Author: Paul Crofts

Paul has been a committee member since 2014, as well as being on the festival committee. ‘I have enjoyed all the various roles I have played in that time, particularly my functions at [the 2017] festival, and I was delighted to be press-ganged into being the Festival Organiser for [the following] year (thanks Louise!). ‘As well as being fond of “lowering a couple for the tonsils”, I'm also a big music fan, particularly live music. Feel free to stop me for a chat anytime you see me in the pub (particularly if you want to sponsor something at the festival).’

Steel City 46 review

Posted on by Paul Crofts

Festival organiser, Paul Crofts, looks back at Steel City 46 and forward to 47

After a three-year break, we were finally able to return to Kelham Island Museum for our annual beer festival. For obvious reasons, the world has changed dramatically since our last festival in 2019, and we approached the 2022 event with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

The general feeling amongst the organising committee was that there would be some pent-up demand for a festival, and that visitors would be keen to return to what has become a very popular event. However, information we were getting from CAMRA HQ was that visitor numbers at other festivals were down. There was also the background of rising prices and uncertainty about the future impacting how much people would have to spend.

Needless to say, the feedback from local breweries and on social media was positive. The hospitality industry has been particularly hard hit by the economic situation. The festival was seen as something that would help generate a bit of interest and encourage people back into going out and celebrating the Sheffield beer scene.

So when it came to opening time on the Wednesday, we were somewhat relieved to see a queue of punters actually wanting to come in! Over the next four days though, it became clear that despite a steady stream of visitors we were not going to achieve the attendance numbers we were hoping. Probably a combination of poor weather on some days, post-Covid wariness and a permanent change in some people’s habits meant an overall reduction on 2019 numbers. Luckily those that came spent a little more and by the time we closed on Saturday the committee were satisfied that we had produced another great festival.

One particularly popular feature was the half pint glasses, featuring the Henderson’s Relish logo. We ordered 35% more half pint glasses than usual in anticipation of these being popular and they sold out! Visitors also had a good range of food stalls to choose from, along with the usual exciting live music, with festival favourites Kelham Island Rapper doing their riotous routines in every bar.

Two noticeable changes this year were an expansion of the ticketed events, and a new keg bar position. Beer and cider tasting sessions, hosted by Hop Hideout and the Cider Hole, and pub heritage talks by Dave Pickersgill were an excellent addition to the festival, building on the 2019 talk by Roger Protz. The keg bar had to be repositioned due to the Millowners Arms becoming a commercial venture, and moved to the rear courtyard. A number of visitors commented that this felt separated from the rest of the festival, and we will probably look to find a better spot this year.

A couple of CAMRA employees who came up from the St Albans head office to work with us were impressed with what they saw and we believe it enhanced Sheffield’s reputation as well as justifying the decision to hold the 2023 Members’ Weekend here this April.

Steel City 47

Looking forward to this year’s festival we have looked at some of the changes forced on us by the pandemic and are planning several improvements.

It has been obvious for a while now that we have an enthusiastic but ageing band of volunteers, and the physical work of running the festival is becoming more of a challenge. We have a concern that this may now be putting off some people who might otherwise be only too willing to help. Therefore we have plans to use third-party companies to cover some of the more strenuous and time-consuming elements of the build. From discussion with a number of existing volunteers it appears these moves will be very popular and we hope that it will help in recruiting new volunteers as well as encouraging back some of our previous volunteers.

We also plan to work more on attracting new volunteers to specific areas. Something in particular that we want to improve is the number of people in our cellar team. Anyone who thinks this may be something they would be interested in can email festival@sheffield.camra.org.uk and we will be happy to give them more details on what is involved. We would like to have a larger team so we can share out the workload and make it easier and more enjoyable for everyone.

One pleasing aspect of this year’s festival, which will be vital for the coming year, is the great camaraderie between the volunteers. This was evident both during the festival and at the subsequent staff trip to Halifax. We’ll be keeping this going during planning meetings, with ongoing communication with all volunteers and by arranging a couple of social events over the summer.

Again, anyone wanting to know more can email us or call in to one of our planning meetings, which are held the third Tuesday in each month at the Gardeners Rest in Neepsend. I can guarantee that being part of our team will be both enjoyable and rewarding.

The dates pencilled in for Steel City 47 are 18-21 October 2023.

photographs by Dave Pickersgill

Festival staff go to Halifax

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Each year the Steel City festival committee arrange a free day trip for the volunteers, as a thank you for their hard work.

This year’s destination was Halifax, so on a Saturday morning, a few weeks after the festival, a packed 52-seater coach set off to see what the West Yorkshire town had to offer.

First stop was Cock o’ the North, the tap room for Halifax Steam Brewery, just on the outskirts of town. The brewery had experienced some difficulty getting staff for the day, so two of our committee ended up acting as temporary barmen to ensure everyone got served without too much of a wait. They seemed to enjoy themselves, no doubt helped by the free pint they received for their efforts.

