draught, giving the non real ale masses a decent alternative to lemonade like Carlsberg, perhaps helps explain the pubs popularity.
Food is available now, am cerain there are no kitchen facilities in the Cross keys, and as far as I know the accommodating side still operates. The sad thing is, whilst a pub selling local real ale is a bonus, one wonders if this is a sign that Handsworth with its recent traditions of dreadful pubs and dreadful beer, can’t support two real ale pubs.
Previously the unshakeably Whitbread tinged New Crown was the flagsip with two real ales on and food available. I went in the New Crown about 9 months ago, only to find one real ale and the loudest and most antagonistic licensee/landlord you could meet, ramping up football rivalries and behaving generally in the manner of someone who he should have been asking to quieten down or leave.
The Magnet was the sacrificed ale, which now I suppose is the case across the UK, but that only leaves Greedy King old speckled hen. So unimpressed was I by this great example of how not to run, and encourage all the worst aspects of a pub, I have not been back to see if they have persevered with the GK ale.
The Turf, which is a very traditional pub in terms of interior and exterior, is another I have not visited for ages, but this time years. That said, the pub itself seems very nice, its just that they never have, as far as I know, sold real ale, so I have supported those that have instead. Meanwhile, the White Rose has those huge long swan neck dispense things and may not sell real ale anymore, and the Norfolk Arms is a nursery.
Just a 10 minute bus journey towards Attercliffe and the excellent Sportsman continues to do well and sell one or two real ales, regularly showcasing beers from the excellent Barlow brewery and Concertina, and this week those from Grafton in Worksop.
Paul tells me he has some Barlow Imperial Stout ageing in the cellar along with some already vintage last rites. I believe last time it was on the last rites retailed for £3.00 a pint, although I wonder if this will change for the matured version. Full marks though to Paul for his dedication to real ale and sensible prices, and to his customers who are never afraid to give him feebdback on the beers, and aren't frightened of the stronger brews which so rareyl make it on to the bar in Sheffield these days....
Finally, news from new regular Wee Beefy venue the Rutland Arms on Brown Street. There are about 8 handpumps dispensing local and further afield beers from micros and the occasional regional, as well as an absurd number of ciders, and draught and bottled continental beers including Vedette. Food is good and sensibly priced and served until 20.00, or it might be 21.00. There is often a beer from new brewing outfits in Sheffield such as those operating on others plant, like Blue Bee and Steel City Brewing.
The final draw I have to say is an incredible juke box with a fantastic range of music - although being an old before my time 36 year old it was really only 70's rock, blues and a few decent early noughties metal tracks that I parted with my money for.
Heartily reccommended.
So that just about wraps up the Sheffield scene for now.
Hopefully I will have chance to update more regularly in future, to Tell you, amongst other things, about my Lincolnshire and South Derbyshire trips and Huddersfield escapades.
Wee Beefy.
Me and Davefromtshop, Wee Fatha and Mr P went to the South in October - a detailed trip report will follow in the next few weeks.
For now, I am able only to update you on dearest Sheffield and its weird beery ways.
The Blake on Blake Street has reopened, possibly but not definitely 4 years after anti competitive pub closure specialist enterprise inns ( although you could insert the name of any faceless bank owned foreign pub company ) closed it and put a restrictive covenant on the lease preventing its reopening as a pub. This weak minded two fingers to free trade was designed no doubt to protect other nearby gems they owned that didn't sell real ale, seemed unnervingly similar to other pubs and were being run into the ground to prime them for housing stock. It says a lot about the company's interest in viable pubs, and about how crap they know some of their boozers are....
Mercifully the pubco lost and James Birkett of Sheaf view pedigree has opened it up selling a range of ales, bottled foreign beers and cider. Its changed a bit since my last visit 11 years ago, when I recall only the far side of the bar area and part of the room with the entrance now in it. Perhaps the passage of time has made me remember it smaller than it is now…
Anyhoo, supposing you are fit you can reach it by walking up Whitehouse lane then Burgoyne road from the Hillsborough Hotel and across the park, or downhill from South road, likely Industry Street and right at the bottom.
Have only made it in twice but the highlight last time ( apart from the range and the convivial atmosphere ) was the Globe porter from Glossop and a Dark Star IPA.
Up in sunny Handsworth changes are afoot, albeit slowly.
I may have previously mentioned that the Cross keys was up for sale, or it maybe just the lease - not very good at technical and legal stuff am afraid. Landlord Lee has decided to move on to another challenge and although he was in before Christmas on my last 4 visits there have been other people behind the bar.
It’s a real shame, but, possibly down to the uncertainty, or perhaps because the beer is cheaper next dooreven after a winter price cut at the keys, there seems to be considerably fewer customers in these days. Not because of that, but I wasn't in at new year as I usually would be, and a friend of mine reported the pub virtually deserted after 22.00. I know myself that in the past after an initial scrum from 20.00 to 21.30, from 22.00 is a quiet period and then it fills up again nearer 23.00 and onwards, but that sounds like bad news. Poor trade begets poorer trade, people are maybe less inclined to visit if it always seems empty. Mind you, as a miserable arse whinger I quite like the silence, but not at the expense of viability. And I can confirm that the beer has been fine or every good the last 4 times have been in.
Meanwhile the Old Crown continues to sell Bradfield and Acorn beers and now advertises Marstons, and real ale is £2.30 a pint. The added attraction of Zlatec lager on draught, giving the non real ale masses a decent alternative to lemonade like Carlsberg, perhaps helps explain the pubs popularity.
