The Anchor Inn can be found just outside Tideswell on the crossroads where the B6049 road from Great Hucklow to Tideswell meets the busy A623 Chesterfield to Manchester road. It is owned by Robinsons Brewery of Stockport and leased to Atlantik Inns, the company run by Rick Ellison that also operates the Old Hall Hotel in Hope, Peak Hotel in Castleton and Milton’s Tap in Buxton. It is a cosy country pub offering real ale, rum and home cooked food – plus it ticks the other boxes with an open fire and beer garden.
The Anchor was from early days a working farmstead, but because of its strategic position it developed into an Alehouse, becoming licensed in 1699. We might imagine it would have been a favourite stopping place for carriers, in packhorse days, but it became even more popular during the Turnpike Era. The road from Chapel en le Frith was turnpiked in 1749 as far as Peak Forest. This was extended in 1758 towards Chesterfield, and the Anchor stood at its crossing point with the turnpike from Sheffield to Buxton, leading to it becoming popular as a Coaching Inn. In 1788 the Sheffield Coach called here 3 times a week, and in 1800 the Buxton & Sheffield “Telegraph” likewise. Then in the early 19th century, for instance in 1835, Pigot’s Directory records the Champion (from Nottingham to Manchester) calling at the Anchor every day at 12:30, whilst its “sister” coach, the Champion from Manchester to Nottingham, passed through in the opposite direction at the same time.
This old pub was in need of something of a fettle including rewiring so the opportunity has been taken to close for a full renovation and refurbishment. We are told work has been progressing on schedule, keep an eye on their Facebook page for latest updates including the announcement of the reopening party! In the meantime, here is a gallery of the work going on there.
UPDATE! The bar reopens on Friday 8 April 5pm with the restaurant opening the following day.
A couple of planning applications of interest. The first is the former White Hart at Oughtibridge, which ceased trading around the time the road was closed due to a landslip and was converted into a bridal wear shop, the planning application is to turn the building back into a pub. The other application is to open a new wine bar at 43-45 West Street which will see a number of shop units converted.
Stocksbridge RUFC‘s clubhouse has now reopened following refurbishment.
Work creating the Boston Arms at Woodseats is well underway with this new micropub due to open in the spring. It is on two floors and will operate as a café in the daytime offering hot drinks and baked goodies then from 4pm it will be a bar with real ale and other craft beers.
The Dorothy Pax held a fundraiser for War Child UK and Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukrainian Humanitarian Appeal on 17 March. Abbeydale Brewery, Triple Point Brewery, Mikkeller and James Clay & Sons all donated drinks for the event with proceeds from selling them at the bar going to the appeal, there was also a raffle and live music.
Between 8 and 13 March Thornbridge’s tap pubs donated 10% from the sale of every pint of Jaipur IPA to the British Red Cross Ukraine Appeal.
Another sign of pub life being back to normal after two years of Covid restrictions – the Dog & Partridge celebrated St Patrick’s Day in the normal style!
TheScarsdale Hundred at Beighton (near Crystal Peaks, a short walk from the Beighton tram stop) has been running various real ale focused events including a Beermats Brewing Co tap takeover starting on the 14 March and coming up is a Thornbridge Meet the Brewer on 24 March starting at 3pm. They are participating in the national Wethersopoon Real Ale festival starting 30 March with up to 9 beers from the list available at a time.
The Ship Inn at Shalesmoor has reopened under new management.
The Shiny Sheff is under old management! Paul & Phil have moved back there with a 5 year lease with Marstons and plan on reintroducing the Quiz night & karaoke.
The Masons Arms at Crookes has reopened and by the time you read this real ale should be available.
The Bath Hotel closes as a Thornbridge pub after 23rd April. After a short break it is expected to reopen under new management. The pub continues under the same ownership of Brian the previous landlord and had been leased to Thornbridge for the last 10 years
It’s always good to see a new bar opening, particularly when there’s an interesting bit of local history attached to it. Opening in September last year, Grafters Bar popped up in Neepsend, just by Peddler Market and opposite Sheffield Brewery. However drinkers may not know that it’s origins started way up north in Dundee. Footballing brothers, Jim and Tom McAnearney left their home town to sign for Sheffield Wednesday in 1951, and it was Jim who set up an engineering business in the city after a long career which also included managing Rotherham United and Hallam FC.
