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.

Brewery bits

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Two of the Peak District breweries in our area held open days during August – Eyam Brewery on 15/16 August and Intrepid Brewery on 23 August. Both involved opening a bar in the brewery showcasing their range along with a food trader.

Bradfield Brewery have announced the 2025 brew of their popular fruit flavoured Christmas special, Belgian Blue, will launch on 3 November. If you couldn’t wait for that you may well have enjoyed their summer special, Blueberry Ale!

The Brewery of St Mars of the Desert (SMOD) are planning a special Stichfass pouring event again on a date still to be confirmed at the time of writing. Stichfass is a traditional German beer barrel similar to a British cask and the beer is packaged during fermentation. Dan and Martha at SMOD drove all the way to Franconia to pick theirs up!

Recent brews at Blue Bee Brewery include a 6% ABV Simcoe Krush IPA and also the latest iteration of their American 5 Hop pale ale (version 82!) alongside the routine brews of Reet Pale, Bessemer Blonde and Hillfoot Best Bitter.

As with previous years, Drone Valley Brewery will be taking their outside bar to the Bradway family fun day, organised by the local community action group. The event takes place on Bradway village green (on Bradway Road by the shops) on Saturday 6 September from 1:30 to 4:30pm. Bus 25 stops close by.

Duality Brew Co had a number of beers at the Old Shoe beer festival in Orchard Square on 16 August. These were “Partners In Crime”, a NE pale ale (5.1% ABV), “Double Imposter Syndrome”, a New England IPA (8.4% ABV) and “Berried Alive”, an 8% ABV raspberry sour.

The latest brew produced on the Burton Union set at Thornbridge Brewery was a collaboration with Oakham Ales. The beer is American Pale, a 5.2% ABV pale ale brewed with Maris Otter malt combined with a variety of US hops which delivers a beer bursting with citrus, tropical fruit and pine character. Oakham Ales are best known for their Citra pale ale and their JHB (Jeffrey Hudson Bitter).

Regional pub awards

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CAMRA run a national Pub of the Year and Club of the Year competition, this begins with each local branch putting forward an entry into the county competition of which the winners go on to be judged in the national competition.

We entered two pubs – the Kelham Island Tavern went into the Yorkshire judging and the Old Hall Hotel into the North Derbyshire judging. Unfortunately neither were successful beaten by some rather stiff competition in the wider region!

Here are the winners:

EAST MIDLANDS PUB OF THE YEAR – The Burnt Pig, Ilkeston

EAST MIDLANDS CLUB OF THE YEAR – The Royal British Legion Club, Parwich

YORKSHIRE PUB OF THE YEAR – The Beer Engine, Skipton

YORKSHIRE CLUB OF THE YEAR – Wortley Men’s Club, Wortley

Inn Brief

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SHEFFIELD

Bear on Abbeydale Road now has a permanent cask line! For the Abbeydale Road beer festival the beer was from Weekend Project, however it is expected that the usual brewery on the handpump will be Two by Two.

Mount Pleasant at Norton Lees reopened under new management on Friday 1 August, although cask ale wasn’t immediately available awaiting the delivery from the Heineken Star Pub Company who it is leased from, however they are now regularly available with a range including Bradfield Farmers Blonde, Timothy Taylors Landlord and Tetley Bitter. Wednesday 20 August saw a food trader, Curbside Cravings, at the pub with a view of making it a weekly event if popular.

Old Red Lion in Grenoside is hosting ‘Top Red 12 Years On’ family festival on Saturday 13 September 2-8pm with live music & DJ, food, kids games, bouncy castle and market stalls.

King & Miller in Deepcar closed for a week from 11 August for a bit of a refurbishment and the instillation of a new kitchen.

Old Shoe are to host ‘Oldshoeberfest’, their take on Oktoberfest, on 26 and 27 September.

Sheaf View in Heeley are hosting their final live music event of the summer on Saturday 30 August dubbed ‘Last of the Summer Music’ with a programme of 8 different artists performing at the pub from 3pm onwards.

Sportsman Inn at Lodge Moor was expected to reopen over the August bank holiday weekend. The pub jas been taken on by the same management as the Ship Inn.

