Author: Andy Cullen

Andy has been actively involved in CAMRA since the early 2000s after being recruited to sit on a National Younger Members Task Group. Since then he has held roles on the branch committee including Secretary, Membership Secretary, Magazine Editor, Chair and now Social Secretary. Andy has also been involved with the Steel City Beer & Cider Festival almost every year since becoming active in the branch.

Champion Beers of Rotherham

Posted on by Andy Cullen

On the day before the Rotherham Real Ale & Music festival opened at Magna, all the beers from Yorkshire were judged for their own Champion Beer of Yorkshire competition.

Rotherham Real Ale & Music Festival organiser Dr Stephen Burns at Chantry Brewery

The winners…

Mild – Timothy Taylor, Dark Mild.

Session Bitter – Timothy Taylor, Boltmaker

Premium Bitter – Chantry, Special Reserve

Session Blonde/Pale – Ossett, Melon

Premium Pale – Bradfield, Farmers Pale

IPA – Triple Point, Debut

Porter – Doncaster, Liquorice Lump

Stout – Great Newsome, Liquorice Lad

OVERALL JOINT CHAMPIONS..

Chantry, Special Reserve & Triple Point, Debut.

Triple Point has also won awards at Sheffield’s Steel City Beer & Cider Festival for their Debut IPA

PUBlic Transport

Posted on by Andy Cullen

A new Demand Responsive bus service has launched in North East Derbyshire called Travel Derbyshire On Demand, funded by the county council’s bus service improvement plan.

This is a minibus service operated by Derbyshire Community Transport that is open to all and is designed to cater for journeys not served by regular scheduled buses. The fare is a flat £4 per ride for adults (Derbyshire Wayfarer tickets also accepted) and you need to book your journey in advance either on their app or on the phone. The system then designs a bus route around all the passengers wanting to travel around that time.

This bus is available for pretty much any journey within North East Derbyshire and operates on weekdays between 7am and 7pm and on Saturdays between 8am and 5pm.

The area of operation stretches from Dronfield, Ridgeway and Eckington in the north down as far south as Alfreton. There’s some good rural pubs in that area this bus could be useful for getting to in an afternoon!

For more information, including a link to download the app, visit their website roadxs.com/travel-derbyshire-on-demand/ or phone 01773 317173.

In other news, the Sheffield City Centre “Sheffield Connect” bus service sees improvements from 8 April. The existing service will be numbered SC1 and operate longer hours – 7am to 7pm – and a second route, SC2 will be introduced running from Sheffield Interchange to the Moor then along Arundel Gate, down to Millsands (for Kelham Island) and back to the Interchange via Castlegate and Flat Street. At the same time the existing minibuses are due to be replaced with electric single deckers too.

Out and about for Beer Week

Posted on by Andy Cullen

Lots of beery venues across Sheffield put on special events over the first week or so in March! Here are some photos of various Sheffield CAMRA committee members attending events!

Paul and Bev at St Mars of the Desert’s tap room – beer week sees the tap room commence their programme of weekend openings following a winter hibernation!
Dave Pickersgill was signing copies of the Sheffield Heritage Pub book at Indie beer Feast’s Hop Hideout bar. This event is a craft beer festival held at the beginning of beer week at Trafalgar Warehouse in Sheffield City Centre. Many of the bars at this festival are hosted by breweries.
Paul and Bev at the Riverside Bar where there were two tap takeovers taking place – Black Iris on cask and Brew York on keg, whilst the kitchen was celebrating national pie week!
The Kelham Island Tavern showcased a number of Blue Bee special editions which were twists on their regular beers. This included a Charred Oak edtition of Stanage Stout, Chocolate edition of their Dark Mild, New Zealand hopped version of their Amercian Five Hop and a triple hopped pale ale featuring Citra, Simcoe and Nectaron hops.
Shakespeares hosted a number of events with various tap takeovers, including Liquid Light brewery.
On the Wednesday of Sheffield Beer Week we presented our March Pub of the Month award to the Oxbow micropub in Woodhouse Mill. Also on the night was a pub quiz and a couple of pop up food traders outside with pizza and doughnuts available to order! For beer week the Oxbow ran a couple of tap takeovers featuring beers from Lords Brewing of Huddersfield and Neon Raptor of Nottingham.
Towards the end of Sheffield beer week, just on the border, was the Rotherham Real Ale & Music festival at Magna. This annual charity fundraiser featured 150+ cask ales, cider, gin, wine, food, cinema and a busy programme of live music. Among the team of volunteers behind the bar on Friday night was Beer Matters editor Andy Cullen.
The Dog & Partridge organised a dark beer showcase for the duration of Sheffield Beer Week then additionally hosted an Abbeydale meet the brewer on Friday evening.

