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.
On Saturday 31 May we are asking all our members that are visiting pubs in Sheffield that day to record the choice of cask ales available and where possible the price of a pint. This data is an incredibly useful snapshot of the state of the real ale scene in the city – as well as continuing to prove that Sheffield is the beer capital of Britain (in terms of how many different beers are available to choose from) we can track year on year variations in beer choice, prices and commonly available brands. You can enter your data using our dedicated website –https://track.beer/survey/.
We have organised a number of survey pub crawls on the day to make more of a social occasion of it, meet the leader in the first pub:
Woodseats & Heeley – led by Malcolm DIxon (rambale@sheffield.camra.org.uk): Meet outside Guzzle Micropub at 12:30 (get there on buses 24, 25, 42, 43, 44, 75, 76, M76 or X17)
Bradway, Totley, Millhouses and Nether Edge – led by Andy Cullen (beermatters@sheffield.camra.org.uk): Meet at the Castle Inn at 12:25 (get there on bus M17)
Beighton, Woodhouse Mill and Handsworth – led by Paul Manning (chair@sheffield.camra.org.uk): Meet at the Scarsdale Hundred (Wetherspoons) at 11:00 (get there on bus 7 or 26, alternatively the Blue route tram to Beighton).
Walkley, Crookes and Commonside – led by Paul Crofts (treasurer@sheffield.camra.org.uK): Meet at the Walkley Cottage Inn at 12:00 (get there on bus 52 or 95).
Fulwood and Broomhill – led by John Beardshaw and Phil Ellett (secretary@sheffield.camra.org.uk): Meet at the Rising Sun at 12:00 (get there on bus 83 or 120).
Hillsborough, Bradfield, Stannington and Malin Bridge – led by Dave Pickersgill (pubheritage@sheffield.camra.org.uk): Meet at the Rawson Spring (Wetherspoons) at 11:30 or on the 61 bus to High Bradfield at 11:55.
Hillsborough area – led by Kevin Thompson (social@sheffield.camra.org.uk): Meet at the Park at 12:00. (Get there by Yellow route tram to the Leppings Lane stop; alternatively by bus 18, 31 or 57)
Kelham Island & Neepsend – led by Dan Rowe (contact 07989 943776): Meet at the Gardeners Rest at 12:00. (Get there on bus 7 or 8).
In most cases buying an all day travel pass such as the Citywide ticket may prove worthwhile – see sytravelmaster.com or the Travelmaster app for details.
We are pleased to announce this years festival is taking place at Kelham Island Museum from 15 to 18 October.
It will offer a range of around 200 cask ales spread across three bars plus a list of around 50 other craft beers rotating on the taps in our keg bar. Our traditional cider & perry bar will offer a choice of around 30 plus hopefully some locally produced mead too. New this year you will be able to use card payment (including Apple/Google contactless) to pay for drinks at the bars as you go. Alternatively we will still be doing bar tokens which you can buy using cash or card.
As usual we’ll have a range of street food traders to satisfy your hunger plus the old skool pub games in the marquee and the tombola upstairs to keep you amused (and there are prizes to be won!).
On the Wednesday we’ll be judging the champion beer of Sheffield & District with all the local brewers based in the City and our part of the Peak District invited to enter a cask ale, we’ll announce the winner early on in the evening. On Thursday evening our friends from Bradfield Brewery will be hosting a tutored tasting event (advance booking required) whilst for those interested in local history our pub heritage officer Dave Pickersgill and local historian John Stocks will be hosting some talks and tours themed on the “Little Chicago” booklet on Thursday and Friday. Again advance booking is required.
From Thursday onwards we have a programme of live music planned – Thursday evening is Mari Wild and the Reprobates, Friday evening is Soul Battalion then Saturday afternoon we have Loxley Silver Band, Kelham Island Rapper (dancers) and Blyth Power.
With the bars taking card payments we are no longer bundling bar tokens in with the admission – the entry fee is £5 on Thursday and £7 on Friday and Saturday with free admission offered on Wednesday. You’ll also need to get a festival glass for £3, you can keep this as a souvenir or return it for a refund when you leave.There will be a printed programme available containing the beer and cider list for £1 or you can find all the details online at sheffield.camra.org.uk/sc.
The charity collection this year will be for the Sheffield Childrens’ Hospital Charity. You can chuck cash donations and unspent bar tokens in the buckets to help this worthy cause.