The business is still in the family (now PJ McAnearney Machine Tools) and operating from premises in Percy Street. It was a small unused area of those premises that gave grandsons Brad and Ash an idea. Why not become part of the ever-growing beer scene in the area? Despite no experience other than occasional bar work the pair threw themselves into the task of transforming the derelict L-shaped plot into a distinctive outdoor bar. With help from their parents, Paul and Tonia, the family did lots of the work themselves, from initial plot design, to building the furniture. It was all this hard work that gave them the name – Grafters.
Says Brad “From the outset, we knew we had to have a decent beer offer, being so close to Kelham, and we wanted to have a local emphasis as well. We usually have something from Abbeydale Brewery and often feature other local favourites such as Triple Point, Bradfield, Neepsend and more.”
Their five taps have a rotating range of beers, although one is usually reserved for a lager. The others feature a cider tap, guest keg beers and two cask taps. The lack of handpumps throws a few people but it’s real ale being served through the cask taps.
“We also have a big selection of bottles and cans in the fridges” continues Brad “including a few non-alcoholic options. It’s been a steep learning curve since we started, but the response has been fantastic, and we’re really pleased with how things are going. We’re now looking at putting on a few events such as tap takeovers and meet-the-brewer sessions.” Brad is also part of the Antics comedy group, so who knows, we might even see a comedy night at Grafters.
It’s a great outdoor space, and has overhead heaters for nights where it’s a bit chilly. I’d recommend trying it out before summer hits though. As soon as the warm weather arrives it’s going to be even more popular.
You can find more information about Grafters Bar on their Facebook page or on Instagram.
Andrew McCloy tells the stories of some unusual former pubs and beerhouses
High up on the Peak District moorland west of Sheffield, beyond Lodge Moor, are the three small Redmires reservoirs. They were constructed between the 1830s-50s to provide drinking water for the growing city. What looks like a memorial stone in the roadside wall between the middle and upper reservoirs is in fact the surviving sign from a beerhouse called the Grouse and Trout, which used to stand near here. The sign features a grouse and three trout, and – although it’s hard to make out – the Latin inscription Ich Dien Dinner which translates as “I serve dinner”. There was another beerhouse, called Ocean View, established nearby in the 1840s, both offering refreshments for the navvies digging the reservoirs. Ocean View closed in the 1880s, but the Grouse and Trout continued into the early years of the 20th century and was supposedly closed and later demolished after the moorland owner feared that the new influx of sightseers and tourists served by the pub would disrupt his shooting.
Grouse & Trout
Another noteworthy but long-gone beerhouse could once by found at Castleton in the Hope Valley and was located at the entrance to the gaping mouth of Peak Cavern, also known more colloquially as the Devil’s Arse. The ample space and damp conditions made it popular with rope-makers, and at the turn of 1800 the cavern’s 60ft-high mouth supported several dwellings, including a beerhouse, which in 1830 became Slack’s Mineral Shop selling Blue John and other local knick-knacks.
Heading back towards Sheffield, until around 1900 you could enjoy a drink in the Cross Daggers at High Bradfield, which because it was located near the gates of St Nicholas Church was nicknamed Heaven’s Parlour or Heaven’s Gate. It was a popular haunt of the navvies working on the local reservoirs, so much so that it ended up losing its licence because they kept fighting all the time. After this it was used as a vestry, a registry office, a school and then a post office, before finally becoming a private residence.
The former Ashopton Inn in the Upper Derwent Valley faced a more conclusive end, however. It was built in 1824 as a halt for coaches on the Sheffield to Glossop turnpike, a chance to change horses and make preparations for the long haul over the Snake Pass. But the Derwent Valley Water Board earmarked the narrow valley for giant new reservoirs and in 1943 the villages of Derwent and Ashopton, including the Ashopton Inn, were emptied and mostly demolished so that building work on the massive new Ladybower dam could begin. The Board, which had purchased the inn from the Duke of Devonshire in 1902, did look into the possibility of rebuilding Ashopton Inn on a new site, but in the end the licence was transferred to separate premises at New Mills, and Ashopton and its ruined pub were permanently submerged beneath 27,500 mega litres of water.
