Category: Awards

Pub of the Month September 2014

Posted on by Andy Cullen
The Three Tuns is a classical, nicely decorated and fairly unique pub of a long, thin shape with a corner seat at one end at ‘the bow of the ship’! Andy Stephens’ Reet Ales Pub Company took on the lease with Punch Taverns in November 2013 and installed a team of fantastic staff to run the pub with him including assistant manager Kate Major who moved down from sister pub the Closed Shop and shift Manager Jaimie Watts who came from Abbeydale Sports Club. Other Tuns folk to look out for apart from the guys in the Kitchen are quizmaster Doug who hosts every Wednesday at 6pm and not to forget the newest face behind the bar, Jasper, in his first pub job and enjoying discovering new beers and already a hit with the customers! Since the pub reopened the range of real ales have increased with Blue Bee Light Blue and Sharps Doom Bar currently offered as the regular beers with a stout or porter also always available and the remaining pumps filled with interesting guest ales from local breweries on the SIBA list. Traditional Cider is also available, usually from Westons. The pub is popular with office workers during the daytime (hence the quiz being held at 6pm), many of whom are popping in for a bite to eat, then real ale drinkers are increasingly calling in for a beer in the evenings and weekends as they head down the hill from the City Centre to the Kelham Island pub circuit. The pub is reputed to be haunted, however staff so far in the last 9 months have only reported 2 such instances… Food is now served all day at the Three Tuns, from midday to 9pm Mondays to Saturdays  with a menu of hot and cold sandwiches and classic pub meals featuring, supplemented with a specials board that changes regularly. The pub opens 11:30am on weekdays and midday on Saturdays, with the bar remaining open until 11pm Monday to Thursday and midnight Friday and Saturday. It is closed on Sundays when private hire is possible for large groups. Although the location of the pub is considered by many to be hidden away, it is actually easy to find, behind the cathedral and roll diagonally down Paradise Square, it can be found across the road from the HSBC bank offices and Hilton Hotel. We are presenting the well deserved Pub of the Month award on the evening of Thursday 18th September. Festivities will start early at about 6pm for the after work crowd, we’ll be appearing with the certificate from about 8pm, all are welcome to drink beer and party!

July presentations

Posted on by Andy Cullen
A select crowd headed out to the Anglers Rest at Millers Dale for the presentation of our District Pub of the Year award. Anglers Rest DPOTY Our July pub of the month winner was the New Barrack Tavern on Penistone Road. A group from Sheffield CAMRA along with a number of regulars and representatives of Castle Rock Brewery attended the presentation night which featured great beer, Yorkshire Tapas buffet, raffle and more followed by world cup semi final football on the big screen TV (Germany beat Brazil 7-1). A good time was had by all! New Barrack Tavern POTM July14 Meanwhile over in our Dronfield & District Sub Branch on Wednesday 9th July, Chairman Rob Barwell presented a well deserved Summer Pub of the Season certificate to Andy Browes of the Gate Inn at Troway. CAMRA Gate 0714

Dronfield Pub of the Season Summer 2014

Posted on by Andy Cullen
gate troway Members of our Dronfield & District sub-branch have voted to award their Summer Pub of the Season to the Gate Inn at Troway. The Gate is a hidden gem to be found down a narrow country lane where you can relax and soak up the charm of this small friendly pub. It is located in good walking country on the south side of the Moss Valley and boasts real fires in winter and a charming garden to enjoy in summer. The Gate serves a range of three real ales with Theakston Bitter always available along with 2 guest beers. We’ll be presenting the certificate on the same evening the pub hosts our monthly sub branch meeting on Wednesday 9th July. More information about the pub is on their website.

