Hello,
I was sent a message recently by Tash with a link to an online magazine article about "Sheffield's former East End pubs" - this was to my mind a little strange as it ran from the Fat Cat at Kelham Island up to the former Staniforth Arms on Staniforth Road in Darnall. The only link I could see between those listed was the river Don....and lets be honest, that would not include the Staniforth Arms....
This did however get me thinking about my knowledge of pubs in Attercliffe, many of which I never went in, but as I attended College at Stradbroke I used to travel through the lower part of Attercliffe en route to Hadsworth, and when working in Rotherham I often got to see the further up parts of Attercliffe. I did go to a number of pubs in Attercliffe and further on in Carbrook in the last ten years but there are many I never ventured into. Against this background, here are a few memories.
The Sportsman 504 Attercliffe Road - according to Whatpub this venue closed in 2014 after it had become the Buzz Stop Party Bar. There are quite a few references to its various Karaoke bar names such as Bar Indigo and MJ's Karaoke, but I remembered it back in 1990 as the Sportsman. I also recall seeing it on local news at that time as being the location of a regional conker competition held in the very small outdoor area next door, and also on the street in front.. It may have been a Wards house but am not certain, but I am happy to confirm that I never went in when it was a pub, or in any of it's later guises.
The same goes for nearby former pub the Robin Hood. I understand this shut around 1986 and after a brief name change soon after it reopened as the La Chambre Swingers Club. Likewise I can confirm that I attended none of it's versions at any stage, but that I didn't realise it's former name until quite recently.
Also nearby, and I remember this as a Hardy and Hansons pub, was the Dog and Partridge - this is also a pub I never went in, nor its later versions - I am not aware that this venue is currently open either.
News next of a pub I went in - just near the point where Britannia Road meets up with Attercliffe Road. In 2014 I went on a pub crawl with my mate Christingpher, starting at the Sportsman in Darnall. The two of us headed down Main Road and under the Aqueduct before we popped in the Don Valley Hotel, and to our surprise found two handpumps and two real ales on offer, both from Howard Town. Regrettably one had run out and the guy serving me said they only usually had one on at a time, and this was continued when I went in again with Davefromtshop soon after. When I first returned with Tash later on that year, or perhaps in early 2015, they had stopped selling real ale but were serving Cider from one of the handpumps, and the pub was very busy with folk watching horse racing on numerous tellies or playing pool in the room on your right.
Further up there are two now former pubs - the first is the Greyhound, also possibly a Wards pub. My first visit was in 1992 or 93 when me and Scott and others visited the Don Valley Stadium to enjoy a festival in the park nearby. There may be a previous link between this pub and the also nearby Cocked Hat on Worksop Road - I understand this is awaiting a new tenant, but it has been closed for some time. The name connection is Robshaw - I think Anthony who used to run the Cocked Hat, either previously worked at the Greyhound or it was run by his Father. My next visit to the Greyhound was a short period in the noughties when Marstons took it over and tried to sell a decent range of real ales. The pub also served food as well as it's range of ales, but alas this was a short change of style - am not sure when it stopped trading as a pub but it did become a business centre and now am unsure what it is used for.
Further up Attercliffe Road is a pub that I have never seen open - the Travellers. Christingpher insists he went drinking in there with his work mates when he worked at his Dad's metal working firm in the nineties but being so far up the road I probably didn't see it until 1998 which is when I started working in Rotherham, and am certain it was shut then (info suggests it shut in 2007 but am not sure about this).
Just before you reached the Cocked Hat you walk past the Britannia Inn - not a pub I ever visited but I have my suspicions that Davefromtshop did in the eighties when he first joined CAMRA - that and the Captive Queen at Arbourthorne or Norfolk Park. The Britannia has a date written on the gable end proclaiming 1772 - and is reputed to be the former or at some point residence of Benjamin Huntsman (according to a quick internet check I should point out) whom originally had a forge next door around 1812.