Fat Cat in Kelham Island held their 44th birthday beer festival on 21 August.

The pubs and bars participating in this years Half Pint Marathon have been announced and it is quite a long list! They are Alder, Forum Cafe Bar, Hop Hideout, Hymn to Ninkasi, Kapital Beer Hall, Over The Yardarm, Riverside Kelham, Shakespeares Ale & Cider House, Brewery of St Mars of the Desert, Beer House S6, Blind Monkey, Broadfield, Common Room, Dog & Partridge, Gardeners Rest, Hallamshire House, Harlequin, Itchy Pig 2 Banner Cross, Old Grindstone, Punchbowl, Rising Sun, Stag’s Head, Wonky Labrador, Turner’s Bottle & Tap, Two Sheds and Two Thirds Beer Co.. The event runs throughout September and involves two special beers – a cask beer from True North and a keg beer from Abbeydale with a 25p donation from the sale of a pint going to Sheffield Mind. Take a collector card and get a stamp each time you order the special beer at a participating venue and when you’ve collected stamps from 13 different venues you can claim a limited edition print. Check out their website or social media for more details.

PEAK DISTRICT

Old Nag’s Head in Edale held a beer festival over the weekend of 15-17 August with a ‘Sheffield versus Manchester’ theme, along with live entertainment.

Miners Arms in Eyam held a beer festival and hog roast on the Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend.

DRONFIELD

Blue Stoops in Dronfield closed from 18 August for a refurbishment representing an investment by Chilled Pub Co of nearly a million pounds which they say will better bring out the natural charm and warmth of the old building!

The 29 and 30 August sees a final farewell weekend for Tom & Vee at the Hyde Park Inn at Dronfield Hill Top after which they are retiring from the pub trade. They have been running this pub for the last 11 years and feel part of the community but between them have 40 and 38 years experience in the industry. Tom is going on to be a bus driver and Stonegate pub company are advertising the Hyde Park’s lease for a new tenant to take it over.

ROTHERHAM

Blue Bell at Harthill is hosting Hartfest on 6 September with gates opening at 2pm and music kicking off from 3pm. Entry is £10 with the event raising funds for Harthill Football Club to restore the former Spens field pitch so they have somewhere in the village to play their home games.

Over in the Brecks area of Rotherham a new venture called Barrel & Bean is planning to open towards the end of September. It is a combined coffee shop and micropub where you can go in the morning for coffee and cakes or in the afternoon for beers on both cask and keg. They are having 4 handpumps installed with a range of three cask beers on rotation. Buses X1/X2, X11 and 19/19a go there.

Pub of the Year award presentation

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We presented our our overall Sheffield & District Pub of the Year award winner – the Kelham Island Tavern – with their certificate on Tuesday 8 July. A good turn out of CAMRA members and pub regulars enjoyed some excellent beer as our branch Chairman Paul Manning presented the certificates to Josh, Louise and the team. Complimentary pork pies and cheeses were enjoyed too! Congratulations on the well deserved award and thanks for the hospitality.

THE FULL LIST OF AWARD WINNERS

Overall Sheffield & District Pub of the Year – Kelham Island Tavern

District (Derbyshire) Pub of the Year – Old Hall Hotel, Hope

North Sheffield area Pub of the Year – Commercial, Chapeltown

East Sheffield area Pub of the Year – Oxbow micropub, Woodhouse Mill

South Sheffield area Pub of the Year – Brothers Arms, Heeley

West Sheffield area Pub of the Year – Rising Sun, Nether Green

City Centre area Pub of the Year – Bath Hotel

Kelham Island & Neepsend area Pub of the Year – Kelham Island Tavern

Cider Pub of the Year – The Old Shoe, Sheffield City Centre

Club of the Year – Crookes Social Club, Crookes.

Inn Brief

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The Brothers Arms have announced details of their “Summer Bash”. It is taking place on Saturday 30 August from 2pm to 1am with a musical line up of 6 live acts plus DJs Tink and Mojo.

The Old Shoe opened their Speakeasy wine bar “Not Open, Don’t Come” on 28 June. It is open every Friday and Saturday night from 7pm to 2am. The entrance is around the corner from the Old Shoe via what used to be a fire exit door in the red wall!

