Category: Awards

If travelling by tram for a pub crawl in the Kelham Island area, first call will usually be the Wellington on the corner of Henry Street and Infirmary Road, which is almost adjacent to the Shalesmoor (for Kelham Island) tram stop. The pub was built around 1840 for A. H. Smith’s Don Brewery, which was nearby. Following the usual sequence of takeovers, from the 1960’s the Wellington was part of the Whitbread estate. As a result of the Beer Orders of the early nineties, Whitbread began to reduce their pub holdings, and the Wellington was sold ‘free of tie’ in 1992. For some 20 years it flourished as a free house, winning Sheffield CAMRA Pub of the Year 2001 as the Cask & Cutler, but suffering from a lack of investment it eventually became a bit tired. In 2016 it was acquired by James Birkett’s Sheaf Inns and after a much-needed yet sympathetic refurbishment it reopened on 19 October 2016. Niall Byrne moved from the Sheaf View to become the new manager, and the Wellington became the brewery tap for the Neepsend Brewery (formerly Little Ale Cart), which had also been taken over by James Birkett. As a result the pub’s eight handpumps usually dispense three or four Neepsend beers, always including Neepsend Blonde, and three or four guest beers mostly from small breweries, together with a changing real cider. Brewers often featured include Bad Seed, North Riding, Pictish and Saltaire, and there is a decent range of gins and malt whiskies available. Opening hours are 3-11pm in the week, 12-12 Friday and Saturday and 12-10.30 Sunday. Food is limited to the usual bar snacks together with pork pies. The pub still retains two separate rooms, one opened out into the corridor bar area, and several features survive from an inter war redevelopment, including some leaded windows. The walls throughout are decorated with an eclectic collection of breweriana, including mirrors and advertising placards. The rooms are comfortably furnished and welcoming, and with no TV, gaming machines or music, at weekends the Wellington is a welcome refuge from the noisier pubs in the area. All in all a well deserved winner of the Pub of the Month for July. As well as the tram, there is a nearby bus stop served by routes 57, 81, 82, 86 and 135. Alan Gibbons

On the 29^th July 1981 Dave Wickett and his then business partner bought a pub called the “Alma” from Stones and re-opened it as The Fat Cat on the 21^st August the same year. The intention from the outset was to provide an alternative to the pubs owned by the big breweries who dominated the city at that time. It introduced such rarities as Fullers, Boddingtons, Marstons, Theakstons and Timothy Taylor to the drinking public of Sheffield and has never looked back, continuing to provide a changing range of well-kept cask ales from the ever increasing range of British breweries, alongside its regular Kelham Island Brewery beers. Much is owed to Dave’s foresight in making Sheffield the real ale mecca it is today. The introduction of a no-smoking room and a vegetarian menu was rare in the early days and this traditional theme has been enhanced by having no electric gaming machines, background music nor televisions, instead the emphasis is on conversation and cask conditioned ale. Within a year of it opening it became Sheffield & District CAMRA’s Pub of the Year in 1982 and its popularity and charm continues to be recognised 36 years later. In the intervening years it has been named Pub of the Month and Pub of the Year on numerous occasions and has also picked up awards from the Morning Advertiser, the Good Pub Guide, The Times weekend supplement and The Daily Telegraph and has featured regularly in CAMRA’s National Good Beer Guide. The building was also given listed status in 2000. Much of its continuing and successful longevity is down to three members of staff who have been in attendance since the very early days of Dave’s tenure, namely Diane, Alison and the late Stephen Fearn. Following Dave’s death, his son Ed took over and the change was seamless, just as it was when Duncan Shaw took over as licensee in 2008.  Much thanks is due to all of these and to all the staff who have worked there over the years, for maintaining the standards and principals of this pioneering pub since 1981. Please join us on Tuesday 12 June as we present the Fat Cat with their latest award. We will be arriving around 8pm for a presentation about an hour later. Andy Morton

We might have just announced all our annual winners but that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about our Pub of the Month competition. This month’s winner, voted for as always by Sheffield & District CAMRA branch members, is a pub that has been a permanent fixture on London Road since the 1780s: the White Lion. The pub last won this award in October 2016 and since then the standards have remained exceptionally high, making them worthy winners yet again. This historic hostelry has a rich past, but current landlords Jon Terry and Mandy Billings have brought the pub into the 21^st century while remaining respectful of its history. In December 2017, they were named the best landlords in the Yorkshire and the Humber region by Punch Taverns, while in 2015 the White Lion was declared the best live music pub in the county. The building itself is Grade II listed and is included on CAMRA’s Yorkshire Regional Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors, recognising its sympathetic refurbishments over the years. The entrance corridor was recently the cover star of the hugely popular Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs e-book. Meanwhile, the pub’s position as a community hub was confirmed in November 2016 when it attained Asset of Community Value status. On the beer front, there are four regular cask ales on offer, with a mixture of local and national breweries featured. Abbeydale Moonshine is always available, while the house beer, Lion’s Main, is brewed by Kelham Island. Wychwood Hobgoblin and Tetley Bitter are also regulars on the pumps. Additionally, there are up to eight changing guest beers which often include an interesting range of styles such as stouts and IPAs. We will be presenting the award to the White Lion on Tuesday 8 May, arriving from 8pm onwards for a presentation around 9pm. The pub is located at 615 London Road, S2 4HT, and is well-served by buses (routes 10, 20, 24, 25, 43, 44, X17 all stop nearby). We hope you can join us! Dominic Nelson