Thanks to all our members who voted in the Pub of the Year competition and thanks also to those who volunteered to visit all the area winners to objectively judge the overall winner! We’ll be featuring the overall winner next month, here are the area winners!
North Sheffield – Blake Hotel, Walkley
The Blake is one of Sheffield’s classic pubs, often remembered by University students living nearby that walk there for a pint as its on the top of a very steep hill and next to a park! It is a traditional community pub which was restored and reopened back in 2010 after seven years of closure, always has a good choice of well kept ales, an extensive whisky selection and a friendly atmosphere. Although it has changed ownership in recent years, it is still the same excellent pub!
East Sheffield – Chantry Inn, Handsworth
This is a traditional multi roomed community pub with low beamed ceilings located in St Mary’s Church yard – it is one of only four pubs in the UK with claims to be built on holy ground. It was originally a house for chaplains from mid-13th century becoming a public house in 1804. In 2019 the pub, previously known as the Cross Keys, was bought and carefully refurbished by Chantry Brewery of Rotherham, with a range of their beers on the bar.
South Sheffield – Sheaf View, Heeley
The Sheaf View was originally a 19th Century pub that had been closed and abandoned by Marstons Brewery. It was bought, restored, extended and reopened as a freehouse in the year 2000. The pub has two rooms – the main original room where you enter through a corridor which opens out into the bar area and a conservatory style extension. There is also a decking area as part of the outdoor drinking provision along with a grass embankment that leads up to the car park.
There is a quiz night and occasional acoustic live music events. They also host beer festivals a few times a year with a pop up bar in the conservatory and outside bar in a kiosk situated in the decking area. These events usually also involve music and a street food trader.
The walls and shelves are adorned with assorted breweriana and provide an ideal background for good drinking and conversation. A wide range of international beers, together with malt whiskies and a real cider complement the eight reasonably priced real ales. The pub gets very busy on Sheffield United match days with some of the more discerning fans popping in for a pint on the way to Bramall Lane!
West Sheffield – Itchy Pig Ale House, Broomhill
A fantastic micropub offering a good traditional community local in miniature. The name reflects an original back to basics vision of ale and pork scratchings, these days the bar continues to offer a great selection of real ales on handpump and other craft beers on tap and an atmosphere where you have both students and older locals sat with a nice drink either engaged in conversation or watching rugby on the TV!
Sheffield City Centre – Bath Hotel
A careful restoration of the 1930s interior gave this two roomed pub a conservation award and acknowledgement by CAMRA as one of Britain’s pubs with a three star pub interior of exceptional national historic importance. The bar lies between the tiled lounge, a small corridor drinking area and the cosy well-upholstered snug. The owner, Brian, is someone who has been on the Sheffield pub scene for many years – although not necessarily high profile – and after a few years of the pub being leased to Thornbridge Brewery is back running the pub himself with a team of staff. The Bath is a simple drinkers pub with friendly service and is somewhere to sit with a nice pint of local ale and enjoy conversation or perhaps a game of darts. It also has some community focus with the smaller of the two rooms available to hire for meetings etc.
Kelham Island & Neepsend – Kelham Island Tavern
This is a serial award winning beer drinkers pub that ticks all the boxes. It was reopened in 2002 when it was bought as a closed near derelict pub, well before the regeneration of the Kelham Island district had kicked off and later had the back room added as an extension. The pub has two rooms and a beer garden, all usually spotlessly clean. The bar features an extensive range of cask ales on handpump always including some dark beers and a gluten free option – all served by friendly and knowledgeable staff. There is a weekly quiz and folk music sessions. The only food served is pork pies and bhajis.
District (Derbyshire) – Old Hall Hotel, Hope
The Old Hall is a Peak District village pub that manages the rare achievement of being different things to different people and still get it right! The building (the main part of which dates back to 1729) contains a real ale pub, restaurant, tea room and hotel accommodation and attracts locals, walkers and tourists. A quiz night is held on Tuesdays and a beer & cider festival is hosted in a marquee over most bank holiday weekends.