The Cocked Hat was a pub I first visited in 1994 and in which I ate and drank a number of times. When Anthony had it I remember they had a very substantial collection of beer bottles on shelves high up the wall and always served an excellent pint. As I mentioned above I know that new tenants took this over and I remember going there and eating at this point - and as far as I can recall the pub was still owned by Marstons. Me and Davefromtshop definitely went in at some point after this, where although Marstons were still potentially involved the beer range was very much hit and miss, and after it closed, for a while somebody lived upstairs whilst the pub remained boarded up.
There used to be a pub, now a mosque, further up, called the White Hart but that may have closed in 1982. Across the road from that, and also one I never visited but one that I do remember being open was called Fara's. Am not sure when it closed but I don't remember it being open when we passed in 2014, and am unable to recall whether or not they sold real ale.
Further down Attercliffe Road there was a Regional Inventory listed pub called the Station - also not a place I visited but Wee Keefy went in their with his work mates one dinner time or evening when he worked nearby and found it interesting if nothing else. I understand it had a mural or drawing in the back room. And there were - and am guessing no longer are - two further pubs on this section of Attercliffe Road before you reach the currently open Carlton, them being the Kings Head and the Horse and Jockey.
I first went to the Carlton in 1998 to 2001 - I can remember clearly that they sold a Theakstons Cool Cask beer along with another real ale, and that the pub was filled with smoke (a fact that may more correctly date said visit). They had a 1980's or similar Hi-fi playing almost extensively 1970s and 80's tunes including some punk tracks. I found the place interesting and when I next popped in it had been taken over by Bob. He soon got hold of the bar from the Yellow Lion in Apperknowle as it was being dismantled and introduced a range of real ales, served from the cellar in what I recall on my trip down there were casks sat on their ends with the pipe in the top - something I had only previously seen in the Hillsborough Hotel when Del ran it. There was a suggestion of food but am not sure that ever took off but I remember that the place was a lot tidier and brighter, and before he left I remember both him winning at least one CAMRA pub of the month award, and also introducing a no swearing policy. The regulars changed quite a lot whilst he was running it - and may indeed still own it - and the atmosphere was much improved as well. I last went in 2016 with Tash and Matty and we all enjoyed it.
Further down Attercliffe Road (which in the past was known as Carlton Road) was a traditional workers pub called the Bulldog. This has seen a large number of changes of use in the last twenty five years including numerous bars since it closed as a pub - an event am guessing must have been in 1990 or 1991 which is when I used to see it on the bus home from College.
Finally, although I have missed the pub on Washford Bridge which closed a long time ago, there used to be a Tetley pub called the Norfolk Arms Hotel on Attercliffe Road/Warren Street. I understand this closed in the 1980s as a pub and then became a number of saunas before settling on City Sauna - a place now a brothel which recently featured on TV showing the antics undertaken within..... Alas this is also a pub I never went in, but am lead to believe it originally opened in 1830 and was for many years physically attached to the mighty Tempered Spring Co factory previously behind it.
There was another pub on Warren Street which may have been called the Vulcan and one on a back road near Washford Bridge but that will have to be a theme for a future post.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Showing posts with label Don Valley Hotel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Don Valley Hotel. Show all posts
Monday, 20 April 2020
Friday, 23 May 2014
Recent slaking
Afternoon,
here are a few details of pubs and beers encountered in the last few weeks. Until I get back into blogging regularly there are numerous details I have omitted so here are a handful, fr you to realise you already know or which are in fact old news....
here are a few details of pubs and beers encountered in the last few weeks. Until I get back into blogging regularly there are numerous details I have omitted so here are a handful, fr you to realise you already know or which are in fact old news....
The Abbeydale, as they are known, have last month launched a new menu a the Dev Cat
in town. The launch coincided with a ten years in the GBG certificate and
featured free pints up until late on , with a table of small portions of heir
new menu items, including fish and chips, spicy pork ribs and salmon. Dan Baxter
from the Abbeydale explained that previously the menu had been extensive but
only about 6 dishes sold so they were slimming it down. Beers wise, apart from
a revolutions stout we were on absolution all night, before finishing on an
excellent but pricey bottle of geuze.
