Category: Pub of the Month Winners

The Itchy Pig at Banner Cross is a rare breed indeed. Situated at the top of Ecclesall Road, it’s a true micro-pub in every sense. For starters, it’s small—the premises were formerly a single-fronted greengrocer’s shop. (The first Itchy Pig, at Broomhill, was previously a butcher’s—hence the name.)

In keeping with the true ethos of a micro-pub, the Itchy proudly offers all of the following:

• NO fruit machines ✔️
• NO jukebox ✔️
• NO pool table ✔️
• NO horse-racing on the telly ✔️
• NO TV screens full-stop ✔️
• NO smell of fried food ✔️
• NO karaoke ✔️
• NO nonsense ✔️

Instead, you’ll find great beer, good conversation, and convivial surroundings, with attentive bar staff. On the beer front, six hand-pumps serve an ever-changing selection of five cask ales plus one real cider, complemented by a range of craft keg options. Since opening in early 2022, boss Richard Storey has taken pride in seldom (if ever) repeating a cask beer on the pumps.

Add in the pump-clip displays on the walls and ceiling, along with the impressive ‘two pence’ bar counter, and it’s easy to see why the Itchy Pig, Banner Cross, has been voted Pub of the Month for October. The award will take place on Tuesday, 12 November, from 8 pm; all are welcome. Catch buses 81, 88, 272, or the Psalter Lane bus 218.

Richard Hough

Congratulations to Adam and the team at the Crow Inn, our Pub of the Month for September 2024: Adam Swithenbank, Amber Raven, Charlotte Walker, Chris Bamford, Kate Major, Lizzie Dabner and Michael Deakin.

Originally opened in 1797 as a Thomas Rawson house, 2010 saw the pub becoming a small hotel, the Sleep Inn. In June 2019, with assistance from local entrepreneur, Wendy Woodhouse, it reopened under the same management as the Rutland: this pub chain has recently expanded to include the Harlequin.

The pub logo shows a crow stealing the ‘N,’ from the Crown, the previous name of the pub.

Beer-wise, the Crow features five cask beers and 14 keg lines. The beer range is innovative, including both hard-to-find limited-edition and obscure imports, with gluten-free Abbeydale Heathen (4.3%) the only permanent resident.

Regular beer events are held: these have included hosting Cantillon Zwanze Day, a Tilquin
takeover, a Yonder meet-the-brewer and a talk about Victorian drinks maps. There is also a selection of cans and bottles, an extensive range of malt whiskies and bourbons, a selection of ports and wines and plenty of rums and gins.

Kev’s Pies are sold and there are seven comfortable en-suite hotel rooms. 

Apart from the opening-out of the room on the right, the basic layout of the interior is relatively unchanged. Unusually, the off-sales was approached via the entrance to the rear yard, purchasers entering through a small door. This entrance was removed in 1972. The décor in the room on the left includes fourteen framed pieces of artwork by Lewis (Lewy) Ryan. These images were originally produced as labels for canned beers, mostly Abbeydale.
 
Historically, the pub was a key player in the 1840s Chartist protests. Two decades later, the Sheffield Outrages saw the murder, in the Crown, of James Linley and in the 1920s, the pub was at the heart of the Sheffield Gang Wars. In the Victorian era the area was home to many pubs: a pub on every corner, open from dawn to well beyond dusk. The 1884 Sheffield Drink Map indicates 14 licensed premises and one off-licence on Scotland Street, a concentration repeated across the city. A framed black and white copy is on display in the Crow. These maps were originally produced by temperance societies in order to guide users regarding premises it was felt they should avoid. They were also extensively used at annual meetings of local magistrates as they made decisions regarding the renewal of drinks licences.

The Crow fully deserves its place in the CAMRA national Good Beer Guide and also features in the new Sheffield Pub Heritage Walk booklet which focuses on the Little Chicago area. Congratulations to all at the Crow on achieving Pub of the Month: join us for the presentation on Tuesday 10 September and/or the heritage walk which is one of the events at the forthcoming Steel City 48 Beer & Cider Fest. 

After previously running the Railway Hotel, Bramall Lane and winning a CAMRA PotM award, Andy and Jack Cater were given the nod that the Railway in S6 was coming to the market in 2022.

Already owning an arcade games company, they set about transforming this little music and ale gem which opened in September of that year. While retaining its charm, the pub now boasts entertainment in an arcade game room, a pool table, two dart board set-ups and a singles/album jukebox. Live bands play Saturdays, with special events like Tramlines fringe and beer festivals throughout the year.

The award takes place on Tuesday 13 August from 8pm. 

19 Penistone Road North, Wadsley Bridge, S6 1LP. Get there by bus 7, 8, 86 or 97.

Craftworks describes itself as a micropub, although some may say it is bigger than the typical micro being two shop units knocked together, however at heart that is what it is!

The venue sits on the main road through Mosborough and appeals to many sections of the community, opening from 9am serving decent coffee supplied by Sheffield-based Forge Coffee Roasters with bar staff benefitting from barista training and using a proper espresso machine. They also usually have a selection of cakes and bakes available on the bar in the morning too.

