Category: News

Steel City Beer Festival – Champion beer awards

Posted on by Andy Cullen
As usual all the beers in our Steel City Beer & Cider Festival last October were judged by a blind tasting panel to find out which were the very best beers in the festival. We’ll be presenting the certificates to as many of the winning brewers as we can during Sheffield Beer Week with some to be presented at a mini award ceremony at the Siba BeerX Brewers Yard on Thursday 17th March, 7:30pm. If you are at the BeerX on Thursday evening, do pop out and see us and the winning brewers! Also at BeerX on the Thursday is a big festival bar, brewery bars, meet the brewer events and street foods. Advance tickets ordered online are £8.80 with a £2 discount available for CAMRA members, students and HM Forces, entry tickets are also available on the door but cost more! Beer is served in 1/3 pint tasters costing £1.10 each. The results… OVERALL Gold – Crafty Devil, Mikey Rayer All Dayer Silver – North Riding, Red Citra Bronze – Saltaire, Triple Chocoholic
MILD CATEGORY – Brass Castle, Hazelnut Mild SESSION BITTER CATEGORY – Magic Rock, The Stooge BEST BITTER CATEGORY – North Riding, Red Citra GOLDEN ALE CATEGORY – Crafty Devil, Mikey Rayer All Dayer STOUTS & PORTERS CATEGORY – Thornbridge Baize STRONG ALE CATEGORY – Great Heck, Yakima IPA SPECIALITY BEER CATEGORY – Saltaire, Triple Chocoholic
 

Sheffield CAMRA responds to the ‘Sheffield Plan’

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Sheffield banner Over the Christmas period, Sheffield and District CAMRA sent a formal response to the recent Sheffield City Council (SCC) ‘Consultation on Citywide Options for Growth.’  This document covers a wide range of aspects of the city. However, it fails to address the key part which our breweries and pubs play in: (i)   employment (ii)  Beer Tourism (iii)  the future development of the City The document suggests supporting district and local centres in providing a range of shops and services that meet the needs of all groups in society: “services” includes pubs. One of the many challenges, which needs addressing is the continuing loss of pubs, especially in suburban areas, and the detrimental impact this has on community well-being . Hence there is a need for the Plan to include policies which seek to protect valued community pubs. There is a need for more pubs to gain ACV status.  In addition, there is a need to allow the continued development of micropubs. Sheffield includes a growing, number of public houses which, by virtue of their interior, are rated by CAMRA as assets of Regional or National Importance. These pubs deserve support from SCC in a similar manner to the support which is provided to other buildings with historically significant interiors. By mid-2016, Sheffield is expected to be supporting 19 brewing companies. This is a fast-growing and vibrant part of both the employment  and leisure scene. It should also be noted that the ‘Kelham Island Tavern’ is the only pub to have won the annual CAMRA Pub of the Year Award on consecutive occasions. It is short-listed for the 2016 Award. Sheffield attracts a considerable amount of what could be termed, ‘beer tourism.’ It is surprising that this document does not acknowledge the place of Sheffield as the ‘Beer Capital’ of the U.K. (see recent CAMRA ‘beer city survey’ results). For example, during the recent Steel City Beer Festival, a group of visiting Americans stayed in Sheffield. The focus of their visit was Kelham Island and the 41st.CAMRA Steel City Beer Festival. In addition, there are innumerable day-trips, from diverse parts of the U.K., to sample both Supertram and the excellent beer scene. Sheffield, if the city wished, could easily take second place to Bruges on the European ‘beer holiday’ scene. Sheffield has niche pubs, an excellent, diverse beer-scene and is light-years away from the corporate extravaganza which the Munich Octoberfest has become. In years to come, the ‘Neepsend brewery trail’ could, and should, become a ‘must-see’ attraction. ‘Beer tourism’ is something which, in a vision such as this, SCC should not ignore. It currently brings vastly more income to the City than the annual two-week, Snooker World Championship and is a potential growth area. – Dave Pickersgill –