Food is available now, am cerain there are no kitchen facilities in the Cross keys, and as far as I know the accommodating side still operates. The sad thing is, whilst a pub selling local real ale is a bonus, one wonders if this is a sign that Handsworth with its recent traditions of dreadful pubs and dreadful beer, can’t support two real ale pubs.
Previously the unshakeably Whitbread tinged New Crown was the flagsip with two real ales on and food available. I went in the New Crown about 9 months ago, only to find one real ale and the loudest and most antagonistic licensee/landlord you could meet, ramping up football rivalries and behaving generally in the manner of someone who he should have been asking to quieten down or leave.
The Magnet was the sacrificed ale, which now I suppose is the case across the UK, but that only leaves Greedy King old speckled hen. So unimpressed was I by this great example of how not to run, and encourage all the worst aspects of a pub, I have not been back to see if they have persevered with the GK ale.
The Turf, which is a very traditional pub in terms of interior and exterior, is another I have not visited for ages, but this time years. That said, the pub itself seems very nice, its just that they never have, as far as I know, sold real ale, so I have supported those that have instead. Meanwhile, the White Rose has those huge long swan neck dispense things and may not sell real ale anymore, and the Norfolk Arms is a nursery.
Just a 10 minute bus journey towards Attercliffe and the excellent Sportsman continues to do well and sell one or two real ales, regularly showcasing beers from the excellent Barlow brewery and Concertina, and this week those from Grafton in Worksop.
Paul tells me he has some Barlow Imperial Stout ageing in the cellar along with some already vintage last rites. I believe last time it was on the last rites retailed for £3.00 a pint, although I wonder if this will change for the matured version. Full marks though to Paul for his dedication to real ale and sensible prices, and to his customers who are never afraid to give him feebdback on the beers, and aren't frightened of the stronger brews which so rareyl make it on to the bar in Sheffield these days....
Finally, news from new regular Wee Beefy venue the Rutland Arms on Brown Street. There are about 8 handpumps dispensing local and further afield beers from micros and the occasional regional, as well as an absurd number of ciders, and draught and bottled continental beers including Vedette. Food is good and sensibly priced and served until 20.00, or it might be 21.00. There is often a beer from new brewing outfits in Sheffield such as those operating on others plant, like Blue Bee and Steel City Brewing.
The final draw I have to say is an incredible juke box with a fantastic range of music - although being an old before my time 36 year old it was really only 70's rock, blues and a few decent early noughties metal tracks that I parted with my money for.
Heartily reccommended.
So that just about wraps up the Sheffield scene for now.
Hopefully I will have chance to update more regularly in future, to Tell you, amongst other things, about my Lincolnshire and South Derbyshire trips and Huddersfield escapades.
Wee Beefy.
Sunday, 5 September 2010
More from crete
Hello,
we are nearing the end of the holiday, sat in unhelpful near dark in an internet cafe in Agios. On the last day in Chania I found a Craft outlet and had good beer at a bar that has an Asterix theme on the menu but no name (distinguishable by its odd multi-coloured model of an ostrich type bird on the right hand side of the entrance - I kid you not)! We had 4 fantastic days in Paleochora, Portofino still sells Pilsner Urquell and now also Craft bottles at a decent price, otherwise the beer ranges have been poor (but beaches fantastic and sea clear and warm..)
We are staying in Kritsa, and have been drinkiing what turns out to be a Greek beer, Magnus Magister pils, in Castello, as we always do. We are off to Elounda today to see Dimitri and then Maria in Kato Elounda, and hopefully we'll get some Brinks Rethymnian in Rethymno tomorrow.
Cheers
Wee Beefy.
we are nearing the end of the holiday, sat in unhelpful near dark in an internet cafe in Agios. On the last day in Chania I found a Craft outlet and had good beer at a bar that has an Asterix theme on the menu but no name (distinguishable by its odd multi-coloured model of an ostrich type bird on the right hand side of the entrance - I kid you not)! We had 4 fantastic days in Paleochora, Portofino still sells Pilsner Urquell and now also Craft bottles at a decent price, otherwise the beer ranges have been poor (but beaches fantastic and sea clear and warm..)
We are staying in Kritsa, and have been drinkiing what turns out to be a Greek beer, Magnus Magister pils, in Castello, as we always do. We are off to Elounda today to see Dimitri and then Maria in Kato Elounda, and hopefully we'll get some Brinks Rethymnian in Rethymno tomorrow.
Cheers
Wee Beefy.
Monday, 30 August 2010
A message from Crete
Hello,
it seems like about time I posted from Crete, so here I am in Chania, the trendiest and inevitably most expensive Cretan City.
We started in Rethymno on 17th August, travelled to Askifou in the white mountains for 2 days, then onto the high desert village of Anopoli for 4 nights, before rolling up in Sougia the laid back lconic lazy resort on the south coast, for 3 nights.
We got to Chania on Friday 27th and have been staying in a traditional Venetian family home in the old town. This is not rented out on the internet, but an occasionally available property that we have rented through a friend.
The weather has been getting hotter over the last couple of days but was really hot on the coast - mainly it has been humid everywhere.
The beer situation in Chania appears to have deteriorated significantly. No.43 no longer sells any beer, the Metropolitan bar has become a sham cheapo family venue with rolla-cola and fake music, although it does still sell Charma Dark. Bar hippo may not be selling Craft anymore, will be investigating later, Baroro remains excellent with no noticeable change in price. There is one addition to the beer scene with a good range available at a supposed rock bar near where Talos used to be, but none of the places using Charma beer advertising boards seem to sell it, and as yet the only Craft I have seen has been on the South Coast.