One venue myself and Miss N have frequented a lot recently has been the Bath Hotel off West Street This part one national inventory listed back street boozer is managed by Edd and Steff and has served an increasingly good range of beers, from Hand Drawn Monkey, Bristol Beer Factory, Thornbridge, Fyne Ales, Saltaire and Blackjack. Recently the Blackjack IPA and black IPA were on sensational form, as was the Fyne Ales Hurricaine Jack. Fine beer, a fantastic interior and Edd's homemade sausage rolls make the Bath well worth a visit
One sunny Sunday I walked from my house down Greenland Road to the Wentworth on Milford Street in front of Forgemasters. It was a Sunday and they weren't open again until Wednesday evening so the beer range was just one, Fox Heacham Gold. It was on good form at less than £3.00 a pint and it was very comfortable sat near the fire supping and erm...texting if I recall. A minor disaster followed since my next pint was the last out but they also sell bottles of Brewdog dead pony club (cloudy!) and Bradfield stout so I stayed for a bottle of the first.
From here I walked to the Don Valley Hotel for a pint of Howard Town Wrens Nest at £2.60 a pint. It was a little cloudy but tasted fine and I enjoyed my stop so much I went in again the other day to sup Blanco Peach and Five Rivers from Sheffield Brewing Company. A half of Dukeries followed in the Carlton before I had a pint of Moonshine for £3.00 in the Grapes, then headed to the Sheffield Tap. Here I met Steff, Liz, the Man of Ash and Paul Holden who is the Sheffield Beer Blog writer. Paul was good company and not who I had imagined he was! His mate was having a birthday night out which saw us end up at the Sheaf View for many excellent pints. A great night out overall.
I have also recently drunk in the Rutland after a walk into town, where we had pints of Brass Castle Cliffhanger, Summer Wine brewing's brutal Sabretooth IPA and Titanic stout along with a slutty rutty butty for Miss N and a pork and chorizo burger for me. With Magic Rock Highwire and Dark Arts also available this was another great beer selection.
Finally a mention for the University Arms where I went twice last week. The first time I sat with Matty in the sun supping an excellent Great Heck Mosaic and a bottle of Camden Hells, the second was last Saturday when I had both the Camden Hells and Gentlemans Wit as well as Welbeck Cavendish on cask. I returned with Miss N later that night and brought her a G and T to settle her stomach and enjoyed more excellent cask ale sat in the garden. The Uni Arms has a decent selection of real ales and bottles (see the board) and has good food to match along with a beer garden which is a great suntrap - I heartily recommend you pop in when you get chance.
So, that's my news of late, am off now to the Closed Shop beer fest at Commonside where I expect to have a couple of halves. Gallons...
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
Monday, 13 January 2014
Two sides to the river - not quite the valley of beer.
Hello,
there are two Don valleys in Sheffield. The upper, which as it leaves Hillsborough starts to become the valley of beer, and the lower, which meanders its way to Rotherham past a dwindling pub stock. In between is one of Sheffield's seven hills where Herries Road takes you past Longley and Southey into Owlerton and back to the Upper Don valley. Having recently written about the trail of dead pubs between Handsworth and the Northern General, on Saturday I decided to walk some of that route and explore what the East End and the area around the hospital have to offer the intrepid real ale drinker.
Starting in Darnall with Christingpher our first stop was the Sportsman on Main Road. The Albert and the Sportsman stand next to each other facing a housing estate, defiantly serving customers in an area where almost all other pubs have failed. The Sportsman is run by Paul, and sells two real ales at very reasonable prices. When we arrived there was one beer on, Coastal Sea King at 5.5% - and £2.00 a pint. It seemed silly not to have some..
We settled down in the right hand room where the tellies are and the numerous boxing posters and supped a very easy drinking pint whilst we watched the joyous spectacle of Wednesday vs Leeds. The pub was slowly filling up and a second beer went on, but we didn't get chance to try it. We had a long walk to start, and a lot of pubs to sup in.