Andrew is author of Peak District Pubs: A Pint Sized Social History, published by Gritstone Publishing in 2020. Copies are available to buy on their website.
The Bear came out top in the recent Pints of Sheffield “Battle of the Boozers” vote. We called in to see what earned them the victory.
Despite only been open since June 2021, the Bear has already made a name for itself. Based on Abbeydale Road, in the premises formerly occupied by the Rude Shipyard café, it’s part of an area that is rapidly becoming a beer destination to rival Kelham Island.
Owner Matt Beety had long had a desire to open a bottle shop/bar, and finding himself out of work after a 20 year career in Education gave him the final push to do just that. Opening in the middle of a pandemic would seem to be a crazy idea, but Matt says it’s not been a problem. “I originally planned it to be a bottle shop with people calling in to buy a few cans, and maybe me doing home deliveries, which I could make work financially. However it soon became obvious that it was more of a bar, with people staying in for a few drinks, as well as taking home cans and growlers.”
It was a steep learning curve with Matt having no bar experience at all prior to opening. But sheer enthusiasm carried him through, and talking to him now as he serves customers in between questions it’s obvious he’s a natural barman, being as much interested in his customers as the beers. “It’s a great crowd of regulars” admits Matt, “and not just locals, but a range of people making the trip to see us. And winning the Pints of Sheffield competition brought in a wave of new people.” At each stage of the competition Matt came up against some real heavyweights in the Sheffield Beer Scene and was amazed to end up the eventual winner. Pangolin, Rutland Arms, Hallamshire House, Broadfield and Shakespeares were all seen off to clinch the title. “These are all great pubs that I’ve been visiting for years, so it’s nice to know our customers see us in the same light.”
Things have picked up so much now that Matt has brought in an extra member of staff, Lucy, who has previously worked at Walkley Beer Company.
The bar has six taps, one of which is capable of dispensing cask beer, which is something Matt is considering in the future. “I’m keen to always have a good range. There’s usually a stout, a lager and an IPA, and I try to have a GF beer on tap as well. Favourite breweries at the moment are Missing Link and Beak, and locally, Triple Point and Abbeydale.”
The Bear has a monthly quiz with a £30 bar tab up for grabs, although you’ll need to book, and a few tap takeovers planned. The next one is a ticketed event in March featuring the brewer from Missing link. If you’ve not already been to the Bear, I’d recommend you go as soon as you can, and say CAMRA sent you. You’ll not regret it.
*Haha. That’s terrible. Free pint to anyone giving me a worse headline.
In the last issue of Beer Matters, as many of you were buying the Good Beer Guide (GBG) 2022 as Christmas presents, we looked back at which Sheffield pubs were in the 1995 edition and how many are still with us. Now, as we invite members to help choose which pubs will be awarded a place in the 2023 guide, we have another look back to 1995 for a closer look at the City Centre pubs featured.
Bath Hotel
The Bath Hotel on Victoria Street is first up and as an unspoilt heritage pub has changed little today and is still in the guide although it has benefited from a sympathetic refurbishment and updated toilets. Back in 1995 the beer range included Wards Best Bitter, Tetley Bitter, Ind Coope Burton Ale and a guest whilst today the pub is leased by Thornbridge Brewery with a range of their beers on the bar.
Brown Bear
The Brown Bear is another classic pub from the 1995 guide that hasn’t changed much in terms of layout, this has also had a significant investment from its current owners, Samuel Smith’s Brewery, in a sympathetic renovation of the building and internal refurbishment. Under its old ownership this two roomed traditional boozer used to be known for being wallpapered with theatre posters making visitors from the neighbouring Crucible and Lyceum theatres feel at home and the beer range in 1995 included Courage Directors Bitter, Marstons Pedigree, Ruddles County, John Smiths Bitter and Magnet along with a guest. Nowadays there is just the one cask beer – Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Bitter.