The festival opening hours is Wednesday 5pm to 10:30pm, Thursday/Friday 11:30am to 10:30pm and Saturday 11am to 9pm. Nearest tram stop is Shalesmoor or there are bus stops on Nursery Street and Gibraltar Street. It is also walkable from the City Centre and the Kelham Island district has some fantastic pubs forming a buzzing unofficial festival fringe!
TALKS AND TOURS – SCAN THE QR CODE TO BOOK…
Bradfield Brewery tutored tasting (ticket is for tasting event only, festival admission is also payable on the day)Little Chicago Guided Walk (ticket includes the walking tour, a copy of the booklet and entry to the festival)Little Chicago talk (ticket reserves you a place in the audience and includes a copy of the walk booklet, festival admission is also payable separately on the day)
When Thornbridge first commissioned the Burton Union set they’d saved after Carlsberg announced they were no longer using them at their Marstons brewery the first beer they put through was a special batch of Jaipur IPA, their flagship brand. Since then a series of special one off beers have been produced, providing an interesting demonstration on how this traditional production method can affect the taste and aroma of different styles of beer. The recent news is a second batch of Jaipur Union has now been brewed, so if you want to try tasting the difference, this is another opportunity!
Neepsend brewery, having just celebrated their 10th anniversary, have hit another milestone with their 1,100th beer brewed!
They are also celebrating a win in the Champion beer competition at Barrow Hill Rail Ale Festival.
Ashover brewery, of Clay Cross (Chesterfield), is under new ownership and back in business as Ashover Brew Co. They are running a crowdfunder to help invest in improvements such as a canning line. The range being brewed for the relaunch is Font (3.8% Chinook hopped session pale), Poets’ Tipple (4% best bitter), Littlemoor Citra (4.1% Citra hopped pale ale), Rainbows End (4.5% american hopped pale ale), Coffin Lane Stout (5%, brewed with chocolate malt), Zoo (5.5% Mosaic and Citra hopped pale ale) and Butts Pale Ale (american hopped, 5.5%). The official launch event is scheduled to take place at the Tupton Tap on 4 July with their full range of beers, outside bar, food truck and live music.
Ilkley Brewery has been bought out of administration and saved by Ilkley based businessman Graham Smith, who is also a director of Roosters brewery.
Intrepid Brewery in Brough, near Bradwell, hosted their first open day of the year on Saturday 24 May, which also coincided with the usual bank holiday beer festival at the Old Hall Hotel in Hope, which isn’t far away! The open days involve a bar open in the brewery, an outdoor drinking area and Sunshine Pizza trading outside. Buses 173 (Bakewell to Castleton) and some journeys on 272 (Sheffield to Castleton) pass the end of their drive.
Eyam Brewery in Great Hucklow are also hosting a number of open days this year after their successful introduction last year, the first is planned for Saturday 28 June and again will involve a pop up bar with a range of their beer in the brewery, seating inside and out and Sunshine Pizza trading outside. Bus 65 (Sheffield to Buxton via Tideswell) and 173 (Bakewell to Castleton) stops in the village a couple of minutes walk from the brewery.
Fuggle Bunny Brew House run a weekly “Fuggle Friday” tap session all year round, however as we approach summer they add a monthly Saturday tap event on the last Saturday of each month. The 31 May event has live music with James Scanlan at 5pm and Nico’s Pizza will be trading outside. The bar will be open 3pm to 9pm. The brewery is about 10 minutes walk from Halfway tram terminus (Blue route) or various local buses such as the 120k pass close by.
Fuggle Bunny have released a new beer too, which made an appearance at Barrow Hill Rail Ale Festival – a 6% ABV pineapple IPA.
Bradfield’s 20th anniversary beers now available include Farmers XX Best (a traditional best bitter, 4.6% ABV and amber, brewed with Maris Otter amber and chocolate malts) and Farmers Celebration Pale (a straw coloured oat pale ale brewed with new world hops, 4.2% ABV).
Little Mesters brewing have relocated from Meadowhead to Attercliffe, with the unit at Meadowhead next to Mitchells Wine Merchants to become a cigar shop and tasting room for Mitchells. We understand the brewing kit installed at Attercliffe was acquired from the closed Lost Industry brewery with the kit that was at Meadowhead no longer in use. The Little Mesters Tap bar remains in Woodseats.
Loxley Brewery beer to drink at home is now available from all their pubs with the Raven selling the bottles and No3 Sharrow offering take away containers for cask ale. They will also be hosting a merchandise stand during the beer festival at their Wisewood Inn 20 to 22 June.
It seems a growing number of people are getting diagnosed with health conditions that require them to cut gluten from their diet, although that may just be that myself and other people I know are getting older and more decrepit of course! Either way it had always been game over for the beer lover as most beer is brewed with malted barley which provides the sugar to turn to alcohol as well as influencing the colour and flavour of many beers.
