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.
The Ashford Arms in Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire (near Bakewell), which is owned by Heineken and has been closed for some time is set to be renovated and reopened by the same people as the George in Hathersage and Maynard in Grindleford, who have taken the lease on. They are to operate it as a premium country pub blending timeless tradition, captivating charm and limitless fun with the ground floor and exterior completely refurbished in a project costing £1.6m.
The Eyre Arms in Calver is under new management and reopened on 8 September. The new owner is Edward White, a local businessman who has given the pub a refurbishment including converting a room into a sports bar and upgrading the kitchen. Buses 65 and 257 go there from Sheffield.
The Closed Shop on Commonside is expected to reopen on 8 September with the lease from Heineken taken on by Sophie, who also runs the Clubhouse on London Road. Initially it will be a drinkers pub with beer from the Heineken list, with the kitchen reopening sometime in October.
The Horse & Jockey at Wadsley reopened under new management on 31 August. This is no longer run by True North Brewery.
The Head of Steam in Sheffield City Centre is now opening at 10am on Friday and Saturday serving breakfast.
Little Mesters Brewing’s tap bar on Woodseats opened on Friday 15 September. Mesters Tap is a micropub in the unit that was originally Sports Shack, a few doors down from Wetherspoons. The bar has a range of 2 cask and 5 keg beers showcasing their own beers plus guests and art on the walls was produced by the same person that designs the brewery’s cans.
Up at Ranmoor the Bulls Head is expected to reopen soon, meanwhile the Ranmoor Inn is due to be closed for refurbishment 16-22 September.
A new bar called Pearl has opened at Park Hill. Two real ales are available along with cocktails, natural wines and bar snacks.
The Dorothy Pax is holding their Pax Pint Party mini beer festival from 6 to 8 October.
The Big Gun Hotel on the Wicker has now closed down and it expected to be converted into a fast food establishment. Whilst it hasn’t served real ale in a long time, this closure does represent a loss of a piece of Sheffield’s pub heritage.
The new Kelham Island Brewery Company have added a second beer alongside Pale Rider – their own version of Gold Label, a barley wine at 9.9% ABV. Kelham beers are currently brewed at Thornbridge in Bakewell.
Grizzly Grain Brewery, the home of Sheffield Mead, has in their latest mead experiment filled an oak cask with Peak District Heather Honey, Rivelin Valley Blossom Honey, Organic Redcurrants and water to see what comes out after fermentation! Meanwhile on the beer side of things released on cask is “Milk Crate Throne”, a hazy pale ale brewed with Waimea, Motueka and Enigma hops.
Eyam brewery’s final beer in their summer special series – 8/23 (as in August 2023!) was a dry hopped summer pale ale with a light floral aroma at a sessionable 4.2% ABV. It is available exclusively in cask.
Bradfield Brewery have introduced a new Light Ale, at an easy drinking ABV of 3.4%. It is brewed with British hops and has a tropical fruit aroma. Looking further ahead their usual seasonal rotation will be featuring into the autumn and winter including Jack O’Lantern for Halloween, Poppy Ale for Armistace Day and Rememberence Sunday then of course Belgian Blue for Christmas!
Meanwhile on the bottled beer side of things at Bradfield, a gluten free version of Farmers Blonde and Farmers Brown Cow has now been launched, available from the brewery shop.
Fuggle Bunny Brew House continue to run some Saturday tap events as well as their usual Friday openings, Saturday 26 August (bank holiday weekend) sees live music from Celana Deans and the street food offering is Paella.
A recent collaboration brew at Heist Brew Co., with Dexter & Jones, is “Whose Round Is It Anyway?”, a juicy 5% ABV IPA with tropical, citrus & pine flavours.
Little Critters have launched a new session IPA, “Spot On”, which is a sensible 4.3% ABV.
Little Mesters Brewing are planning on opening “Mesters Tap” soon, in Woodseats – the little bar that used to be the Bulldog Value bar and Sports Shack before that. Keep an eye on their socials and website for any announcements!