Traders report a busy August but I get the feeling that trade was poor earlier on, and the continuing downturn in tourist profits probably drives the inexorable passage towards endless Amstel and Mythos everywhere you go.
There is a harbour front bar which plays decent metal on a Friday and Saturday night so that is an improvement, but overall a low score for Chania - love it as I do, you end up paying nearly double the prices on the South coast for less and less individual venues.
Starbucks was the first indicator that Chania wanted to be anywhere else in the world, and global brands predominate. The final bad news is that the Ouzeri across from Madonna studios has now closed down.
Still, its hovering around 36 degrees and we have a free day before we leave for Paleachora tomorrow so there should be 4 beach days ahead if we want, and hopefully Portofino will still sell Pilsner Urquell.
Hope to get online on the last day otherwise will be back to finally post some details about kafenions when i return - there is a new one ( if that makes sense, perhaps I mean revived) in Chania old town, so will investigate that as well.
Wee Beefy, Chania old town.
it seems like about time I posted from Crete, so here I am in Chania, the trendiest and inevitably most expensive Cretan City.
We started in Rethymno on 17th August, travelled to Askifou in the white mountains for 2 days, then onto the high desert village of Anopoli for 4 nights, before rolling up in Sougia the laid back lconic lazy resort on the south coast, for 3 nights.
We got to Chania on Friday 27th and have been staying in a traditional Venetian family home in the old town. This is not rented out on the internet, but an occasionally available property that we have rented through a friend.
The weather has been getting hotter over the last couple of days but was really hot on the coast - mainly it has been humid everywhere.
The beer situation in Chania appears to have deteriorated significantly. No.43 no longer sells any beer, the Metropolitan bar has become a sham cheapo family venue with rolla-cola and fake music, although it does still sell Charma Dark. Bar hippo may not be selling Craft anymore, will be investigating later, Baroro remains excellent with no noticeable change in price. There is one addition to the beer scene with a good range available at a supposed rock bar near where Talos used to be, but none of the places using Charma beer advertising boards seem to sell it, and as yet the only Craft I have seen has been on the South Coast.
Traders report a busy August but I get the feeling that trade was poor earlier on, and the continuing downturn in tourist profits probably drives the inexorable passage towards endless Amstel and Mythos everywhere you go.
There is a harbour front bar which plays decent metal on a Friday and Saturday night so that is an improvement, but overall a low score for Chania - love it as I do, you end up paying nearly double the prices on the South coast for less and less individual venues.
Starbucks was the first indicator that Chania wanted to be anywhere else in the world, and global brands predominate. The final bad news is that the Ouzeri across from Madonna studios has now closed down.
Still, its hovering around 36 degrees and we have a free day before we leave for Paleachora tomorrow so there should be 4 beach days ahead if we want, and hopefully Portofino will still sell Pilsner Urquell.
Hope to get online on the last day otherwise will be back to finally post some details about kafenions when i return - there is a new one ( if that makes sense, perhaps I mean revived) in Chania old town, so will investigate that as well.
Wee Beefy, Chania old town.
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
3 Valleys beer festival
Having somehow contrived to more or less run out of cash half way through the month (its always a bad sign when you need to start adding the number of weeks left before your pay allows you to live again) I was going to spend the weekend of July 17th doing nothing and resting my hole ridden foot in my cumbersome Herman Munster boot that the hospital had insisted I wear.
That was until I got a text from Fluffy.
Yep, that’s right. I have a friend called fluffy (although he amusingly tries to pretend that it’s actually his name for me which clearly, it isn’t).
Luckily, I am not in SMS contact with a feline or silkily pelted dog, instead Scott is his more drinker friendly name and he lives in that London so we see each other rarely, although more recently since a chance conversation with a mutual friend. Anyhoo, his invite to join him at the 3 Valleys festival proved too strong to resist, especially when I saw the beers that might be on.
The idea is simple. Twelve (or perhaps ten) pubs put on special events and or special beers like they are having a beer festival of their own, all of the pubs are in the S18 and 19 area (according to the website) and you travel for free between them all by a festival bus paid for by the pubs.
So, on Saturday me and Chala headed into town and dawdled unhelpfully down to the train station - the idea was that rather than catch the 15.05 train with Scott et al, we would catch the earlier one (which I guessed left at 14.05 but hadn't checked) so we could go to the Coach and Horses in Dronfield and steal an hours drinking on them, on the assumption that we would be home early like good kids and them lot would be out all-night like rapscallions.
Alas, strolling into the station at the exact time the train left we quickly had a rethink and bumped into Scott en route to check bus times. We realised there was probably no point trying for a bus so filled in time before meeting everyone in the Sheffield Tap by buying tickets and gawping at a monsoon downpour whilst chatting to a bloke from Moss Side about his love of multiculturalism and ultra violence.
The Sheffield Tap was busy as usual, with a selection of some beers from the festival (the Coach and Horses is their sister pub) in addition to the usual Thornbridge range. Chala opted to avoid alcohol at this stage and I had a Pollards milk coffee stout, served in a European style strong ale glass and tasting of, well, milky coffee and stout, and ludicrously drinkable at 5%.
In no time we were on the train and then in Dronfield walking to the Coach. There was a blues singer on outside in the marquee along with an extra bar and, somewhat revolutionarily, a real till accepting real money. Plastic glasses mind you.