We had been aiming to cut across to Tinsley Park Road to visit the Friendship but sadly that was demolished some time in the last couple of years. This would have brought us out near Broughton Lane and could have also involved a visit to Fiery Fred's formerly the Greenland. Alas that also appears tp have fallen by the wayside - there is a photo of the Friendship here.
Instead we headed down Main Road past new houses and abandoned factories and arrived on Worksop Road and the canal aqueduct. Here the scene becomes similarly depressing. There are two pubs the left and two on the right. The first was a cafe after it was a pub and it had been closed for a long time but still boasts impressive carved stonework above the door. Judging by the carving, the pub may have been the Stag or White Hart. Next along is the Cocked Hat - a regular in the Good Beer Guide for many years under the Robshaws, the pub looks run down and is resolutely closed. It is for sale Freehold, but it would be a brave move to try and bring it back to life.
Over the road Fara's has aluminium shutters on the doors and windows and is for sale, while the Britannia also appeared closed but with no indication if it was for let or sale. Luckily, on Attercliffe Road, there is some good news. The Don Valley Hotel reopened a couple of years ago after the former Coach and Horses underwent numerous guises. Now it has settled on being a hotel with a public bar. The bar is on your left and is mall and cosy and traditionally furnished. There are two handpumps, on this occasion both dispensing Howard Town beers.
The Dinting Arches was about to run out so we had pints of Glotts Hop, at £2.60 a pint, and settled down in the busy pub with racing fans and pool players (its 20p a game!) and resident bulldog Bruce, who seems to be in dog heaven moving from table to table to check out the smells and be fussed. The pub is friendly and seems to be doing very well, and they also sell snacks for thirsty pub walkers to soak up their ale. Its the first time I've ever been in, and I don't think it will be the last.
Heading for the Carlton further down Attercliffe Road the familiar roll call of casualties begins again. The regional inventory listed Station Hotel appears to be closed - that said, it doesn't have a for sale or to let sign, and all the pubs on Attercliffe Road have shutters so its difficult to tell what the situation is. The same could be said for the Kings Head and the Horse and Jockey although that looks in good nick so maybe opens evenings only. The only certainty as you head towards town on Attercliffe Road is that the Carlton is the only traditional pub open until you get to the Big Gun on the Wicker.
The Carlton opened in 1845 and used to mark the start of Attercliffe Road. Old maps show the stretch of road from Washford Bridge to the Carlton as Carlton Road - so that may be where it gets its name (the sign depicts a steelworker). Inside the Carlton houses the original bar from the Yellow Lion at Apperknowle, and there are 6 hand pumps. There were two beers on, Welbeck Harley and Cross Bay Sunset. I asked for a taste of the sunset and was told, whilst having one poured, that they didn't usually give tasters since Carling and John Smiths drinkers don't get a taster. That maybe true, but unfortunately as a living product, real ale is subject to numerous factors that may make it taste less than palatable, and also there are thousands of different ones brewed to suit multiple tastes. Anyway, no-one need have worried since the Sunset was one of the beers of the day. I even allowed myself an extra half - the beer was on at £2.50 a pint.
Heading back on ourselves along Attercliffe Road onto Attercliffe Common and Carbrook, there are more skeletons of the areas past - the excellent Adelphi theatre lies abandoned on a dead end side road near Attercliffe liberal club and institute. An amazing looking frontage hides a huge building which did briefly reopen as a club in the late nineties, only to all too soon fall silent again. Across the main road is the Travellers Rest. It looks in OK condition but I can't ever recall it being open since I used to come past in an evening coming back from Rotherham in the late nineties. Christingpher however used to drink there in about 1995 when he worked locally and remembers the pub's long bar and tardis like size. Just down the road, the sign is still on the Greyhound, reopened by Marstons about three years ago, but now an IT company offices.