Pub of the Month July 2014

Posted on by Andy Cullen
The New Barrack Tavern has been voted our Pub of the Month for July 2014. In recent years it has built a reputation as a real ale pub and renowned local music venue. It also hosts a monthly comedy club and regular beer and music festivals, as well as special events supporting local charities and the community. Originally a Gilmours house, the New Barrack has a terrazzo floor in the entrance/tap room/kitchen. It also has original, and distinctive, Gilmour door step, exterior tiles and some original windows. In 1936, the original stone built corner terrace pub was demolished and the footprint extended into the next-door cottage, resulting in a larger building which continued to utilise the original cellar. With the exception of the, now demolished, outside toilets, the 1936 floor plan remains: a snug, with original bench seating, a corridor bar, a large concert room and a smaller back room. Contrary to many assumptions, this back room was part of the 1936 rebuild and is not a later addition. To the rear was originally a yard which included outside toilets. The only internal change of use is that the scullery has become the men’s toilet, with the ladies a 2002 addition at the rear of the property. This Barracks also has an attractive award-winning beer garden which has further extended into the yard of the adjoining building. Until the early 1990’s, this neighbouring building included a shop which extended outwards towards Penistone Road. This was demolished when the road was widened. At that time, it was ‘Carter’s Sandwich Shop.’ The remainder of the building is now part of the pub and is used for storage. The concert room displays some original plans and various photographs. Duncan Gilmour and Company Limited were established in 1832. In 1891 they were registered as a limited liability company. They were acquired by Joshua Tetley and Son Ltd. in 1954 when they owned 144 licensed houses in Sheffield and 350, plus the Windsor Brewery, in Liverpool. They ceased to brew by 1964.  The New Barrack remained a Tetley pub for a number of years. There then followed a period of closure before it was taken on by, among others, Del Tilling and, later, James Birkett. In 2002, the building was taken over by Nottingham-based, Castle Rock, Steph and Kevin arriving in 2003. We will be presenting our July Pub of the Month award, as voted for by our members, to the New Barrack Tavern on the evening of Tuesday 8th.July. Dave Pickersgill Website

District Pub of the Year 2014

Posted on by Admin
Several years in a row now that the Anglers Rest at Millers Dale has scooped this award, our members seem to love the Anglers where Graham & Beryl Yates and their staff run a friendly and good value country pub with well kept beers. The Anglers offers something for everyone across its three rooms – the tap room with a pool table (where dogs and hikers are welcome), the lounge area and the small dining room. The pub is in a fairly isolated location and it’s main passing trade is from the Monsal walking and cycling trail on the former railway trackbed, however there are also regulars from the nearby villages drink there too. The Anglers regular beer is one that the regulars enjoy, Adnams Southwold Bitter, with guests generally sourced from breweries that qualify as LocAle with Storm brewery’s Silk of Amnesia being a favourite that makes regular appearances. Although ‘in the middle of nowhere’, the pub does have a community focus too with local village newsletters stocked and charity events hosted from time to time. Simple, good value home cooked meals are served daily at lunch time (12:30pm – 2:30pm) and evening (6:30pm – 8:30pm) with a pie night held on Thursdays. Accommodation is also available in the form of a self catering apartment located behind the pub. The top 3 pubs judged were: Anglers Rest (Millers Dale), Three Stags Head (Wardlow Mires) and Grouse (Longshaw). www.theanglersrest.co.uk

Pub of the Year 2014

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The Kelham Island Tavern continues to maintain high standards and has reclaimed it’s crown after Shakespeare’s won last year. This is now the 10th Pub of the Year award scooped by the Kelham since Trevor Wraith and Lewis Gonda bought and reopened the pub in 2002. A huge range of 13 real ales are served, an effort to represent a cross section of beer styles is made with a Mild and a Stout or Porter always available, meaning there is something on the bar for all tastes. As well as a good range of beer, there are traditional Ciders and Perrys served, and all in oversized glasses meaning that even with a head, you get the measure you pay for – and the prices are reasonable too! Food is served Monday to Saturday lunchtimes 12pm to 3pm, a folk music night is held on Sundays and a quiz on Monday nights. It is also noticeable that the standards stretch beyond the bar with our judges noticing the pub was clean and tidy inside and out and the management particularly proud of getting top marks from both Cask Marque and the Council Hygiene surveyors! The top 6 pubs judged were: Kelham Island Tavern, Shakespeares, Blake, Fat Cat, Sheffield Tap and Rising Sun. www.kelhamtavern.co.uk

