Category: News

Well, it turns out we were one step ahead of head office in deciding to survey our members! The recent survey we sent round to all the Sheffield CAMRA members had slightly different aims in that we weren’t looking at a complete review of what CAMRA is about, more trying to find out member’s opinions of our branch and how we get them more involved. We had 145 responses, which is just under 10% of branch membership. Not as high as we would have liked but realistic for this sort of survey. However still enough for us to draw some interesting conclusions. The initial questions showed that 30% had been to a CAMRA meeting, and 43% had been on a group social, which are higher figures than currently attend. 85% have been to the Steel City Festival at some point, 58 % always read Beer Matters and 94% will renew their membership when it’s due. All signs that the interest is there for the Sheffield Beer Scene. The challenge now for the new committee is to look at what changes we need to implement to make the most of this interest. A list of suggested social events showed an interest in games nights, heritage talks and pub crawls, and events are already being planned in response. The most interesting section of the survey, and the most difficult to summarise, was the six open-ended questions at the end. Members took the opportunity to expand on their thoughts about branch meetings – what they liked/didn’t like, what would make them attend, suggestions for improvement etc. The full report summary will be on our website shortly, but the basic message was that members want the committee to be more open about it’s activities, be more welcoming to new members and to make meetings more appealing, particularly to women and younger members. The new committee, which includes three women and at least one actual young person is keen to take all these comments on board and make Sheffield CAMRA a much more sociable organisation. Elsewhere in this month’s Beer Matters you’ll find information on the new committee members, including photos (sorry!), as the first part of this process. Rest assured this is only the start of what we have planned. Finally, for all the people who did respond there was a raffle for 12 bottles of beer donated by Hop Hideout. The winner was (drum roll…) Simon Wood, seen here collecting what looks like a fabulous selection of beer. Congratulations to Simon, and thanks again to Jules and Will at Hop Hideout for providing the prize.

Recently two Sheffield pubs became part of the prestigious CAMRA Regional Inventory of Pub interiors – The Friendship (Manchester Road, Stocksbridge) and the New Barrack (Penistone Road, Hillsborough).   The New Barrack was a Duncan Gilmour’s pub which in 1936 was re-built when 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. It has a striking exterior of red brick and yellow terracotta with a brown glazed stone dado (the Rutland Arms has a similar exterior). There are a number of original (or good copies) of Gilmour’s exterior windows including ‘Gilmour’s Windsor’ and ‘Billiard Room’. A three-quarter sized snooker table was removed about ten years ago. The floor plan is little altered as can be confirmed by the original plans in a frame on the wall of the smoke room. On the staircase to the front door there is a Gilmour step. The lobby has a terrazzo floor and wall tiling to two-thirds height in mainly a cream colour. A door on the left leads to the tap room which has a terrazzo floor, inter-war fixed seating, a good tiled, cast-iron and wood surround fireplace with a stove in front of it. The bar counter is the original 1936 one but it has been moved slightly back as indicated by where the terrazzo floor stops short of it and some new tiled floor. The lobby bar also has a terrazzo floor, original curved counter but the bar back fitting looks more modern. The bar area includes the remnants of an off-sales hatch – the off sales door with its ‘Off Sales’ etched window is situated in High House Terrace. The far left room door has the wording ‘Private’- it has always been a kitchen. With the exception of the, now demolished, outside toilets, the 1936 floor plan remains: a snug, with original bench seating, the original 1936 corridor bar, a large concert room and a smaller back room. Contrary to many assumptions, the rear right room (now the pool room) despite having two ceiling heights was part of the 1936 rebuild and is not a later addition. The bar area includes the remnants of an off-sales hatch onto High House Terrace. 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. The yard has become 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 lounge displays some original plans and various photographs. 2015 saw an extension, into what was originally the neighbouring shop, and the creation of a new function room with its own bar and toilets. The remainder of the building is used for storage. Duncan Gilmour and Company Limited were established in 1832. In 1891 they were registered as a limited liability company. In 1901 three public houses, including the New Barrack, were bought from the former Dearden’s brewery at High House. Gilmours 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 Woods arriving, as ‘Managers,’ in 2003. Twelve years later, in August 2015, they bought the business to become independent and totally ‘free trade’. – Dave Pickersgill and Mick Slaughter

On 13^th April, the Three Tuns became the first Sheffield pub, nominated by Sheffield & District CAMRA, to become an Asset of Community Value (ACV). Congratulations to all concerned for this notable achievement. We note that the official SCC response considers that the Three Tuns ‘ offers such events to encompass a large area that could conceivably encompass all of Sheffield itself. … the Property and its stated uses attract the local working community who consider the Property as their local meeting place as well as users from further afield.’ We believe that these statements are significant as it indicates that Sheffield City Council has moved away from seeing ACV status as something which only concerns the geographically-local residential community. The ‘community’ for a pub can extend for many miles – prime examples are pubs located at railway stations. For example; the Sheffield Tap ‘community’ encompasses many who live geographically distant. Sheffield CAMRA have submitted 15 applications to Sheffield CC – ten were submitted in late July 2015, nine (rejection) decisions were received just before Christmas 2015, almost 5 months since the original Applications. The 2011 Localism Act states that Council have 8 weeks to determine ACV applications. In our opinion the all our applications to SCC clearly reached the statutory test outlined by the Government and showed how the pubs furthered the social wellbeing and social interests of the community. This was confirmed by our colleagues at CAMRA HQ who compared our documentation to successful applications in other parts of the country. It was also confirmed by conversations at the recent CAMRA Members Weekend in Liverpool. At the time of writing we have had no decision for the Castle Inn (Bradway). The delay is over eight months. We believe that this delay is a record – no other council has had an application for so long and not made a decision. We have made a formal complaint to the SCC Monitoring Officer who has responded: ‘I have asked for a review to understand the cause of the delays. Changes will be made shortly to ensure the Council is meeting the statutory timescales.’ Sheffield CAMRA will be making further ACV applications to SCC in the near future. Dave Pickersgill Pub Heritage Officer, Sheffield and District CAMRA