If you want to read more about Sheffield Beer Week and look back at the list of events taking place, you can visit the beer week page here.

Inn Brief

Posted on by Andy Cullen

Hillsborough Social Club on Oakland Road has introduced bottled ales to the bar along with a bag-in-box cider as a trial. There is a hope that if the bottles sell well then cask beer will be introduced. They have also introduced live music events in partnership with the Honey Bee Blues Club with gigs about once a fortnight. The gigs are free entry for club members with a modest door charge for non-members.

There has been a change of food trader at the Heist Brew Co. tap room in Neepsend with Slap & Pickle burgers moving on and taking up a kitchen residency at Happy’s Bar just around the corner. Their replacement at Heist is to be “Talon”, with a BBQ menu offering trays of smoked meats, sandwiches and wings. Food service at Happy’s is now midday to 10pm every day except Tuesday when the bar is shut, with service extended to 11pm on Friday and Saturday nights (when the bar is open until 4am).

The Anglers Rest in Bamford have changed their opening hours. The pub is closed on Mondays, opening at midday the rest of the week , until 10pm Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday, later on Friday and Saturday nights. Food is served 12-8pm Tuesday to Saturday and from 12:30pm on Sundays until the roasts run out! The cafe is open 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Saturday and 10am to 3pm on Sundays.

Hop Hideout, currently based in the Kommune food hall, have announced they are going to be part of the Leah’s Yard development on Cambridge Street which is due to open this summer. Their format at the new location will be similar – specialist shop and tasting room. They will be there alongside a Pete Mckee gallery/shop and a number of other small businesses set around a pleasant courtyard.

The Ashford Arms in Ashford-in-the-Water has now reopened under new ownership following a refurbishment. This historic pub had been closed for a few years before being bought by the same people as the George in Hathersage and Maynard Hotel in Grindleford. The Ashford Arms offers accommodation and serves food prepared with locally sourced ingredients. On the bar the beer range includes brewers based in or near Derbyshire. Ashford is near Bakewell, if you are wanting to get there by bus the Transpeak service (Derby-Buxton) can be picked up in Bakewell (regular buses 218 and 257 run from Sheffield to Bakewell), additionally in the summer the Peak Sightseer open top bus (Chatsworth-Bakewell circular) will drop you off there.

The Big Gun on the Wicker in Sheffield, a heritage pub which recently closed, has had work started to convert the right hand room with modern windows and doors fitted, without planning permission.

The proposed micropub on Division Street, in the former Simmonites shop, now has planning permission. Behind it is Sommar brewery of Birmingham and is being described as a “tap & lounge”.

The Alehouse on Fraser Road near Millhouses, which is currently closed and been up for sale, has had planning permission applied for to be converted into a nursery.

After a brief closure, the Shiny Sheff on Redmires Road near Lodge Moor has reopened following a change of ownership but with the same management in there as a tenant.

The Cricket Inn at Totley, a Thornbridge Brewery run gastropub, came in the top 3 in the pub category of the British Pie awards. The award winning pie contains Beef shin, potato and Lord Marples Bitter.

The Dog & Partridge on Trippet Lane in Sheffield City Centre got listed by Guinness as one of the top 10 British pubs to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Cask ale and other craft beers are also available on the bar there as well as irish spirits and Tayto crisps!

The Masons Arms in Crookes no longer serves food.

Dronfield & District CAMRA’s Pub of the Year award winner is the Cross Daggers in Coal Aston. This is a classic community local with a great atmosphere and well kept ale. If you fancy a trip there from Sheffield bus 44 will drop you a short walk away.

PUBlic Transport

Posted on by Andy Cullen

Both the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) and First bus recently consulted on changes to some bus services from 7 April. Routes in Sheffield affected include 10, 10a, 24, 31, 32, 52a, 58, 72, 72a, 73, 97, 135, 137, M92, X1, X5, X10, X78. If you use those services check before travelling!

Supertram changes operator from 22 March with Stagecoach’s operating concession coming to an end. A new publicly owned company (controlled at arms length by SYMCA) will take over as the new operator. There are no changes to services planned initially but there will be some changes to ticketing with it no longer being a Stagecoach service. Supertram runs on four routes – Blue route from Halfway to Malin Bridge, Purple route from Herdings Park to Sheffield City Centre, Yellow route from Middlewood to Meadowhall and Tram Train from Sheffield to Parkgate via Rotherham Central. The maximum single fare is currently £2.80 and various unlimited travel passes are also available.

