The Railway, Bramall Lane

The Railway pub has been taken on by my family, with myself instated as the licensee. This is our first establishment, but we have been in the industry for over 50 years. Our main business is supplying equipment to the licensed trade, i.e. pool tables, jukeboxes, quiz machines etc. so as you can imagine running our own place has been something often talked about over the years, and with my recent inclusion into the family business we now have the man power to undertake the venture. We had been looking for a suitable pub for a few months, asking around our sites for info on anywhere that may become available. When the owners of the Railway, a long time customer of ours, came to us and offered the pub free of tie it seemed the perfect opportunity, the previous landlord had finally called it a day after many years in the business. The building needed a fair bit of work but after a lick of paint – inside and out – a new roof, plenty of woodwork and a complete overhaul of the cellar and bar – including new equipment throughout – we are happy to say we now have a range of draught beer and cider, including craft lager, a range of over 30 bottles from around the world, several wines, loads of whisky (another hobby of mine – along with the ale), and most importantly five real ale pumps constantly rotating some of the city and regions best ales. We had a slow start as the pub has never offered real ale or bottles and has shifted quite dramatically from the previous ‘football pub’ setup, but as word of what we’re trying to do here has spread more and more Sheffielders are seeking us out for a pint. We’ve had a great reception from the locals and we are already starting to see the real ales outselling the lagers, something I expected to take well over six months! The pub is really starting to buzz, especially at weekends, and we’re looking forward to our time here. Our next move is to introduce a selection of real cider and to get a weekly quiz up and running plus some tasting nights, where you can sample some of the more unusual bottles that we have collected on our travels across the continent (we’ve got some great bottles in from Molenbeek at the moment that I’m really looking forward to sharing) – the end of January being our target for all. Jack Cater