Pub of the Month May 2018
We might have just announced all our annual winners but that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about our Pub of the Month competition. This month’s winner, voted for as always by Sheffield & District CAMRA branch members, is a pub that has been a permanent fixture on London Road since the 1780s: the White Lion. The pub last won this award in October 2016 and since then the standards have remained exceptionally high, making them worthy winners yet again.
This historic hostelry has a rich past, but current landlords Jon Terry and Mandy Billings have brought the pub into the 21st century while remaining respectful of its history. In December 2017, they were named the best landlords in the Yorkshire and the Humber region by Punch Taverns, while in 2015 the White Lion was declared the best live music pub in the county. The building itself is Grade II listed and is included on CAMRA’s Yorkshire Regional Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors, recognising its sympathetic refurbishments over the years. The entrance corridor was recently the cover star of the hugely popular Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs e-book. Meanwhile, the pub’s position as a community hub was confirmed in November 2016 when it attained Asset of Community Value status.
On the beer front, there are four regular cask ales on offer, with a mixture of local and national breweries featured. Abbeydale Moonshine is always available, while the house beer, Lion’s Main, is brewed by Kelham Island. Wychwood Hobgoblin and Tetley Bitter are also regulars on the pumps. Additionally, there are up to eight changing guest beers which often include an interesting range of styles such as stouts and IPAs.
We will be presenting the award to the White Lion on Tuesday 8 May, arriving from 8pm onwards for a presentation around 9pm. The pub is located at 615 London Road, S2 4HT, and is well-served by buses (routes 10, 20, 24, 25, 43, 44, X17 all stop nearby). We hope you can join us!
Dominic Nelson