Although there has been plenty of talk recently about cuts to bus services in South Yorkshire that happened in the last year or two, mainly due to the South Yorkshire Mayor not having sufficient budget to support as many non-commercial bus services and subsidised fares that he’d like to it is worth reminding there has been good news when it comes to buses into Derbyshire with the County Council implementing their Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) they successfully won government funding for. From Sheffield this includes route X17 with more buses to Matlock, an hourly extension via Matlock Bath to Wirksworth and an evening service between Sheffield and Chesterfield; route 218 gaining an evening service between Sheffield and Bakewell; route 272 gaining a later last bus from Sheffield to Castleton on Fridays and Saturdays; extension of Sunday journeys on route 257 beyond Yorkshire Bridge to Glossop and Castleton; extension of evening and Sunday journeys on route 44 beyond Dronfield to Chesterfield. Other buses from Sheffield into Derbyshire include the 65 to Buxton, 43 to Chesterfield via Dronfield, 50/50a to Chesterfield via Eckington and 53 to Mansfield via Clowne.

The majority of buses in our area continue to have the £2 maximum single fare offer funded by the government, there are also various unlimited travel passes available.

For public transport information in South Yorkshire visit travelsouthyorkshire.com, for Derbyshire visit derbysbus.info.

Brewery Bits

Posted on by Andy Cullen

Bradfield Brewery‘s current seasonal beers include Farmers Irish Dexter (A deep red coloured ale with a sweet malty flavour and a dry finish) which has been available since 19 February and Farmers Plum Bitter available during March.

Lots of excitement at Triple Point Brewing with the brewery expanding into the warehouse area following the arrival of a number of new vessels of varying capacity – 5,000 litre, 2,500 litre and a pilot vessel. The pilot kit means they can play around brewing new experimental beers in smaller quantities. March then sees the brewery’s bar hosting a number of Sheffield Beer Week events as well as the team pouring their beer at Indie Beer Feast. That is just the warm up however, for Friday 15 March sees the brewery’s 5th birthday bash, kicking off at 7pm across the tap room and warehouse areas which will be open until 1am with four special birthday beer releases on tap (including a limited edition pilot brew from each brewer), birthday cake and a DJ playing music from 2019, the year Triple Point launched.

Dave Unpronouncable from Steel City Brewing believed only a madman would cask a 7% stout these days, so obviously, that’s what he did. This minikit production was available to try exclusively at the Wellington in Shalesmoor and was called “I’m Sparticus and So’s My Wife”. It was a strong stout brewed with muscovado sugar and molasses.

February saw Stancill‘s Valentines special hit the bars. “Juliet” is a 3.9% ABV pale ale.

A recent new beer from Lost Industry Brewing available in both cask and keg form is “Woodpecker from Mars”. It is a 5.2% ABV pale ale brewed with Mosaic and Amarillo hops, delivering a light, crisp and fruity beer. You can usually find their new beers at their tap bar, Lost in West Bar.

Acorn Brewery of Barnsley are currently running a series of IPAs brewed with experimental hop varieties supplied by Charles Faram. The latest beer release in this series is CF299.

A recent beer release from Chantry Brewery of Parkgate, Rotherham, has been “Magical Hopster Tour”, a 4.1% ABV pale ale. One of their tap pubs – the Chantry Inn – is in Handsworth, Sheffield and is usually a good place to try their beers, alternatively the brewery itself has a bar that is open as a live music venue at the weekend and it can be easily reached from Sheffield on the Tram Train.

Jolly Boys Brewery of Redbrook, Barnsley, have changed the recipe of their 3.8% ABV Blonde. It is still brewed with Yorkshire Malt and British grown hops but the flavour is now more leaning towards new world with subtle notes of citrus, melon and stone fruit. Their tap pubs are located on the Arcade in Barnsley town centre and on Moorthorpe station.

CAMRA Members’ Weekend

Posted on by Andy Cullen

CAMRA’s Members’ Weekend, AGM & Conference is held annually in April and is open to all CAMRA members. Not only is it a chance to discuss motions at Conference, it also gives members the opportunity to socialise in the onsite bar, attend information sessions and explore the beer scene of different cities around the UK.

After hosting the event here in Sheffield last year, this year sees it held in Dundee, celebrating the 50th anniversary of CAMRA in Scotland. It is being held over the weekend of 26-28 April. You can register to attend on the CAMRA website and receive details in advance via email, alternatively you can just turn up and register on the door if capacity is available.