An hour later and everyone made their way back to the coach, only to find out that the driver wasn’t able to start it! A mechanic was apparently being despatched to sort it out, but in the meantime we all had to make our own way into Halifax. Some chose to book taxis, some took a short walk to the nearest bus stop and a few others walked into the centre.

Once in town, there were plenty of excellent venues to choose from. A particular favourite was the Grayston Unity, a Grade II listed building advertising itself as the smallest live music venue in the UK. By a coincidence of timing they had just had a Sheffield breweries event, so the pumps featured beers from Abbeydale and Little Critters.

Guided by a local CAMRA member, a small group of us got on a bus and left the town centre in search of the (almost) legendary Big Six. A short ride and a myriad of tight streets later, we arrived at the award-winning building. Dating from 1857, this pub has an unmade road on its garden side and is set within a row of terraced houses. Erected as a purpose-built beer house with its own brewhouse, it has an unusual layout and retains many of its internal fittings. These include oak-framed fitted seating, wood-panelling and a fine bar back-fitting, all probably dating from soon after its 1928 acquisition by local brewers Ramsden’s. The layout consists of a central corridor with two partly opened-up rooms, plus a bar-lounge and an excellent cosy snug. In addition, four cask beers were available. An excellent interlude in a packed day.

Back in town, the Meandering Bear, Victorian Craft Beer Café and the Square Chapel Café & Bar were all visited and found to have a good range of well-kept beers. All have won recent awards from Halifax & Calderdale branch. Slightly out of town at Dean Clough Mills was the Stod Fold brewery tap, also a recent award winner, and a large number of the volunteers all met up in the final pub of the day, Kobenhavn, the Halifax & Calderdale Pub of the Season Autumn 2021. Six cask lines and 24 keg lines gave us plenty of choice for a last drink.

Finally, a quick walk through a very festive looking Piece Hall and we were back at the coach, now thankfully working again. Overall a great day out, with a good range of top-quality pubs, which it was pleasing to note were very busy. If anyone fancies taking a day out to sample Halifax’s drinking establishments, a copy of the pubs list and map that was produced for the trip is available from our website.

Halifax-Pubs-trip-SBF46Download

Christmas Snowflake

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Everyone involved with the recent Steel City 46 was delighted to discover that Sheffield Children’s Hospital put our name to one of their Xmas Snowflakes as a thank you for our £1,200 donation. We’d like to pass on those thanks to everyone who donated money at the festival.

Our snowflake is (or maybe was, if you’re reading this in Beer Matters) on one of the columns above the doors to the Memorial Hall at the rear of Sheffield City Hall.

This year’s Xmas Snowflake project has already raised over £360,000, which will go towards building a helipad and making facilities at Sheffield Children’s Hospital even better than they already are.

Pub of the Month September 2022

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Join us for the presentation night on Wednesday 21 September. Starts at 8pm, presentation at 9pm, and a promise of plentiful free food and a special live performance.

The Victoria Quays area of Sheffield had always been an interesting and historical area of the city, but lacking anything that would bring visitors on a regular basis. That all changed in 2017 when Richard Henderson and Simon Stevenson opened the Dorothy Pax bar in one of the archways. Originally a railway bridge built in 1820, and at one time a dental practice, the archway looked out on to the terminal basin of the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal and seemed the ideal spot for Richard and Simon to fulfil their long-held desire to open a bar and live music venue. 

The bar’s name comes from the last ever Sheffield Keel that used to work on the Sheffield navigation, scuppered in the 1950s, part of which was used to create the distinctive bar top. 

From the outset, the Dorothy Pax has been keen to offer beers from local breweries, and regularly feature the likes of Blue Bee, Abbeydale, Triple Point and Neepsend amongst others. With seven handpumps and nine keglines on the bar there’s always a decent pint on offer.

There is also a staggering amount of live music to be enjoyed, including plenty of gigs in conjunction with the Honey Bee Blues Club, brainchild of local music legend Martin Bedford. In previous years the Canal Lines festival, as part of the Tramlines fringe, has been hugely successful, branching out this year to become ‘Pax In The Park’ at Heeley People’s Park. This commitment to live music has led to them branching out further afield to organise the Shady Grove festival in Eckington. 

Regular visitors will have no doubt seen the regular appearance of the Pax Disco Cape, a surprisingly heavy collection of tassles and baubles in keeping with the words ‘disco’ and ‘cape’ which apparently you are entitled to wear on your birthday! And of course, everyone’s favourite, the Pax Cat, an abandoned black cat who has been given a home by Richard and Simon, and endless amounts of affection from just about everyone who calls in. 