Bat at Fagans
Staying on the theme of classic Sheffield City Centre pubs that remain unchanged today, Fagans on Broad Lane hasn’t even changed management with long serving couple Tom and Barbara still in charge! In 1995 it was described as a lively, popular pub with a small snug and impromptu folk sessions. On the bar back then was Tetley Bitter and Ind Coope Burton Ale. 2022 still sees the pub in the GBG, the Burton Ale has been replaced with Abbeydale Moonshine and Tetley’s Bitter has more recently substituted with Timothy Taylor’s Landlord! The pub also still features folk music and food is served lunchtimes and teatimes.
The next pub listed in the 1995 guide is the Harlequin – although not the current one of that name (which used to be called the Manchester Hotel), this one was located on Johnson Street and was demolished to make way for the inner ring road. The Harlequin was a traditional street corner local noted for having a pot bellied stove in the tap room, it also had a second room with a pool table and beer was from Wards Brewery.
The Lord Nelson on Arundel Street still survives despite changes happening around it in that part of town. It isn’t surrounded by as many “little workshops” as it was back in 1995 but it remains a traditional street corner local. Back then it was a Hardy & Hanson’s pub, now it is a free-house.
Moseley’s Arms at West Bar in 1995 was in the GBG and serving draught Bass and Stones Bitter. It was described as a superbly renovated pub with three comfortably furnished rooms and a friendly atmosphere plus an upstairs function room with a pool table. While the building still stands in 2022, it is no longer a pub.
Red Deer
The Red Deer is a pub that was in the GBG until last year when there was some Covid related uncertainty surrounding it, although the good news is a new tenant took over the pub with the same staff and manager so little has changed. In fact the pub is very similar to how it was in 1995 other than it being redecorated over the years and the beer range changing. Back then the choices in this former Tetley house included Alloa Arrol’s 80/-, Ind Coope Burton Ale,Wards Best Bitter and a guest ale along with Tetley’s Bitter, Mild and Imperial.
Rutland Arms
The Rutland Arms on Brown Street in 1995 was described as a City Centre gem in a resurgent cultural corner where, behind a distinctive Gilmour’s frontage, lies a comfortable lounge and a cosmopolitan clientele! The beer range back then included Ind Coope Burton Ale, Marston’s Pedigree, Tetley Bitter and Younger No. 3, food was served lunchtime and evening and bed & breakfast accommodation was offered. The pub remains in the guide today although the upstairs rooms are gone and the beer range is a little more exotic!
The Tap & Spile was quite the real ale showcase pub back in 1995 with ten changing ales plus cider. The main room was a large bar with exposed brickwork and bare boards along with a side room which was no smoking at lunchtime when food was served. There has been a pub on the site since 1790. It was rebuilt in 1927 as the tap for the nearby Gilmour Brewery and, in 1992, become part of the Tap & Spile chain. Sadly the pub had since fallen on harder times. It had a subtle change of name to the Tap & Barrel when it was re-themed in 1998 and has since gone through the ownership of both Pubmaster and Ei group. It is no longer trading.
Live music at the Washington
Finally, the Washington on Fitzwilliam Street. It was in the GBG 1995 described as a pub with two comfortably furnished rooms that is a popular meeting place which serves lunches Monday to Friday. The beers on the bar back then were Ind Coope Burton Ale, Tetley Bitter and Tetley Mild. Although the pub isn’t currently in the guide, it is still going strong with a range of real ales on the bar including the ever popular Abbeydale Moonshine, it is more music focused now with live bands and DJs. It no longer opens at lunchtime but stays open until 3am most nights and is popular with the late night crowd. The pub retains a two room plus beer garden layout with one of the rooms still a comfortable lounge, the other now has a DJ box and dance floor plus much simpler furniture. It has also seen recent investment upgrading the outdoor area.
After a tumultuous 2021, Sheffield Beer Week sees a welcome return to the city, 7-13 March 2022. The event will be a much-needed boost for the city, the hospitality and brewing sector.
Sheffield Beer Week’s ongoing strands include Beer & Food, Community & Heritage; with additional 2022 strands including our Harrogate Beer Week collaborative focus, creating welcoming spaces for everyone in the beer scene with Out & About (@outandaboutsheff) and International Women’s Day events and celebrating our access to vital green spaces under The Outdoor City banner.