ACV (Asset of Community Value) – latest

Posted on by Andy Cullen
SHEFFIELD & DISTRICT CAMRA BRANCH Sheffield & District CAMRA is concerned that pubs continue to close at an alarming rate. Assets of Community Value (ACV) were introduced as part of the 2011 Localism Act to empower communities to protect assets that matter to them – including public houses. Nationally, there are currently around 1200 pubs listed as Assets of Community Value. The Government’s intention is clear that Local Authorities should add assets to the list of successful nominations should the asset further (or has recently furthered) the community’s social wellbeing or social interests (which include cultural, sporting or recreational interests) and is likely to do so in the future. Without ACV status, pubs can be converted or demolished without planning permission. This was the main motivation behind ACV applications submitted by Sheffield CAMRA during 2015. We have submitted 13 applications – two to Derbyshire Dales and eleven to Sheffield City Council (SCC). After the statutory eight week period, Derbyshire Dales Council approved our applications to list  both The Red Lion (Litton) and the Bull’s Head (Foolow) as an ACV. However, Sheffield were slow in their response. Finally, nine decisions were posted on their website 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. Sheffield City Council have rejected nine of our applications. The application for the Castle Inn (Bradway) is on hold and an eleventh application was submitted in December 2015. A decision is due in mid-February. In our opinion the 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. We believe all our applications clearly met the key criteria: –    The pub is of community value and is the main use of the land nominated –    That the building is currently operating as a pub of community value (or has in the recent past) –    That there is a realistic prospect that the building being used as a pub of community value during the next five years We believe that a number of items suggested by SCC to support our applications are unnecessary – such as providing surveys on how many people use the pub, supplying any form of business plans and including testimonials from local people. Sheffield CC seem to be defining “community” as people living in the immediate vicinity of the pub. However, neither the Act nor the Regulations define the meaning of community in relation to ACVs. Hence, it seems reasonable to use a dictionary definition : “A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common”.  The latter arguably embraces people who regularly use a pub even if they don’t live nearby – what they have in common is that they like the pub. If the Council accept that then it ought just to be a matter of proving that the pub has a core of regular customers. Our concern is that the Council are gold plating the requirements and that we will be unable to nominate pubs due to these boundaries. One specific example of this is the Council requesting evidence that a pub was “Sheffield’s most haunted pub,” a statement that was originally clearly included to provide additional context rather than a reason for the nomination. Sheffield CAMRA will be making further ACV applications to SCC in the near future. Dave Pickersgill Pub Heritage Officer, Sheffield and District CAMRA ————————————————————————————————————————- DRONFIELD & DISTRICT CAMRA BRANCH The local ACV campaign to save the Fleur De Lys in Unstone is moving forward with enough signatures having been gained. This will now go to council for consideration. There is also the possibility of having the building listed. Ruth Hepworth

Calling all Sheffield CAMRA members!

Posted on by Andy Cullen
CAMRA needs you hop hideout By now you should have received an email asking you to complete a short survey, as part of our plan to increase membership involvement during 2016. If you haven’t yet completed it, don’t forget the deadline is 15th February and all entries will qualify for a prize draw to win 12 bottles of craft beer. If you aren’t on our email list you should have received a paper copy of the survey with your Pub Of The Year forms. Please contact us as soon as possible if you haven’t received either the email  or the form. The 12 bottles of beer have been donated by our friends at Hop Hideout who have selected 12 top quality craft beers showcasing the best in modern brewing. Based on Abbeydale Road in Sheffield, (next to The Broadfield) Hop Hideout is an excellent bottle shop which also features 2 draught pumps for drinking on the premises. Visit the website www.hophideout.co.uk for more details of their range of world beers.

Vote for your favourite beers!

Posted on by Andy Cullen
It’s last calls for CAMRA members to vote for their favourite beers from Yorkshire and the East Midlands to be entered into the Champion Beer of Britain competition. The voting deadline is Sunday 1st November and the vote is conducted online at www.cbobvoting.org.uk, you will need to log in with your membership number and password (default password is your postcode). The beers in each category with the most votes will then be judged at various beer festivals over the coming year, with regional winners put forward into the national competition and you never know – a beer you supported could be being named as Champion Beer of Britain at the Great British Beer Festival in two years time!

