Our District Pub of the Season award is handed out four times per year and aims to recognise those pubs in the Derbyshire part of the branch that consistently serve quality real ale in a welcoming and pleasant atmosphere. It is our pleasure to announce that the very deserving winner of the Summer 2018 award is the Monsal Head Hotel, Little Longstone.
Extremely popular with walkers and cyclists traversing the Monsal Trail, this traditional country inn offers a combination of locally brewed cask ale, good food and comfortable accommodation. The drinking area of the hotel is the Stables Bar to the rear, a delightfully rustic building which originally housed the horses that carried passengers from the railway station at the bottom of the valley. Nowadays though, you’re more likely to find hand pumps than horse tack.
The beer garden at the rear of the Stables Bar
The bar features three real ales: the house beer Stables Best Bitter is provided by Stancill and is joined by two rotating guests, often including breweries such as Pennine and Ashover. When the weather is nice, these can be enjoyed in the extensive beer garden while taking in the breathtaking views over Monsal Dale and the Monsal Viaduct.
We are running a minibus trip out to the Peak District to present the award on Saturday 20 October. We will be picked up at the Old Queens Head on Pond Hill at 1pm and visit the Pioneer Club in Dronfield and a couple of pubs in Tideswell before making our way to the Monsal Head Hotel for the presentation. Places on the minibus cost £5 and should be booked in advance via our social secretary, Andy Cullen.
Meanwhile, nominations are now open for next season’s competition so if you are a CAMRA member who regularly visits any of our Derbyshire pubs, please get involved by nominating your favourites! This can be done via our website or at any branch meeting.
Dominic Nelson
With so many great pubs in Sheffield itself, it is sometimes easy to forget about the fantastic hostelries serving the towns and villages in the Derbyshire part of our branch. Unfortunately, due to a lack of votes we were unable to award the District Pub of the Season award for Winter 2017, but we are delighted to announce that the winner of the Spring 2018 competition is the Moon Inn, Stoney Middleton.
Located on the main road just as you enter Stoney Middleton from Sheffield, the Moon is the last remaining pub in this quaint and historic village and provides the locals with some high-quality real ale in a relaxing and welcoming environment. It is also popular with dog-walkers, hikers and climbers looking for some respite and refreshment. A traditional L-shaped pub with an open fire, the interior is a mixture of old and new following a refurbishment around three years ago.
On the beer front, there are up to three real ales on offer at any time. Thwaites’ Wainwright is a regular on the handpumps, and is joined by two guest beers which often feature local breweries, typically Abbeydale, Bradfield or Stancill. Open every day from noon, the Moon is served by the number 65 bus from Sheffield for those travelling by public transport.
We are hoping to arrange a minibus trip to make the presentation on Saturday 14 July. Ideally, this will be combined with the presentation of the 2018 District Pub of the Year award at the Red Lion in Litton. For more details, come along to the branch meeting at the Blind Monkey on 3 July, or email our social secretary Andy Cullen (social@sheffield.camra.org.uk).
We are pleased to announce that the award for District Pub of the Season for Autumn 2017, voted for by branch members, has gone to the Rambler Country House Hotel in Edale.
This large country pub, situated right next to Edale railway station, is ever-popular with Peak District walkers, with dogs and muddy boots welcome. Five real ales are available here, with regular offerings Otter Ale and Wychwood Hobgoblin joined by three guest ales, which often include beers from local breweries such as Bradfield. The pub also features a children’s animal area with ponies, goats and chickens.
Sheffield & District CAMRA will be running a minibus trip to the Rambler for the award presentation on 17 February; the full itinerary will be announced soon. Places can be booked through our social secretary, Patrick Johnson.
Congratulations to Steve and everyone at the Rambler on their award!
Our District Pub of the Season award is intended to recognise those pubs outside Sheffield city limits; any pub meeting that simple criteria is eligible for the award. The Summer 2017 edition of the competition was a two-horse race between the Eyre Arms at Hassop and the Olde Nags Head in Castleton.
Following a hard-fought campaign, in which both pubs made concerted efforts to win more votes by publicising their nominations on social media, we can now reveal that the Olde Nags Head pipped their opponents to the post by a margin of just three votes!
Congratulations to our winners, who will recieve their certificate in due course. We are hoping to arrange the presentation at some point in the next couple of months, so keep your eyes peeled for more information.
