A planning application was recently made to demolish The Plough Inn (Sandygate Road, Crosspool). The Plough was a Tennants pub for many years. In 1962, ownership changed when Whitbread took over Sheffield-based Tennants. In 2003, Enterprise Inns (Ei) took ownership. Since then, there appears to have been no serious maintenance work. Many would claim that the pub has been left to rot.
When the pub closed in 2015, a local community group obtained ACV (Asset of Community Value) status from Sheffield City Council (SCC). Ei then leased the building to Sainsburys. Sainsburys then waited until peak holiday time before, on 2nd.August, submitting a planning application to turn the pub into a ‘
convenience store.’ This application was subsequently turned down.
Both the Plough and the adjacent football ground have ACV status with the nearby, Towers Lodge, Grade II listed. The Plough was rebuilt in 1929 and is an important example of an inter war public house which, according to Historic England, are
’rare and overlooked buildings’. National planning policy recognises the importance of protecting historic assets and their ‘
setting.’ This was confirmed in the decision of the local authority to refuse the application from Sainsbury’s.
The pub is adjacent to the ground of Hallam FC (the 2nd.oldest football club in the world). Hallam occupy Sandygate, the oldest football ground in the world, the site of the first football game (Hallam v Sheffield FC) as recognised by FIFA. The Plough is important in the history of football (the first inter-club game was adjacent, the rules of football written in the pub ………). This is the venue whose historical value outweighs speculative commercial development. It is a cultural icon which should be protected.
In 2017, the building was sold to Spacepad UK, which outbid the Save the Plough campaign group’s £435,000 offer made after raising thousands of pounds by selling community shares. The Plough was recently relisted as an ACV. This protects its status as a public house. This decision was based on widespread support from the community, individuals, families and local organisations.
As reported in Beer Matters, in February 2019, a planning application was made to erect a mobile phone mast close to the site. The application stated: “
The NTQ (Notice to Quit) site is the Plough Inn, which has recently been bought by developers who have plans to convert the pub into residential with parking. A new site is urgently required to replace the current one.” At this point, there was no planning permission to demolish the Plough. Rightly, the application for a mobile mast was recently withdrawn.
The application to demolish the Plough does not provide any evidence to suggest that it is not viable as a public house. The developer states that no offers were received to lease the pub. This was because it was offered for a completely unrealistic rent of £50,000 pa. Average rents in this area are between £24,000 and £29,000. This planning application would see the Plough replaced by eight houses on the site, none of which would be affordable for local people.
The campaign to preserve the Plough is about more than just saving a pub. It has been about gaining wider recognition of the historic role of the area in the sporting history of Sheffield. We believe that this planning application should be rejected and the Plough allowed to return to use as a community pub.
Serving real ales now for over 7 years, this former 1960s estate pub has reinvented itself as a real ale haven. The Ale House is a hidden gem. A true free house serving 6 ever-changing cask ales from a wide variety of breweries both local and from further afield, including Drone Valley, Saltaire, Hambletons, Dancing Duck and Dark Star. These are complemented by keg beers, ciders and Sam Smith’s lagers.
With practical support from local volunteers, this dog and child friendly pub has become a firm favourite with all who use it; a proper community pub. Regular events include home-made food every Friday evening and a pub quiz on Thursdays. There are also occasional tasting evenings of gin, vodka, whisky and beers.
A function room is available for hire for a variety of events, weddings, wakes, parties and all kinds of celebrations. Occasional live music nights are advertised on the pub’s Facebook site. Current beers and Friday menus can also be found there.
Al
We’ll be down at the Ale House to present their pub of the month winners certificate on the evening of Tuesday 13th August, from 8pm, all are welcome to join us for a beer or two! The pub is at the bottom end of Fraser Road, just off Archer Road in Millhouses, where bus 86 will get you to. 
Welcome to August! Summer feels like its properly arrived now and we’ve got some good offerings for you this month!