Lost Industry recently brewed a collaboration with the Gin Bar of Abbeydale Road with the idea of a beer that not only is good to drink as it comes but also perfect to be a cocktail ingredient! The beer is “Smokin Paloma Sour” and the flavour involves grapefruit and liquid smoke!
Triple Point Brewing picked up gongs in this years World Beer Awards for four of their beers – Tinto, Libertas, Catharina and Kerlsch.
Peak Ales have a new Mango Pale Ale and have released a small batch of it in cask for pubs.
Resting Devil, the brewery based in the Chesterfield Arms pub, has won a Great Taste Award for their Chatsworth Honey Ale. This beer is available in bottles from the Chatsworth farm shop.
15 July saw a branch social trip to Torrside brewery in New Mills, a town just a 45 minute train ride from Sheffield (less from Dore & Totley station where I got on!).
The brewery is a 10 minute walk from New Mills Central station, next to the canal marina. The easiest walking route is actually via the main road, however just for the experience we decided to walk down there via the more scenic route using the Millenium walkway, with the river running an absolute torrent below us! I learned the hard way this choice wasn’t ideal for those that suffer from vertigo!
The tap session at the brewery was already quite busy when we got there with a friendly crowd but no queue at the bar, making it easy to ask about the beer.
Torrside brew quite a broad, interesting range of beers and the choice on the bar included session pales, smoked stouts, traditional bitter, wheat beers and even a Belgian style quad.
Complimenting the beer was a Japanese food trailer and I can confirm the pork Okonomiyaki was delicious.
A number of people from areas around New Mills and Stockport that I knew from various beer festivals were there offering a great opportunity for a catch up and time flew as various beers were sampled.
After walking back into the town centre there was about 20 minutes until the train back to Sheffield so a visit to the Beer Shed micropub near Central station was fitted in where a mild from Torrside brewery that wasn’t on at the tap session was enjoyed!
If you fancy a trip there yourself, the brewery open for tap events on selected weekends through the summer, check their Facebook page or website for details. The train service from Sheffield to New Mills Central is operated by Northern and runs hourly throughout the afternoon and into the evening, a Derbyshire Wayfarer ticket covers the journey there and back for £14.
The brewery is actually just across the road from New Mills Newtown station, unfortunately Sheffield trains don’t go there as it is on the Buxton-Manchester line.
Grizzly Grains have released a new beer hopped with Citra and Belma, named “Get Going”. Expect big fruit flavours in this – ripe strawberry, pineapple and grapefruit. Available in cask and keg. Since then the brewery has received delivery of some Australian hops and Sam is looking forward to using them!
As with last year, Bradfield Brewery‘s August seasonal beer is Blueberry Ale, a refreshing malty session strength beer (4.4% ABV) with fruity, spicy overtones and a not too unusual blue tint to the head!
Fuggle Bunny Brew House continue to open every Friday for a tap session, selected dates now also has “As Tha Got Beef?” in attendance serving burgers up to go with your beer! Upcoming dates include 28 July, 18 August, 1 September and 15 September. Additionally they are opening Saturday 29 July from 2pm to 9pm with live music and pizza.
Triple Point Brewing had brought back their Kashmir Mountain IPA for the summer. It is a similar recipe to their award winning Debut IPA but at a more sessionable 4.4% and in terms of style combines the juiciness of a New England IPA with the bitterness of a West Coast IPA with just the right balance provided by the Centennial, Kashmir, Citra and Admiral hops.
Grizzly Grain may be best known for their beers, however brewer Sam is also behind Sheffield Mead and has been enjoying experimenting a bit with honey based beverages! For those following what he has being doing a visit to the tap sessions at the brewery provides an opportunity to try his regular mead, however on Thursday 6 July a special event was organised at Shakespeares Ale & Cider House on Gibralter Street.