That’s not to say there wasn’t any gluten free options available – a handful of some more traditional ale breweries had experimented with alternative ingredients but it is safe to say they weren’t the same!
The good news is that now an increasing choice of beers are available thanks to the availability of a proline specific oligopeptidase enzyme that brewers can add to the beer to reduce the gluten content to below the 20ppm threshold required to label a product as gluten free and is tolerable to those sensitive to Gluten.
Locally all the beers produced by Abbeydale Brewery and Triple Point brewery are treated this way and can be considered Gluten Free so the many pubs in our area with Moonshine on cask now cater for drinkers with a Gluten free requirement! Chantry brewery’s Full Moon pale ale is gluten free, some of Bradfield’s bottled beers are too whilst Thornbridge’s gluten free options are AM:PM session IPA, Lukas lager and Bayern Pilsner.
A growing number of breweries across the UK are now joining the list that offer Gluten Free options and looking back at our Steel City Beer & Cider festival held at Kelham Island museum last October we offered a range of 19 cask ales and 13 keg beers that were Gluten Free and this is choice many beer festivals now seek to offer.
Some pubs also make the effort to keep their Coeliac regulars interested too, for example at the Kelham Island Tavern one of the regularly changing guest ale lines is dedicated to Gluten Free beer whilst the Dog & Partridge has a handpump that usually has the current Abbeydale seasonal special on it which of course is gluten free. It also of course goes without saying that Abbeydale’s own pub, the Rising Sun in Nether Green along with the bar at Triple Point Brewing are a good destination for drinking gluten free beer!
There are some pubs that don’t have a dedicated gluten free line but do regularly stock something suitable, examples here include the Head of Steam in Sheffield City Centre and the Beekeeper in Hillsborough. It is also worth noting that some local music venues such as the Leadmill have beer from Triple Point or Abbeydale either on keg or in can.
So if you have Gluten free dietary requirements and enjoy good beer, do seek out the beers and support the brewers and pubs that are making the effort!
One Valley Festival sees a number of different pubs, a club and a brewery tap all host events on the same day so you can explore Dronfield town and surrounding countryside experiencing a variety of beer, music and food. The town centre venues are all walkable from Dronfield railway station whilst all venues are on a bus route (one of 15, 16, 43 or 44). The date this year is Saturday 7 June.
The rural pub that takes part is the Miners Arms in Hundall. This sees a stage appear in the beer garden with live music through the afternoon and the outside bar open with an extended range of ales and cider plus a burger stall. Hundall is a hillside location with the pub offering a view over the valley as well as the neighbouring cricket pitch! Bus 15 (Dronfield-Chesterfield) stops outside the pub until about 6pm.
Down in the valley at Unstone is Drone Valley Brewery who have a tap staffed by volunteers (most of the profits go to local good causes) and they rather push the boat out for One Valley day. Various tents appear in the yard to supplement the bar in the brewery with seating areas, music stage, cocktail bar and food vendor (Gow’s Kitchen). Buses 43 and 44 (Sheffield-Chesterfield) stop on the main road at the end of their drive.
In the suburb of Dronfield Woodhouse are two pubs, the Jolly Farmer (on bus route 43) and Miners Arms (on bus route 16). At the Jolly Farmer festivities take place around the outdoor drinking area with outside bar, BBQ and live entertainment. They also serve breakfasts in the morning (booking recommended) Meanwhile up the road at the Miners live entertainment is planned in the evening with an acoustic set by Ethan Massingham. During the afternoon you can chill out with a beer in their garden and maybe grab a bite to eat!
Dronfield town centre is split into two areas – The High Street and Dronny Bottom and each have a cluster of venues. The Civic Centre is the bus terminus for rural bus routes 15 and 16 whilst bus 43 stops outside Sainsburys, these are all close to the High Street. Meanwhile Dronny Bottom is where the railway station is, with bus routes 15 and 44 passing through too.
There are Three venues along High Street and Church Street – Blue Stoops, Manor House Hotel and Green Dragon whilst at Dronny Bottom you will find the Beer Stop, Dronfield Arms, Underdog bar and White Swan. Also not far from the High Street, across the road from Sainburys, is the Victoria.
The Victoria is a typical street corner boozer with dart board, pool table and football on the telly. For festival day they will have a DJ on playing tunes from 3pm until about 10pm.
