Andy Cullen – Page 12 – CAMRA Sheffield & District

Tramlines Fringe

Posted on 11 Jul 202426 Jul 2024 by Andy Cullen

Whilst the main ticketed event takes place in Hillsborough Park over the weekend of 26-28 July, a whole bunch of pubs, bars and clubs across the City Centre, Kelham Island and beyond take part in the fringe festival, which also includes an outdoor stage on Devonshire Green. The majority of fringe events offer free entry. We’ve taken a look at what some of the real ale serving venues are doing to help you plan an enjoyable weekend featuring live music, DJs and good beer!

Of course there will be much more going on than we’ve been able to include here – this should give you a flavour – keep an eye on venues social media for the latest or there is a page on the Welcome to Sheffield website for the official fringe or the Clashfinder website provides a handy listings service for all venues.

The Dorothy Pax at Victoria Quays despite being a small, cosy, railway arch bar has a busy programme of live music and if its busy they’ll be piping the audio outside to their waterside seating area! Their “Canal Lines” kicks off early on Thursday 25th at 6:30pm with a line up curated by Waterbear the college of music then on Friday from 6pm it’s an indie showcase. Saturday is an all-dayer with music kicking off at 1:30pm with a mix of live music and DJs under the “Dorothy Pax presents” banner.

At the Washington on Fitzwilliam Street they have live music inside and DJs outside until 10pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday followed by the usual late night DJs keeping the party going until 4am (3am Sunday!). On Friday festivities kick off at 4pm with 5 bands on, headlined by “Bag of Cans”, Saturday they’re open from 2pm and the headline band is “The Hot Soles”. Sunday is also a 2pm opening with 7 bands on the roster with “We Hate The Sharkman” headlining.

The Dove & Rainbow at Hartshead Square (off High Street) also has live entertainment over Friday to Sunday and as you’d expect is a little more alternative. Friday is “Reyt Against the Machine” and “Play Dead”, Saturday is “Firegarden” and “Baranovich” whilst Sunday the stage is graced by “Skip Rat”, “Inequality Street” and “Ball Britain”.

The Church House, located by the Cathedral tram stop (and of course by the cathedral too!) is well known for having bands on at the weekend, usually but not always of the classic rock genre, naturally has live music for the Tramlines Fringe and have really pushed the boat out with 15 acts over 3 days. Things kick off at 5:30pm on Friday with Saturday and Sunday seeing all day entertainment – from 2:45pm Saturday and 1:30pm Sunday.

Shakespeares Ale & Cider House on Gibraltar Street is a well known Tramlines fringe venue with a busy programme of gigs in the upstairs room on Friday and Saturday. Friday is “Shamlines” presented by Earwig featuring “Queen Cult”, “Guts”, “Mouthparts” and “Dearthworms” whilst Saturday is “Shakelines” presented by Jarred Up featuring 10 different bands.

Another pub well known for its Fringe action is the Frog & Parrot on Division Street. On the Saturday they will be opening their doors at 11am ready for the first act of 12 coming on at midday!

Alder has goings on all weekend. Things kick off Friday night with a gig by Mass House at 8:30pm (ish) then Saturday has 5 bands on stage from 6pm onwards with a whole mix of genres ranging from pop to post punk whilst Sunday is a more chilled out vinyl playing affair.

Saw Grinders Union have their own little festival on the Friday with food, drink, music and an exhibition.

The Fat Cat starts their party on Friday night with blues from Rocket 88 at 8pm; then on Saturday 11am to 11pm the entertainment is both kicked off and concluded by DJ sets from Big Shaun, in-between are performances from Sarah Mac, Banjo Jen and Kiziah & The Kings. The weekend here is finished off on Sunday with Billy & The Axe Man playing at 3pm.

If you are wanting to go somewhere a bit fun, perhaps after seeing a few bands, then the Three Tuns has karaoke from 8pm until 2am on Friday and Saturday night then on Sunday it’s a “Laughternoon” with comedy and music from 4pm.

Meanwhile out at Heeley (get there by bus 20, 24, 25, 43, 43a, 44 or X17) the Sheaf View are hosting “Sheaf Lines” with live acts over the weekend.

