Sheffield & District CAMRA are delighted to announce that the winner of the Pub of the Month award for October 2017 is the Itchy Pig Ale House in Broomhill.
The Itchy Pig opened its doors in July 2016, taking over a unit formerly occupied by a gift shop, and in the first year of business owner Ted Finlay and his team have developed a reputation for serving excellent ales in a friendly and relaxing environment. There are five handpumps, featuring a range of beers from local breweries such as Abbeydale, Blue Bee and Brew Foundation. Earlier this year, they teamed up with Exit 33 Brewing to produce their very own real ale, StyPA. Ciders and craft keg, canned and bottled beers are also available.
Pub regular Andrew Senior, who nominated the Itchy Pig for the award, said: “I used to work very close to the pub and so I started popping in after work. Despite the landlord, Ted, being a southener and preferring Rugby Union to League, he is a very welcoming and friendly host.”
“The beer is always well kept, there’s a good range of pig-based bar snacks, and now even pig-themed board games (Pass the Pigs and backgammon). All in all it makes it a very enjoyable place to have a pint.”
We are heading to the Itchy Pig to present Ted and the team with their certificate on Tuesday 10 October from 8pm onwards, and everyone is welcome to come and join us for a celebratory pint. The pub can be found at 495 Glossop Road, Sheffield, S10 2QE. Buses 10, 10a and 120 all stop on Glossop Road, and buses 51 and 52 also call nearby.
CAMRA members, don’t forget to vote for your next pub of the month! This can be done either through our website at sheffield.camra.org.uk/potm/vote or at any branch meeting.
Dominic Nelson
I moved to Kelham Island, Sheffield in November 2011 after a little over 10 years of residence in the fine city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Now, a period of that magnitude does not pass without the establishment of some routines, one of which got the weekend off to an early start with a few pints, a pub quiz and a game of darts at my favourite haunt (The Bodega, Westgate Road). Of course, moving to a new city involves no small amount of upheaval in one’s life, upheaval that I intended to mitigate by the transference of my Thursday routine. So, I sallied forth from my new flat to investigate the numerous new local pubs with some key questions in mind, namely: Is this pub inundated with cask beer? Is there a weekly quiz? Is said quiz on a Thursday? Is there also a dartboard? To my joy I discovered that there was indeed a place that could answer ‘yes’ to all of these questions and the name of that place was Shakespeare’s. Of course, my Thursday quizzing meant that I was a frequent enough visitor to the pub to get acquainted with staff and regulars alike. Indeed, before long I had regained the sense of a genuine pub community that I had, perforce, left behind at The Bodega in Newcastle.
Over six years and one ‘Sheffield CAMRA Pub of the Year’ (2013) later, Shakespeare’s is still a public house par excellence, and while it is true that pale ales tend to preponderate amidst the forest of beer engines, variety is also guaranteed with permanent provision of at least one stout or porter, in addition to half a dozen (sometimes more) craft keg beers, the corollary of which is no shortage of sours and imperial stouts, but also a phantasmagoria of IPAs, DIPAs and SIPAs. It’s little wonder that the pub sees such a steady stream of beer tickers flowing through its doors.
Beers aside (heaven forefend!), the games foundation of darts has been built upon to include an upstairs games room with bar skittles, bar billiards, table football, board games and a Yorkshire dart board. Upstairs also is their spacious function room which is put to good use hosting gigs, dancing, meetings and parties of all sorts.
Of course, staff and regulars have come and gone since the Winter of 2011, but that ineffable sense of pub community has remained untarnished (indeed it is far from unusual to find that staff who move on to work elsewhere are merely transformed from bar workers into regular patrons). Manager Chris and his splendid outfit of beer connoisseurs are more than capable of helping the discerning drinker with their painstaking ‘which next?’ decision. All in all, Shakespeare’s is most worthy ‘Pub of the Month’; a fine place for fine ale served by fine folk in the company of fine people.
Patrick Johnson
We are pleased to announce that the Sheffield & District CAMRA Pub of the Month for July 2017, as voted for by our members, is the Wisewood Inn at Loxley.
The Wisewood Inn was re-opened in its current guise in October 2015 by owner Steve Wesley and licensee Pete Hebb. They have managed to take a run-down establishment at a difficult time for the pub trade and completely turn it around in 18 months. Their vision was to create a suburban pub that sold great beer, offered an exciting food menu, hosted regular music events and appealed to a large customer base, and they have certainly managed to achieve all these.
On the beer front, the Wisewood Inn is Cask Marque accredited and offers a wide range of cask, keg, bottled and canned ales. There are five handpumps installed, with three regular real ales available in Barnsley Bitter, Bradfield Farmers Brown Cow, and an Abbeydale pump. The remaining two pumps have seen guest beers from numerous local and national breweries, and since the re-opening there have been more than 200 different cask and keg ales on offer.