At the Manor House, their cafe bar opens serving breakfast in the morning with their bar opening from 10am. However festivities are outside from midday with the rear drinks terrace extended into part of the car park where they will have two outside bars (one serving cask ale from Abbeydale Brewery with the other bar serving lager, spirits etc) and a food trailer from Pellizco (Mexican street food). Live music will be provided outside by the Britpop rockers at 4pm and 6pm then from 7:30pm onwards DJ Brad Gee will be keeping the party going.
The extensive outdoor drinking area at the Blue Stoops gets extended into the closed off car park and will be filled with 4 outside bars, a food stall doing burgers and loaded chips whilst a DJ will be out there providing a sound track!
The Green Dragon also extends their outside drinking area into a closed off car park on festival day. An outside bar serves cask ale, shorts and bottles supplementing the normal pub bar inside and a fish & chip van will be serving food there. It all opens at midday with DJ Higgz providing a soundtrack throughout the event until late except when live acts are on stage – We are Little Rock at 3pm, Andy Gates at 5pm and Cabronitas band at 8pm.
The Dronfield Arms closes their car park off too in order to add extra features to the usual pub bar, terrace and Pizza Pi kiosk. On festival day there is an outside bar, Cow Boys Burgers stall and music stage. Live music kicks off at 1pm with Josh Feely followed by Magenta Apricots at 2pm, Factor 50 at 3pm, Kickback at 4pm and Leo Millobarrow at 5pm. From 6pm until midnight DJ Phill will be providing party tunes outside for their popular One Valley sunset disco surrounded by trees, river, railway bridge and buildings!
Next door the Underdog bar also adds an outside bar round the back with a range of ciders and craft beer plus hot sandwiches whilst across the road the White Swan make use of their patio area. Live entertainment here begins with We Are Little Rock at 1pm then Dan Aspinall on at 4pm and finally Katie Rose. The England match will be on the TV inside the pub at 5pm.
The Beer Stop is just the other side of the railway bridge, this is a small specialist craft beer shop that also has a few taps of craft beer that can be enjoyed on the yard outside. Two street food traders will be popping up for the afternoon serving fried chicken and tacos and an outside bar is also planned.
Finally a short walk from Dronny Bottom (alternatively a ride on bus 15 or 44) is the Pioneer Club. This is a classic social club building with two rooms – lounge (with pool table and TV) and concert room. It also has a huge grass outdoor area, smoking terrace and car park. The Pioneer run a family friendly event for One Valley outside with bouncy castle, goody bags & games for the kids plus a BBQ stall whilst for the adults there will be a reasonably priced bar and a DJ on all day inbetween live acts – Marie Wells and Ken Lambert Drag.
BUSES
15 Dronfield-Chesterfield via Coal Aston, Apperknowle, Marsh Lane, Hundall, Unstone and Whittington Moor. Venues served: Manor House Hotel, Blue Stoops, Victoria, Beer Stop, Pioneer Club and Miners Arms (Hundall).
16 Dronfield-Chesterfield via Dronfield Woodhouse, Holmesfield, Barlow. Venues served: Manor House Hotel, Blue Stoops, Miners Arms (Dronfield Woodhouse).
43 Sheffield-Chesterfield via Heeley, Woodseats, Meadowhead, Dronfield Sainsburys, Dronfield Woodhouse, Gosforth, Dronfield Fire Station, Unstone and Whittington Moor. Venues served: Victoria, Jolly Farmer, White Swan, Drone Valley Brewery.
44 Sheffield-Chesterfield via Heeley, Woodseats, Meadowhead, Batemoor, Coal Aston, Dronfield Station, Unstone and Whittington Moor. Venues served: Pioneer Club, Beer Stop, Dronfield Arms, Underdog, White Swan, Drone Valley Brewery.
All the above bus services are operated by Stagecoach. The maximum single fare is £3 or a “Silver DayRider” ticket is available offering unlimited all day travel on their services in the area – £6.50 adult or £20 for a group of 5 people. You can buy tickets from the bus driver (cash or contactless) or on the Stagecoach app.
Additionally until 5pm the “Travel Derbyshire On Demand” minibus service operates. This is a bus with no fixed route or timetable, simply request a ride at least an hour in advance using their app and a route is created that caters for all the passengers booked that hour. It can be booked for journeys anywhere in North East Derbyshire and Chesterfield, subject to availability.
TRAINS
Dronfield railway station is served mainly by Northern‘s Leeds-Nottingham service, running hourly through the day and with services continuing late into the evening. Journey planning and fares for rail travel is available from nationalrail.co.uk. Venues walkable from the station are Dronfield Pioneer Club, Beer Stop, Dronfield Arms, Underdog, White Swan, Green Dragon, Manor House Hotel, Blue Stoops and Victoria. Buses serving the station are 15 and 44.