Jabbarwocky on London Road are also participating in the festivities on Saturday with “Jabzlines” featuring live entertainment from 3pm until 11:30pm. Buses 20, 43, 43a, 44, 75, 76, 86, 97 and 98 go there.

If you are looking for something more laid back the Old Shoe in Orchard Square have acoustic live music along with vinyl DJ sets. If you want something to eat whilst in the area the Sheffield Plate food hall across the square will be open and also have entertainment!

If you’re visiting the outdoor stage on Devonshire Green on the Saturday and fancy some decent beer and a burger then True North Brewery is next door and hosting an open day.

The Red Deer, freshly reopened, has live performances on Saturday with Harri Larkin from 4pm and Martha Makes Mistakes from 6:30pm.

The Dog & Partridge have their usual Sunday acoustic session in the back from from 6pm.

Pub of the Year (Cider)

Posted on 10 Jul 202422 Feb 2026 by Andy Cullen

The New Barrack Tavern on Penistone Road, although standing out on its own away from the centre of Hillsborough and the trendy hotspot of Kelham Island, has been a local stalwart on the real ale scene for many years now.

Also well established is Kev, Steph and daughter Rebecca being at the helm making it something of a family business with regulars that attend nearby sporting events at Hillsborough and Owlerton stadiums almost becoming part of an extended family!

Real ale drinkers are catered for with beers from Castle Rock brewery plus guests and regular live entertainment events are hosted including live music and a comedy club in this classic multi-roomed roadhouse style pub which also has an excellent beer garden (with outdoor stage!). It also has a function/meeting room with its own bar and a pool table.

The pub is also on CAMRA’s heritage pub inventory as a one star listing with an interior of special national historic interest.

The award we are presenting however recognises what a great destination the pub is for cider drinkers. Investment has been made replacing the kitchen with a cider cellar adjacent to the bar and a large range is available covering both traditional and flavoured options and the availability of cider is well promoted!

Our local CAMRA members in Sheffield & District voted the New Barrack Tavern as our branch Cider Pub of the Year, as a result it went forward into the Yorkshire competition in which it was runner up.

Join us there on Saturday 3 August from 7pm for a drink or two as we present both award certificates.

The New Barrack Tavern has won Yorkshire cider pub awards before!

Inn Brief

Posted on 9 Jul 202413 Jul 2024 by Andy Cullen

Longbow, who own a number of pub/hotel venues in the Peak District including the George in Hathersage, have a Thornbridge house cask beer, It is a rebadge of AM PM.

Walkley festival saw a number of pubs in the area team up for a festival pub crawl promotion where you had a drink in each of the different pubs to get a card stamped which then went into a prize draw. It ran from 28 June to 7 July, with the Blake Hotel hosting a beer festival on the second weekend.

The S17 area has gained another new cask ale outlet with the Summer House bistro’s Eden Bar adding a handpump to serve Abbeydale Moonshine. This venue is next door to Dore & Totley railway station.

Cross Scythes in Totley are running a cask ale club with a loyalty card offer and discounted prices on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Lost in West Bar on Gibraltar Street has closed down with the premises declared unviable with new premises being sought in the Kelham Island area. All being well a new and improved Lost in Kelham Island should open later in the year – watch this space!

York in Broomhill is now open again following a refurbishment. The bar offers a choice of six cask ales plus a further six craft beers on keg.

Old Shoe in Orchard Square, Sheffield City Centre, is hosting a beer festival on 17 August with beer spread across their own bar and a pop up in the downstairs function room of the Sheffield Plate food hall. They also recently celebrated their first birthday over the weekend of 12-13 July with a fancy range of beers on both cask and keg.

Bear on Abbeydale Road recently celebrated their third birthday.

Rutland Arms on Brown Street in Sheffield City Centre has taken delivery of some birthday beers from Finland’s CoolHead Brew, including IPAs brewed in collaboration with Flok, Beak, Verdant and Burnt Mill, along with Dutch White Dog, which includes a DIPA and a rather ludicrous smoothie sour. These beers are all in keykeg and expected to hit the Rutty’s taps at some point in August.

Psalter hotel has been closed down a while but it is to reopen under the new ownership of local chef Tom Lawson as a stylish hotel and restaurant. The focus is to be dining although it is expected to feature a public bar.

Wig & Pen, which has been closed since Covid, is to finally reopen as the Beaten Track coffee lounge and cocktail bar.