The Heeley Artisan bar is a new opening on Chesterfield Road in Heeley in a former restaurant premises. It is brought to you buy the same people as Mesters Tap in Woodseats and of course Little Mesters Brewing. A range of both mainstream and craft keg beers are available along with bar snacks including loaded wedges and burgers. The bar has a handpump installed with cask ale from Little Mesters new brewery in Attercliffe, the first being “Mesters Mate”, a hazy session pale ale.

Jabbarwocky on London Road in Highfield has had a change of ownership with a leaving party held over the weekend of 11/12 July followed by a week of being closed for a bit of a spruce up before relaunching in time for Tramlines festival fringe!

The Cremorne, also on London Road in Highfield, are proud of their hand painted A-Board produced by Greg of @ayup.art!

The Coach House Cafe in Hillsborough Park have withdrawn their planning application for an outside drinks kiosk.

The Bessemer in Sheffield City Centre has been closed for a refurbishment and was due to reopen on 18 July.

The Crown in Totley is celebrating the current management’s 10th anniversary on bank holiday Monday 25 August with festivities including live music, food truck, bouncy castle and kids games.

The new management, Dan & Casper, are now in at the White Lion in Great Longstone and the pub is open serving food and drink.

The Scotsman’s Pack in Hathersage hold their annual beer festival on Saturday 9 August. Then later on in the month on the bank holiday weekend the Old Hall Hotel in Hope hold one of their regular Hope Valley Beer & Cider festivals.

The Hathersage gala took place over a week at the beginning of July. This involves scarecrows being displayed around the village, numerous events and finally on the Saturday a carnival parade through the village and stalls on the football field. The Millstone, located in the hills above the village near Surprise Corner got involved too and did appear down in the village at events with a cask of Stancill Stainless!

The Anglers Rest in Bamford has introduced Friday ABC – Anglers Beer Club. This offers 20% off drinks between 4pm and 6pm each Friday. Meanwhile there have been some changes on the food side of things for the summer with a new country tapas menu introduced whilst the traditional roasts continue to be available on Sundays. Pizzas are available for the quiz night on Wednesdays until 9pm.

The Angel in Holmesfield should have reopened by the end of July following a minor refurbishment with Stonegate pub company running it themselves until a new tenant can be signed up.

The George & Dragon in Holmesfield, which is now run by Boston Brewery, has been presented the Summer of the Season award by the Dronfield & District CAMRA branch. They normally have 5 or more of their cask ales on the bar and on Wednesdays they are available for a bargain £3 a pint. Tuesday is quiz night.

Brewery Bits

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Eyam brewery’s second open day of this year is in the diary for Saturday 26 July, from 1pm to 7:30pm. This sees a bar open in the brewery serving a range of their beer on both cask and keg with bottles also available to buy to take home. Sunshine Pizza is also due to be in attendance if you want something to eat there and if the weather is good you can sit outside and take in the beautiful Peak District scenery (if not they’ll have seating inside the brewery!).

On the same weekend, not in our area but a short train ride away, Chin Chin brewery is hosting open days on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 July, 1pm to 9pm each day featuring beer, cider, food and music. The brewery is in South Kirkby, walkable from Moorthorpe railway station (Sheffield to Leeds/York via Rotherham train).

A recent seasonal brew from Bradfield Brewery is Farmers Blueberry Ale, a fruity little number at a sessionable 4.4% ABV.

Drone Valley Brewery recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of being registered as a community interest company. Beers recently featured at their weekend tap sessions include Bessemer American Pale Ale, First Gold IPA and Amarillo alongside the classics that includes Dronny Bottom Bitter and Dronfield Station Porter.

Recently spotted on the bars from Neepsend Brew Co is Consus, an espresso stout.

Thornbrige & Co is the small but growing pub chain that is a partnership between Thornbridge Brewery and Pivovar (of Sheffield Tap fame!) with pubs offering a range of Thornbridge beers, they’ve announced that work has begun on the Fargate Tap in Sheffield City Centre and they are aiming to have it open later this year.

Beer gardens

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As we arrive in peak summer and (hopefully) warm weather, something that becomes an attractive prospect is relaxing with a pint outside in a pub beer garden.

