Author: Malcolm Dixon

Sat April 26th– The Pennine Way starts here!

Join us to celebrate the 60^th Anniversary of the creation of the Pennine Way long distance footpath with this much shorter walk between Hope and Edale where the Way starts on its 268 mile route to Kirk Yetholm.

We shall be catching the 11:36 272 Castleton bus from Sheffield Interchange as far as Hope Village. Our first drink will be in the Old Hall Inn and we’ll wait for anyone who’s come out on the 12:14 Northern train from Sheffield. A short walk then takes us to the Old Cheshire Cheese for a second drink.

From there there’s a choice. You can either join us for a walk up Lose Hill to Hollins Cross and then down to Edale for a drink at the Rambler Inn to get our breath back before walking up to the Old Nags Head where there should be a Beer Festival in full swing (April 25th-27th)

Alternatively, you can board the 62 bus from outside the Cheshire Cheese to take you to Edale for that section of the RambAle.
Late comers can also come out on the train to join us at Edale. Departures from Sheffield are at 14 minutes past each hour. Return travel will be by train from Edale Station.  All welcome.

Next RambAles: – Sat May 17th, Fri June 6th and Sat July 12th

Sheffield has many great pubs and green spaces within, and around, its boundaries. Once again we invite you to join us on visits to some of our local pubs and villages in the countryside in and surrounding Sheffield using public transport.

APRIL
Sat 26 | The Pennine Way starts here!

Join us to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the creation of the Pennine Way long distance footpath with this much shorter walk between Hope and Edale where the Way starts on its 268 mile route to Kirk Yetholm.

Catch the 11:36 272 Castleton bus from Sheffield Interchange as far as Hope village. We shall meet up in the Old Hall Inn for our first drink and wait for anyone who’s come out on the 12:14 Northern train from Sheffield.

A short walk then takes us to the Old Cheshire Cheese for a second drink. From there we’ll walk up Lose Hill to Hollins Cross and then down to Edale for a drink at the Rambler Inn to get our breath back before walking up to the Old Nags Head where there should be a beer festival in full swing (25-27). Return travel will be by train from Edale Station.

MAY
Sat 17 | A bluebell walk through Ecclesall Woods to Dore & Totley

Meet outside Dore and Totley Stn (S17 3LB – trains, 97, 98 or 218 buses) at 11:30. We’ll walk through Ecclesall Woods and Ryecroft Glen up to Dore to call in at the Devonshire Arms. We’ll then walk down to the Crown and the Cricket Inn at Totley before walking up to the Cross Scythes for a final drink before a bus back home.

JUNE
Fri 6 | Beighton to Halfway via Rother Valley Country Park and Killamarsh

We catch the 11:45 Blue Tram from Castle Square to the Drake House Lane in Beighton stop. Then its a short walk to the Scarsdale Hundred Wetherspoons for our starters.
We then walk down to and then through the Rother Valley Country Park to get
to Killamarsh for a visit to the award winning Guzzle MicroPub.

Finally we walk up the road to finish with a visit to the Fuggle Bunny Brew House, where we might be joined by fellow CAMRA drinkers.

JULY
Sat 12 | In the footsteps of Kes, Hoyland Common to Chapeltown

Catch the 11:36 2 bus from Eyre Street alighting at Stead Lane in Hoyland Common, featuring artwork depicting Billy Caspar and Kes, and a blue plaque on the house where Barry Hines lived.

We visit the Tap & Brew for a choice of six brews, then onto the Saville Square pub. We do a bit of walking towards Tankersley and Thorncliffe. The Miners Arms might provide a further stop as we continue on our way to the Commercial in Chapeltown.

We might find time to call in the Wagon & Horses before getting either a train or bus back to Sheffield.

AUGUST
TBD | We hope to feature a mini pub tour of Derbyshire

We aim to provide a series of walks which we hope people won’t find either too long or too strenuous and most will feature a number of pubs and drop-out points where people can leave and make their own way back, by bus or train, to Sheffield if they don’t fancy doing the whole walk or want to stay for another drink in a particular pub. These will also provide joining points for any latecomers.

Everyone is welcome to join us on any of these walks but they are advised to come suitably equipped for the day’s walking, which may be rough, wet and muddy in places. Please also come prepared for the possibility of changeable and inclement weather. In most cases you will also need to bring (or be able to buy) sufficient food and drink for yourself for the day.

Most timings and fares will be given in the walks listing. Any additions or amendments will also be published in new leaflets, future editions of Beer Matters or on our website.

Contact the RambAles Coordinator on 07842 530128 or rambale@sheffield.camra.org.uk for more information.

Malcolm and Jenny

By the time you read this we’ll have already done three out of the five RambAles planned for this year. Back in April we had a walk around Redmires Reservoirs. The 51 bus took us to Shiny Sheff which only had one beer (Jaipur) on draft. Having done our walk round the reservoirs we called in Three Merry Lads on what was its last day of operating. Luckily it still had a choice of beers and food available. Our final stop was at the newly reopened Sportsman Inn where a new couple had taken over this well established and popular pub.

May saw us taking a 65 bus out to Eyam, with a field path walk to Bulls Head at Foolow. A drink there set us up for the walk up the hill to Barrel Inn at Bretton (pictured) for a drink and spot of lunch. Then a steepish walk down to Miners Arms in Eyam for our final drink to celebrate John’s 80th birthday before our bus back to Sheffield.