Respite comes in the form of two pubs at the Broughton Lane and Hawke Street roundabout. The Arena Square is a new build eatery which we popped in out of investigative need rather than desire - they sell Bombardier at £3.00 a pint. Next door on the junction of what little remains of Bright street and Milford street right next to the huge black edifice of Forgemasters, is the former Wards pub the Wentworth House Hotel. Now refurbished, with the bar resited centre right as you enter, the pub sells three real ales, and is opening a restaurant in an extension being built at the back.
The pub is currently only open Thursday, Friday and weekends unless there is an event on at the Arena but will resume more traditional hours when the restaurant opens. There is a small room with a lovely fireplace on your right and the main room is straight ahead offering a variety of seating areas, before you come to the extension and a corridor at the back housing the loos. The house beer is rebadged Thwaites Original and the two guests were Bradfield Belgian Blue and a hoppy Blonde ale from Rat brewery. I'm quite partial to a Belgian Blue, as well as to a good news story, and the saving and resurrection of the Wentworth House, a boozer since 1833, is just that. They are on Twitter as WentworthHouse1 and post their opening times on there, so check before visiting.
Carrying on up Attercliffe Common the former Pheasant across the road is a sad tale. It changed its name to the Stumble Inn around the time the arena opened (as did the Railway on Broughton lane, see below) but was still a traditional boozer for many years, selling Tetleys and featuring a Yorkshire drinking corridor and a wonderful unspoilt snooker room at the back, complete with a sink for the steelworkers to wash their hands before playing a game of snooker. In a grim chain of events the pub was bought and turned into an Indian Restaurant by a new owner who claimed the "brewery" - one assumes he meant pubco - had stipulated that it must not reopen as a pub. Unannounced work and a reluctance by English Heritage to attach any importance to the interior yielded inevitable results. Another lost regional inventory pub - there is a link to an article in The Star about the whole sorry affair.
Further on along Attercliffe Common we popped our heads round the door of the Carbrook Hall pub. This supposedly haunted old building has a beautiful panelled room on your left as you enter, but sadly, also has a very long bar with no handpumps on it - it used to sell Bass in the nineties. Or maybe Stones... the lack of anything worth supping meant we only had a cursory glance, but there is a picture and article here with some interesting info.
We backtracked again next to visit the Noose and Gibbet on Broughton lane, walking past the short stretch of tiled wall that marks the outline of the front of the Enfield Arms. The Noose and Gibbet was original called the Railway, and also known locally as the Top Common. It also changed its name briefly to the Stadium, and was known for a while as Ronnies, but now has the novelty name Noose and Gibbet despite not being built on or being the nearest pub at the time to, the spot where Spence Broughton's body was gibbeted. Inside its dark and the harsh lights don't carry so being in around 16.00 when there is nothing on at the Arena is a lonely undertaking. No real ale here but we opted to try some keg Bradfield Blonde for research purposes. It was £2.60 a pint, and nearly, but not quite, as grim as the pub.
Leaving the lower valley we headed along Hawke Street to Brightside and past the Sheffield Arms up to the Ball on Upwell Street. This large former Bentleys pub has been licensed since 1825. It appears that the pub was original at 66 Upwell Street and now at number 70, the suggestion being that this is a 1910 rebuild of the original. Inside it has very high ceilings but little, if any, original fittings to speak of, although the left hand side which I understand has a snug, was closed. No real ale, but we opted for halves of Magnet on keg at £2.65 a pint anyway. An interesting picture Sheffield link shows the Ball incongruously looming in the background next to Brook Cottages in Old Grimesthorpe.
From here on its up over the hill to rejoin the Don and Christingpher departed at Page Hall, whereas I detoured slightly to visit the Sportsman on Barnsley Road. This former Whitbread pub currently sells real ale - Doom Bar when I visited, and was friendly if not particularly busy. I met Mr P for a quick half in here before I caught the bus up Herries Road to visit the Devonshire. This is a large Greedy King pub set back from the road (and thankfully near a chippy since this was turning into a long day) and has three real ales on. Of interest was the 7.2% Double Hop Monster which was GK's take on a strong IPA. I can't say it was in particularly good nick but at least this was an interesting change from GK IPA and Old Speckled Hen.