As we head into summer, it is a great time to be heading out into the countryside to visit some of the wonderful country pubs on our patch! In Sheffield & District we are lucky to have the Peak District National Park offering a rural landscape that is breathtakingly beautiful and some useful bus and train links to get you around. For this month’s PUBlic Transport column I thought I’d highlight a few of the routes to try.
A Derbyshire Wayfarer ticket offers unlimited travel all day on any local bus or train in Derbyshire (except the Peak Sightseer tour) plus direct services between Sheffield City Centre and Derbyshire. The bus only ticket costs £9 whilst the bus and train option costs £17. Note you can’t use trains on weekdays before 9am. Alternatively at the moment there is a government funded bus deal where the maximum single fare is capped at just £3.
THE HOPE VALLEY LINE (along with buses 257 and 272)
Northern run an hourly local train service between Sheffield and Manchester that calls at Grindleford, Hathersage, Hope and Edale. Running parallel to the railway is bus route 272 Sheffield-Castleton which serves Fox House, Hathersage, Brough, Bradwell, Hope and Castleton. Both also serve Bamford railway station, however the village itself is a mile up the hill from there, which is served by bus 257 from Sheffield.
There are four pubs in Hathersage that serve real ale. The more down to earth venue in the centre of the village is the Little John Hotel where the tap room features a pool table and table football. A bit of a walk down the road past the railway station to Leadmill Bridge brings you to the Plough Inn with a fantastic choice of outdoor drinking areas. Elsewhere in the village is the George and the Scotsman’s Pack. Alternatively up in the hills with a spectacular view over the valley is the Millstone.
Bamford has just the one pub – the Anglers Rest, offering up to 6 cask ales including some from local breweries, however further up the road is the Yorkshire Bridge Inn and Ladybower Inn, located near the famous Derwent Dams and enjoy a wonderful setting by the reservoirs.
In Bradwell there are two pubs, including the White Hart, which is run by Bradfield Brewery. The bus also passes through Brough, home of Intrepid Brewery.
Hope is where you will find the Old Hall Hotel which hosts a beer & cider festival on most bank holiday weekends whilst across the road is the Woodroffe Arms, a tradional local, whilst down the lane towards Edale is the Cheshire Cheese Inn where you can enjoy cosy dining inside or al fresco drinking in their beer garden.
Castleton has enough pubs in the village for a full days pub crawl as well as a really good specialist off licence, whilst Edale has a couple of pubs including the Old Nag’s Head, which sits at the start of the Pennine Way footpath.
BUS 173 – BAKEWELL TO CASTLETON
If you are travelling from Sheffield, you can connect onto this rural minibus service by using the 218 to Bakewell or at the other end of the route you can connect at Hope from the train or bus 272. Alternatively bus 65 from Sheffield serves Litton and Tideswell. The single vehicle on route 173 shuttles up and down providing a departure once every 2 hours linking a number of villages and offering a scenic ride. Note this bus doesn’t run evenings or Sundays. Check the timetable carefully for the two trips a day that divert via Cressbrookdale.
In Great Longstone you’ll find a couple of pubs and in Little Longstone is the Packhorse Inn, a cosy little pub offering Thornbridge beer and home cooked food. Up the hill from here on the main road junction is Monsal Head with a view over the valley including the former railway viaduct below. You can take in the sights sat outside the Stables Bar behind the Monsal Head Hotel, which is also serves Thornbridge beer.
At Wardlow Mires is the legendary Three Stags’ Heads, a historical, no nonsense small two room pub listed in CAMRA’s National Inventory. A choice of local ales is available.
In Litton is the Red Lion, a cosy cottage style pub with real ales and food
Next along the route is Tideswell, there are three pubs here – the George Inn, Star and Horse & Jockey. A short distance outside the village and also on the bus route is the Anchor, which had its moment of fame as a result of providing tractor spaces in the car park catering for local farmers popping in for lunch!
BUS 65 – SHEFFIELD TO BUXTON
This bus service runs about once every 2 hours during the daytime, 7 days a week. There is no evening service. It serves a number of villages along the way including Grindleford, Calver, Eyam, Foolow, Great Hucklow, Tideswell, Litton and Millers Dale.
At Calver you’ll find the Calver Arms, Eyam the Miners Arms and in Foolow the Bulls Head. Great Hucklow is home to Eyam Brewery along with the Queen Anne pub. Hidden away from the main road at Millers Dale by the river is the Angler’s Rest.