Into the afternoon and evening the focus is more on the beer, wines and spirits (although both coffee and booze is available all day!) with four handpumps on the bar for cask ales, including a house pale ale supplied by Abbeydale Brewery. These are supplemented by a tap wall featuring additional craft beers on keg.

On Mondays, Craftworks offer a cask club promotion from 6pm with 15% off the real ales on handpump.

The bar generally offers a friendly, relaxed atmosphere to enjoy nice drinks, however there are some evening events that take place too including quiz nights (Tuesdays 8pm), live music (Sundays 4pm) and comedy (last Wednesday of the month at 8pm).

They also take part in the annual Eckington Beer & Music Festival which sees a number of pubs and cafes on the road from Mosborough through Eckington and Marsh Lane to Hundall put entertainment on, which this year is held on Saturday 29 June.

We’ll be heading over to Craftworks to present their Pub of the Month award certificate on the evening of Tuesday 9 April. This is their quiz night so you may choose to take part in that, enjoy a beer or two and then see our presentation after.

Stagecoach buses 50/50a (Sheffield Interchange to Chesterfield via Eckington) will get you there and drop you off quite close to their door, alternatively a short walk away are TM Travel buses 30a/55 and Hulleys bus 80/80a.

The Oxbow micropub at Woodhouse Mill has been voted by our members as Pub of the Month for March 2024.

The Oxbow Micropub opened its doors in January 2020 in what used to be a kitchen showroom. It was started by a group of friends who had always dreamed of running their own pub. They managed to navigate their way through the challenges of 2020 and are now open every day, with the help of a brilliant team who do an amazing job in making the place such a friendly place to enjoy a drink. 

They aim to offer a relaxed environment where everyone is welcome. Due to having three cask lines and seven keg lines (often including a cider), as well as a range of bottled and canned beer and cider, hopefully there is something to suit everyone’s tastes.

They do regular tap takeovers and specialist beer events, as well as hosting food vans and also host a quiz night every other Wednesday. 

Please join us from 6pm on Wednesday 6th March when we will enjoy their quiz and then present the well deserved Pub of the Month award.

The pub is served by both 52 and X5 bus services.

I’m getting a sense of déjà vu writing about Shakespeares for Pub of the Month… There have been a few changes since my last piece, not least manager Lucienne moving on to a career on the brewery side of the trade, and Tom stepping into her place. The pub has also just won another accolade in the form of the annual Pints of Sheffield Battle of the Boozers on the Instagrams.

One of the things I love about the local beer scene is that while other cities have some great craft bars and some great traditional pubs selling trad beer, Sheffield is almost unique in having proper pubs selling top tier craft beers (as well as superb cask of course). Shakespeares is a perfect example of this, being a proper old school pub with cask beers from across the country rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in craft from around the world (and some more obscure of course!).

Only a few of the more senior members of the branch will remember the pub’s opening in 1821, since when it has passed through various breweries’ (notably Wards) and pubcos’ ownership, and closure, before opening as a fully independent free house in 2011. In its current guise over 7,500 different cask beers have been sold plus about 2,000 keg. Permanent fixtures on cask are Red Willow Feckless and Abbeydale Deception while the rest of the handpumps host the ever-changing guests. The keg taps feature beers from within a mile to the other side of the planet, almost always including an imperial stout, a sour or two, various IPAs and usually some crazy ****. If that really isn’t enough there’s a large list of cans and bottles available from the cellar. There is also an impressive selection of whiskies and a smaller selection of whiskeys and rums (the latter needs to expand, hint hint…).

The pub itself retains a multi-room layout with rooms on all four sides of the central bar area, including a bustling front bar area, a (usually) quieter ‘clock room’ to the side, and the ‘long room’ with bench seating and a dartboard. Upstairs are two function rooms, a larger one regularly featuring live bands and a smaller one sometimes used for pub games and a couple of times a year for the festival cask bar, often including beers not seen anywhere else on cask (or in some cases at all!). Outside is a large paved beer garden which catches the evening sunlight, with a small covered area for more typical British weather…

Oh, and the sofa is still my Spot, so anyone who isn’t me should keep out!

Dave Szwejkowski

Walkley Beer Company opened in 2014 in a former florists shop. Over the years it has increased its opening hours from weekends only and is now only closed on Mondays.

Technically not a micropub but an Off License shop with a tasting bar, it is described by themselves as “A local living room offering on and off sales.” and I concur with this description.

Their normal offering is a cider and two cask ales on hand-pull along with 6 keg beers on draft. Follow on beers and ciders are lined up ready to replace those that have sold out. This is in addition to fridge after fridge of bottled and canned beers.

Walkley Beer Co has a very friendly atmosphere and clientele and they offer a constantly changing range of cask/keg beers from both local breweries and others the length and breath of the UK.

Their normal opening hours are 4pm-10pm Tue-Fri and 2pm-10pm Sat-Sun.