We’ll kick it off with 43° South. This sessionable pale ale uses Wakatu and Wai-iti hops grown in New Zealand. The combinations of these New World hops give this pale ale the subtle flavour of peaches and apricots, lifted with a delicate floral aroma.
Ayrshire is our next special this month and is a timeless British auburn ale. English Bramling Cross hops give this ale subtle hints of hedgerow berry fruits and it sits nicely at 4.6%.
Lastly from our Foraged & Found range we’ve got a unique offering called When Life Gives You Lemons. We’ve teamed up with our friends at Little Town Pantry to bring you our first ever table beer at 2.8%. They craft delicious cakes just a few miles from Welbeck and use a huge number of lemons each week, making the most of the rind and juice, but leaving the main body of the lemon. So we’ve used these zingy by-products to create a clean tasting low-ABV table beer.
Our first IPA in our new craft keg range was released last month and is selling incredibly well! Check out our social media channels to see when & where its pouring.
Jess 
Sheffield Brewery will this month launch a Crowdfunding campaign to help pay for important renovations to make its premises more accessible. This is part of a bigger project to build a community tap room and kitchen based in Neepsend in the heart of the Kelham Island area.
The brewery, which is based on the junction of Percy Street and Burton Road, currently opens as a tap room during the weekends of Peddlers Market. The building is in a Conservation Area and has lots of heritage with all entrances originally built up to five feet off the ground.
Access to the bar from the courtyard is difficult for people with limited mobility due to a large ramp. The owners of the brewery have drawn up plans to improve the ramp access and then to add a lift, with completion of the first stage planned for October.
Sheffield Brewery is asking beer lovers far and wide plus businesses and residents of Sheffield to help support its developments through a Crowdfunding campaign, by which supporters can donate online. In return, they can receive rewards of beer, access to events, brewery tours, ‘brewer for the day’ experiences and discounts when booking the brewery for an event.
Sheffield Brewery owner, Pete Rawlinson, says: “Our planned building works mean that once we have access we will be able to open as a fully licensed venue, and can develop our real ale bar with a keg wall to showcase craft ales. We can then focus on some ambitious plans to develop a sustainable, ethically sourced kitchen, where we will employ and train disadvantaged members of the community.
“Folk have been coming to our temporary bar for over seven years and we want to open every week so members and visitors can come to the brewery and experience what we’re all about – which is to enjoy great beer, live music and good company. Whilst we can only tackle this is in stages, the more we can raise, the quicker the project will move forward.
“Initially we need to raise a total of £15,000 to complete all of the access works and balustrades. We are asking our supporters to get behind us and help us to crowdfund – and we promise that our customers and the community will reap the rewards!”
The Crowdfunding campaign will launch later this month and you can find details of how to donate on Sheffield Brewery’s website: 
On Saturday 6th July a number of Sheffield & District CAMRA members took a minibus trip out into the Derbyshire Peak District area of our branch to visit a number of pubs that are harder to get to and included a visit to the Three Stags Head at Wardlow Mires to present their certificate for winning our Pub of the Year award for the Derbyshire area.
This is a classic, unspoilt rural pub that serves good ale and is listed in CAMRA’s National Inventory of unspoilt pub interiors.
Photos: Patrick Johnson presenting the certificate to managers Kath and Andy. Taken by John Beardshaw and Dave Pickersgill. 
To the Brewers’ Emporium range, we have a new addition! Splendour (4.4%) sits alongside the seasonal releases which also include Pilgrim, Hibernation and Reverie. It’s a beautiful hazy pale ale with literally hundreds of lovingly hand sliced fresh oranges added, the first recipe created by our new sales team members Mick and Sam. We’ve also got our next Serenity session IPA (3.8%) which is the tenth in the series, this time with an All-C combination of Centennial, Cardinal and Citra hops. And we have a new Wanderer in the pipeline, which is to be a kaffir lime leaf and lemon grass saison at 5.0%.