After a long tedious trek down Herries Road I arrived in Owlerton and out on to Penistone road, through the Wednesday ground and round the corner to the last stop on my Don to Don trek, the Riverside bar and pub on Leppings Lane. Being where it is, I was surprised to find the pub almost empty - apparently fans stream in before and immediately after the match but then head off through Hillsborough, so the pub usually shuts quite early Saturday night. Alas my journalistic vigour was impaired somewhat by this stage so I never did ask when they actually open...
The pub is the upstairs part of the building with a balcony overlooking the ground and serves two or three real ales and bottled Yorkshire lager from the Cropton/Great Yorkshire Brewery. It is furnished traditionally and has plenty of old beer and brewery memorabilia on the walls - its easy when you are there to see the same hand at work refurbishing the Wentworth House, which is owned by the same person. On this occasion I had a pint of Belgian Blue, one of the last few barrels knocking around in Sheffield, and which I enjoyed in another pub I was visiting for the first time, but envisaged visiting again.
Having reached the Upper Don valley this is of course the starting point of a bibulous wander into town through the valley of beer but to be honest I'd had enough walking and libation by this time, so got a tram into town to meet up with Miss N. Obviously we went for a pint - but that's another story....
You can potentially see some photo's from the crawl here assuming you have a Facefriend account.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
there are two Don valleys in Sheffield. The upper, which as it leaves Hillsborough starts to become the valley of beer, and the lower, which meanders its way to Rotherham past a dwindling pub stock. In between is one of Sheffield's seven hills where Herries Road takes you past Longley and Southey into Owlerton and back to the Upper Don valley. Having recently written about the trail of dead pubs between Handsworth and the Northern General, on Saturday I decided to walk some of that route and explore what the East End and the area around the hospital have to offer the intrepid real ale drinker.
Starting in Darnall with Christingpher our first stop was the Sportsman on Main Road. The Albert and the Sportsman stand next to each other facing a housing estate, defiantly serving customers in an area where almost all other pubs have failed. The Sportsman is run by Paul, and sells two real ales at very reasonable prices. When we arrived there was one beer on, Coastal Sea King at 5.5% - and £2.00 a pint. It seemed silly not to have some..
We settled down in the right hand room where the tellies are and the numerous boxing posters and supped a very easy drinking pint whilst we watched the joyous spectacle of Wednesday vs Leeds. The pub was slowly filling up and a second beer went on, but we didn't get chance to try it. We had a long walk to start, and a lot of pubs to sup in.
We had been aiming to cut across to Tinsley Park Road to visit the Friendship but sadly that was demolished some time in the last couple of years. This would have brought us out near Broughton Lane and could have also involved a visit to Fiery Fred's formerly the Greenland. Alas that also appears tp have fallen by the wayside - there is a photo of the Friendship here.
Instead we headed down Main Road past new houses and abandoned factories and arrived on Worksop Road and the canal aqueduct. Here the scene becomes similarly depressing. There are two pubs the left and two on the right. The first was a cafe after it was a pub and it had been closed for a long time but still boasts impressive carved stonework above the door. Judging by the carving, the pub may have been the Stag or White Hart. Next along is the Cocked Hat - a regular in the Good Beer Guide for many years under the Robshaws, the pub looks run down and is resolutely closed. It is for sale Freehold, but it would be a brave move to try and bring it back to life.
Over the road Fara's has aluminium shutters on the doors and windows and is for sale, while the Britannia also appeared closed but with no indication if it was for let or sale. Luckily, on Attercliffe Road, there is some good news. The Don Valley Hotel reopened a couple of years ago after the former Coach and Horses underwent numerous guises. Now it has settled on being a hotel with a public bar. The bar is on your left and is mall and cosy and traditionally furnished. There are two handpumps, on this occasion both dispensing Howard Town beers.