BUS 257 – SHEFFIELD TO BAKEWELL (the long way round)
This bus provides an hourly service out of Sheffield via Yorkshire Bridge to Bamford seven days a week (no evening service) with buses continuing to Bakewell Monday to Saturday. There are some route variations at certain times of day to cater for rural school travel, however the core route runs via Hathersage, Grindleford, Calver, Stoney Middleton, Eyam and Baslow. If you are travelling from Sheffield to Baslow or Bakewell then bus 218 is more direct. The only village on this route not previously mentioned for buses 65, 173 or 272 is Stoney Middleton, here you will find the Moon Inn.
BUS X17 – BARNSLEY TO WIRKSWORTH
This bus links Sheffield, Chesterfield, Matlock, Matlock Bath, Cromford and Wirksworth.
PEAK SIGHTSEER – OPEN TOP BUS TOURS
Mentioned before and covering some of the above areas, two routes operate from 24 May until 25 October, with a daily service up to 21 September. The Red Route is a circular tour from Chatsworth House to Bakewell whilst the Blue route is a linear tour from Chatsworth House to Castleton via Baslow, Calver, Grindleford, Hathersage and Hope. Buses run daytime only on an hourly frequency and a couple of feeder trips run from Meadowhead, Woodseats, Millhouses and Totley. The tour ticket costs £12 and you can hop on and off as much as you like so can visit a pub or two along the way as well as enjoy the scenery!
BUS 61/62 – HILLSBOROUGH – BRADFIELD
These buses run a circular route from Hillsborough Interchange (you can connect with trams and other buses there) taking in Loxley, Bradfield, Dungworth and Stannington and run all day every day except Sunday. Pubs along the way include the Wisewood Inn (home of Loxley Brewery), Nags Head Inn (Bradfield Brewery’s original tap), Old Horns Inn (offering a fantastic view over the valley) and Bradfield Plough.
NEWS
First bus are no longer using X (formerly Twitter) and are directing customers to their app and website for service updates and information.
Rail replacement works take place on Supertram 24 to 30 May (between Cathedral and Middlewood/Malin Bridge), 28 July to 15 August (between Sheffield Station and Gleadless) and 16 to 29 August (between Hillsborough and Middlewood). Replacement buses will operate on the closed sections of route. Additionally Tram Train is not serving Rotherham on Saturday evenings until 25 October to allow a new station at Magna to be built – hopefully it will be open in time for Great British Beer Festival Winter next February!
Heeley City Farm’s festival on 21 June will feature a beer tent.
The Wharncliffe Arms, a Bradfield Brewery pub, reopens on 23 May at 5pm and will have an exclusive nettle ale on the bar.
Festival bar at the Old Nags Head, hosted by Jo Doyle who had personally collected many of the beers!
The Old Nag’s Head in Edale held their inaugural beer festival over the weekend of 25 to 27 April to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Pennine Way being mapped. The festival took place behind the pub next to the beer garden with a real ale & cider bar, BBQ stall and live entertainment featuring. The beer list ran to around 30 ales sourced from breweries along the route of the Pennine Way.
Chicken kebab from the festival BBQ menu at the Nags Headfestival bar at the Old Hall Hotel, Hope
The Easter weekend and May Day bank holiday weekend also saw the return of the regular Hope Valley beer & cider festivals at the Old Hall Hotel in Hope, which take place each bank holiday weekend with a marquee appearing in the car park featuring a festival bar, food stalls, live music and DJs. Most of the beers are sourced locally from around Derbyshire although Fyne Ales of Scotland also made an appearance at the Easter event! Activity in the festival tent generally run from midday to 9pm with the festivities moving into the pub for the late evening as it drops colder outside!
Also at the Old Hall Hotel, landlord Rick Ellison (who runs Atlantik Inns group which also operates a number of other leased Peak District pubs) celebrated 15 years there on 26 April with a live rock covers band performing. Other events at the pub include a quiz night every Tuesday.
The new management (Tom and Claire) at the Anglers Rest in Bamford continue to make small tweaks reflecting experience and customer feedback. The pub is now open midday to 11pm every day except Monday when it is closed (except bank holidays) and a new pub food menu has launched. The tea room is open every day 8am to 4pm serving cooked breakfasts until midday then lunch and light bight options in the afternoon. The beer range at the bar sees up to 6 real ales including 4 local beers – usually from Eyam and Intrepid – along with Theakston Old Peculiar and another well known beer such as Timothy Taylor Landlord. There is now a quiz night every Wednesday at 8:30pm and other events are being planned for over the summer too.
