Category: Awards

Well here we are again, for the third time in as many months a pub I nominated for Pub of the Month has won – if any publicans wish to avail of this service my rates are very reasonable… 😉

As a big fan of the Rutland Arms (see Beer Matters 515) I had high hopes when Chris and Kate told me they were looking for a second pub. After exploring a couple of options they were successful in securing the former Crown Inn on Scotland St (more recently known as Sleep Hotel and before that a nightclub), in partnership with Sheffield pub legend Wendy Woodhouse, who previously reopened the Harlequin (the former Manchester Hotel) and later worked behind the bar at Shakespeares. The slightly shortened Crow Inn name comes from Kate and Chris being in no way monarchists, plus an incident some may remember at the Rutland where opening for the day was delayed by the ingress of a large crow. There does however remain a large Crown Inn sign embossed into the external brickwork and a mosaic floor inside the main entrance. The pub itself was built in the 19^th century and has been the scene for Chartist plots as well as assassinations.

The pub has a traditional two-room layout, and is decorated with paintings of various members of the corvus family. The bar features five handpumps including one permanent beer from Abbeydale and four ever-changing guests, while six permanent keg lines are matched by eight guests from UK and beyond. Regular beer events are held such as tap takeovers and meet-the-brewers, and have included hosting Cantillon Zwanze Day, a Tilquin takeover and a Yonder meet-the-brewer. There is also a selection of cans and bottles in the fridge, an extensive range of malt whiskies and bourbons, a selection of ports and wines, as well as plenty of rums and gins. There is no kitchen but food is served in the form of Kevin’s Pies along with the usual (and sometimes unusual!) bar snacks.

As part of the refurbishment the bedrooms were also refitted, all being converted to en-suite as well as comfortable new beds – living in Sheffield I’ve not yet had cause to stay but friends who have speak highly of them. It is of course the ideal place to stay for a beery visit, with the Shakespeares and Bar Stewards round the corner and Kelham Island within a few minutes’ walk. 

Dave Unpronounceable

Presentation is on Thursday 3 November, join us there for a beer from 8pm.

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.  

When I started going to the Rutland it was under the old Reet Ale Pubs management, and was renowned for good beer, great food and legendary parties. When it was taken over five years ago (where did that time go?) by Chris (previously manager of last month’s PotM, Shakespeares) and Kate (previously manager of Three Tuns) not much changed apart from the beer went up a notch, in fact several notches. Two house cask beers are from the local Blue Bee brewery, with a further five handpumps featuring an ever-changing range, always including something dark and often including something slightly (or seriously!) unusual. Keg-wise, the house pale is a rotating Kernel tap dispensing whatever is new and pale from the brewery who started the infamous ‘Bermondsey Mile’, while up to eight more craft taps have a wide range of styles, including dedicated lines for sours and imperial stouts. Cider is not forgotten, with one draught and two regularly changing handpumps dedicated to all things apple (and often pear). Regular tap takeover and meet the brewer events are held, recently including Holy Goat from Dundee and Brewski from Sweden. Following their success with the Rutland, in 2019 Chris and Kate opened a second pub, former PotM winner the Crow Inn on Scotland St, which features a similarly top notch craft beer range as well as seven comfortable ensuite bedrooms.

As well as one of the best beer ranges in Sheffield, there is also an excellent spirit range including a wide array of single malt whiskies and a good selection of rums. As previously mentioned, the food is very high standard, especially the ever-changing specials board, and always includes vegetarian and vegan options. There is also a jukebox with an eclectic selection of music, over which stands a blackboard of ‘recommended music’ and ‘forbidden music’, both regularly updated but the latter quite rightly permanently including Morrissey.

The Rutland was built, in 1936, on the site of a previous pub built in 1902. It has since been opened up with the removal of internal walls. However, it is possible to see the layout of the 1936 pub, with the tap room and servery on the left and the lounge on the right (from Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs by Dave Pickersgill, available from Sheffield CAMRA). The pub is decorated with a mix of pumpclips on the walls and ceiling plus a miscellany of props dotted around. Outside is a smallish garden, usually offering a choice of sun (subject to availability, this is Britain after all…) and shade.