The pub also has a fantastic beer garden, perfect for sitting outside and enjoying the view on a warm summer’s day. They are soon to start hosting regular barbecues, so be sure to watch out for those! Funds raised from many of the events hosted have been used to support local business and charities, so it’s all for a good cause. For those wanting to host their own celebrations, there is a cellar bar available for hire.
Going forward, the owners are hoping to continue increasing their profile as a good real ale pub, and hopefully start to make it into Sheffield & District CAMRA’s annual Top 20 pubs of the year lists. They are also planning to extend the kitchen to deal with increased demand, and there are rumours of the pub launching its own on-site micro-brewery, so watch this space!
Steve and Pete would like to thank CAMRA, and all the members who voted for the Wisewood Inn as their Pub of the Month. A huge mention also goes to the staff, suppliers and breweries who have been really supportive, but of course none of this would be possible without the customers who have returned to the pub and made it their regular.
CAMRA members, don’t forget to vote for your next Pub of the Month. The list of current nominees can be found in Beer Matters and on our website, or if there’s a pub not on the list that you would like to see recieve some recognition, you can also nominate a pub. All votes and nominations can be made through our website, or at any branch meeting.
Broadfield
Our Pub of the Month awards are voted for by our members and are designed not as a competition between pubs as such, more to celebrate those pubs and bars around our area that serve great real ale in a friendly and comfortable atmosphere, day in, day out.
This month’s winner, The Broadfield on Abbeydale Road, was built in the 1890s in the heart of Sheffield’s Antiques Quarter. In 2011, it became part of what is now the True North brewery. The pub was refurbished in 2012 and since then it has strived to serve quality ales and good food in a friendly atmosphere. The Broadfield last won our Pub of the Month award in May 2015.
There are nine cask ales available, including three regular True North beers alongside Abbeydale Moonshine, plus five guest ales. The beer garden is a delightful place to enjoy a pint or two on a warm summer’s day. Alongside the beers, a wide selection of whiskies and gins are also offered, and the food menu includes award-winning pies and sausages, and everyone’s favourite – a proper Sunday roast.
We are heading to the Broadfield to present their certificate on Tuesday 13 June from 8pm, and everyone is welcome to come and join us for a celebratory pint. The pub can be found at 452 Abbeydale Road, Sheffield, S7 1FR. Buses 10, 10a, 75, 76, 86, 96, 97, 98 and 218 will all get you there.
CAMRA members, don’t forget to vote for your next pub of the month! This can be done either through our website or at any branch meeting.
University Arms
Our Pub of the Month awards are voted for by our members and are designed not as a competition between pubs as such, more to celebrate those pubs and bars around our area that serve great real ale in a friendly and comfortable atmosphere, day in, day out.
The University Arms became a pub in January 2007, having previously operated as Club 197, the staff club for the University of Sheffield. It was originally built as the vicarage for the nearby St. George’s Church. The University Arms gained the status of Asset of Community Value in March 2017.
The bar offers a fairly extensive range of real ales – usually there are beers from Acorn, Welbeck Abbey and Kelham Island plus an ever changing selection of guest ales. Other craft beers plus real cider is available too.
Food is served from midday until 8pm with classic pub meals done well, additionally a lunchtime menu of hot and cold sandwiches and snacks is available until 3pm. Prices are kept quite reasonable, with most main courses around the £7 mark.
At the rear of the pub is an excellent lawned beer garden, one of the only ‘proper’ beer gardens in the City Centre. During the summer BBQ events take place in the garden and at Tramlines festival weekend is converted into a live music venue which really draws the crowds.
Upstairs there are a number of meeting and function rooms. As well as being used by various student societies they are used by groups such as Sheffield Board Games Club and Rutland Cycling Club, there is also a monthly live blues ‘loft club’ held there, organised by local promoter Saxbob.
We’ll be heading to the University Arms to present the certificate on Tuesday 9th May from 8pm, all are welcome to join us for a pint or two.
The pub can be found at 197 Brook Hill, Sheffield S3 7HG. It is a short walk around the corner from the University of Sheffield tram stop or buses 51, 52 and 52a stop nearby outside the Student Union.
The Old Queen’s Head, next to Sheffield Interchange, is believed to be the oldest domestic building in Sheffield, and is thought to have begun life as a shooting lodge for Sheffield Manor, later becoming he wash house.
It is known to have become a beer house by the 1840’s and passed through the hands of several breweries before being acquired by Thwaites around 20 years ago. The front lounge, occupying the half-timbered older part of the building has an original fireplace and carved bay window overlooking the outside seating area.to the rear are two further seating areas around the central bar, and there is an upstairs function room.