With it having poured down with rain on and off there was one large table free outside of the protection of the canvas so we dried that off and caught up and got to know each other, whilst sampling the ales. I started with a pint of Williams Bros Grozet, a gooseberry wheat beer which was intentionally and correctly cloudy and refreshing. Chala opted for a demure half of the Hawkshead organic stout which is a fantastic beer.
After a quick Fyne ales beer that escapes me, I recklessly embarked on the first of two halves of Brewdog Hardcore IPA, which is 9, or possibly 9.2%, packed with hops and almost criminally easy to drink. In between I had a Williams Joker IPA to calm things down a little, but my logic - that we would be out for only a couple of hours so could drink like a mentalist - was flawed, as the unfolding events would demonstrate.
Scott and the others ( John, Steve, Trudy, Simon and Amy - just proving that I can recall names ) headed off on the last clockwise free bus to the Hearts of Oak at Dronfield Moor, whilst cannily, realising we had probably reached the best beer pub of the festival route, we opted to stay for an extra 40 minutes to sample more delights.
Chala finished our Coach drinking as another shower enveloped us with a half of Maredsous from the pub bar, whilst I had a fantastic pint of Murmansk Baltic Porter at 7.2%. Leaving for a bus back to the station and then a bus back out to join the gang at the Rutland in Holmsfield, chaos reigned as no-one could agree where the bus would stop.
We saw it pull up outside but there were plenty of people on both sides of the road, so we ran over and made sure the bus was going to turn round at the roundabout and come back past the pub to the station, which it did. What we weren't expecting was that no-one would join us, and that the bus driver, admittedly following his instructions but flying in the face of logic, fair play and a desire to help, simply drove straight past the waving and shouting crowd on the basis that he did not pick up after the pub-side stop.
That may be the case, but the confusion of having 2 clockwise busses leave the station and drive past the pub along with 8 or 9 that only pick up at the same stop and take you back to the start meant that no-one was likely to understand the logistics, and as we boarded the tiny minibus which was to be the next vehicle picking up at the C+H in 50 minutes time, it was clear that guests were going to be dischuffed.
Anyhoo, putting these concerns behind us we set off again past the Miners to the Rutland at Holmsfield, where the others already were, having given up on the Oak on account of it having run out of festival beer and worse ( I realise nothing could be worse, but cant recall the exact details clearly enough to report the problem ).
The Rutland is somewhere I have been many times although not so much in the last 5 years and it was serving a good range of regional brewer’s beers along with Wharfeside Tether and Bays Gold. Perhaps only for reasons of the festival spirit I went for the Bays Gold (although I was given a taste first) when actually I probably from the taste I had after, preferred the Tether. Either way, an unusual beer from furthest Torquay making a nice change.
We moved on next to the Horns where a festival slump befell us once more, the sign outside and the website promised a few guest festival beers but there was only one, a Kelham beer which was off. We all took ours back and swapped it for John Smiths, and retired to the back room to catch up and listen to some music, but it was a shame that with 4 hours to go on the first day of the two day festival they seemed to have run out of festival beer (although they may well have been topped up on Sunday, am unsure how it works).
From here we headed up the hill to the George and Dragon, bathed in bright sunshine as he dark rainclouds moved away for a spell. Inside it is small and the bar was packed. They had two Peak ales and another and I had their Summer Sovereign which was very nice.
On discovering we had 8 minutes spare we opted to have a swift half in the Angel over the road where some of the party had gone earlier, where we found two Abbeydale beers on and a fortuitous fiver on the floor. Alas, as soon as we were served 3 halves of Absolution the bus turned up and, leaving Chala in the loo in the mayhem, we had to neck the lovely beer and run across the road to the bus.
Once on board the passengers regaled the no doubt grateful driver with a series of half remembered quarter length versions of popular songs, most notably show me the way to Amarillo. This wiled away what seemed a surprisingly long jaunt to Totley, whilst simultaneously making the driver pull a Dairylea advert bus driver face. It would have made my day f he'd grumpily said " ther Tony Christie mad them kids ", but alas he did not.
Eschewing the promise or horror of the Cross Scythes ( I don't think I’ve ever been in, but can’t find a single person with anything good to say about it ), we crossed he road and visited the Fleur de Lys, where there was a band on, and I definitely had a pint of Old Peculier. Or maybe more.
By this time its reasonable to point out that I was a trifle refreshed, which meant after a while spent lolling around outside and at the bus stop across the road we finally finished our festival crawl about 21.00 and caught the bus into town.
The group somehow summoned up the energy ad desire to head to the Rutland so we parted and me and Chala headed home on the 52 where, bearing in mind our slightly sozzled state, we were alarmed to find ourselves sat with an even drunker person who was remonstrating with her other half and various items of fixed seating and bus interior fittings all the way to Handsworth.
Overall a great festival idea, enabling us to try excellent Scottish beers too rarely seen in Sheffield, to try some new pubs and revisit some favourites, and not have to pay an entry fee to get in.
Roll on next year!
Wee Beefy and our lass.
That was until I got a text from Fluffy.
Yep, that’s right. I have a friend called fluffy (although he amusingly tries to pretend that it’s actually his name for me which clearly, it isn’t).
Luckily, I am not in SMS contact with a feline or silkily pelted dog, instead Scott is his more drinker friendly name and he lives in that London so we see each other rarely, although more recently since a chance conversation with a mutual friend. Anyhoo, his invite to join him at the 3 Valleys festival proved too strong to resist, especially when I saw the beers that might be on.
The idea is simple. Twelve (or perhaps ten) pubs put on special events and or special beers like they are having a beer festival of their own, all of the pubs are in the S18 and 19 area (according to the website) and you travel for free between them all by a festival bus paid for by the pubs.