Don’t forget to vote for your favourite district pub in our upcoming Autumn 2017 competition. Details of the nominees can be found in Beer Matters and on our website.
Our members have been voting through the autumn for our latest District Pub of the Season and we are pleased to announce the winner as the Packhorseat Little Longstone.
This award is for pubs in the Derbyshire part of our branch area and is designed to raise the profile with real ale drinkers of those pubs that are beyond the city limits, often in rural areas such as the Peak District.
The Packhorse is a cosy village pub with small rooms, a roaring fire in winter, a beer garden for the summer months, friendly staff, good fresh food and of course well kept ales, usually from Thornbridge Brewery.
We’re running a minibus trip on Saturday 25th February and will be calling in the Pack Horse to present their winners certificate and enjoy a beer, this will be combined with a visit to Thornbridge Brewery in Bakewell for a tour where there will be a bar open selling beer and pies! If you want to join us on the minibus, please book your seat via our social secretaries, it costs just £5 per person for the travel for members.
Three Stags Head, Wardlow Mires
Our District Pub of the Season award is a programme that recognises the good ale pubs in the Derbyshire part of our branch area, some of which is rural parts of the Peak District National Park. Pubs are nominated and voted for by our members who drink in those pubs.
The winner of our inaugural award, which has been voted for over the summer, is the Three Stags Head at Wardlow Mires. Words like legendary and personality are often used and either word could apply to both the pub and landlord here.
Jeff and Pat bought the pub originally when they were looking for premises to conduct their pottery business – which is in stables behind the pub – and ran the pub as something of a sideline, open just at the weekend catering for locals including farm workers, walkers and others in the area.
The draught beer choice consists of 4 handpulled ales from Abbeydale including the special, quite strong, house beer called Black Lurcher, named in memory of the pub dogs that used to be resident in the bar area. These days there are still plenty of dogs and sometimes even a hawk to keep you company.
The beer range and Jeff’s attitude to it once made it into the Sheffield Star newspaper thanks to the sign above the bar that read ‘please do not ask for lager as a smack in the gob often offends’. A range of quality European bottled beers is however available!
The pub is listed in CAMRA’s national inventory of unspoilt historic pubs – it has changed little since the 16th century – featuring two rooms with stone flagged floors, low ceilings and proper open fires.
Home cooked, locally sourced food is available at meal times with game often a speciality – especially if the landlord or one of the regulars has been shooting recently! There are also some excellent jumbo pork pies available as bar snacks.
This is a pub run the old fashioned way – embrace the character of the pub and behave accordingly (starting by not leaving the front door wide open!) and you will be made welcome and enjoy yourself. Landlord and staff are all equally straight talking people who have no qualms about encouraging people they don’t like to sling their hook!
We’ll be running a minibus trip from Sheffield out to the Three Stags Head to present their Pub of the Season winners certificate on Saturday 12th November, departing from the Old Queens Head by Sheffield Bus Interchange at 1pm and stopping off at some other pubs along the way (potential future winners?).
If you live in the area and fancy meeting us for a pint the rough schedule is:
Anglers Rest, Bamford 13:30hrs; Queen Anne, Great Hucklow 14:25hrs; Barrel Inn, Bretton 15:15hrs and Bulls Head, Foolow at 15:55hrs with 30-40 minutes at each.
We intend to be at the Three Stags Head from 16:40 to 18:10, returning direct to Sheffield, arriving back by 7pm.
Located on the main road just as you enter Stoney Middleton from Sheffield, the Moon is the last remaining pub in this quaint and historic village and provides the locals with some high-quality real ale in a relaxing and welcoming environment. It is also popular with dog-walkers, hikers and climbers looking for some respite and refreshment. A traditional L-shaped pub with an open fire, the interior is a mixture of old and new following a refurbishment around three years ago.
On the beer front, there are up to three real ales on offer at any time. Thwaites’ Wainwright is a regular on the handpumps, and is joined by two guest beers which often feature local breweries, typically Abbeydale, Bradfield or Stancill. Open every day from noon, the Moon is served by the number 65 bus from Sheffield for those travelling by public transport.
We are hoping to arrange a minibus trip to make the presentation on Saturday 14 July. Ideally, this will be combined with the presentation of the 2018 District Pub of the Year award at the Red Lion in Litton. For more details, come along to the branch meeting at the Blind Monkey on 3 July, or email our social secretary Andy Cullen (