Heritage Open Day pub walk

Posted on by Andy Cullen
The September 2015 Heritage Open Days included a short walking tour around some central Sheffield pubs of architectural merit. We started at Fagans and went to the Grapes via a short stop outside the Dog and Partridge. After a refreshment break, we passed Bloo88, The Beehive, The Red Deer and The Bath Hotel before completing the walk at The Swim Inn. En route, other local heritages sights were noted. Dating from the 1820’s, Fagans was known as ‘The Barrel’ until the retirement, in 1985, of Joe Fagan, who was Tetleys longest serving landlord. He was succeeded by the current landlord, Tom Boulding. Tom, kindly provided some insight from his many years of experience. This three-roomed pub retains much of an early 1950s refitting and the gable end includes recent a Pete McKee project, ‘The Snog.’ We then strolled up Bailey Lane, passing STANCH, a life-size statue of a pointer dog before reaching Trippet Lane and discussing the influence of Thomas Rawson and Duncan Gilmour 2nd. on the development of Sheffield pubs. Thomas Rawson Brewery Porter Ad c1900 Thomas Rawson Brewery c1860 Thomas Rawson & Company was the first non-London brewer, to brew Porter. At one point, they employed Samuel Plimsoll (1824-98) as a £1.00/week clerk. Plimsoll is best known for his invention of the Plimsoll line which appears on shipping world-wide. Grapes The Grapes, dating from ~1900, is the best surviving example of a pub built by Thomas Rawson, preserving the essentials of its original layout. For example, the room on the left has many features including, tilework, fireplace, art deco ceiling light and glasswork. Grapes The Dog and Partridge includes one room which retains both old fixed seating and bell pushes in the wood panelling. There is also ‘DOG & PARTRIDGE GILMOURS WINDSOR ALES & STOUTS’ raised lettering on the fascia. Duncan Gilmour 1st. established a wine and sprit business in 1858. His son expanded the business into an empire. It is his name which can be seen in many pubs round the city, including: ‘The New Barrack,’ ‘The Rutland,’ ‘The Three Tuns’ and ‘The White Lion.’ In 1892 Gilmours took over United Breweries in Liverpool (Midland Brewery and Windsor Brewery). The company then rebranded to Gilmour’s Windsor acquiring another local brewing business, William Greaves & Co, in 1920. Thomas Rawson were taken over in 1946. Duncan Gilmour 2nd. died in July 1937. In 1954, Gilmour Windsor were acquired by Leeds based, Joshua Tetley and Son Ltd. when they owned 144 Sheffield pubs and 350, plus the Windsor Brewery, (Liverpool). Lady’s Bridge Brewery was wound up in 1964. The site is now occupied by Sheffield Magistrate Court. Continuing, we passed West Street Live. For many years, this was a Stones pub, the ‘West Street Hotel.’ The exterior is a fine example of the 1930’s fad towards ‘Brewer’s Tudor.’ To match the inter-war love of fake Tudor houses, brewers were keen to build mock Tudor pubs. At the time, they believed this style would add respectability. IMG_6006 Stones brewery (William Stones Ltd) was founded in 1868 and purchased by Bass in 1968. The brewery closed in 1999 and is currently due for demolition. Stones Bitter was brewed at the Cannon Brewery from 1948. The beer’s popularity reached its peak in 1992 when it was the country’s highest selling bitter, selling over a million barrels. The 1994-96 “Sheffield Gold” advertising campaign was set in a steel foundry. However, it was filmed in the Czech Republic because Sheffield’s own foundries were considered to be too clean for the desired effect. Further along West Street, Bloo88 has a distinctive tiled exterior which celebrates a long closed Sheffield Brewery and the original name of the pub: ‘Greaves & Co. Hallamshire Hotel.’ The company was originally established as ‘Hazlehurst and Greaves’ in about 1860. In 1880, the name was changed to ‘William Greaves and Company.’ Their Norfolk Brewery sat on the hill behind Midland Station. IMG_4666 2 Greaves Norfolk Brewery c1860 The Beehive Hotel was originally two rooms, on either side of the current right building. It was opened out in the 1980’s and subsequently extended to include the next door Glossop Road Post Office when it had a spell as the ‘Foundry and Firkin.’ The original painted sign is still visible at top of building. The first public baths in the city were opened, in 1836, on Glossop Road, following the 1832 cholera epidemic . The complex was rebuilt from 1877 to 1879 including an indoor swimming pool, a Turkish bath suite and a hairdresser. In 1898, it was bought by the city council and a ladies’ bath was added. The facade was rebuilt in 1908-1910. After a period of decline at the end of the 20th.century and the closure of the baths, the building was largely converted to flats, with a Wetherspoons bar, Swim Inn in the former main swimming pool area. IMG_7557 The Bath Hotel stands at the sharp-angled corner of a mid-Victorian terrace and close to Glossop Road Baths – from whom the name derived. Acquired by the Burton brewers Ind Coope in 1914, it was remodelled and extended next door by them in 1931 and, except for the loss of its off-sales (hence one disused outside doorway), its layout and fittings have scarcely altered since. The lounge-snug, at the corner, is a real delight, with simply-patterned leaded windows, curving leatherette bench seating, and hole-in-the-wall serving hatch. The larger main bar has some original fitments while the angled corridor, with its service opening for stand-up drinking, is just as it ever was. ‘The Bath’ was statutorily listed in 1999 following casework by CAMRA and a sensitive refurbishment two years later (2001) won it a prestigious national Pub Conservation Award (awarded jointly by English Heritage, the Victorian Society and CAMRA). Since 2012, it has been operated by Thornbridge Brewery. This walk will be repeated, as a Sheffield CAMRA event on Tuesday 17th May 2016 (20:00 start @ Fagans). It will also be included in the Sheffield 2016 HOD programme.