Springwood Hotel, an abandoned pub in Woodthorpe, has suffered a fire.

Kiveton Tap is now open to drink inside with a selection of craft beers on their keg taps as well as a selection of bottles and cans in their shop area. Buses 21, 26/26a and X5 pass the front door.

The good folk of S8, particularly those that live near an unspecified big roundabout, may have a new local micropub opening to look forward to. More details are to be announced when all the licenses and permissions are in place.

If you attempted to visit the Bath Hotel on 15 July and was disapointed to find it closed, that was because it was being used to film scenes in a new BBC drama, Reunion.

Thornbridge Brewery’s tap room is hosting a Summer Social event from 16 to 18 August featuring live music, street food and of course beer. Entry is free and no tickets are required. The brewery is walkable from the centre of Bakewell where buses 218 and 257 from Sheffield terminate, the Peak Sightseer open top bus tour also passes the end of the brewery drive.

Triple Point Brewing are hosting a beer festival in conjunction with SIBA on 2 August from 5pm featuring keg beers that have been judged in their competition. It will see the number of taps on the bar increase to 27 for one evening only. The event will also feature live music and table bookings are recommended.

Brewery Bits

Posted on 9 Jul 202413 Jul 2024 by Andy Cullen

The Little Critters single batch cask special in July was a mango sorbet session pale. It is designed to be a refreshing summer beer at 4.4% ABV with sweet mango, creamy lactose, citrusy hops and a solid malt backbone.

The monthly cask special from Thornbridge in July (apart from the Union beers!) released under the year on beer scheme was called “Red Rye at Night”, a red rye IPA with 5.4% ABV. This has been followed by the comeback of a beer that some may consider a favourite from the past – “Melba”, a peach flavoured IPA.

Emmanuales, who brew in very small batches and generally only package in cans or bottles, recently released a couple of cask beers available at only two outlets – Swinton beer festival and Walkley festival. The beers were both pale ales called “Cask and it will be given” but with different hops and ABVs – one used British hop varieties and was a sessionable 4.3% whilst the other used Calypso hops and was a stronger 5.6% ABV.

Eyam brewery are hosting another open day on 27 July, from 1pm to 7pm. As well as a range of their beers there will also be pizza and coffee. They are located in Great Hucklow and bus 65 will get you there from Sheffield. In other news they have started putting beer into minikegs again with the first release in this format being Antidote Pilsner.

Drone Valley Brewery this year celebrate an anniversary, being 9 years since they were registered with the FCA to become a community interest company. They are hosting a music festival at the brewery on 1 September. Tickets are available to buy online or from the bar at their weekend tap sessions.

Last month we mentioned Collyfobble brewery’s summer special, it is now available and is called “t’inna code owt” (roughly translates as “it isn’t cold out, you won’t need your big coat”). The beer is an nice, refreshing 3.6% ABV blonde ale packed full of Amarillo hops. We’re told it is perfect with a BBQ, after a day on the beach or after a long walk in the woods!

A couple of new beers already out from Chantry Brewery, King of Hops in cask (a light refreshing pale beer at 4% ABV brewed with Chinook, Mosaic and Harlequin hops) and The Beer Inspector in keg, a 4% ABV hazy pale ale brewed with Citra, Mosaic and Amarillo hops.

Inaugral Swinton beer festival

Posted on 9 Jul 20249 Jul 2024 by Andy Cullen

Your editor recently spent a day volunteering behind the bar at the brand new Swinton (near Rotherham) beer festival, held at St Margaret’s Anglo-Catholic church to help them raise funds for a new community hall. The beer festival was run alongside the annual town fair which is held in a field attached to the church with a variety of stalls along with a kiddies ride, ice cream van and a couple of hot food traders.

Inside the church the ladies who run the regular coffee morning there were assembled serving coffee, pop and crisps from the kitchen area as well as manning a stall selling home made cakes.

At the front of the church there was an all day live entertainment programme with a number of different singers, dancers and bands of different genres helping to maintain a great atmosphere!

Down one side of the church was a huge bar with lots of real ales on handpump, this was flanked at one end by a bar serving wine and spirits and the other end by a bar serving craft beer and lager on keg via a tap wall, borrowed from Maison du Biere of Elsecar.

