Category: Heritage

The recent Sheffield Heritage Fair highlighted the importance of our local heritage: how we learn about our past and how it shapes our future. One integral aspect of this interest is pubs: for centuries, the home of personal interactions and a barometer of social change.

For example, the recent Sheffield Beer Week saw 23 enthusiastic participants join a sell-out guided pub heritage walk in the Kelham Island/Neepsend area. On this occasion, parts were recorded for posterity:    https://tinyurl.com/dad8ezmt. Thanks to the Fat Cat, the Wellington and Alder Bar for hosting us. Similar guided walks are planned for Sheffield Walking Festival in September.

The recent Members’ Weekend, AGM and Conference saw the launch of, not one, but two new Sheffield-based Pub Heritage publications. Paul Ainsworth, Chair of the National Pub Heritage Group, also led a pub heritage walk. However, we knew more would want to follow the route than was possible to lead. 

Hence a 32-page, A5, full-colour booklet, including directions and background information was printed, providing walking instructions and information about local pubs and attractions on a 1.5 mile walk from the University Arms to Fagan’s. Suggested calling stops en route are the Bath Hotel, the Red Deer, the Grapes and the Dog and Partridge. 

In addition, a new edition of ‘Sheffields’ Real Heritage Pubs’ is now available: 120 pages, A5, full-colour, over 70 new images and many text changes. 

Thanks to the sponsors who have supported these publications: Abbeydale Brewery, Alder Bar, Bradfield Brewery, the Crow, the Dog and Partridge, Hop Hideout, the Rutland, Sheffield Beer Week and the University Arms. Copies of both publications are available at several local outlets. Please contact pubheritage@sheffield.camra.org.uk for postal and retail enquiries. They are also available as free downloads from the Sheffield CAMRA website: https://sheffield.camra.org.uk/rhp/

As you left their recent (excellent) beer festival, I’m sure you all spotted the pane of glass above the inner entrance door at Shakespeares. Apparently, this was acquired at an auction some years ago, but where did it originate?

It could be Arkwright’s Brewery (2011): originally based at The Real Ale Shop, Lovat Road, Preston. The shop closed in 2014 and the brewery re-located and upgraded to a 10 Bbl plant. In 2015 it was renamed Darkwave Brewing, ceasing production in 2018. Arkwright’s beer was available at nearby Fat Cat in August 2013.

Or perhaps, it’s from the set of the Ronnie Barker Open All Hours TV series (1976/1985) – the name above the shop is Arkwright.

Any ideas?

Dave Pickersgill & Lucienne Pinglewick

The latest edition of the book, Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs is currently in production and is expected to be available for the forthcoming national CAMRA Members’ Weekend, AGM and Conference. Compared to the previous edition, this new expanded edition, 128 pages, includes over 70 new images.

In addition, we are also producing a 32 page Pub Heritage Walk booklet: from the University Arms to Fagan’s.

Both publications will be available from local outlets and by mail order (email pubheritage@sheffield.camra.org.uk).

Thanks to our sponsors who have assisted with publication costs: Abbeydale Brewery, Alder, Bradfield Brewery, Crow Inn, Dog & Partridge, Hop Hideout, Rutland Arms, Sheffield Beer Week and University Arms.

As part of Sheffield Beer Week 2023, we are leading two pub heritage walks. On Sunday 5 March at 2:30pm we’ll be in Kelham Island, and on Thursday 9 at 5pm we’ll be on West Street. Both walks will include Victorian tilework, terrazzo flooring, art deco glasswork, a mention of long-gone Sheffield breweries and much more…

Full details and booking information are available:

• Sunday 5 March: tinyurl.com/2d235xas
• Thursday 9 March: tinyurl.com/yt52f9xk

If you can’t wait until Sheffield Beer Week, you could try the latest edition of the Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pub book: sheffield.camra.org.uk/rhp.

Back in 1968 a comedy band called The Scaffold, which included Paul McCartney’s brother Pete and poet Roger McGough had a number 1 hit with “Lily the Pink”.

We’ll drink a drink, a drink

To Lily the Pink, the Pink, the pink

The saviour of the human race

For she invented medicinal compound

Most efficacious in every case

What may on the surface appear to be a novelty drinking song is in fact based on a real person and her real product.