Many members make a longer break of the Members’ Weekend rather than just travelling up for the conference. As well as checking out the pubs of Dundee it is a base for day trips to other nearby Scottish towns and cities. There are also other things to do aside from drink, for example Dundee is home to the V&A Design museum and the opportunity to experience life in the Antarctic with Captain Scott and his crew on the RRS Discovery at Discovery Point!

The CAMRA event is being hosted at Caird Hall, located in the City Square. As well as the AGM & Conference this features a Members’ Bar which is a small beer & cider festival open exclusively to members and will principally showcase real ale brewed in Scotland.

Whilst it is a long way to travel from Sheffield it is easy enough to get to on the train with just one change – catch a Cross Country service up to Edinburgh and connect with Scotrail services to Dundee. The cheapest train tickets are available in limited numbers if you book a specific time in advance, they are also most likely to be available at the less busy times/days. See the Cross Country Trains website for availability and to book. Alternative LNER run a daily service between York and Dundee with connections available to/from Sheffield. Various third party agencies also sell train tickets such as Uber or Trainline.

If you need cheaper but slower options it is possible by coach – some direct coaches operate, otherwise it requires a connection in Edinburgh – check out Megabus.com, Flixbus and National Express.

Dundee fairly recently hosted a previous Members’ Weekend, in 2019. Read about that here.

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Inn Brief

Posted on by Andy Cullen

Pangolin at Hillsborough is hosting a tap takeover with Turning Point brewing on Thursday 29 February with beers pouring on both cask and keg from 1pm and a representative from the brewery available in the evening to talk about the beers.

The Beer House S6 at Hillsborough now holds a darts tournament every Thursday at 7pm. It costs £3 to enter and winner takes all. You need to register at the bar in advance to take part.

The Three Tuns in Sheffield City Centre is hosting a meet the brewer event with Theakstons on 26 March. Guests are invited to enjoy an exciting evening of beer tasting and conversation with Simon Theakston of the legendary brewery, Theakston. Whether you’re a beer enthusiast or simply curious about the brewing world, this event is perfect for you to try the Theakston range, including the legendary Old Peculiar Oak Barrel – the first time this has been available in Sheffield for years.
The Evening Includes:

  • History of Theakston Brewery
  • Tutored Beer Sampling
  • Q&A with Simon Theakston
  • Quiz with prizes
  • Serving full range of Theakston Ales with a special barrel of Old Peculiar “The Wood”
    Ticket is inclusive of the Beer Flight (6 tastings, served in 1/3rd’s).

Tickets for the Theakstons event cost £15 and are available online.

The pub is also now well focused on its reinvention as an entertainment venue, as well as the well reported weekend “Three Huns” karaoke, bingo and drag events there is a quiz night every Wednesday which once a month is followed by a stand up comedy event (“Three Puns”). Keep an eye on their Facebook page for what’s on.

Eyam Brewery are in the process of opening a tap. The premises is the former Castlegate Butcher in Stoney Middleton, which will be known as “The Butcher’s Block”. They are hoping to be able to open at some point in March subject to licencing etc going smoothly..

Paradise Lost cocktail & tapas bar on Ecclesall Road saw changes in the new year including a new name – The Local Bar. They continue to serve cocktails and a regularly changing wine list, however they also now have a handpump and keg taps that offer local beer (typically Abbeydale).

The Masons Arms in Crookes is serving food at the weekend including pizza, burgers and chicken. The kitchen is open Friday nights along with Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

The Ranmoor Inn has an open mic night on Tuesdays and a quiz night on Thursdays along with local beers on the bar, currently with a 15p a pint discount available for CAMRA members (check with the pub for any terms & conditions or restrictions).

Gatsby on Division Street in Sheffield City Centre closed for refurbishment after Christmas and on 16 February reopened with a new name – well, actually an old name, it is gone back to it’s classic name of the Foresters and is being described as a City Centre local. It is under the same management as Fagan’s. The pub now has a more traditional design of seating, 2 real ales on the bar and food is served.

The Peak Hotel in Castleton recently had a party night in the pub to celebrate 10 years of being run by Atlantik Inns, the local company that runs a number of Peak District pubs. In that time they’ve built up a good reputation whilst cringing when repeats of the Three in a Bed episode featuring this pub come up on TV which was filmed under previous management who didn’t come across particularly well!

The Brown Bear in Sheffield City Centre is reopened on 12 February with a new management couple at the helm.

The Shiny Sheff on Crimicar Lane closed temporarily on 9 February but has since reopened.