There are many pubs out in the Peak District offering stunning views of the countryside from your table whilst in the Sheffield suburbs there are hillside options like the Brothers Arms in Heeley offering an impressive view over the city. There are also some pubs overlooking the River Don in the Kelham Island/Neepsend area such as the Riverside Kelham and Gardeners Rest.

However, what if you are in the City Centre and are looking for that hidden oasis? Well, they do exist.. The classic of course is the University Arms that has a proper beer garden (with a lawn!) whilst a number of other pubs have patio/courtyard style outdoor drinking areas at the rear, these include the Washington, Red Deer, Grapes, Rutland Arms, Benjamin Huntsman, Triple Point Brewing and Roebuck Tavern. There are also a number of venues with a more continental attitude with tables out front on the pavement such as the Head of Steam, Vocation & Co., Sheffield Tap, Old Queen’s Head, Sheffield Water Works Company, Frog & Parrot, Dog & Partridge, Old Shoe and Two & Six Micropub.

Tramlines Fringe

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From 25 to 27 July Hillsborough Park is host to Tramlines festival, a popular ticketed event with several stages of live music, comedy and more including some big names for ticket holders to enjoy.

Meanwhile in Sheffield City Centre on Devonshire Green is the centrepiece of the Tramlines fringe – a main stage in use on the Saturday and Sunday with acts curated by Papa Al who will be bringing a mix of artists including local and emerging talent, community groups, energetic ska bands and a headline set from “a huge social media star”. The Saturday headline band is Jungle Lion, who return with their full ska orchestra whilst Sunday will see Macka B and the Roots Ragga Band.

Alongside the main stage up to 40 different local venues are taking part in the fringe putting on entertainment over the weekend with much of it free of charge. Among the list are a number of pubs that serve real ale to enjoy with the live music such as the Washington, Frog & Parrot, Church House, Shakespeares Ale & Cider House and Harlequin.

For the latest official listings for the The Fringe at Tramlines visit welcometosheffield.co.uk/thefringe.

Brewery Bits

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Thornbridge Brewery’s tap room hosted a bit of a do on Saturday 7 June – the 20th birthday for Jaipur IPA! On 7 June 2005 in the former carpenters workshop in the grounds of Thornbridge Hall gathered Stefano Cossi, Martin Dickie and Roy Shorrock to brew a 5.9% ABV IPA that was to become Jaipur. 20 years later the brewery is now on an industrial estate in Bakewell but Jaipur is still being brewed – in much larger volumes!

Also celebrating a 20th anniversary this year is Bradfield Brewery. Their current seasonal beers are Farmers Cherry Beer and Farmers Nettle Nectar.

Peak Ales is 20 too, they marked the occasion on 14 June with an event at the brewery where 10 of their cask ales along with their newly launched Pilsner was available plus food, music and classic cars!

Beating the above in age is Acorn Brewery of Wombwell in Barnsley, they celebrate 22 years this year and a special beer “Two Little Ducks” has been brewed. It is a pale session ale at just 3.4% ABV.

Fuggle Bunny Brew House continue through the summer with their additional tap sessions on the last Saturday of the month. On 28 June they are open 3pm to 9pm and as well as the brewery bar they will have Nico’s pizzas trading there and live music at 5pm.

Also on 28 June is an open day at Eyam Brewery in Great Hucklow with a range of their beers available to drink on site and Sunshine Pizza Oven providing food. If the weather is good all that should also be accompanied by beautiful Peak District scenery too! You can get there easily by bus – Stagecoach route 65 (Sheffield to Buxton via Tideswell) and Andrews route 173 (Bakewell to Castleton) stop in the village near the brewery.

Chantry Brewery have released a new beer called “Bailey Bridge”. It has been brewed in honour of Sir Donald Coleman Bailey OBE, Rotherham’s own engineering mastermind who invented the Bailey Bridge, a modular marvel that helped change the course of World War II. The beer is an easy drinking pale ale and local MP John Healey visited the brewery in Parkgate to pull the first pint at their tap bar.

