Pub of the Month March 2018
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.
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. 
Branch chairman Mick Saxton made the presentation to the pub’s general manager, Mark Connor. There were 10 real ales available on the night, and with a 20p per pint discount on offer for CAMRA members, an enjoyable pre-Christmas pint was enjoyed by all.
Congratulations once again to Mark and all the staff at the Head of Steam on their award. 
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 
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 
After a slightly delayed start, we departed for our first stop of the day, the Maynard in Grindleford. Although nowadays the pub is more food-focused, there was still a modest selection of real ales available including Peak Ales Bakewell Best Bitter and Abbeydale Moonshine. From there we headed to the Bull’s Head Inn at Foolow, a real old-fashioned country pub with a good selection of ales from local breweries such as Kelham Island, Stancill and Bradfield.
The heavens opened as we made our way to the third stop of the afternoon, a little detour out to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Castleton that actually took us past our final two destinations. It was standing room only, as people came in to shelter from the rain outside. Real ales on offer came from Abbeydale, Peak Ales and Storm Brewing, among others.
A short hop back down the A6187 took us to our penultimate destination, the Old Hall in Hope. Here we enjoyed a range of mostly Theakston’s beers, including some very well-kept Old Peculier.
Finally, we were back on the minibus for the brief drive round the corner to the winning pub, the Cheshire Cheese Inn. A nice selection of real ales were on offer, including Abbeydale Moonshine and Thornbridge Wild Swan, as well as more interesting examples such as Intrepid’s New World Amber. Our branch secretary, Andy Cullen, was on hand to present the certificate to Becky Hill, the pub’s head chef and deputy manager, before we headed back to Sheffield.
Congratulations again to the Cheshire Cheese Inn on their accolade! Our next District Pub of the Season takes place on 2 December, when we are visiting our Summer winner, the Olde Nags Head in Castleton.
Dominic Nelson