The Dinting Arches was about to run out so we had pints of Glotts Hop, at £2.60 a pint, and settled down in the busy pub with racing fans and pool players (its 20p a game!) and resident bulldog Bruce, who seems to be in dog heaven moving from table to table to check out the smells and be fussed. The pub is friendly and seems to be doing very well, and they also sell snacks for thirsty pub walkers to soak up their ale. Its the first time I've ever been in, and I don't think it will be the last.
Heading for the Carlton further down Attercliffe Road the familiar roll call of casualties begins again. The regional inventory listed Station Hotel appears to be closed - that said, it doesn't have a for sale or to let sign, and all the pubs on Attercliffe Road have shutters so its difficult to tell what the situation is. The same could be said for the Kings Head and the Horse and Jockey although that looks in good nick so maybe opens evenings only. The only certainty as you head towards town on Attercliffe Road is that the Carlton is the only traditional pub open until you get to the Big Gun on the Wicker.
The Carlton opened in 1845 and used to mark the start of Attercliffe Road. Old maps show the stretch of road from Washford Bridge to the Carlton as Carlton Road - so that may be where it gets its name (the sign depicts a steelworker). Inside the Carlton houses the original bar from the Yellow Lion at Apperknowle, and there are 6 hand pumps. There were two beers on, Welbeck Harley and Cross Bay Sunset. I asked for a taste of the sunset and was told, whilst having one poured, that they didn't usually give tasters since Carling and John Smiths drinkers don't get a taster. That maybe true, but unfortunately as a living product, real ale is subject to numerous factors that may make it taste less than palatable, and also there are thousands of different ones brewed to suit multiple tastes. Anyway, no-one need have worried since the Sunset was one of the beers of the day. I even allowed myself an extra half - the beer was on at £2.50 a pint.
Heading back on ourselves along Attercliffe Road onto Attercliffe Common and Carbrook, there are more skeletons of the areas past - the excellent Adelphi theatre lies abandoned on a dead end side road near Attercliffe liberal club and institute. An amazing looking frontage hides a huge building which did briefly reopen as a club in the late nineties, only to all too soon fall silent again. Across the main road is the Travellers Rest. It looks in OK condition but I can't ever recall it being open since I used to come past in an evening coming back from Rotherham in the late nineties. Christingpher however used to drink there in about 1995 when he worked locally and remembers the pub's long bar and tardis like size. Just down the road, the sign is still on the Greyhound, reopened by Marstons about three years ago, but now an IT company offices.
Respite comes in the form of two pubs at the Broughton Lane and Hawke Street roundabout. The Arena Square is a new build eatery which we popped in out of investigative need rather than desire - they sell Bombardier at £3.00 a pint. Next door on the junction of what little remains of Bright street and Milford street right next to the huge black edifice of Forgemasters, is the former Wards pub the Wentworth House Hotel. Now refurbished, with the bar resited centre right as you enter, the pub sells three real ales, and is opening a restaurant in an extension being built at the back.
The pub is currently only open Thursday, Friday and weekends unless there is an event on at the Arena but will resume more traditional hours when the restaurant opens. There is a small room with a lovely fireplace on your right and the main room is straight ahead offering a variety of seating areas, before you come to the extension and a corridor at the back housing the loos. The house beer is rebadged Thwaites Original and the two guests were Bradfield Belgian Blue and a hoppy Blonde ale from Rat brewery. I'm quite partial to a Belgian Blue, as well as to a good news story, and the saving and resurrection of the Wentworth House, a boozer since 1833, is just that. They are on Twitter as WentworthHouse1 and post their opening times on there, so check before visiting.
Carrying on up Attercliffe Common the former Pheasant across the road is a sad tale. It changed its name to the Stumble Inn around the time the arena opened (as did the Railway on Broughton lane, see below) but was still a traditional boozer for many years, selling Tetleys and featuring a Yorkshire drinking corridor and a wonderful unspoilt snooker room at the back, complete with a sink for the steelworkers to wash their hands before playing a game of snooker. In a grim chain of events the pub was bought and turned into an Indian Restaurant by a new owner who claimed the "brewery" - one assumes he meant pubco - had stipulated that it must not reopen as a pub. Unannounced work and a reluctance by English Heritage to attach any importance to the interior yielded inevitable results. Another lost regional inventory pub - there is a link to an article in The Star about the whole sorry affair.