Vote for the best local beers!

Posted on by Andy Cullen
Last month the winner of this year’s Champion Beer of Britain was announced as Tiny Rebel Cwtch – the final of this competition is judged at the Great British Beer Festival in London. However the whole process of picking a winner takes about a year and a half, with the beginning of the process involving all CAMRA members being offered the chance to vote for the best beers brewed in their region. Members of Sheffield & District CAMRA can vote for breweries in Yorkshire, the North East and the East Midlands, members of Dronfield CAMRA can vote for breweries in the East Midlands. You are asked to pick the top 5 beers in each category from a drop down list. To vote, log in with your membership number and password (default password is your postcode) at www.cbobvoting.org.uk. The voting deadline is 1st November. Let’s support our local brewers!

Cider Pub of the Year

Posted on by Andy Cullen
The 2016 CAMRA Cider Pub of the Year competition has now opened for nominations. Anyone in Sheffield can nominate Sheffield pubs that promote real cider and sell a good quality range, the deadline to nominate pubs is 30th November and this can be done online by logging on to www.camra.org.uk/cider-poty-nominations. Sheffield CAMRA branch will then judge all the pubs entered in our area and pick the best one to put forward to be judged in the Yorkshire county round, which is the route into the national competition. The previous few years the Sheffield winner has been the Harlequin on Nursery Street -will their ongoing efforts be offer decent cider go rewarded or will a new cider hero be found?

Pub Preservation Pieces – with Dave Pickersgill

Posted on by Andy Cullen

ACV update

Sheffield and District CAMRA have piloted a national CAMRA scheme which encourages branches to nominate pubs in their area as Assets of Community Value (ACV). We nominated eleven pubs, ten in Sheffield and one in the Derbyshire Dales. Derbyshire Dales have approved our application to list The Red Lion (Litton) as an ACV. RED PUBS MATTER.JPG However, Sheffield City Council, who also received the applications in late June responded with a series of further questions. They have since stated that decisions will be made by 24th.October. The ten pubs are a mix of heritage, suburban, city centre and rural. Once Sheffield has ruled on these applications, we will review our position and may submit more pubs for ACV status. Currently only two Sheffield pubs, the Castle (Bolsterstone) and the Plough (Crosspool) have ACV listing. In our wider ‘district,’ the Red Lion has joined the Angel (Spinkhill) and the Anglers Rest (Bamford). Once a pub is ACV listed, planning permission is required for any change of use or demolition. The ACV listing scheme is open to all CAMRA branches. Each branch can use this assistance to nominate up to ten pubs/month. The branch provides basic details, then CAMRA nationally, complete the paperwork, check ownership, obtain ground plans and paid the fee. After checking the details and adding more information, the branch then submits the completed documentation to the appropriate Local Authority. Four workshops are planned for CAMRA branches. These will discuss how to access CAMRA’s Support Service and will also hear from other Branches leading the way with ACV nominations. Sheffield CAMRA will be represented at the first workshop which is in Manchester on 3rd. October. Nationally, Communities Pubs Minister Marcus Jones has presented the first ‘Badge of Honour’ to an ACV-listed pub. To date, more than 800 pubs have achieved ACV status. The first new badge – declaring ‘This Pub Matters’ – was presented to Tina Massie of The Red Lion, Knotty Green, Buckinghamshire, at the recent Great British Beer Festival which was held, in London, at Olympia. The initiative is a joint venture between the Campaign for Real Ale and the Department for Communities & Local Government. More information is available at: CAMRA – List your Local CAMRA – Nominating as a CAMRA branch Sheffield City Council – Assets of Community Value Derbyshire Dales District Council – Community Right to Bid