Dave Szwejkowski

The presentation will take place on the evening of Thursday 18 August, all are welcome to join us from 8pm for a beer or two!

I was one of the first people through the door of Shakespeares when it re-opened in July 2011 and it has been a firm favourite ever since. Back then it was very much a cask-led pub, which was the style at the time, but also had one of the best malt whisky ranges I’ve seen outside Scotland.

Times change, and since then craft keg from abroad was added, followed later by craft keg from the UK, but never losing sight of keeping an excellent ever-changing range of well-kept cask.

I gave up beer ticking for the sake of it in 2017 but by that stage had drunk over 2,000 different cask beers at the Shakey, my second highest pub of all time and only 300 behind the Cask & Cutler/Wellington that I’d been going to for twice as long. For those who prefer to ‘stick to what they know’ Abbeydale Deception and Red Willow Feckless are permanent fixtures, while the other lines all change every few days, the pub keeps a tally and has so far served 6,700 different cask ales and around 1,400 different craft kegs.

While fully embracing the exponential growth of craft keg beer, beer manager Lucienne remains a huge cask fan and has persuaded many a craft brewery to supply her a cask of a beer otherwise only to be seen in keg and small-pack, particularly for the epic beer festivals held annually in the upstairs function room. ‘15% chocolate tonka maple barrel aged stout? Yeah we’ll have a cask please’. In the unlikely event you can’t find anything you want on the seven handpumps and nine craft keg taps, there’s also an extensive range of cans and bottles covering everything from Lambic to IPA to imperial stout…

The pub itself recently celebrated its 200^th birthday, having started life as a coaching inn. The building features some impressive stained glass windows, and is decorated with breweryania ranging from historic through to some rather more modern pumpclips. Wooden barrels serve as tables in the area behind the bar, along with a new sofa (note: this is my ‘spot’, so people who aren’t me shouldn’t sit there), while the small ‘clock room’ features more traditional tables and chairs, and the long room has long tables and benches along with a dart board. Outside is a large beer garden/courtyard. Live bands are a regular feature in the upstairs function room, as well as musicians in the long room. The pub has deservedly won Pub of the Month several times, and in 2012 won the overall Pub of the Year for Sheffield & District.

Dave Szwejkowski

All are invited to join us there for a beer or two at the certificate presentation night on Wednesday 22 June from 8pm.

Shakespeares can be found at 146-148 Gibraltar Street, Sheffield S3 8UB. Buses 57, 81, 82 and 86 stop outside, alternatively it is a short walk from the City Centre or Shalesmoor tram stop.

As I nominated Bar Stewards as a Pub of the Month I think  I should, at least, write an article about this outstanding micro-pub.

Yet it’s a pub I’ve only visited once – on a damp, cold Saturday afternoon last December as, despite the weather, we continued on a city centre pub crawl and called in. The overwhelming feeling for all of us, as we stumbled through the door, was of being made very welcome.

There was a great choice of cask ales on the bar, along with a choice of keg beers for those who prefer them and some more in cans in the nearby fridge, all served by friendly and knowledgable staff.

As well as a few tables inside, there is a large yard at the rear with outdoor seating, some of which is under cover.

Bar Stewards was set up by a couple of beer enthusiasts, Alan and Charlie, initially as a pop-up for a couple nights a week and their project has progressed to being open every day of the week, mostly in the evenings but longer at the weekend. The venue is available for private hire and even offers a mobile bar service.

It’s our Pub of the Month award winner for May 2022. Give it a try. Join us for the certificate presentation (and a beer or two) on Tuesday 10 May from 8pm.

Bar Stewards can be found at 163 Gibraltar Street, Sheffield S3 8UA, between West Bar and Kelham Island. Buses 57, 81, 82 and 86 pass the front door or it is walkable from the City Centre.