But what really makes the Dorothy Pax somewhere special, is the overall atmosphere of the place. And that’s not just the location, unique though it is, but the vast range of music and arts events, and more importantly the people, both staff and regulars, who make it one of the most inclusive venues in the city.  

If you’ve never been, do yourself a favour and come along to the presentation night to see what you’re missing. There really isn’t anywhere like it in the city.  

Steel City 46

Posted on by Paul Crofts

A lot has changed since we last held our festival in 2019. It goes without saying that the last couple of years have been extremely difficult for a lot of people, including the hospitality industry that we all hold so dear. Victims of the times include Kelham Island Brewery and Sheffield Brewery, both of whom would always appear on our bars, and we are extremely saddened they won’t be here again this year. 

There have been a few changes at the Kelham Island Museum too. The Millowners Arms is now being run as an independent venue, although they are working with us to be a part of the festival as normal. All this has meant a rejig of the festival layout. We have an extra room in the rear courtyard which will house our KeyKeg bar, and the Bradfield bar is switching to the Brearley Room, the old home of the keg bar. The marquee layout will also change slightly, but we’re sure that these improvements will make the festival better than ever. 

No change in the range of beer and cider on offer though! Over 300 beers including around 50 keg beers, over 40 real ciders and two bottle bars featuring continental beers. The Sheffield Beer of The Festival award will take place again on Wednesday evening. 

We have our usual array of live acts, and a great variety of food stalls, with extended vegetarian and vegan offerings this year. In addition to this we have our ever-popular tombola stall, traditional pub games and CAMRA merchandise desk selling books and t-shirts.  

This year will see three charities taking a stall. Sheffield Churches Council for Community Care (SCCC) will appear on Thursday, the Stan Shaw Memorial Appeal on Friday, and the return of the Sheffield WI cake stall on the Saturday. Our overall festival charity is Sheffield Children’s Hospital, which will be grateful for any of your unused beer tokens, or festival glass deposit. 

Although we’re not sure you’ll want to hand your glass back! We are delighted to announce that the half-pint glasses this year are being sponsored by none other than Henderson’s Relish. The distinctive orange logo will be gracing a 12oz conical glass which we’re sure will be in big demand. 

No article on the beer festival would be complete without a word of thanks to our dedicated and hard-working volunteers. Each year they arrive to set everything up, man the bars, run the various desks, do whatever needs doing to ensure the festival is the success it is, and then dismantle everything and put it back in to storage for next year. We cannot thank them enough for the time and effort they give. The festival simply would not happen without them. As a thank you, this year we are running a free staff trip to Halifax, and as an extra reward for the Sunday takedown volunteers we have a free buffet at a yet-to-be-decided venue. If you fancy joining our happy band please visit our website sheffield.camra.org.uk/festival to get more details on volunteering. We’re sure that you’ll enjoy it.

Don’t forget to look out for our festival beermats around the locals pubs. As we have done for the last three years, the festival side of the mats are all different and once you collect all twelve they fit together to form an image of the festival poster. 

We can’t wait to welcome you all back. 

Steel City Beer & Cider Festival, 19-22 October 2022, Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield.

The Bear

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The Bear on Abbeydale Road recently celebrated their first birthday. The bar has gone from strength to strength since winning last years’ Pints of Sheffield Battle of the Boozers, and already feels like a long-established venue on the Sheffield beer scene.

After a bit of a spruce up for the bar, everything was ready for a celebration weekend that included beer, food and music. A collaboration brew with Loxley Brewery, “On A Wing & A Bear” sold out in 6 hours, which pleased the brewery to such an extent they generously bought everyone a pint!

To keep everyone’s thirst going, food was provided at various times by Dough Truck Pizza, and Four Corners Canteen.

Matt has built up a loyal following in the area, with regular tap takeovers and Meet The Brewer sessions and they came out in force to celebrate with him. Here’s to another year.

Pub of the Year 2022 (Sheffield District)

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The Anglers Rest at Bamford has been crowned Sheffield CAMRA District Pub of The Year for 2022.

In 2013, as the last remaining pub in the village, over 300 local people got together to buy it and turn it in to Derbyshire’s first community pub. It has been serving the people of Bamford ever since, and includes a post office and café as part of the site.

A selection of well-kept real ales are on offer, including Abbeydale Brewery’s Moonshine as a permanent beer plus rotating beers from other local suppliers such as Stancill and Peak Ales.

Manager Sarah France with bar staff Ed and Abby

Like most pubs, the Anglers has suffered recently due to the covid pandemic. Difficulties in recruiting new staff, and enticing punters back has been a hard slog, but manager Sarah France and her team have been putting in long hours and hard work to return the pub to it’s place at the heart of the village. As Sarah says “We wouldn’t be the pub we are without our dedicated staff”.