So, on Saturday me and Chala headed into town and dawdled unhelpfully down to the train station - the idea was that rather than catch the 15.05 train with Scott et al, we would catch the earlier one (which I guessed left at 14.05 but hadn't checked) so we could go to the Coach and Horses in Dronfield and steal an hours drinking on them, on the assumption that we would be home early like good kids and them lot would be out all-night like rapscallions.
Alas, strolling into the station at the exact time the train left we quickly had a rethink and bumped into Scott en route to check bus times. We realised there was probably no point trying for a bus so filled in time before meeting everyone in the Sheffield Tap by buying tickets and gawping at a monsoon downpour whilst chatting to a bloke from Moss Side about his love of multiculturalism and ultra violence.
The Sheffield Tap was busy as usual, with a selection of some beers from the festival (the Coach and Horses is their sister pub) in addition to the usual Thornbridge range. Chala opted to avoid alcohol at this stage and I had a Pollards milk coffee stout, served in a European style strong ale glass and tasting of, well, milky coffee and stout, and ludicrously drinkable at 5%.
In no time we were on the train and then in Dronfield walking to the Coach. There was a blues singer on outside in the marquee along with an extra bar and, somewhat revolutionarily, a real till accepting real money. Plastic glasses mind you.
With it having poured down with rain on and off there was one large table free outside of the protection of the canvas so we dried that off and caught up and got to know each other, whilst sampling the ales. I started with a pint of Williams Bros Grozet, a gooseberry wheat beer which was intentionally and correctly cloudy and refreshing. Chala opted for a demure half of the Hawkshead organic stout which is a fantastic beer.
After a quick Fyne ales beer that escapes me, I recklessly embarked on the first of two halves of Brewdog Hardcore IPA, which is 9, or possibly 9.2%, packed with hops and almost criminally easy to drink. In between I had a Williams Joker IPA to calm things down a little, but my logic - that we would be out for only a couple of hours so could drink like a mentalist - was flawed, as the unfolding events would demonstrate.
Scott and the others ( John, Steve, Trudy, Simon and Amy - just proving that I can recall names ) headed off on the last clockwise free bus to the Hearts of Oak at Dronfield Moor, whilst cannily, realising we had probably reached the best beer pub of the festival route, we opted to stay for an extra 40 minutes to sample more delights.
Chala finished our Coach drinking as another shower enveloped us with a half of Maredsous from the pub bar, whilst I had a fantastic pint of Murmansk Baltic Porter at 7.2%. Leaving for a bus back to the station and then a bus back out to join the gang at the Rutland in Holmsfield, chaos reigned as no-one could agree where the bus would stop.
We saw it pull up outside but there were plenty of people on both sides of the road, so we ran over and made sure the bus was going to turn round at the roundabout and come back past the pub to the station, which it did. What we weren't expecting was that no-one would join us, and that the bus driver, admittedly following his instructions but flying in the face of logic, fair play and a desire to help, simply drove straight past the waving and shouting crowd on the basis that he did not pick up after the pub-side stop.
That may be the case, but the confusion of having 2 clockwise busses leave the station and drive past the pub along with 8 or 9 that only pick up at the same stop and take you back to the start meant that no-one was likely to understand the logistics, and as we boarded the tiny minibus which was to be the next vehicle picking up at the C+H in 50 minutes time, it was clear that guests were going to be dischuffed.
Anyhoo, putting these concerns behind us we set off again past the Miners to the Rutland at Holmsfield, where the others already were, having given up on the Oak on account of it having run out of festival beer and worse ( I realise nothing could be worse, but cant recall the exact details clearly enough to report the problem ).
The Rutland is somewhere I have been many times although not so much in the last 5 years and it was serving a good range of regional brewer’s beers along with Wharfeside Tether and Bays Gold. Perhaps only for reasons of the festival spirit I went for the Bays Gold (although I was given a taste first) when actually I probably from the taste I had after, preferred the Tether. Either way, an unusual beer from furthest Torquay making a nice change.
We moved on next to the Horns where a festival slump befell us once more, the sign outside and the website promised a few guest festival beers but there was only one, a Kelham beer which was off. We all took ours back and swapped it for John Smiths, and retired to the back room to catch up and listen to some music, but it was a shame that with 4 hours to go on the first day of the two day festival they seemed to have run out of festival beer (although they may well have been topped up on Sunday, am unsure how it works).
From here we headed up the hill to the George and Dragon, bathed in bright sunshine as he dark rainclouds moved away for a spell. Inside it is small and the bar was packed. They had two Peak ales and another and I had their Summer Sovereign which was very nice.
On discovering we had 8 minutes spare we opted to have a swift half in the Angel over the road where some of the party had gone earlier, where we found two Abbeydale beers on and a fortuitous fiver on the floor. Alas, as soon as we were served 3 halves of Absolution the bus turned up and, leaving Chala in the loo in the mayhem, we had to neck the lovely beer and run across the road to the bus.
Once on board the passengers regaled the no doubt grateful driver with a series of half remembered quarter length versions of popular songs, most notably show me the way to Amarillo. This wiled away what seemed a surprisingly long jaunt to Totley, whilst simultaneously making the driver pull a Dairylea advert bus driver face. It would have made my day f he'd grumpily said " ther Tony Christie mad them kids ", but alas he did not.
Eschewing the promise or horror of the Cross Scythes ( I don't think I’ve ever been in, but can’t find a single person with anything good to say about it ), we crossed he road and visited the Fleur de Lys, where there was a band on, and I definitely had a pint of Old Peculier. Or maybe more.