Two special things were available from cask on the night – a batch of session mead had been put in cask and served on handpump and a pin of Belgian style honey braggot was on the bar on gravity serve. Additionally Sam was hosting a tasting of a number of bottled meads, complimented by cheese, honey and crackers (not just any of course – charcoal sourdough crackers with local cheese & honey!)
The mead in cask was Sam’s session strength (3.9% ABV) version with Motueka hops added. This had a wonderful honey aroma and subtle flavours from the hops, it was served still and refreshing. Those folk attending the Cider & Mead festival at Heist on 15 July will have been able to try a version put in keg and served sparkling for comparison.
Available in bottle to try was another variation of the session mead, with the addition of locally foraged elderflower and fermented with Kviek yeast, making a lovely fruity and floral drink to refresh on a hot summers day!
On the stronger side at 10% ABV (although not strong by mead standards I’m told!) to try in bottle was Bochet mead. This is made to a traditional medieval recipe where the honey is boiled in a cauldron then fermented with Norwegian farmhouse Kwiek yeast. It is full flavoured with notes of sweet toffee, caramel honey and tangerine on the flavour and a tart finish.
You can keep up with the latest from Sheffield Mead on their Facebook page.
The Old Shoe is a brand new bar in Orchard Square, with the premises converted from a former shoe shop, hence the name – they probably realised Sheffield people always continue to refer to places by their old name, such as calling John Lewis Cole Brothers (until it closed of course!).
This is a joint venture involving Mike Pomranz of Exemption Ciderhouse (who had the Cider Hole bar at Shalesmoor, which is relocated to this new venue) and Matt Beety of the BEAR on Abbeydale Road.
Installed as manager is Nath Hehir, who many will recognise from various good beer pubs around the city he has previously worked at! Completing the team is Tom, a former wine sommelier who previously worked at the Joro restaurant and among various things he’ll be doing at the Old Shoe is blending soft drinks!
On the beer front there are two handpumps for cask ales along with 17 keg beers on tap. For the cider drinkers there are three keg taps which at the soft launch weekend (8/9 July) were supplied by Ross on Wye, Little Pomona and Orchards of Husthwaite. All the taps and pumps are on the back wall behind the bar and printed drinks menus are available on the bar to peruse.
The Old Shoe is bigger than you might expect when thinking of a former shop unit and is split into two parts, the bar area with plenty of tables and seating and a retail area with numerous fridges full of bottles and cans available to buy to drink in or take away, including a large cider and perry selection. The bar also offers a range of natural wines.
Also located in the retail space is the Exemption Cider House kit that was previously located at the Cider Hole, this is in an extension of the space behind the bar and makes the table in that room feel like a cider equivalent of the “chefs table” you get in some Michelin starred restaurants! There are various events planned in this area including meet the brewer sessions, keep an eye on their Instagram and Facebook for updates. It is also the new home of Mike’s record player and vinyl collection!
Following the two days of soft opening some tweaks are taking place then the bar will open properly from Wednesday 12 July.
You can find the Old Shoe at unit 20 of Orchard Square (off Leopold Street) in Sheffield City Centre. Cathedral tram stop and various bus stops are a short walk away. Opening hours are Wed/Thu 1100-2300, Fri/Sat 1100-0100, Sunday 1300-2000.
The Cider Hole on the Sunday of soft opening weekend. Photo by Brian Exford
Lost in West Bar may sound like some terrible B-Movie set in Sheffield but it is actually a new bar project from Helen Fay Seaton of Lost Industry Brewing, which launched on Friday 7 July.
Calm before the storm… Lost in West Bar almost ready before opening!
The bar is in the premises that was previously Bar Stewards and West Bar Tap, unfortunately they closed down after not working out financially. Lost in West Bar has seen the venue receive a little bit of a refit and the subtle changes have made better use of the space of this micropub, improving the seating capacity, atmosphere and storage space.
The yard at the rear has received a little bit of attention too with some flowers added to make it feel more like a beer garden.