The pub has a cosy feel with the different sections of the bar still open enough to be part of the overall atmosphere. A real fire and great locally-sourced home-cooked food add to the appeal. As a community pub there’s always plenty going on. Evenings regularly feature live music, quiz nights open mic nights, poker nights, and daytime activities in the café include coffee mornings and craft sessions.

We will be presenting the award on Saturday 30 July, we hope you can come and join us from 3pm to celebrate. Hulleys bus 256/257 will get you there.

The Anglers Rest will now be put forward to the Derbyshire regional section of CAMRA’s national Pub Of The Year competition.

Ukraine benefit night

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The dreadful events unfolding in Ukraine have outraged all right-minded people and led to a huge desire amongst the public to help in whatever way they can. In typical style, the Dorothy Pax bar, situated on Victoria Quays in Sheffield recently leapt into action and organized a charity night to raise funds for War Child UK and the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal.

Casks of beer from locals brewers, Abbeydale Brewery, Blue Bee Brewery and Triple Point Brewery were donated free with every penny from the sales going directly to the charities. Music for the night was provided free by the Balkan Bandits, including a distinctive cover of I Will Survive, and a selection of Ukrainian food was on sale during the evening to boost the fund.

The evening concluded with a charity raffle. Prizes were donated by the likes of Honey Bee Blues Club, Sheffield United, Beer Metropolis, Lilley’s Cider, A&G Passenger Boats, and our own Steel City Beer Festival.

Overall, a fantastic evening was had by everyone, raising almost £9,000.                          

Further proof, if it were needed, that owners Richard and Simon have turned the Dorothy Pax into one of the best bars in the city for both beer lovers and music lovers alike.

Photos courtesy of Mal Whichelow Photography. Find him on Facebook, Instagram etc.

Itchy Pig 2

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The Itchy Pig at Broomhill has rapidly established itself as a real ale haven in the west of the city, winning CAMRA Sheffield West Pub Of The Year the last two years. The owner Ted Finley has now opened a second outlet, this time in Banner Cross. 

Keeping with the same styling (including a bar made with two pence pieces) and friendly atmosphere that has made the original so successful, The Itchy Pig 2 Banner Cross looks set to become a popular spot for locals, and anyone looking for a start point for an Ecclesall Road crawl. 

Richard Storey, one of the managers at Broomhill has transferred over to run the bar, which features six handpulls and 12 keg taps. In addition to an ever changing ranges of guest beers, often from local breweries, there will always be at least one low alcohol tap and one cider. 

The opening weekend was very busy with employees from a number of local breweries in attendance lending their support. It looks like the Itchy Pig Broomhill might have some competition for next year’s Sheffield West Pub of the Year award. Oh, and if you pay with cash, make sure there isn’t a 2p in with your change, if you drop it on the bar you might not find it again. 

Grafters

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It’s always good to see a new bar opening, particularly when there’s an interesting bit of local history attached to it. Opening in September last year, Grafters Bar popped up in Neepsend, just by Peddler Market and opposite Sheffield Brewery. However drinkers may not know that it’s origins started way up north in Dundee. Footballing brothers, Jim and Tom McAnearney left their home town to sign for Sheffield Wednesday in 1951, and it was Jim who set up an engineering business in the city after a long career which also included managing Rotherham United and Hallam FC.

The business is still in the family (now PJ McAnearney Machine Tools) and operating from premises in Percy Street. It was a small unused area of those premises that gave grandsons Brad and Ash an idea. Why not become part of the ever-growing beer scene in the area? Despite no experience other than occasional bar work the pair threw themselves into the task of transforming the derelict L-shaped plot into a distinctive outdoor bar. With help from their parents, Paul and Tonia, the family did lots of the work themselves, from initial plot design, to building the furniture. It was all this hard work that gave them the name – Grafters.

Says Brad “From the outset, we knew we had to have a decent beer offer, being so close to Kelham, and we wanted to have a local emphasis as well. We usually have something from Abbeydale Brewery and often feature other local favourites such as Triple Point, Bradfield, Neepsend and more.”

Their five taps have a rotating range of beers, although one is usually reserved for a lager. The others feature a cider tap, guest keg beers and two cask taps. The lack of handpumps throws a few people but it’s real ale being served through the cask taps.

“We also have a big selection of bottles and cans in the fridges” continues Brad “including a few non-alcoholic options. It’s been a steep learning curve since we started, but the response has been fantastic, and we’re really pleased with how things are going. We’re now looking at putting on a few events such as tap takeovers and meet-the-brewer sessions.” Brad is also part of the Antics comedy group, so who knows, we might even see a comedy night at Grafters.

It’s a great outdoor space, and has overhead heaters for nights where it’s a bit chilly. I’d recommend trying it out before summer hits though. As soon as the warm weather arrives it’s going to be even more popular.

You can find more information about Grafters Bar on their Facebook page or on Instagram.