In June we used the annual One Valley Beer Festival as an excuse to visit Dronfield and some of the surrounding villages. Starting at Drone Valley Brewery, we sampled some of their excellent range of beers before walking up to Miner’s Arms at Hundall which was getting quite busy by now. A shortish road walk took us up to Traveller’s Rest at Apperknowle for another choice of beers and to wish Glyn a happy 78th birthday. We then walked down to Dronfield where the festival was really taking over the town. Dronfield Arms was busy inside and equally crowded out in their back yard where they had another bar. But queueing for 40 minutes for a pint soon had us heading for the exits and our buses home. We’ll choose a different route (or day) next year.

We still have two more RambAles planned for later this year which you can join us on. In July we shall be going to Stanton in Peak, Birchover, Darley Bridge and Bakewell. In August a trip out the Hope Valley Beer Festival via calls at Bradwell and Brough. Details in the diary and below.

Although we have a fairly regular group of people coming out on our walks, they are open to all CAMRA members and everyone is welcome to join us on any of these fairly leisurely short walks.

However you are advised to come suitably equipped for the day’s walking, which may be rough, wet and muddy in places (even in summer). You come prepared for the possibility of changeable and inclement weather and will also need to bring (or be able to buy) sufficient food and drink for yourself for the day. We hope you can join us on one or more of our RambAles!

Cheers, Malcolm and Jenny 😀🤓

Bradwell, Brough & Hope
Sat 24 Aug

Catch the 12:36 272 Castleton bus from Sheffield Interchange as far as Bradwell where we’ll visit the Bowling Green. We’ll walk to Brough for a visit to Intrepid Brewery (if open) before making our way to the Old Hall Hotel at Hope for their Bank Holiday Beer & Cider Festival. Buses or trains back from Hope.

Our RambAles combine a gently paced walk in the countryside with a real ale pub or two and CAMRA members are invited to join us. All the walks have start and finish points that are possible to reach from Sheffield by public transport.

The 2024 RambAle programme kicks off in April, our co-ordinator Malcolm is still working on the finer details but the calendar is currently planned as:

• 13 April: Lodge Moor & Redmires. Meet at the Shiny Sheff at 12:15 (51 bus from Sheffield City Centre, Arundel Gate stop AG11 at 11:46).
• 11 May (TBC): Eyam, Foolow, Bretton and Grindleford. Catch 65 bus from Sheffield Interchange at 11:30 to Eyam and meet at the Miners Arms.
• 8 June: Dronfield, Apperknowle and Hundall. Coincides with One Valley Festival. Get 44 bus from Sheffield Arundel Gate stop AG12 at 11:11, meet at Drone Valley Brewery.
• 13 July (TBC): Stanton in Peak, Birchover, Darley Bridge and Bakewell. Get 218 bus from Sheffield Interchange at 10:40, connecting onto bus 172 to Stanton in Peak, meet at the Flying Childers Inn.
• 24 August: Bradwell, Brough and Hope. Coincides with Hope Valley Beer festival at the Old Hall Hotel. Get 272 bus from Sheffield Interchange at 12:36, meet at the Bowling Green pub in Bradwell.

We were finally able to do our Redmires RambAle at our third attempt back in March. However, our first pub, the Shiny Sheff, had no cask ales on following a recent reopening under new management. (Hopefully that is no longer the case.) We left and carried on with our walk up to the dams and then down to the Three Merry Lads, followed by a visit to the Sportsman Inn.

April saw us out in the Peak District, although our first intended pub the Fox House, was then closed for refurbishment. However, a short walk through the Longshaw estate soon brought us to the Grouse for some refreshment. From there we dropped down through Hay Wood to Grindleford Station, passing the busy café there and having our sandwiches outside the Padley Chapel. We were surprised to see a couple of deer calmly grazing in the field next to us. We then followed the Derwent riverside path to Hathersage finishing with a drink at the Little John Inn.

For our May walk we took the 65 bus out to Great Hucklow, starting with a drink at the Queen Anne pub there. One of the few to have draught Bass on the bar, along with another beer on rotation. A short walk from there took us to the Blind Bull in Little Hucklow. A good choice of draught ales in this Inn which dates back to the 12th Century but which had a recent renovation following some years of closure. It was certainly proving popular with locals when we were there.

From there we traversed a number of fields (and stiles) to get to Bradwell. We went in the Bowling Green there, although we also found some friends had gone to the Shoulder of Mutton. We all found our way back home via the 272 bus service.

Our most recent outing has been to join the Dronfield One Valley Extra Beer Festival starting with a 43 bus ride to the Drone Valley Brewery in Unstone. They had extended their bar to have a full range of their beers on (see pic). Not everyone was happy with having to drink them from squashy plastic ‘glasses’, nor the pricing (an across the range £4 a pint) but there were no complaints about the quality. Food was also available and entertainment was promised later in the day.

We decided to make our way up the hill to the Miners Arms at Hundall, which was its usual busy self, both inside and out in the garden where a second bar had been set up, along with a stage and another food stall.

Our third call was to the Travellers Rest at Apperknowle, where beer in glass glasses was available and taken with our sandwiches. We possibly spent too long there as by the time we got to Troway for a visit to the Gate Inn there we found it closed. We followed field paths from there towards Coal Aston, ending our walk there when a 44 bus appeared.

So an eventful year so far with some new faces joining the regulars.

We’ll be having another walk in June when we shall go from Malin Bridge up to the Wisewood Inn for their Loxley Beer festival. In July we shall be walking from Deepcar to the Wortley Beer Festival and in August a shortish walk from Castleton to Hope for the Bank Holiday Beer Festival at the Old Hall Hotel.

More details in the diary section in Beer Matters or on the website