The flowers in the beer garden
On the bar there is a range of 4 cask ales, 8 keg beers and a cider on tap, plus spirits and soft drinks. The beer range showcases Lost Industry brewing as you’d expect, along with some carefully chosen guests.
The launch night saw a band (Tombstone Buzzards) playing outside in the yard and a food stall provided by Pipers Artisan Sausages. It is anticipated a number of outdoor events will take place in the future featuring live music and food.
Whilst getting the bar open was supported by the whole Lost Industry family and friends, its a very small team running it, with the only member of staff being part timer Phob who you will often find behind the bar offering a friendly welcome.
You can find Lost in West Bar at 163 Gibralter Street, S3 8UA. Buses 57, 57a, 81, 82 and 86 go there. You can find out more on their Facebook page. Opening hours are Tue/Wed/Thu 1600-2200, Friday 1400-2300, Saturday 1200-2300 and Sunday 1200-2200.
The Royal Oak at Deepcar, which closed down in 2019, is advertising that it is reopening soon, however a firm date has not yet been announced. *UPDATE* opening 23 July.
The Cremorne on London Road from 14 July is offering a discount on beer to CAMRA members that produce a valid membership card at the time of orderings. The discount is 20% off cask ales, 10% off selected keg beers. The discount is not available on Sheffield United match days and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.
The Hillsborough Sports Shack has had a rebrand and has become the “Owls Nest bar”.
The Dog & Partridge launched their food service on 13 July. The menu includes sandwiches, burgers, chicken wings, lasagne, ploughmans and topped chips and is mostly home made.
This summer has seen two open top bus services introduced offering scenic rides around the Peak District National Park not far from Sheffield. Your editor had a ride round on the 1 July launch day and started thinking about the pubs and breweries along the route!
The afternoon began by catching the TM Travel bus 218 (Sheffield to Bakewell via Totley) as far as Baslow, where both the open top bus services call at the same stop. Baslow has a number of pubs, although most appear to be hotels with a public bar and restaurant.
Within just a few minutes of arriving at Baslow’s Nether End bus stop, one of the Stagecoach “Peak Sightseer” open top tour buses appeared. This operates on a circular route between Chatsworth House and Bakewell at 30 minutes intervals. Leaving Baslow, it is routed via Curbar to Calver, passing the Eyre Arms then doing a loop manoeuvre around the cross roads to then change direction and climbing up hill a little for the longer, mostly rural run to Bakewell, where I alighted.
In Bakewell I decided to spend half an hour before the next “Peak Sightseer” came through by enjoying a pint in the Joiners Arms. This small bar, which offers a range of craft beers on both cask and keg is under the same ownership as the Dronfield Arms which is home to Temper Brewing and it is one of their beers I chose. The day of my trip coincided with Bakewell Carnival so the town was busy and people had got their spots outside ready for the procession to come through later!
Boarding the other one of the two vehicles on the “Peak Sightseer” service, the bus left Bakewell via the A6 Buxton Road and passed the business park that is home to Thornbridge Brewery, where if I had more time I could have gone to visit their tap room to sample a few beers and order a pizza!
The next location along the route is Ashford in the Water where we passed two pubs across the road from one another, although one was closed with the now familiar pub company sign advertising it as available to lease. The Bulls Head however was open, this is an old coaching Inn owned by Robinsons Brewery.
The next landmark along the route is at Hassop where the bus crosses over the Monsal Trail, this used to be a railway running from London to Manchester via Matlock and Buxton but is now a popular walking and cycling trail and the old Hassop station is now a cafe. The bus continues via Pilsley and stops by the Chatsworth farm shop before turning off the main road and onto the Chatsworth estate, up the drive to the house.
The bus has a short 5 minute break at the Chatsworth House stop before setting off around the circular route again and heading down to Baslow, passing Peak Ales brewery as it heads down the hill!