By this time its reasonable to point out that I was a trifle refreshed, which meant after a while spent lolling around outside and at the bus stop across the road we finally finished our festival crawl about 21.00 and caught the bus into town.
The group somehow summoned up the energy ad desire to head to the Rutland so we parted and me and Chala headed home on the 52 where, bearing in mind our slightly sozzled state, we were alarmed to find ourselves sat with an even drunker person who was remonstrating with her other half and various items of fixed seating and bus interior fittings all the way to Handsworth.
Overall a great festival idea, enabling us to try excellent Scottish beers too rarely seen in Sheffield, to try some new pubs and revisit some favourites, and not have to pay an entry fee to get in.
Roll on next year!
Wee Beefy and our lass.
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Walking and supping in North Staffordshire.
Clearly what you need for a yomp in Staffordshire is a Derbyshire Wayfarer...
Well, actually you do, as you are starting just over the border then travelling back into the county to get home. The idea of this walk was that, having missed the pub at Waterfall last time, I was determined to get there, and to do the Ilam walk again, and take Dave along with me.....
The day started manically as I got up later than planned and, having unwisely left myself a raft of tasks to complete, then had to run about like a blue arsed fly in order to get the bus into town at 08.27 and thus meet Dave on time (ish) at the train station.
Having forgotten to do my blood test so not realised I had run out of test strips, as well as having forgotten to put a cautionary dressing on the dodgy part of my foot that I always get blisters on, I arrived at the station to find Davefromtshop wasn’t answering his phone, and that the train at 08.54 was next to leave. Cue chaos.
Without checking the time I despatched Dave to get the ticket which I should already have bought whilst I went to the cashpoint and the loo. On coming out I could find Dave nowhere and wasted minutes circling the area, then was heading to platform 6 when Dave rang to ask where I was – and to inform me that the train had in fact just left.
After this I went to platform 5 instead of 6 then went to P6 to find Dave was on P8 for a train at 09.05 which when he finally met me on P6 we looked at the screen and decided was on P5, only to find when we got there that we had looked at a train at 10.05, leaving us about 4 minutes to get back to P8 and catch the train…
Ealing comedy script followed we sat down to enjoy the journey, but the train was delayed and was about 11 minutes late in Derby, leaving us only 6 minutes to get to the bus station. So we tried to catch a taxi, which he had to book for us since he couldn’t for insurance purposes pick up passengers without a booking. We arrived at the bus station with 2 minutes to spare and ran like lunatics to catch the 108. This arrived on time in Ashbourne, giving us 6 minutes to catch the 42a to Ilam (just inside the Staffordshire border) where, only an unlikely seeming 2 hours 28 minutes after leaving my house we arrived to start our walk.
We set off at a goof pace despite the wearying escapade of our outward journey, walking round the back of Ilam Hall to where I knew from last months trek that the path turned off (despite stil seeing absolutely no indication of this). We found the footbridge and crossed in to the fields and uphill to Rushley farm, then up through the narrow dale of Musden Woods. We arrived in Calton in excellent time to fight our way through a laughable excuse for a path linking Throwley lane to a track from Calton, ( it was bad last time but the netes are 6 foot high now), and out onto a path along the edge of and down into the Manifold Valley.
Once on the Manifold track we headed to the path up the dale to Back O Brook before diverting to Pikelow, and down into Waterfall for our first pub stop at the Red Lion, which we reached about 2 and a half hours after setting off.
The Red Lion is tucked away in the tiny hamlet of waterfall and appears to be the epitome of what a pub should be. It’s open in the evening only during the week, which is understandable since on discussing my walk with about 15 people none of them had heard of Waterfall or nearby Waterhouses. They do Sunday lunches and possibly evening meals and on the bar there are handpumps dispensing M+B Mild, Bass and a guest, this time being Fullers London Pride.
The Bass and mild are regulars, and this demonstrates a good turnover, since mild does not like being on more than a few days. The Bass was served in handled beer mugs which is a nice touch, and served through a sparkler. Despite initial concerns I am happy to report that Bass can be served in this way and still taste fantastic. To cap it all, this tiny pub seems to be full of locals of all ages, enjoying a drink and a chat, and seems to be the meeting point for people from a wide area.
We could have stayed a few hours then simply walked to the main road and caught a bus back to Ashbourne (well, with carefully planning, since there’s only 3 on a Sunday), but we opted to press on.
We took the right hand lane out of the village with the green and pub behind us heading for Pethills, taking a few turns to bring us out on the A523 at Winkhill. We then crossed the stream and headed along a long straight road and then up a never-endingly steep hill up to the ridge along which the Staffordshire moorlands walk runs, before slowly dropping down into the linear village of Foxt.
With drizzle upon us we ducked into the Fox and Goose to find Three B’s Blonde and Bass and Jennings Cumberland on offer – alas the Three B’s ran out so we had one of each of the other two. The pub has a traditional interior and bar and a number of rooms, with seating outside. There doesn’t look to be a lot of seating for drinkers, with a lot of tables set for diners, but this could not be tested since it was gone 16.00 and few people were in.
We pressed on downhill to Froghall wharf and out into Froghall hoping for a pint in the Station Hotel. Sadly the pub was closed (opening soon said the sign) so we headed down to the Churnet Valley railway and their restored Froghall station. They were just locking up for the day but we bartered to give them a donation in return for using their loos.
We had a short wait for a bus in Froghall, catching it to Alton Towers ( which you pay for, obviously Derbyshire Wayfarer is no use now… ) before transferring and paying once again to get from there to Uttoxeter, which we made in good time – the two journeys cost about £4.00 each in total and took less than an hour.