Mike and Suzana took on the pub 4½ years ago, and serve a range of Thwaites beers, usually including Nutty Black, Wainwright and Lancaster Bomber, together with two rotating seasonal beers.
The pub opens from 10am to 11pm every day and food is available 12 to 9pm (4pm Sundays). There are regular food nights – Monday is Czech specialities reflecting Mike and Suzana’s home town Prague, Tuesday is pie night, Fish on Wednesday and burgers Thursday, each with special offers. A traditional roast is available Sundays.
The award will be presented on Tuesday 11 April, and to mark the occasion all cask beers will be reduced to £2.50 from 7pm
Wils Gee
Now my association with the Hillsborough Hotel goes back a long way. From the heady days of Dell Tilling, when the bar only opened Thursday to Sunday and we packed in to drink Brian Hendry’s excellent Crown HPA and Stannington Stout.
Well since then the Hillsborough has gone through some ups and downs and in recent times more downs, culminating in what looked like the end last October (2015). News of its demise was premature as I received a text from Tom and Brigitte Delaney to turn up as usual for my Tuesday Quiz. Tom who has been involved in a previous management along with his now wife, Brigitte, a former barmaid at the Hotel, had taken over and were re-launching,
There had to be changes, the previous owners had dismantled the brewery, so there was no more of the Wood Street Beers which in the latter days had been of poor quality.
Tom set about trying to regain the Hillsborough’s reputation and started with improving the beer quality. Anyone can slap a handpump on the bar and sell it but to sell it in good condition is an art. Throughput is important but cleanliness is paramount. Tom completely deep cleaned the cellar and lines and looked after his beer from day 1 of re-opening. Now a wise landlord friend of mine had said the secret of good ale was ‘Clean lines and Clean glasses’, this certainly was the rule now. Building up the beer range as the trade increased there are now at least 7 handpulls working selling a variety of LocAle and national ales with two regular beers Tapped Mojo and Acorn Barnsley Bitter both priced competitively at £2.60 a pint.
The quality and consistency is there to be tasted and that is reflected in an increase in punters who can always find a warm welcome coupled with a fine glass of beer.
Tom is also a well respected Chef and the kitchen soon started to turn out good home cooked food using fresh locally sourced produce with wonderful Sunday Lunches.
There is a very popular Quiz run by some Scottish bloke on Tuesday night. Live bands perform regularly on Fridays or Saturdays, usually at least once a month. A Pop Music Quiz on the 2nd Thursday. By popular demand the Folk Music Sessions have returned on the 2nd and 4th Sundays. Other events like the Alternative Burns Night and Gin Tasting have also been hosted.
A Year on it has been great to see the Hillsborough filling up again and getting the ‘buzz’ back. With many of the former great members of staff returning behind the bar and also in the kitchen, making a fantastic spirit to Team Hillsborough
Our current Chair Kate Major said about the Hillsborough in a blog about ‘Bars to Visit in Sheffield’ – ‘The Hillsborough Hotel has gone through some lean times but if anyone can revive the place then it is this couple’
Well done Tom, Brigitte and staff on winning this well deserved award.
Jim McDonald
The award will be presented on the evening of Tuesday 8th November, all are welcome.
Buses 57,81,82,85 pass outside, Langsett Primrose View tram stop is just around the corner.
The White Lion has not only been a constant fixture on London Road since 1781, it has been a constant favourite on the Sheffield beer scene, appearing in 28 editions of the Good Beer Guide. Its 28th appearance is in 2017. The architectural history of this one pub alone could fill an entire issue of Beer Matters. It has earned Grade II listing (1999), one of a select group of Tetley’s ‘Heritage Inns’ (1989) and, more recently, recognised by CAMRA as having an interior of outstanding historic interest, appearing in CAMRA’s Yorkshire Pub Heritage publication. For visitors to the White Lion it is the beautiful tiles, seemingly eccentric collection of rooms, and the famous reversed ‘N’ in the stained-glass that make it an endearing and comfortably atmospheric place to enjoy a few ales.
Over the years it must have had dozens of licensees but the current incumbents, Jon and Mandy, have not only been running the White Lion for as little as 18 months, but had never managed a pub before. Their story is a fairy-tale. Long-time customers of the White Lion, Jon and Mandy gave-up their public-sector careers to take on the pub they loved, worried that it was in danger of going into a terminal decline. And what a job they’ve done! As well as four regular ales – Abbeydale Moonshine, Kelham Island Lion’s Main, Tetley Bitter, and Wychwood Hobgoblin – there is always a fascinating (and often unusual) selection of up to seven excellently kept guest ales. The pub also has real cider (Weston’s Old Rosie and one guest), and an impressive selection of malt whisky.