The presentation will take place at the Walkley Beer Company on the evening of Tuesday 14 November, join us from 8pm for a beer or two! Bus 95/95a goes past the front door or bus 52/52a are just a short walk away.

No-one, in their right mind, would open a brand-new pub on Friday the spooky old 13th of the month… would they? Anyway, on Friday 13th May last year, the Boston Arms opened its doors for the very first time. They needn’t have worried, though. Opening night went very well, and the pub has gone from strength to strength ever since.

The pub is situated in a former insurance brokers’ office in the Woodseats area to the south of the city. The conversion to a pub included the installation of a distinctive suspended ceiling, and proper wood flooring. Three hand-pumps grace the bar, with the beers usually from independent breweries, and always one from a Sheffield brewery. Eight keg fonts add to the range, and the eclectic ‘fridge of fun’ is a must for fans of small-pack, or take-out for later! 

The Boston Arms has been described as ‘the biggest micro-pub in the city’ and understandably so. The front bar area, rear lounge, and a room up some (reasonably steep) stairs have now been complemented by the recently opened ‘secret garden’ and converted out-building – the Boston Bothy – adding yet more capacity. The Boston retains the micro-pub ethic throughout, with no slot machines, no pool table, no sport on big screens – just good beer and good banter, and a well-chosen selection of background music. 

But pubs these days need to rely on more than booze and banter to survive. The Boston Arms has excelled in this area. A full coffee menu is available from local roasters Smith Street Coffee, and artisan cakes and pastries will tempt anyone to start the diet tomorrow. A weekly charity quiz is well supported, and live music has proved popular. More left-field events have included night choirs, a ceramics workshop and live dog-portait painting (really). All in all, a true community local. 

With its dedication to decent beer, in comfortable surroundings, and a genuine emphasis on the local community, it is little wonder that the Boston Arms has taken just over a year to go from Friday 13th start-up to Sheffield CAMRA Pub of the Month. 

Richard Hough

Congratulations to Mark Simmonite and all at Perch Brewhouse (44 Garden Street, S1 4BJ) on becoming Sheffield & District CAMRA Pub of the Month for July 2023. The bar opened less than two years ago and has already made a mark on the Sheffield pub scene.

Back in 2015, Dead Parrot Brewery obtained the site, opening their brewery, three years later, in Autumn 2018. At that point, they had the medium-term intention of converting the frontage of the complex, the old works offices, into a taproom.

Previous long-term users were a small engineering manufacturing company who produced pen-knives and similar devices. The site was subsequently used by Sheffield City Council Parking Services, acting as the base for Parking Meter Operators; electronic equipment was left to charge overnight.

Almost two years after the opening of the brewery, in June 2020, a planning application was submitted. Formal planning permission was subsequently granted, a comment from ourselves was mentioned in the official report:

‘We are writing in support of this planning application. The addition of a small brewery tap, with community facilities, will provide additional needed infrastructure. As well as fulfilling a local need for increased retail and leisure facilities, the addition of a brewery tap will allow the brewery to further cement its position as part of the Sheffield beer tourism scene.’

Conversion work continued during the various lockdowns. Plasterboard, partition walls and polystyrene ceiling tiles were removed, and a considerable amount of woodwork was reused. With careful use of contemporary materials, the old office space was stylishly converted into the new Perch Brewhouse, opening on 27^th August 2021. It has since been nominated for a CAMRA/Heritage England Pub Design Award 2023.

In addition, the central yard now has a large timber-framed covered outside drinking/event area. Their first beer festival occurred during the recent national CAMRA Members’ Weekend. In addition to the ten Dead Parrot beers on the bar, an additional 35 cask beers were available in the outside area. The normal offering is ten cask, ten keg and over sixty bottles/cans. Food is also available, including a wide selection of pizzas. Perch is a welcome addition to beer opportunities in the city: please join us for their well-deserved presentation on Tuesday 13^th June.

The Dog & Partridge (56 Trippet Lane, S1 4EL) has been voted as CAMRA Sheffield & District Pub of the Month March 2023.

This pub which dates back to 1796 has a unique frontage including the pub name and “Gilmours Windsor Ales & Stouts”. It also has some modern wall graffiti art outside on Bailey Street.

It compromises of four different rooms each with some original and unique features including real fireplaces in both the snug and rear room. The snug is largely unaltered retaining features including bell pushes from their table service days together with the original door and fixed seating.

The central bar has a range of cask and keg beers – four rotating cask beers often include offerings from Stancil, Abbeydale and other local breweries including a stout. 

Conor who took over as landlord in 2012 has recently become free of any brewery ties. This popular pub has regular events including a weekly quiz, weekly folk evening and shows major sport events on the TV screens.  

Congratulations to all involved with the Dog and Partridge including Conor and his team. The pub of the month award presentation is planned for the evening of Tuesday 14 March and all are welcome to join the celebration and perhaps enjoy the usual pub quiz from 7pm beforehand.