The cask range was all sourced from Yorkshire and included beer from Woodlands brewery of Penistone which isn’t often seen out and about, also a couple of rare cask ales from Emmanuales of Sheffield. Nailmaker brewery had supplied a festival special – “Ale Mary” which was a regular pale ale infused with Juniper berries, this was one of the first to sell out!

The beer festival was kept busy by a wonderful mix of people – families popping in for refreshment after visiting the fair, priests and staff from this and other nearby churches relaxing with a beer knowing they were supporting the fundraiser and beery folk who had made the effort to visit having seen the beer list!

The venue was easy enough to get to – 20 minutes on the local train from Sheffield to Swinton station from where you can either walk or do as I did jump on a bus for the short ride up to the church! On the way back I got a bus from outside the church to Rotherham Interchange and connected with the Tram Train to Sheffield Cathedral, from where I walked up to the Dog & Partridge for a pint and a chat to another customer about how the England match had gone whilst I’d been busy chucking beer at people (we won on penalties).

All in all, a great little do and worth a visit next year should it happen again!

Check out our beer festival listings for other upcoming events in or near Sheffield

Pub of the Year gallery

Posted on 7 Jul 202410 Jul 2024 by Andy Cullen

On the evening of Wednesday 3 July CAMRA members and regulars joined Josh, Louise and the team at the Kelham Island Tavern to celebrate again being judged Sheffield & District Pub of the Year. The certificate was presented, beer was drunk, cheese & biscuits and pork pie was enjoyed! Well done to all involved and thanks for an enjoyable evening!

Paul Manning with the management and staff of the Kelham Island Tavern at their Pub of the Year presentation

ALL THE PUB OF THE YEAR WINNERS:

WEST SHEFFIELD – Itchy Pig Ale House, Broomhill

SOUTH SHEFFIELD – Sheaf View, Heeley

EAST SHEFFIELD – Chantry Inn, Handsworth

DISTRICT (DERBYSHIRE) – Old Hall Hotel, Hope

KELHAM ISLAND & NEESPEND – Kelham Island Tavern

CITY CENTRE – Bath Hotel

NORTH SHEFFIELD – Blake Hotel

CIDER PUB OF THE YEAR – New Barrack Tavern

CLUB OF THE YEAR – Crookes Social Club

PUBlic Transport

Posted on 3 Jul 202422 Feb 2026 by Andy Cullen

During July bus operators have been holding a consultation on proposed changes to bus timetables and routes from 1 September to reflect demand building back up differently post covid.

Bus route 8 from Ecclesfield to Birley will be split with some journeys running to Dyke Vale Road instead of Birley Lane tram stop, replacing route 41 which will be withdrawn. The 8/8a from Crystal Peaks is withdrawn and replaced by new local minibus services M44/M45.

The 1a and 11 Herdings to Chapeltown will be withdrawn with the 47/48 Herdings-Shiregreen making a comeback with changes to the 75 replacing the 1a to Chapeltown.

The 95/95a is also to be withdrawn with the Meadowhall end of the route replaced by changes to the 75 whilst Walkley will be served by new routes 54/55/55a which will run from Walkley to Handsworth via Sheffield Parkway then continuing to either Rotherham via Treeton (replacing withdrawn route 73) or to Crystal Peaks via either Aston or Woodhouse.

Greystones gets a better service with route 82 diverted that way with the 6 changed to run more directly on Ecclesall Road instead of via Greystones.

On route 52 buses will be extended beyond Crookes to Hillsborough all day whilst on the 52a there will be an improved Loxley/Wisewood service including the introduction of a Sunday service.

There are changes to the 88 Ecclesfield to Bents Green with increased frequencies and a different route in the Firth Park area.

Stocksbridge and Worrall see some improvement too with the 57a running later into the evening.

The 41, 42, X54 and X74 are both withdrawn and replaced by a new network of routes numbered 70/70a/71/71a.

South Pennine Community Transport will be running a series of one day a week buses from Holmfirth – Monday to Meadowhall, Wednesday to Castleton and Thursday to Hillsborough

More information at travelsouthyorkshire.com.