Having completed the Peak Sightseer route, I wanted to try the other open top bus service, “The Breezer” operated by local independent bus company Hulleys of Baslow. This is a more traditional bus service rather than a circular tour, running from Baslow to Castleton via Calver Sough, Grindleford, Longshaw, Hathersage and Hope then returning the same way. Most people in Sheffield know about Surprise view before heading downhill into Hathersage and this offers the opportunity to enjoy it on an open top bus!
Unfortunately there was a good hour or so until the next “Breezer” leaving Baslow and was keen to get to the Hope Valley to do my Beer Matters magazine deliveries to a couple of pubs there so I joined the regular bus 257 after a wait of less than 10 minutes for a scenic ride on a modern single decker. The departure I joined was the one a day which goes a different route to normal, after Eyam if went via Foolow, Great Hucklow, Bradwell and Hope where it dropped me off.
There are three pubs in Hope. I had a pint and delivered Beer Matters magazines at the Old Hall Hotel which is known for hosting beer festivals most bank holiday weekends as well as the pub having a restaurant, tea room and accommodation. Just across the road is the Woodroffe Arms, owned by Greene King and a short walk down the Edale road will bring you to the Cheshire Cheese Inn, a classic rural pub with a good beer garden!
From Hope I joined “The Breezer” open top bus which had left Castleton a few minutes previous bound for Baslow and enjoyed a short run down the Hope Valley as far as Hathersage.
In Hathersage it was a visit to the Little John Hotel to deliver their Beer Matters magazine as well as enjoy a pint and a bite to eat.
There are a number of other venues in Hathersage including the George and Scotsman’s Pack in the village and the Plough Inn a little bit of a walk down the road to Leadmill Bridge, I could also have joined the final “Breezer” open top bus trip of the day back down to Baslow, however time was running out and I needed to be home to get ready for evening plans so joined a Sheffield bound train back from Hathersage!
BUS TICKETS
The Stagecoach “Peak Sightseer” open top bus tour costs £6 for adults and £4 for concessions with a ticket allowing you to hop on and hop off as much as you like during the day.
All the other normal local buses in the area, including the Hulleys “Breezer” open top service currently cost £2 per ride and also accept English National Concession Senior Citizen and disabled passes. Alternatively you can buy a “Derbyshire Wayfarer” pass for the day offering unlimited travel on most local buses in Derbyshire (including direct links from Sheffield) for £8, or there is an option also including trains for £14. With the Wayfarer pass you can buy the Peak Sightseer ticket at the discounted price of £4.
DAYS OF OPERATION
The “Peak Sightseer” runs daily until 30 September then weekends only up to Christmas Eve.
“The Breezer” runs on Saturdays and Sundays, plus weekdays during the school holidays, with the last day of operation 3 September. Please be aware that Hulleys only have one open top vehicle so from time to time this may be substituted with a regular bus.
Tramlines festival takes place in Hillsborough Park from 21 to 23 July with several stages of live music and comedy plus food vendors, rides, stalls, bars and more and tickets usually sell out.
However of more interest to many of our readers is the fringe – and not just the official fringe stages in the City Centre but what is going on in the many independent venues including pubs, some of which serve real ale.
At the time of going to press with Beer Matters not a lot had been announced, however events we do already know include
the Washington pub in the City Centre which has published their line up of live music which runs from 5pm on Friday, 2:30pm Saturday and Sunday. Entry is free of charge and the last band is on stage at 10pm with DJs on afterwards to continue the party through to 3am.
the Fat Cat where on the Saturday afternoon will have live performances from Sarah Mac and Tiny Barbara’s Surf Club with Rocketts playing on the Friday night.
the nice folk from the Dorothy Pax will be putting on a free music festival over the weekend at Heeley People’s Park.
The Dove & Rainbow kick the weekend off with live music on the Friday night
The Red Lion on Charles Street is planning 14 acts over 2 days.
As usual there is live music at places like Crookes Club, White Lion in Heeley, Church House etc.
It is highly likely that pubs like Shakespeares that always put on special events for Tramlines fringe will do so too.