Once in Uttoxeter we went to the bar in the Bank House Hotel, where we both had Peakstones Rock Brewery Nemesis, which we missed on our last visit, and at £2.80 a pint seemed to be the same price as in 2007. After a brief relax here we walked round the corner into the square to visit the Vaults.
On our last visit the Vaults had been forlorn and closed, but its fantastic Bass windows had caught our eye. Now open again, we were pleased to discover that is a very traditional boozer, with Pedigree and Bass on handpump.
You enter up a short steep flight of stairs and there are tables on both sides with the bar to the let, and a tiny back room with a bar skittles game and another small bar counter. The Pedigree was excellent and the two blokes sat in the front half were both drinking the real ale, from traditional handled beer mugs. Long may the pub stay open.
We pressed on from this excellent location to the rather more rowdy Olde Talbot just to the right of the Vaults as you come out. This ancient pub is large with multi rooms and low ceilings, and was very busy with drinkers inside and at tables outside. Here once again we had pints of Bass.
We went from here to catch an imaginary train to derby at 20.22 – its always best to double check the times since its an hourly service – but having got there only a minute after it left this at least gave us time for a bite to eat. Addressing a more pertinent need first we went to a pub called the Steeplechase – you’ll have to bear with me on this because I can’t remember its actual name for definite, given that we immediately nicknamed it the Clarkson Arms. We had gone in and found the large modern interior markedly empty, and ordered 2 halves of Bass. Sitting down we noted to our horror that dotted around the pub were a few people avidly watching, interacting with and seemingly enjoying the widescreen viewing on offer – which was an old episode of Top Gear.
Hearing 9 people in unison laugh at a Jeremy Clarkson comment about horsepower or engine torque is for me a chilling experience, suggesting as it does, that people would consider the screening of a Top Gear episode from 3 years ago in the same way they would a stand up DVD or live sporting occasion.
Traumatised, we hurried down our beers then went to a Chinese takeaway to somehow contrive to make ordering two chips with curry sauce complicated, and to end up sat at the station with two scalding hot trays of molten curry and chips.
Once in Derby we headed to the Station (Inn) and having passed the entry check were rewarded with somewhat pricey but as always matchless pints of Bass. We stuck around for another half and a chat before heading to the Brunswick, having not been in for yonks, only to find, perhaps not unreasonably, they were closing at 22.30. We still got a pint though – me Hartington Bitter and Dave a Brunswick Station Porter.
I reasoned that no-one else would follow this lead so suggested visiting the Alexandra for our finisher, but they were observing the same hours so we trudged back to the station knowing it was over an hour before our next train. As luck would have it, given our train shenanigans earlier, the Leeds train was running late so we jumped on this and were back in Sheffield, tired and emotional, at a sensible time.
Overall we visited 8 pubs and had a lot of Bass, along with racking up what seemed like about 16 but was more likely only 12 miles of hard slogging.
And as soon as the crater like blister I achieved heals up I will no doubt be off again to the far away corners of the Derbyshire Wayfarer’s reach to try new pubs and fantastic beer.
Wee Beefy.
Clearly what you need for a yomp in Staffordshire is a Derbyshire Wayfarer...
Well, actually you do, as you are starting just over the border then travelling back into the county to get home. The idea of this walk was that, having missed the pub at Waterfall last time, I was determined to get there, and to do the Ilam walk again, and take Dave along with me.....
The day started manically as I got up later than planned and, having unwisely left myself a raft of tasks to complete, then had to run about like a blue arsed fly in order to get the bus into town at 08.27 and thus meet Dave on time (ish) at the train station.
Having forgotten to do my blood test so not realised I had run out of test strips, as well as having forgotten to put a cautionary dressing on the dodgy part of my foot that I always get blisters on, I arrived at the station to find Davefromtshop wasn’t answering his phone, and that the train at 08.54 was next to leave. Cue chaos.
Without checking the time I despatched Dave to get the ticket which I should already have bought whilst I went to the cashpoint and the loo. On coming out I could find Dave nowhere and wasted minutes circling the area, then was heading to platform 6 when Dave rang to ask where I was – and to inform me that the train had in fact just left.
After this I went to platform 5 instead of 6 then went to P6 to find Dave was on P8 for a train at 09.05 which when he finally met me on P6 we looked at the screen and decided was on P5, only to find when we got there that we had looked at a train at 10.05, leaving us about 4 minutes to get back to P8 and catch the train…
Ealing comedy script followed we sat down to enjoy the journey, but the train was delayed and was about 11 minutes late in Derby, leaving us only 6 minutes to get to the bus station. So we tried to catch a taxi, which he had to book for us since he couldn’t for insurance purposes pick up passengers without a booking. We arrived at the bus station with 2 minutes to spare and ran like lunatics to catch the 108. This arrived on time in Ashbourne, giving us 6 minutes to catch the 42a to Ilam (just inside the Staffordshire border) where, only an unlikely seeming 2 hours 28 minutes after leaving my house we arrived to start our walk.
We set off at a goof pace despite the wearying escapade of our outward journey, walking round the back of Ilam Hall to where I knew from last months trek that the path turned off (despite stil seeing absolutely no indication of this). We found the footbridge and crossed in to the fields and uphill to Rushley farm, then up through the narrow dale of Musden Woods. We arrived in Calton in excellent time to fight our way through a laughable excuse for a path linking Throwley lane to a track from Calton, ( it was bad last time but the netes are 6 foot high now), and out onto a path along the edge of and down into the Manifold Valley.