Pub of the Month May 2014

Posted on by Andy Cullen
The Closed Shop is one of two pubs opposite one another that have been reborn and made Commonside worth the short ride on the 95 bus up the hill from the City Centre or the walk down the hill from Crookes (the other being the Hallamshire House, now operated by Thornbridge Brewery). Andy Stephens’ Reet Ale Pubs took on the lease with Punch Taverns last year after the pub had gone downhill then closed, he reopened the pub with a range of real ales – some from Blue Bee Brewery which he co-owns along with guests. Not long after, the pub was subject to a refurbishment that left the pub smart, classy and well presented yet still quite traditional. Food was also introduced and this has proved popular with the menu expanded and also a childrens menu introduced. The food hours on a Sunday have also been extended to 9pm, the same as the rest of the week, so Sunday dinner are available right up until the quiz starts. The Sunday night quiz is Andy’s usual pub quiz where all the answers are linked by a tenuous theme, there is also a bingo quiz on Wednesday nights. Sporting action can normally be watched on the TV in the games room at the back of the pub, which also hosts a pool table. Another area that has been subject to refurbishment is the beer garden, which is now quite pleasant in the summer. lego closed shop Paul Howe moved up to the Closed Shop from the Rutland to be installed as assistant manager and the team have all made their own mark on the pub in various small ways, now lead by chef manager Mark Barton. We will be presenting our May Pub of the Month award, as voted for by our members, to the Closed Shop on the evening of Thursday 22nd May. As well as celebrating their award win, they will be celebrating the arrival of Spring with a beer festival which will see a second bar boasting a range of extra guest beers and there will be general party shenanigans too. Please come and join us, we’ll be there from about 8pm.

Sheffield & District Pub of the Year

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Again this year the process to find our Pub of the Year winners was a two parter – first of all the entire branch membership was invited to vote for their favourite pubs. The top 6 from the popular vote was then visited individually by our team of judges to score the pubs objectively using the same criteria the national competition uses – such as beer quality and range, value for money, sense of community, sympathy with CAMRA’s aims and more. We select two winners, one in Sheffield which goes forward as our entry into the Yorkshire Pub of the Year competition and one in Derbyshire (the & District bit of our branch) which goes forward as our entry in that county competition. Click through to see the winners… Sheffield Pub of the Year 2014 Sheffield District Pub of the Year 2014 Please note our competition does not include the Dronfield area – the Dronfield & District sub-branch run their own competition and their winner, The Travellers Rest in Apperknowle, will also go forward into the Derbyshire Pub of the Year competition.

Award winners gallery

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Possibly unusually for a consumer campaign group, we are at our happiest as a branch when we are celebrating what is good in the world of beer on our patch.

Pub of the Month March 2014

Our March Pub of the Month award was presented to the Dog and Partridge on Trippet Lane, Sheffield City Centre on an evening of good beer, music, buffet (including Connor’s excellent home made hot scotch eggs!) a raffle and a space hopper. B Feb-March 2014 006 Alt

Dronfield  Pub of the Year

Our Dronfield sub branch meanwhile has awarded their Pub of the Year to the Travellers Rest in Apperknowle on an enjoyable evening that showed off what the pub does – the pub was busy with both locals and CAMRA members from further afield enjoying a friendly proper pub atmosphere, open fire, massive range of real ales and ciders – plus free samples of their entire cheese range and pork pies. This is the only food offered in the Travellers other than crisps etc and a platter of 2 generous portions of speciality cheese, regular size pork pie, pickles and crackers can be enjoyed for £5.50.

Tramlines Special Award

We also presented a special award to Tramlines Festival. This award winning music festival, dubbed the urban Glastonbury, takes over Sheffield City Centre for a long weekend each July with a main stage on Devonshire Green and a number of other key stages in various venues, supported by a very busy programme of free gigs in pubs and bars in the area. A free ‘busker bus’ service, with live music aboard, links the various parts of the festival which also takes in Endcliffe Park and Kelham Island. The fairly unique thing about Tramlines from our interest though is the beer. Most music festivals aren’t exactly known for good beer, however Tramlines makes an effort in this area too. Each year as part of the publicity in the build up to the festival, they choose a local brewery to produce the official Tramlines real ale and a launch event is held. The beer is available at all the outdoor music and entertainment stages including Devonshire Green,  Barkers Pool and the Peace Gardens, the blues venue and various pubs. Additionally the blues venue holds a mini beer festival and of course most of the pubs and bars taking part also have good beer! We are told this is inspired by the fact the festival organisers office is full of beer drinkers and they point to the two venues they are involved with all year round – The Harley Hotel and the Queens Social Club, both of which have beer from local brewers. Past Tramlines beers have been brewed by Sheffield Brewery Company and Bradfield Brewery, last year it was Abbeydale’s turn, who invited Sheffield & District CAMRA along with the Tramlines organisers, including festival director Sarah Nulty. This years Tramlines Festival is to be held from the 25th to 27th July, wristbands are £12 per day which gets you into all the pay venues, more details can be found on their website.