Further on along Attercliffe Common we popped our heads round the door of the Carbrook Hall pub. This supposedly haunted old building has a beautiful panelled room on your left as you enter, but sadly, also has a very long bar with no handpumps on it - it used to sell Bass in the nineties. Or maybe Stones... the lack of anything worth supping meant we only had a cursory glance, but there is a picture and article here with some interesting info.
We backtracked again next to visit the Noose and Gibbet on Broughton lane, walking past the short stretch of tiled wall that marks the outline of the front of the Enfield Arms. The Noose and Gibbet was original called the Railway, and also known locally as the Top Common. It also changed its name briefly to the Stadium, and was known for a while as Ronnies, but now has the novelty name Noose and Gibbet despite not being built on or being the nearest pub at the time to, the spot where Spence Broughton's body was gibbeted. Inside its dark and the harsh lights don't carry so being in around 16.00 when there is nothing on at the Arena is a lonely undertaking. No real ale here but we opted to try some keg Bradfield Blonde for research purposes. It was £2.60 a pint, and nearly, but not quite, as grim as the pub.
Leaving the lower valley we headed along Hawke Street to Brightside and past the Sheffield Arms up to the Ball on Upwell Street. This large former Bentleys pub has been licensed since 1825. It appears that the pub was original at 66 Upwell Street and now at number 70, the suggestion being that this is a 1910 rebuild of the original. Inside it has very high ceilings but little, if any, original fittings to speak of, although the left hand side which I understand has a snug, was closed. No real ale, but we opted for halves of Magnet on keg at £2.65 a pint anyway. An interesting picture Sheffield link shows the Ball incongruously looming in the background next to Brook Cottages in Old Grimesthorpe.
From here on its up over the hill to rejoin the Don and Christingpher departed at Page Hall, whereas I detoured slightly to visit the Sportsman on Barnsley Road. This former Whitbread pub currently sells real ale - Doom Bar when I visited, and was friendly if not particularly busy. I met Mr P for a quick half in here before I caught the bus up Herries Road to visit the Devonshire. This is a large Greedy King pub set back from the road (and thankfully near a chippy since this was turning into a long day) and has three real ales on. Of interest was the 7.2% Double Hop Monster which was GK's take on a strong IPA. I can't say it was in particularly good nick but at least this was an interesting change from GK IPA and Old Speckled Hen.
After a long tedious trek down Herries Road I arrived in Owlerton and out on to Penistone road, through the Wednesday ground and round the corner to the last stop on my Don to Don trek, the Riverside bar and pub on Leppings Lane. Being where it is, I was surprised to find the pub almost empty - apparently fans stream in before and immediately after the match but then head off through Hillsborough, so the pub usually shuts quite early Saturday night. Alas my journalistic vigour was impaired somewhat by this stage so I never did ask when they actually open...
The pub is the upstairs part of the building with a balcony overlooking the ground and serves two or three real ales and bottled Yorkshire lager from the Cropton/Great Yorkshire Brewery. It is furnished traditionally and has plenty of old beer and brewery memorabilia on the walls - its easy when you are there to see the same hand at work refurbishing the Wentworth House, which is owned by the same person. On this occasion I had a pint of Belgian Blue, one of the last few barrels knocking around in Sheffield, and which I enjoyed in another pub I was visiting for the first time, but envisaged visiting again.
Having reached the Upper Don valley this is of course the starting point of a bibulous wander into town through the valley of beer but to be honest I'd had enough walking and libation by this time, so got a tram into town to meet up with Miss N. Obviously we went for a pint - but that's another story....
You can potentially see some photo's from the crawl here assuming you have a Facefriend account.
Cheers!
Wee Beefy
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