Lily the Pink is based on the American businesswoman Lydia Pinkham (1819-83) who produced her own vegetable compound from 1875. This was said to contain black cohosh, unicorn root, life root, pleurisy root and fenugreek, preserved with 19% alcohol. This was originally marketed as a “woman’s tonic” for menstrual and menopausal symptoms.

This vegetable compound became very successful with her local community, then further afield. Branding played a major part in the compound’s success and Lydia Pinkham’s face was used in all the branding. Indeed she is the first woman whose likeness was used in her brand.

Over time the list of complaints Pinkham’s vegetable compound claimed to be able to cure grew. It was even marketed as an aid to fertility and marketed under the strapline “there is a baby in every bottle”. Lydia Pinkham was one of very few people at the time who was speaking openly about women’s reproductive health, then a taboo subject. She even published pamphlets about menstrual and menopausal health and also encouraged women to write to her to ask questions they were too embarrassed to ask a doctor.

However, doctors and the medical establishment did not approve of Lydia Pinkham and dismissed her as a quack, which might be considered understandable given that her compound was claimed, among other things to prevent faintness, flatulence, insomnia, depression, the cure of kidney complaints and even ovarian cancer. In 1922, it was described as a “valueless preparation kept on the market for about fifty years by means of lying advertisements and worthless testimonials.”

After Pinkham died in 1883 her family took over the business and continued to promote her image. During prohibition, the alcohol content rose to about 40% and people turned to Pinkham’s medicinal compound in order to get intoxicated.

As far back as the 19th century, the alcohol content and claims of cures for feminine issues provoked mockery in the form of bawdy drinking songs. Lilly The Pink by The Scaffold is a highly sanitised version of those early drinking songs. Some sample verses from the 19^th century are below.

Mrs. Jones she had no children,

And she loved them very dear.

So she took three bottles of Pinkham’s

Now she has twins every year.

Lottie Smyth ne’er had a lover,

Blotchy pimples caused her plight;

But she took nine bottles of Pinkham’s–

Sweethearts swarm about her each night.

Oh Mrs. Murphy (Oh Mrs. Murphy)

Was perturbed because she couldn’t seem to pee

Till she took some of Lydia’s compound

And now they run a pipeline to the sea!

And Peter Whelan (Peter Whelan)

He was sad because he only had one nut

Till he took some of Lydia’s compound

And now they grow in clusters ’round his butt.

The company continued in family ownership until the 1930s and after World War II the US Food and Drink Administration intervened and the company made significant changes to the tonic and its alcohol content, as well as the claims being made about what it could cure. Lydia Pinkham Herbal Compound is still on sale in the United States. It is no longer alcoholic but may well still be most efficacious in every case.

Thomas Sturgess

Between 1957 and 1961, Sheffield Corporation City Architect’s Department built Park Hill Estate. Architecturally, this estate is of international importance. It is also the largest listed building in Europe (Grade II* listed 1998). The deck system is unique as the steeply sloping site allows all but the uppermost decks to reach ground level. The building ranges from four to 13 stories, and included shops, almost 1000 flats and four pubs.

The four pubs were each built to a common plan: four-bay ground floor units with clear storey windows, close to the shopping centre. They faced in two directions: a lounge and public bar, linked by a central bar and glazed screen.

The Parkway Tavern was originally managed by Hope and Anchor Brewery, advertising Carling Black Label and Jubilee Stout. The pub later became part of the Bass empire. It closed in 2006 and has a two-bay mosaic mural which is a remarkable survivor (architects: Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson & Partners).

The Parkway Tavern was used in the 2014 film ’71. Directed by Yann Demange, it follows a riot on the streets of Belfast as a young and disoriented British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit. The flats were used to recreate Divis Flats.

Initially, these ‘streets in the sky’ enjoyed popularity and success; tenants had the luxury of private bathrooms and efficient heating. However, by the 1980s, Park Hill had become dilapidated and was no longer popular. It had both poor noise insulation and badly lit walkways, passages and alleys.

The estate is currently being redeveloped as part of a joint venture between Urban Splash and Places for People, work commencing in 2007. The structural frame is retained while architectural and internal features are replaced. The Parkway space re-opened in 2021 as Park Hill Provisions, the first convenience store on the new development.