Listing for post-war pubs?

Historic England seeks details of pubs that could lead to them getting listed status: Heritage body Historic England is seeking details of the nation’s pubs for a research project that could lead to more getting listed status. It particularly wants to hear about pubs built or rebuilt between 1945 and 1985 as part of a new thematic review. The project, which could last up to two years, could then recommend additions to the 11 post-war pubs that already have listed status. Historic England said: “Currently, post-war pubs are a severely threatened building type, with many being converted to other uses or demolished altogether. Through this project we are aiming to help people understand and appreciate these buildings, and hopefully to help protect them.” The buildings nominated need not be still used as a pub and could have been closed, altered or even demolished. Historic England said the information would help ensure “the knowledge of post-war pubs across England is as complete and up-to-date as possible”. Currently just two post-war public houses are listed in their own right – the former Lord High Admiral in Pimlico, London, which is now in use as an Argentinian restaurant and Jack Straw’s Public House in Hampstead, London, which replaced an 18th century pub destroyed during the Blitz. Another eight post-war pubs are currently listed as part of wider development schemes: The Shakespeare – part of the Barbican Estate in London; The Pimlico Tram, Westminster; the former Crowders Well – part of the Barbican estate in London; The Earl George, The Link, The Scottish Queen and The Parkway at the Park Hill estate, Sheffield; The Pride of Pimlico in Westminster and The Cock Tavern at Smithfield Market in London. Suggestions can be emailed to jo.bradley@HistoricEngland.org.uk.
Pub company Punch Taverns has announced it is to sell 158 of its pubs. The Burton headquartered firm has agreed to sell 158 outlets to New River Retail for £53.5 million. The move is part of the firm’s strategy to sell its non-core pubs at a rate of about 200 a year. Following the sale, Punch will have 2,900 “core” pubs and 550 non-core pubs. New River Retail is a specialist real estate investment trust (REIT) focussed on the UK food and value retail sector. The proceeds will be used to reduce Punch’s debt. It is feared that New River will convert many of the pubs into stores. In November 2013, Marston’s, sold 202 pubs to New River.
Proposals have been submitted to Sheffield City Council to turn The Market Inn, on Wortley Road, High Green, into a business centre, as well as building 14 houses on the surrounding land. And under separate plans developers want to convert The Ball Inn, on Myrtle Road, Heeley, into five apartments, while also putting up a four-storey building with 15 flats. Under The Market Inn scheme, the pub building will be retained, with the interior rearranged to create several office suites. The Ball would be turned into five two-bedroom flats. The new building will be constructed to the rear of the site, offering 15 two and three-bedroom flats.  

Good Beer Guide 2016

Posted on by Andy Cullen
The new edition of the national CAMRA Good Beer Guide book is due to be published this month and is the perfect buy – or Christmas gift for – the person that travels around the UK and wants to know where is recommended for good beer. It features the best pubs in each area, as selected by local CAMRA branches. GBG 2016 COVER Additionally, unique to the Good Beer Guide, it also features a section listing all the current breweries in Britain producing real ale with details of their regular beers. Copies can be ordered through the CAMRA online shop (follow link from www.camra.org.uk) as well as the usual book outlets. Additionally we will have a limited stock to sell at our October branch meetings with a members discount.