Meanwhile Supertram has a programme of rail replacement works over the summer holidays as follows:

20 July to 2 August: Blue route closed between Gleadless Townend and Halfway with trams running to Herdings Park instead of Halfway. Replacement buses to connect Gleadless to Halfway.
3 August to 11 August: Blue and Purple route closed between Sheffield Station and Herdings Park. The Blue route to operate in two parts with replacement buses running Sheffield City Centre to Gleadless to connect.
12 August to 1 September: Yellow route closed between Hillsborough and Middlewood with trams running to Malin Bridge instead of Middlewood.

There is also expected to be some disruption to Tram Train services to Rotherham at weekends from September onwards as work begins to build a new station at Magna, which the joint SYMCA/Network Rail project team are aiming to have ready for the summer 2025 National Rail timetable commencing next May.

More information at supertram.com.

Meanwhile on the Derbyshire buses there is some disruption caused by long term roadworks affecting bus 272 in Bradwell and bus 65 in Grindleford until September, altered timetables at derbysbus.info.

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Fuggle Bunny

Posted on 28 Jun 202428 Jun 2024 by Andy Cullen

Fuggle Bunny Brew House in Halfway (a short walk from the tram terminus or bus 120k) holds a tap session every Friday when they open the bar in the brewery with a range of their beers to sit down and enjoy at source.

From July the “Fuggle Friday” events will also have a food trader on site serving from 4pm to 8pm (the bar continues to be open until 11pm).

The food changes each week with a number of traders on rotation. On the roster from July to September are The Tacho Trailer, Lush N Loaded, Spud Buddies (Greek), Poblano (Mexican) and Bear Grills (gourmet burgers).

Triggered by X

Posted on 13 Jun 202413 Jun 2024 by Andy Cullen

What used to be known as beer Twitter (do we refer to it as beer X now?) has often loved a good argument and whilst in my opinion X has become something of a negative cess pit good only for damaging your mental health, some good conversation does come along now and again!

This one is to be fair one beery people have had on a regular basis for as long as I’ve volunteered in CAMRA (about 25 years now probably) and the same points keep getting made. However the beer scene has actually changed in those years and I don’t think the cask ale scene is in any better or worse health, it is just different, in a positive way I’d argue!

The metrics that usually come into the discussion is the variety of beers on the bar, the proportion of national brands versus smaller local/regional brewers and interest from younger drinkers or diversity of drinkers choosing cask ale.

The absolute worse thing for putting drinkers off cask ale are quality issues – beer that has gone off and turned to vinegar will never give a good impression and if someone trying it for the first time has that experience and assumes that’s what it is normally like probably won’t give it a second chance. My personal experience is not having many such bad experiences in recent years and some of that ones I have had has been in a certain bar I won’t name that is simply making the mistake of putting a cask range on that is too big to turnover fast enough to maintain quality. I would suggest another common theme of pubs with poor quality beer are those owned by a chain where the manager has to sell specific national brands that aren’t popular with their customers. In contrast I’ve seen some excellent examples in our area of bars with only one handpump which has a popular local brand such as Abbeydale Moonshine or Bradfield Farmers Blonde at a reasonable price and it sells like mad to a broad mix of drinkers!

Back in my younger drinking days most fun places around town didn’t sell any beer worth drinking – you either went to a fun bar or a good beer pub, one or the other, there was no crossover. In the peak of the craft beer boom the number of venues with cask ale and/or good craft beer on keg increased, however that has started to move back the other way with faux craft brands owned by the likes of Heineken, AB Inbev, Molson Coors and Greene King muscling local beers off the bar. We still have a number of fun late night venues with cask to choose from such as the Washington and the Bessemer plus of course some more traditional places like Shakespeares Ale & Cider House that open fairly late. I’d suggest we still have an amazing choice of cask ale venues to choose from. The range of beers may have shrunk a little in some places to maintain quality but I think this reflects the economic climate and people going out drinking less, rather than cask ale being less popular.

So finally – are young people drinking cask ale? Well, the University of Sheffield real ale society is still going strong and their student union continues to run a very successful annual beer festival whilst in the pubs and bars they are like any other drinker – have the right ales on the bar in good condition and properly promoted – they will drink it.

The cask ale market is far from dead!

Award presentation photos

Posted on 6 Jun 202413 Jun 2024 by Andy Cullen

Rick Ellison at the Old Hall Hotel in Hope receives our District Pub of the Year award during his Hope Valley Beer & Cider Festival.