The White Lion is a champion music venue, winning the title of best music pub in Yorkshire and the north-east in 2015. Free live music is a feature nearly every night, apart from Wednesdays when it hosts a popular pub quiz.
And given Jon and Mandy’s story, it is hardly surprising that they have made the White Lion a true community pub. It gives rooms over to clubs, groups and the local community, hosts regular charity events, supports local community events and neighbouring businesses. For all these reasons an unincorporated body, consisting of members of the local community and with the support of CAMRA, has just submitted an application to list the White Lion as an asset of community value (ACV) – fingers-crossed!
We’ll be presenting this much-deserved ‘Pub of the Month’ award on Tuesday 11 October from 8pm onwards, so come along (615 London Road, Heeley (next to Ponsford, at the heart of the Heeley Triangle) – on bus routes 10, 10A, 20, 24, 25, 43, 43A, 44, X17), and enjoy a celebration with some fine ales in one of Sheffield’s most fascinating pubs. Normal opening hours are 4pm to midnight Monday to Thursday, 4pm to 1am on Fridays, noon to 1am on Saturdays, and 2pm to midnight on Sundays.
Richard Short
The Beer Engine was opened in its current guise about a year and a half ago, having been through a number of incarnations such as Delaney’s Music Bar since the premises last since carried the current name.
Behind it is Tom Harrington (known as Baz to some of his friends), who has previously worked for others such as Thornbridge and Hillsborough Hotel, this is his first own pub venture, where the focus is almost entirely on serving good beer and simple but quality food that compliments the beer nicely.
The pub is furnished and decorated simply but is laid out to appeal to all – a main open area around the bar and a couple of small, cosy rooms along with an outdoor area. The atmosphere is laid back.
The bar is home to 6 handpumps, one of which often hosts a real cider and one which dispenses the (currently) always available Neepsend Blonde, the remaining four featuring an ever changing range of ales. There are also 4 guest craft keg lines and an extensive selection of spirits. The staff are friendly and knowledgable and if you want to try several beers you can buy tasting flights of 1/3 pints.
Food on Monday to Saturday is pub tapas, with a selection of around 8 dishes on a menu which changes weekly, on a Tuesday. At present every Monday – the last day of the menu rotation – dishes are offered on a two for the price of one basis. On a Sunday the Beer Engine offers home cooked roast dinners with a choice of meat of the week, veggie and vegan options. Food is served 5-8pm Monday to Thursday, 12-8pm Friday and Saturday, 12-5pm on Sundays.
Sheffield & District CAMRA held our branch meeting in the Beer Engine when it first opened and the numbers turned up exceeded the size of the room, such was the interest, the beer and food was enjoyed and now members have voted it as the winner of our August 2016 Pub of the Month. We’ll be presenting the award certificate at the Beer Engine on Tuesday 16th August with the pub holding a bit of a celebration, all are welcome to join us from 8pm onwards.
The Beer Engine is at 17 Cemetery Road, next to Waitrose petrol station off London Road and the Chinese Firework Company.
Closest buses are routes 3,4 and 4a, however the stop on London Road is also very close.
The pub is open from 4pm to 11pm Monday to Thursday, midday to midnight Friday and Saturday, midday to 11pm Sundays.
The Walkley Beer Company in a previous brief and festive life was the Crookes Ale House, a pop up experiment by local lad Kit Challis back in Christmas 2013 to test the market for a micropub in the area. During its brief existence in a former fancy dress shop a range of 3 cask ales and 12 bottled beers were available in basic surroundings.
The idea proved a hit and the Ale House returned in a different shop unit, a former florist shop, in Walkley, naturally renamed given the new location – the Walkley Beer Company.
The Walkley Beer Company opens just at weekends to fit around the owners day job with three cask ales and a craft keg line on the bar on Thursday evening along with an expanding selection of bottled world beers. The Walkley Beer Company also opens Friday evenings and Saturday and the draught beers remain on sale until they run out. A new selection gets put on the following weekend. This means the beer is always served fresh and the selection is usually quite interesting.
Technically the Walkley Beer Company isn’t actually a micropub – it is an off licence shop with a tasting bar. Either way a small, basic and friendly environment is provided to sit and enjoy good beer and the format has proved a success. Bottled beers and cask ales are available to takeaway too and the shop side has started to expand into catering for the requirements of home brewers with malt, hops and yeast available to buy.
Sheffield & District CAMRA members have voted the Walkley Beer Company as the winner of the July Pub of the Month award and they will be opening specially to receive the certificate on the evening of Tuesday 12th July, all are welcome to join us from 8pm for a drink and to show support at the presentation.
You can find the Walkley Beer Company at 362 South Road, Walkley, on bus routes 31, 31a and 95 – bus stops almost right outside the shop. Normal opening hours are Thursday 4pm to 8pm, Friday & Saturday 2pm to 10pm.
