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).’
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Bear came out top in the recent Pints of Sheffield “Battle of the Boozers” vote. We called in to see what earned them the victory.
Despite only been open since June 2021, the Bear has already made a name for itself. Based on Abbeydale Road, in the premises formerly occupied by the Rude Shipyard café, it’s part of an area that is rapidly becoming a beer destination to rival Kelham Island.
Owner Matt Beety had long had a desire to open a bottle shop/bar, and finding himself out of work after a 20 year career in Education gave him the final push to do just that. Opening in the middle of a pandemic would seem to be a crazy idea, but Matt says it’s not been a problem. “I originally planned it to be a bottle shop with people calling in to buy a few cans, and maybe me doing home deliveries, which I could make work financially. However it soon became obvious that it was more of a bar, with people staying in for a few drinks, as well as taking home cans and growlers.”
It was a steep learning curve with Matt having no bar experience at all prior to opening. But sheer enthusiasm carried him through, and talking to him now as he serves customers in between questions it’s obvious he’s a natural barman, being as much interested in his customers as the beers. “It’s a great crowd of regulars” admits Matt, “and not just locals, but a range of people making the trip to see us. And winning the Pints of Sheffield competition brought in a wave of new people.” At each stage of the competition Matt came up against some real heavyweights in the Sheffield Beer Scene and was amazed to end up the eventual winner. Pangolin, Rutland Arms, Hallamshire House, Broadfield and Shakespeares were all seen off to clinch the title. “These are all great pubs that I’ve been visiting for years, so it’s nice to know our customers see us in the same light.”
Things have picked up so much now that Matt has brought in an extra member of staff, Lucy, who has previously worked at Walkley Beer Company.
The bar has six taps, one of which is capable of dispensing cask beer, which is something Matt is considering in the future. “I’m keen to always have a good range. There’s usually a stout, a lager and an IPA, and I try to have a GF beer on tap as well. Favourite breweries at the moment are Missing Link and Beak, and locally, Triple Point and Abbeydale.”
The Bear has a monthly quiz with a £30 bar tab up for grabs, although you’ll need to book, and a few tap takeovers planned. The next one is a ticketed event in March featuring the brewer from Missing link. If you’ve not already been to the Bear, I’d recommend you go as soon as you can, and say CAMRA sent you. You’ll not regret it.
*Haha. That’s terrible. Free pint to anyone giving me a worse headline.
Well, we might not have been able to hold the normal festival but the second weekend in October saw the next best thing. The Steel City Beer & Cider Festival went On Tour with 44 venues across the city putting on numerous events, Tap Takeovers, brewery tours and general fabulous beeriness!
All the venues did us proud, putting on over 300 different beers and ciders for visitors to try.
Our Pub Heritage Officer Dave Pickersgill kicked off proceedings on Thursday evening with a book signing at The Crow Inn for the latest edition of Sheffield Real Heritage Pubs. Fully updated with new pictures, copies are still available from local booksellers, or via the CAMRA website. Other signings were held at the Rising Sun, Bradfield Brewery and local bottle shop Beer Central.
Gravity bar at the Dog & Partridge
Abbeydale brewery followed with a Talk and Tasting at the Rising Sun and then Tap Takeovers at the Dog & Partridge and Millowners Arms. The Tap Takeovers came thick and fast as Heist Brew not only featured the Mad Scientist brewery but also had their Head Brewer come over from Hungary. The Bear featured Three Hills brewery and also had a Meet The Brewer session.
For some venues the taps were based on a theme instead. Shakepeares had a range of Milds, Kelham Island Tavern were offering beers from various Berkshire breweries and Pangolin Craft Bar had an Irish Beer Showcase.
Shiny tap takeover at Portland House – on cask and keg
Other takeovers were Wilde Child at the Itchy Pig; Saltaire at the Riverside; our neighbours at Drone Valley Brewery were in the Red Deer; Portland House had a selection of beers from Shiny; The Crow had Bristol’s Arbor brewery on the taps, the Rutland featured Buxton, as did the Hillsborough Tap; the Forest had a number of their own beers from Toolmakers; the Industry Tap had a huge selection of 21 different beers; Two Thirds brought in some Brew York beers and Perch served up their own Dead Parrot beers as well as putting on some excellent music from the bands originally booked to play the festival. A little further out of town, St Mars of The Desert were featuring their two SMODfest beers.
Team from Arnold Laver enjoying a tour and tasting at Triple Point Brewery + Bar
Our friends at Triple Point brewery put on a massive range of their own beers including a couple of new ones, and also treated our Festival sponsors Arnold Laver to a personalized brewery tour and beer tasting, which I’m pleased to say led to a couple of new converts to the delights of Real Ale.
The Ecclesall and Fulwood Ale Clubs were launching a new beer brewed in memory of Head Brewer James Eardley who sadly passed away recently. Shining Light is a delicious 4.9% Pale Ale made to James’s own recipe.
Local brewery Neepsend were doing brewery tours in conjunction with Factory Floor, and also brewed two special beers for their own pubs, the Wellington, Blake Hotel, and the Sheaf View, who we were delighted to see reopen after their recent arson attack. The Sheaf also had festival favourites Sunshine Pizzas in attendance keeping everyone fed.
There was more live music taking place at the White Lion, Toolmakers Brewery, Dorothy Pax and morris dancing at the Wisewood. A Sunday afternoon session by Steve Delaney at Portland House, proved so popular they intend to continue with music on Sundays for the foreseeable future.
Some of the festival committee outside Triple Point taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather
The festival committee managed to get round all the venues at various times, and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. A well-earned reward after the hard work putting it all together.
enjoying a few Abbeydale beers at the Dog & Partridge
Thanks to all the venues and breweries who supported us, and all the visitors who came out to make it a success. I’m sure we kept everyone’s appetite for Real Ale going, and next year we’ll be back in the Kelham Island Museum, better than ever. Cheers.
Dan at Heist Brew Co – “A record weekend for us, beating even our Oktoberfest celebration last week!”
Lance at Portland House – “We had a great weekend down at Portland House. The Shiny Brewery beers went down a treat and we had a lot of new faces in there leaving five star reviews on the bar.”
Nick at Pangolin Craft Bar – “It was a great weekend, and our best Thursday night since opening”