The Water Tower at Norton is closed and boarded up whilst Star Pub Company (Heineken) recruit a publican to take the lease on. An open day is being held there for prospective tenants.

The Anglers Rest in Bamford, which is owned by the Bamford Community Society, is undertaking a fundraising drive to refurbish the premises including updating the kitchen, renewing worn out furniture, improve the layout of the Post Office and cafe areas and carry out plumbing and structural works. The fundraising target is £50k.

The Ball Inn at Grimethorpe, which has been closed since 2020, has a planning application with the council to convert the building into flats.

St Patrick’s Day is the 17 March which this year falls on a Sunday. Many pubs and bars put on celebrations that attracts many folks enjoying the Irish Craic for the day, with many of the events being a device to promote Guinness! However there are a number of venues with events that also serve cask beer or maybe also Irish craft beer. These include pubs that actually have Irish publicans and customers such as the Grapes and Dog & Partridge on Trippet Lane whilst just down the road Perch bar (home to Dead Parrot Brewery with their own cask beers available on handpump) hold celebrations in their events yard.

AND FROM JUST OUTSIDE OUR PATCH…

  • a new micropub is being planned for Kiveton, close to Kiveton Bridge station (and on the X5 bus route from Sheffield so a trip there could be combined with a visit to the Oxbow in Woodhouse Mill and Chantry Inn at Handsworth)
  • The Little Haven micropub in Parkgate (not far from the tram train terminus and Chantry Brewery)_ has relocated to slightly bigger premises across the road which are now open.
  • The Beer Stop at Dronfield has changed ownership. This is a small, specialist beer shop that also has some keg taps for craft beers with the option of drinking on the premises – either at a single table in the shop or on one of the outdoor tables on the patio area at the front. It is a couple of minutes walk from Dronfield railway station and on bus route 44 from Sheffield.

Branch social report – Royal Hotel in Dungworth & others

Posted on by Andy Cullen

Having done our traditional City Centre pub social the previous weekend, it was unusual to do two such socials in as many weeks but with news that the long established Royal Hotel in Dungworth is likely to be closing down at the beginning of March with the long established owners retiring and selling up we thought it would be timely to pay a visit – and pop in a a couple of other pubs out that way whilst there!

Stagecoach bus 62 from Hillsborough Interchange runs a circular route on an hourly frequency with a stop right outside the Royal Hotel, it also links Bradfield, Loxley and Wisewood too. We met up at the Beer House in Hillsborough, which is conveniently located next to both the tram stop and bus station!

One the bus has gone through Malin Bridge and wandered around the estates in Stannington it hits beautiful countryside as it meanders up hill and down dale and on the way to Dungworth look out for the dairy farm that is the home of Our Cow Molly milk and ice cream! The journey time from Hillsborough to Dungworth is 24 minutes.

The Royal is a pub that still retains a traditional layout where you arrive via a corridor with various small rooms off to the side as well as the main lounge at the front. The bar had two cask ales available – Bradfield Yorkshire Farmer and Clark’s Best Bitter.

The pub also serves a small menu of food including a variety of pot pies, mostly steak or chicken based along with a few other dishes including liver & onion, lasagne and omelettes. Many of our party ordered a pie for lunch!

A nice little feature that has been there for many years is the windowsill in the room at the back of the pub, which affords a breath-taking view over the Loxley Valley, has a pair of binoculars for customer use!

After a couple of hours at the Royal, we just had enough time for a group photograph outside before boarding the bus again!

After Dungworth the bus passes Dam Flask lake which is the home to a sailing club and it also passes the Plough pub along with the cricket and bowling clubs in Low Bradfield before climbing up the hill to High Bradfield where we alighted for the Old Horns Inn.

The Old Horns is a Thwaites pub leased to a local operator, however the real ales on the bar were from Bradfield (Blonde, Brow Cow and Belgian Blue), Black Sheep and Theakstons. Unfortunately every table in the pub was reserved for diners so away from the bar drinkers were confined to a choice of a single bench or the outdoor drinking area, which affords a fantastic view over the valley – it was rather cold though!

We stayed at the Horns for an hour until the next bus, which heads along the main road, past the Nags Head Inn (a tap for Bradfield Brewery) and the Admiral Rodney in Loxley before dropping downhill to Wisewood. We alighted outside the Wisewood Inn where we had another hour between buses in order to enjoy a variety of Loxley Brewery beers, which are brewed on site there.

The bus then returned us to Hillsborough Interchange for onward bus or tram connections and our happy party bid each other farewell after an enjoyable afternoon drinking in rural pubs and went off to enjoy their Saturday evening!