Category: Awards

This month’s Pub of the Month winner, as voted for by our members, is a pub well-known around the Sheffield real ale scene. The Rutland Arms on Brown Street is a city-centre haven for beer drinkers, with seven cask ales on offer (including regulars from local brewery Blue Bee), plus up to two real ciders, seven craft keg lines and a range of lagers. To top it all off, there’s also a legendary food menu. The Rutland is a small, traditional pub with the tiled exterior and windows (most of them) saved from its days as a multi-room Gilmour’s pub. There is also a comfortable, heated beer garden out the back. Despite the classic characteristics, the atmosphere is helped by a changing exhibition of art on the walls and a jukebox with a list of banned songs to be ignored at your peril! There’s a fairly young, fun and friendly team behind the bar, and a great team in the kitchen too. Food is served until 9pm every day except Sunday, when the kitchen closes at 6pm. The pub hosts regular events, such as tap takeovers and Christmas parties, and has a very active social media presence to keep its punters up-to-date on the latest goings-on. We’ll be presenting the Pub of the Month winner’s certificate to the Rutland team on the evening of Tuesday 13 March. Everyone is welcome to join us on the night; we’ll be arriving from around 8ish for a presentation at about 9pm.

Our Pub of the Month winner for February 2018, voted for as always by CAMRA members, is a pub that needs little introduction. Since being refurbished and reopened as a freehouse in 2000 by James Birkett (who also owns the Wellington at Shalesmoor and the Blake Hotel in Walkley), the Sheaf View in Heeley has won our monthly award several times, most recently back in June 2015. Anyone who has visited the Sheaf View will know that the priority here is the provision of high-quality drinks, especially real ales. Kelham Island’s Easy Rider is always available, as well as a seasonal beer from Neepsend Brewery and a selection of up to six guests from around Yorkshire (and further afield) on offer at any time. The pub is decorated with a fantastic range of brewing memorabilia and the layout, including the conservatory to the rear, provides the ideal setting to drink and relax. As well as cask ales, there is an extensive selection of bottled beers available, including several Belgian beers, at least one real cider and a good selection of Scotch malt whiskies. A regular entry in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide, the Sheaf View attracts real ale aficionados from all over the country and is popular with Sheffield United fans, so it can get quite busy on match days. There is also a well-attended pub quiz which takes place every Wednesday evening. The award celebration will take place on Tuesday 13 February, with the presentation of the certificate around 9pm. For those travelling by public transport, the pub is 200 yards from Gleadless Road bus stop on London Road (routes 10, 20, 25, 43 and 44), or about the same distance from Richards Road stop (routes 18, 19 and 56). We look forward to seeing you there.

We are delighted to announce that our first Pub of the Month award for 2018 goes to one of the more remote pubs in our branch area, the Eyre Arms in Hassop. In reaching the required 10 votes, it has become the first of our Derbyshire pubs to win the award since the Angler’s Rest in Bamford did so back in April 2015. This 300-year-old ale house has hardly changed over the centuries, and still features the impressive arms of the Eyre family above an open fireplace. It is a true country pub, with a cosy interior, immaculate beer garden and high-quality, home-cooked food – not forgetting the real ale on offer. The bar features regular cask beers from Derby’s Brunswick Brewery and the Peak District’s own Peak Ales alongside up to two guest beers, which often include Sheffield breweries such as Bradfield and Kelham Island. At the time of going to print, the date of the presentation is yet to be arranged although owing to the pub’s rural location it is likely we will arrange a minibus for one Saturday in January, weather permitting. Keep an eye out on our website and social media channels for more information. Dominic Nelson

Every month (votes permitting), we try to recognise one pub in the Sheffield & District CAMRA branch area that consistently serves high-quality real ale in a pleasant environment. We are pleased to reveal that our Pub of the Month award for December 2017 goes to one of the newer pubs in the city centre, the Head of Steam on Norfolk Street. In a building that started out life as a bank before becoming a pub (previous incarnations include the Fraternity House and the Old Monk), the Head of Steam is part of a chain of similarly branded pubs owned by the Hartlepool-based Camerons Brewery and was opened in its current guise on 14 April 2016. With up to 10 real ales and ciders, generally a mixture of the brewery’s own offerings plus guest beers from around Yorkshire, there’s plenty of choice for drinkers. CAMRA members enjoy a discount of 20p per pint on all cask ales. The pub also offers a wide selection of craft keg beers and an extensive range of bottled continental brews and there’s plenty of food available, with modern takes on pub classics alongside a few more exotic choices. You can join us for the award presentation at the Head of Steam on Tuesday 12 December, arriving from around 8pm for a presentation about an hour later. With the Arundel Gate bus interchange just around the corner, there are plenty of options for public transport, and it is also the last social before Christmas so we are hoping for a good turnout. See you there! Dominic Nelson