The Old Eyre Arms in Hassop has reopened, now under the ownership of Alistair Myers from the Rafters Restaurant group. As you’d expect they are making an effort with the food, which is traditional British, with Charlie Curran in the kitchen. He has previously been the chef at Peppercorn in Sheffield and the (now closed) Samuel Fox Country Inn at Bradwell. There are three dining areas in the pub and families are welcome. There is also a tap room for drinkers so if you just fancy popping in for a pint of ale and maybe a game of dominoes you are still welcome!
The Ladybower Inn at Yorkshire Bridge, near Bamford, reopened under its current management back in December and seems to be going strong! It is owned by Batemans Brewery of Wainfleet, Lincolnshire.
Fireplace in the front room at the Three Stags Head
Visits to the legendary Three Stags’ Heads at Wardlow Mires, now under the stewardship of Andy & Cath since 2019 – before the passing of long time owners Geoff & Pat – have confirmed all the expected character of the place hasn’t changed! A historical building, open fires, great characters among the regulars, dogs, good ale, banter and a no nonsense attitude all present and correct! The Abbeydale Lurcher which has been a long term fixture on the bar is still available and joined by some local beers from breweries such as Eyam. There have been some subtle changes such as an increased range of spirits and they even do Baby Guinness shots – but still no draught lager (don’t ask, a punch in the gob often offends as pointed out on the sign above the bar!).
Blackboard by the bar at the Three Stags HeadRed Lion, Litton
Another Derbyshire pub in our area that seems to be as good as ever under new management is the Red Lion at Litton. This pub under its previous management won our District Pub of the Year award and featured in the national Good Beer Guide. It is a country cottage style pub with lots of cosy little areas to sit, home cooked food, real ales and friendly service. They also have rooms available upstairs if you want to stay the night! Kristina, Tomas and their staff now run the pub and high standards have been maintained – as well as putting their own stamp on the place which continues to be popular!
The Wisewood Inn, at Wisewood and home of Loxley Brewery, have announced the dates for their 2025 beer festival. This will take place 20 to 22 June featuring beer, cider, food, music and a brewery merchandise stall.
The Coach House Cafe in Hillsborough Park have applied for planning permission to create an outdoor bar in their courtyard with drinks served from a kiosk fashioned from an old shipping container which will be clad with wood to fit in with the surroundings.
Handpumps at the George & Dragon, Holmesfield, featuring Boston beers. Photo: Nick Wheat.
The George & Dragon in Holmesfield, near Dronfield, is under the new management of Boston Brewery (the Derbyshire one, not the more famous American one!) and now operates as one of their taps with a range of their beers available across 6 handpumps and 2 keg taps. A refurbishment is planned with a bar food menu to be introduced.
The Dog & Partridge in Sheffield City Centre hosted “Dog Fest 3” on the Saturday of Mayday bank holiday weekend featuring a programme of live music from 3:30pm onwards. Meanwhile down the road in Dronfield the warm weather saw the Manor House Hotel bar move their Friday DJ night outdoors and the Green Dragon hosted a weekend of DJs and live entertainment.
The Dog & Partridge in Sheffield City Centre won the award for best traditional pub at Exposed Magazine’s annual Sheffield awards ceremony whilst the Old Shoe, also in the City Centre, won best bar. Talking of the Old Shoe they are planning a beer festival for 16 August.
The Saturday of Easter weekend saw a number of venues along Abbeydale Road take part in Abbeydale Live with a busy programme of music to enjoy. This saw a great turn out with bars such as the Two Thirds Beer Co. and the Broadfield very busy!
Tramlines music festival takes place in Hillsborough park over the weekend of 25-27 July and as usual many venues around the City Centre, including some that serve real ale, are taking part in a fringe festival with live music and DJs featuring, mostly with free entry.
The Robin Hood at Millhouses runs a cask club promotion with discount beer prices every Thursday. This pub is part of the Ember Inns chain.
The Mount Pleasant in Norton Lees is organising “MountFest” on Sunday 13th July with live entertainment from midday onwards. Tickets cost £10 for adults with ticket holders able to bring up to two children free of charge.
The new management at the Three Tuns in Sheffield City Centre are introducing a new programme of events at the pub including DJ sessions, supper clubs and a quiz night.
The Mayday bank holiday weekend saw the return of the Snack Shack in the beer garden of the Raven in Walkley. This opens at weekends selling pizzas, burgers and fries.
The George Inn in Tideswell has reopened and is now another Peak District pub operated by Atlantik Inns! It opened just in time for the village’s food festival on 3 May. The new publican here is Sarah.
