Author: Andy Cullen

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.

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.

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.

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!).

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.

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 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.

Sheffield Beer Week saw the wooden pin make another appearance at Hop Hideout in Leah’s Yard, Sheffield City Centre, providing a cask ale option. This time the beer from the wood was Abbeydale Moonshine.

By the time this issue of Beer Matters hits the street, the Mount Pleasant in Norton Lees should have reopened under new management.

The Clubhouse on London Road has announced they aren’t renewing the lease and it is likely to be closing in March. In an announcement they stated it was a heartbreaking decision but times are tough and all the bills are getting extortionate and they simply can’t do it anymore. The Steel City derby match unusually wasn’t screened there as the direct debit to Sky Sports had already been cancelled ahead of them closing – it was costing them £3,000 a month!

Two of the Dronfield town centre pubs taking part in the One Valley Festival on 7 June have announced their plans. The Manor House Hotel are doing pretty much the same as last year with the car park closed off and filled with two outside bars – one of which will feature cask ale from Abbeydale Brewery along with Pellizco’s mexican food trailer. Live music will be provided by The Britpop Rockers at 4pm and 6pm then DJ Brad Gee will keep the party going from 7:30pm until late. Meanwhile down the road at the Green Dragon are also keeping a similarly tried and tested formula with the car park closed off and live music on the back of a wagon, DJ Higz playing the tunes between and after the bands and a fish & trip trailer to keep everyone fed. There will also be two outside bars supplementing the normal pub bar with real ales, shots and bottles available outside.

The Cross Scythes in Totley has now reopened under its new management following refurbishment and is offering “elevated pub dining”.

The Chapeltown Tap is hosting a Triple Point Brewing tap takeover and meet the brewer event on 30 April. Tickets (£15) need to be booked in advance and include a third pint taster of 6 different beers and nibbles from a ploughmans food tray.

Pub blogger “Micropub Adventures” has launched a promotion for visiting beer venues between Sheffield and Retford by train. In Retford this includes the Idle Valley Tap, Brew Shed and Beer Under the Clock then of course on Worksop station is the Mallard, which hosts regular beer festivals. A short walk from Shireoaks railway station is the Ticking Clock Brewery’s tap room which opens at weekends then close to Kiveton Bridge station is the Kiveton Tap. The next offering towards Sheffield is the Oxbow at Woodhouse Mill before finishing at the Sheffield Tap. For the leg between Kiveton and Sheffield the X5 bus offers a more convenient alternative to the train, stopping close to the Oxbow!

Thanks to John Clarke of Stockport CAMRA (editor of Opening Times magazine), who posted some scans of an old real ale booklet from 1975 on X, we can look back at pubs serving real ale in Sheffield City Centre that year. There were 11 pubs listed and of those 6 still survive – Dog & Partridge, Globe, Grapes, Norfolk Arms, Red Deer and Washington. Back then all those pubs could be split into two camps – those serving Tetleys Bitter and those serving Stones. Two of the pubs are now part of Stonegate’s “Craft Union” chain with no cask ale but the rest still serve the real deal! The lost pubs are Peacock Inn (Fitzwillam Street), Old Red Lion (Holly Street), Red House (Solly Street), Royal Oak (Hollis Croft) and Sportsman Inn (Cambridge Street). Of course whilst we have lost those 5 pubs over the years, we certainly now have a much bigger choice of real ale and craft beer venues around the City Centre than we did then!