Once on the Manifold track we headed to the path up the dale to Back O Brook before diverting to Pikelow, and down into Waterfall for our first pub stop at the Red Lion, which we reached about 2 and a half hours after setting off.
The Red Lion is tucked away in the tiny hamlet of waterfall and appears to be the epitome of what a pub should be. It’s open in the evening only during the week, which is understandable since on discussing my walk with about 15 people none of them had heard of Waterfall or nearby Waterhouses. They do Sunday lunches and possibly evening meals and on the bar there are handpumps dispensing M+B Mild, Bass and a guest, this time being Fullers London Pride.
The Bass and mild are regulars, and this demonstrates a good turnover, since mild does not like being on more than a few days. The Bass was served in handled beer mugs which is a nice touch, and served through a sparkler. Despite initial concerns I am happy to report that Bass can be served in this way and still taste fantastic. To cap it all, this tiny pub seems to be full of locals of all ages, enjoying a drink and a chat, and seems to be the meeting point for people from a wide area.
We could have stayed a few hours then simply walked to the main road and caught a bus back to Ashbourne (well, with carefully planning, since there’s only 3 on a Sunday), but we opted to press on.
We took the right hand lane out of the village with the green and pub behind us heading for Pethills, taking a few turns to bring us out on the A523 at Winkhill. We then crossed the stream and headed along a long straight road and then up a never-endingly steep hill up to the ridge along which the Staffordshire moorlands walk runs, before slowly dropping down into the linear village of Foxt.
With drizzle upon us we ducked into the Fox and Goose to find Three B’s Blonde and Bass and Jennings Cumberland on offer – alas the Three B’s ran out so we had one of each of the other two. The pub has a traditional interior and bar and a number of rooms, with seating outside. There doesn’t look to be a lot of seating for drinkers, with a lot of tables set for diners, but this could not be tested since it was gone 16.00 and few people were in.
We pressed on downhill to Froghall wharf and out into Froghall hoping for a pint in the Station Hotel. Sadly the pub was closed (opening soon said the sign) so we headed down to the Churnet Valley railway and their restored Froghall station. They were just locking up for the day but we bartered to give them a donation in return for using their loos.
We had a short wait for a bus in Froghall, catching it to Alton Towers ( which you pay for, obviously Derbyshire Wayfarer is no use now… ) before transferring and paying once again to get from there to Uttoxeter, which we made in good time – the two journeys cost about £4.00 each in total and took less than an hour.
Once in Uttoxeter we went to the bar in the Bank House Hotel, where we both had Peakstones Rock Brewery Nemesis, which we missed on our last visit, and at £2.80 a pint seemed to be the same price as in 2007. After a brief relax here we walked round the corner into the square to visit the Vaults.
On our last visit the Vaults had been forlorn and closed, but its fantastic Bass windows had caught our eye. Now open again, we were pleased to discover that is a very traditional boozer, with Pedigree and Bass on handpump.
You enter up a short steep flight of stairs and there are tables on both sides with the bar to the let, and a tiny back room with a bar skittles game and another small bar counter. The Pedigree was excellent and the two blokes sat in the front half were both drinking the real ale, from traditional handled beer mugs. Long may the pub stay open.
We pressed on from this excellent location to the rather more rowdy Olde Talbot just to the right of the Vaults as you come out. This ancient pub is large with multi rooms and low ceilings, and was very busy with drinkers inside and at tables outside. Here once again we had pints of Bass.
We went from here to catch an imaginary train to derby at 20.22 – its always best to double check the times since its an hourly service – but having got there only a minute after it left this at least gave us time for a bite to eat. Addressing a more pertinent need first we went to a pub called the Steeplechase – you’ll have to bear with me on this because I can’t remember its actual name for definite, given that we immediately nicknamed it the Clarkson Arms. We had gone in and found the large modern interior markedly empty, and ordered 2 halves of Bass. Sitting down we noted to our horror that dotted around the pub were a few people avidly watching, interacting with and seemingly enjoying the widescreen viewing on offer – which was an old episode of Top Gear.
Hearing 9 people in unison laugh at a Jeremy Clarkson comment about horsepower or engine torque is for me a chilling experience, suggesting as it does, that people would consider the screening of a Top Gear episode from 3 years ago in the same way they would a stand up DVD or live sporting occasion.
Traumatised, we hurried down our beers then went to a Chinese takeaway to somehow contrive to make ordering two chips with curry sauce complicated, and to end up sat at the station with two scalding hot trays of molten curry and chips.
Once in Derby we headed to the Station (Inn) and having passed the entry check were rewarded with somewhat pricey but as always matchless pints of Bass. We stuck around for another half and a chat before heading to the Brunswick, having not been in for yonks, only to find, perhaps not unreasonably, they were closing at 22.30. We still got a pint though – me Hartington Bitter and Dave a Brunswick Station Porter.
I reasoned that no-one else would follow this lead so suggested visiting the Alexandra for our finisher, but they were observing the same hours so we trudged back to the station knowing it was over an hour before our next train. As luck would have it, given our train shenanigans earlier, the Leeds train was running late so we jumped on this and were back in Sheffield, tired and emotional, at a sensible time.
Overall we visited 8 pubs and had a lot of Bass, along with racking up what seemed like about 16 but was more likely only 12 miles of hard slogging.
And as soon as the crater like blister I achieved heals up I will no doubt be off again to the far away corners of the Derbyshire Wayfarer’s reach to try new pubs and fantastic beer.
Wee Beefy.
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