As part of Heritage Open Days 2022, I’m leading two Pub Heritage Walks: on Friday 9 and Thursday 15 September. These will take in some of the entries in the CAMRA Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs book.

On Friday 9 we will commence at the Fat Cat and proceed to Neepsend via a short stop in the Wellington. Along the way, we will take a circuitous route through aspects of the brewing and industrial history of Sheffield before completing the walk at the cooperatively-owned Gardeners Rest close to the long derelict, Stones Brewery.

The following week, we will commence at the University Arms and proceed to the Grapes/Dog & Partridge via a short stop at the Bath Hotel. After refreshment breaks, we will complete the walk at Fagans. En route we will pass the ex-Hendos factory, the ex-Jessop Hospital, the then home of the company whose claim to fame is that the owner was the first man to climb Nelson’s Column, Glossop Road Baths, the building with three different date stones, ‘Stanch’, and much more.

In both walks there will also be Victorian tilework, terrazzo flooring, art deco glasswork, a mention of long-gone Sheffield breweries and much more…

• The 9 September walk will start at the Fat Cat at 16:00. Places are limited and may be booked via
  Eventbrite: tinyurl.com/3aavve56
• The 15 September walk will start at the University Arms at 17:00. Places may also be booked via
  Eventbrite: tinyurl.com/ys3z846j
• If you can’t wait until September, you could try the Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs book:
  sheffield.camra.org.uk/rhp. A limited number of paper copies of the book will be available to purchase.

CAMRA Sheffield & District have recently provided both an hour long pub heritage talk and a guided pub heritage walk for Sheffield U3A. The talk took place in the Showroom Cinema on a Friday morning with over 50 attendees attending. A few weeks later, the walk attracted 17: commencing in Fagans and proceeding via a stop in the Grapes to the Red Deer this took almost 2.5 hours. U3A are planning a further walk, led by ourselves, in 2023.

The next guided walks, are planned for Heritage Open Days in September with similar events occurring during Sheffield Beer Week 2023 and the CAMRA Members’ Weekend, AGM & Conference 2023.

In 2021, the Royal Oak was demolished without planning permission. The owners, Bar 24 Ltd, have recently achieved retrospective planning permission for this demolition and the redevelopment of the site. Their assertion is that toxic waste was dumped in the car park, and the situation became so bad that the only option was to demolish a building dating from 1843.

At the time, the local MP, Clive Betts, disagreed, ‘the issue of the toxic waste and chemical spills on the site is in my view a red herring. There has been a problem with toxic chemicals but the explanation from the owners that they contacted the Environment Agency about demolition does not in any way obviate the need to apply for planning permission to demolish: the two are separate issues.‘

CAMRA Sheffield & District agree with Clive. It seems that the dumped waste was used as a pretext for taking short cuts to potentially secure profitable redevelopment of the site.

The Carlton Tavern (London) sets a precedent for such unauthorised demolition. The Carlton closed in April 2015: then two days before Historic England was due to recommend the pub be granted Grade II listed status, the owners demolished the building, without planning permission. They expected a £5000 fine. However, Westminster Council had a different opinion. They ordered the owners: CTLX, to rebuild the Carlton brick by brick. In 2021, having been totally rebuilt, it re-opened.

CAMRA Sheffield & District believe that Sheffield City Council (SCC) should have taken a similar approach to that adopted by Westminster. However, following the ‘grant conditionally‘ decision of SCC Planning and Highways Committee, this is not the case.

Hence, we have written to SCC to request the reasons behind their decision:

‘A formal Enforcement Notice was not served in this case given that the owner/applicant cooperated with officers and committed to submitting a retrospective planning application for the redevelopment of the site. This is a legitimate option which was available to them. The National Planning Policy Framework advises that enforcement action is discretionary and that Local Planning Authorities must act proportionately in responding to breaches of control.

Whilst the actions of the developer are regrettable in this case, there is no comparison with the Carlton Tavern which was just about to become a designated heritage asset. In that case the developer knew that the building was about to become statutorily listed and carried on with the demolition regardless. The former Royal Oak is not in this category and the applicant had already engaged in pre-application discussions with the Council about redeveloping the site.’