Drone Valley Brewery open their tap tent, staffed by volunteers, every weekend. Additionally they have announced some brewery tour event dates to book on Sundays 3 August and 2 November with a midday start. Tickets are £15 and include the tour & talk, samples and nibbles. They also have a number of live music events planned at the tap, including a mini music festival on 7 September, tickets for that are £10. The brewery is in Unstone on the main road between Dronfield and Chesterfield, buses 43 and 44 stop at the end of the drive.

Intrepid have brewed “Solskin”, a 4.9% ABV rustic white ale and available in cask, keg and bottle formats. It is described as having Belgian farmhouse vibes. It is brewed with torrified wheat, Cascade & Hallertau Blanc hops and a new yeast strain plus the addition of coriander seed and orange zest along with a foraged tea mix. This beer is brewed annually with first pours at Solskin Festival, a Pagan & Heathen celebration held in the Grindleford area over the last weekend in June.

Inn Brief

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The Wharncliffe Arms – photo: Dave Pickersgill

The Wharncliffe Arms at Wharncliffe Side reopened on 23rd May 2025 after closure for almost two years. Extensively renovated by the owners, Bradfield Brewery, with wood half-panelling and leather covered seating: both armchairs and wall-mounted. The one L-shaped room is sensitively split by the use of panelling. Outside drinking areas at both front and rear, with the rear sloping over a grassed area to the River Don.

At the Devonshire Arms in Dore Cath & David are celebrating 10 years there on Sunday 15 June from 3pm.

The Brothers Arms in Heeley is hosting “One Mole for the Road” on Saturday 5 July, this is an annual music festival celebrating a legend – Adrian “Mole” Price. The afternoon starts with DJ Tink from 2pm with bands on from 3pm – The Yons, SPG, Rockett 88 and Kingfisher Blue.

June saw Craftworks in Mosborough celebrate their 4th anniversary. This is a micropub that is open all day catering for all moods – you can enjoy a coffee and cake in the morning, quiet pint in the afternoon or a more lively evening with quiz nights, live acoustic music performances, comedy and more taking place from time to time. A range of real ales and other craft beers are available here. Another small venue celebrating 4 years is the Bear on Abbeydale Road who marked the occasion with a birthday weekend from 20 to 22 June featuring a special one off beer, music and pop up food traders. On a normal day this is basically a specialist beer shop with a number of craft beer keg taps offering the option to drink in as well as taking cans and bottles home.

The Bulls Head in Ranmoor has reopened under new management, who previously ran the Rivelin Hotel. Food is available including classic pub dishes, burgers, steaks and pasta plus of course Sunday roasts.

The Castle in Hillsborough is expected to reopen on 4 July following new management taking on the lease. It is owned by the Stonegate pub company.

The Sheffield Half Pint Marathon initiative is taking place again this year during September. This sees a special charity beer brewed that is on sale across 13 venues including True North’s pubs and others and the idea is you visit all 13 venues and have a half of the special beer at each one, raising money for charity and potentially winning a prize for doing so!

Dog & Partridge food menu

The Dog & Partridge in Sheffield City Centre now has its kitchen open again with a menu of Irish snacks including the Dublin Spice Bags!

The Church House in Sheffield City Centre (near Cathedral tram stop), has started doing food again with a weekly special served Thursdays 4pm to 8pm and Friday to Sunday midday to 8:30pm. At the weekend if you are going there to see the band at night you can now get down there earlier, bag a table and have a bite to eat first!

The Red Lion in Litton took part in Wakes Week celebrations and on Saturday 21 June they not only hosted a weekend beer festival but was also a venue for the steam engine rally.

The Calver Arms is hosting an evening with retired footballer Bruce Grobbelaar on 4 September for £60 per person. This includes a two course meal and welcome drink and there will also be a memorabilia raffle and auction.

The courtyard drinking area at the George in Tideswell, on a rainy day!

The George Inn at Tideswell is now open again under the new management of Sarah as part of Rick Ellison’s Atlantik Inns group. The pub is leased from Greene King brewery and has 3 real ales on the bar, a games room with darts and pool table and a smart courtyard drinking area outside. At some point soon the kitchen is to be opened and the pub has a lounge shaped in a way that naturally lends itself to having a separate dining area. Longer term projects potentially include reopening the hotel rooms and function room upstairs and renovating the other buildings around the courtyard that come with the pub but need work to be brought back into use.