Real Ale in Woodhouse – The Angel Inn has Marstons Wainwright Gold whilst the Royal Hotel has Adnams Ghost Ship.
Fagan’s on the edge of Sheffield City Centre have modified their opening hours. Monday to Thursday it’s now 4pm to midnight, Friday and Saturday is midday to 2:30am whilst Sunday is midday to midnight. They have two quiz nights a week, on Thursday and Sunday, with live music regularly occurring at the pub on other days.
The British Oak in Mosborough, run by True North brewery, hosted a family fun day on 26 May – but the big one is of course their annual Oakstock festival which takes place on 4 and 5 July with live music, outside bar, food and kids entertainment.
The Punchbowl in Crookes, run by True North Brewery, is currently offering a 10% discount on pints of cask ale for CAMRA members, show your membership card when ordering.
The Castle Inn at Bradway has launched a new food menu and is now opening at 9am to serve breakfast.
The Maynard Hotel in Grindleford is hosting live music in the garden on Sunday afternoons, weather permitting.
The former Royal Standard pub, with (possibly unauthorised) conversion work underway
The former Royal Standard pub in Sheffield City Centre has been converted into a Harlem House fast food diner. As far as we can tell no planning permission has been sought for change of use from a pub, we’ve asked Sheffield City Council to check this.
Bal Fashions bar/venue on Exchange Street in Sheffield City Centre has become Panke Bar, an electronic music venue owned by the same people as Berlin Calling in Crookes. No real ale is available but the keg taps do feature local beers from Abbeydale and Triple Point.
Kelham Pride took place for the first time last year and the event is back for 2025 on Saturday 21 June. This features a parade and an outdoor stage with live entertainment followed by festivities in various venues around the area. Local breweries Blue Bee, Little Critters and Toolmakers have teamed up for a collaboration to produce a special cask ale for Pride with social media followers invited to help choose a name for it, the name chosen being LGBTQIPA+.
Most years we make an effort to pick a day we encourage as many CAMRA members as possible to go out to pubs across the city and record what cask ales are on the bar and where possible the prices being charged for them too.
There is a fun element of this data in that we can announce how many different beers are available on one day in Sheffield and declare Sheffield the real ale capital of Britain for it, however on a more serious note it is an opportunity to take the pulse of the beer scene and compare with previous years to see variation in choice, prices etc as well as looking at which brands are most commonly encountered – it is good to see local independent brewers like Abbeydale and Bradfield with a strong brand and widespread availability rather than just big national brands from the likes of Coors, Heineken and Greene King!
We’ll be running a number of survey crawls on the day you can join us on to make it a social thing – you could join us at your local or alternatively use it as an excuse to visit pubs in a part of the city you wouldn’t normally get to! Alternatively you can use our survey app (online at track.beer/survey) to log details of beers from whichever Sheffield pub you happen to be visiting on the day!
ORGANISED SURVEY CRAWLS (more may be added – please check our website!)
Woodseats & Heeley – led by Malcolm DIxon: Meet at Guzzle Micropub at 12:30 (get there on buses 24, 25, 42, 43, 44, 75, 76, M76 or X17)
Bradway, Totley, Millhouses and Nether Edge – led by Andy Cullen: Meet at the Castle Inn at 12:25 (get there on bus M17)
Beighton, Woodhouse Mill and Handsworth – led by Paul Manning: Meet at the Scarsdale Hundred (Wetherspoons) at 11:00 (get there on bus 7 or 26, alternatively the Blue route tram).
Walkley, Crookes and Commonside – led by Paul Crofts: Meet at the Walkley Cottage Inn at 12:00 (get there on bus 52 or 95).
Fulwood and Broomhill – led by John Beardshaw and Phil Ellett: Meet at the Rising Sun at 12:00 (get there on bus 83 or 120).
Hillsborough, Bradfield, Stannington and Malin Bridge – led by Dave Pickersgill: Meet at the Rawson Spring (Wetherspoons) at 11:30 or on the 61 bus to High Bradfield at 11:55.
Hillsborough area – led by Kevin Thompson: Meet at the Park at 12:00. (Get there by Yellow route tram to the Leppings Lane stop; alternatively by bus 18, 31 or 57)
Kelham Island & Neepsend – led by Dan Rowe: Meet at the Gardeners Rest at 12:00. (Get there on bus 7 or 8).
BUS TICKETS – A Citybus all day pass offers unlimited travel on any bus in Sheffield for £5.90 or a Citywide also includes the trams for £6.70. Buy from the bus driver or on the Travelmaster app.