There’ll be a continued intertwining via a hybrid of online and in-person elements with a key online talk exploring beer and brewing research with leading international professionals. From Lars Marius Garshol (Norwegian farmhouse brewing), Dr Christina Wade (Irish beer history), Ron Pattinson (beer historian), Tim Holt (Brewery History Society) and the Sheffield Feminist Archive. Our collaborative partnership with Harrogate Beer Week will showcase North Yorkshire breweries in South Yorkshire with a friendly cross-county beer week focal point, highlighting the positive nature of beer tourism.
Sheffield breweries Heist Brew Co. and Lost Industry will be brewing up beers for International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day (@IWCBD/unitebrew.org) on International Women’s Day – 8 March (look out for additional events). As Visit Sheffield’s The Outdoor City hosts a month long celebration of the green spaces and adventure trails in the city through March, Sheffield Beer Week will showcase beer and history walks (via local historian Dave Pickersgill, editor of CAMRA’s Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs), a running and beer social club and highlight the ‘Right to Roam’ campaign (righttoroam.org.uk) alongside the 90th anniversary of the Kinder Mass Trespass with Sunday Times best-selling author Nick Hayes (The Book of Trespass), Brewery of St Mars of the Desert, Sheffield Beer Week and Hop Hideout.
On the weekend of 4-5 March, to kick-off the week, Sheffield’s craft beer festival, Indie Beer Feast launches. A celebration of great independent craft beer with brewery bars, street food, low intervention wines and fine cider. The beer festival champions and supports The Everyone Welcome initiative. British Guild of Beer Writers’ member and leading UK award-winning beer writer Adrian Tierney-Jones will be heading up to host pop-up tastings and to judge the Indie Beer Feast Beer of the Festival; this year’s theme is hope. Breweries pouring include Sheffield outfits St Mars of the Desert, Lost Industry and Abbeydale. Plus bars from Women on Tap showcasing female led breweries and beer collaborations and Craft Beer Newcastle highlighting a myriad of brilliant breweries from the North East. In addition to Manchester’s Pomona Island, Liverpool’s Neptune, Derbyshire’s Torrside and Pentrich, Norfolk’s Duration, Cheshire’s Mobberley Brewhouse, Nottingham’s Black Iris, Wales’ Wilderness, Scotland’s Fyne Ales and Donzoko Brewing, London’s Rock Leopard and North Yorkshire’s Turning Point Brew Co. They’ll also be a bigger focus on cider with both Ross and Hogan’s hosting bars and low intervention wines with Naturally Wines showcasing their Italian portfolio.
For details of public transport options linking the venues head over to Travel South Yorkshire. “CityWide” All day and weekly unlimited travel passes that work on all the buses and trams in the city are available from Travelmaster.
Another new micropub has opened in the Hillsborough area. The Beekeepercan be found at 61 Middlewood Road, opposite B&M and near Hillsborough Park tram stop. It is open Thursday to Sunday with local beers available on cask and keg plus coffee (thanks to Richard Allen for the photo).
Itchy Pig‘s second micropub opened on Ecclesall Road South in Banner Cross on 18 February.
Meanwhile over in Woodseats a new micropub, the Boston Arms, has been given the go ahead by the council to open and is expected to be ready in April. The same people as the Boozehound craft beer bar in Cutlery Works food hall (which closes on 28 February) are behind it. As the former shop unit being converted is close to Woodseats Primary school the bar won’t be opening before 4pm on weekdays.
The Little John Hotel in Hathersage now has a new manager, Simon Smith, running the bar for the long established owners. Simon has experience running pubs for the likes of Mitchells & Butlers but now with a little more freedom has taken the opportunity to be more adventurous with the beer range both in terms of the cask selection and introducing craft beer options to the keg line up.
Breweries featured recently include Abbeydale, Ashover, Neepsend, Pentrich and Thornbridge, amongst others.
The Taphouse Barbar at Kelham Island unfortunately didn’t survive the Coronavirus pandemic, a new venue is opening in its place called the Chop House Bar & Grill. It is run by the same people as Butcher & Catch restaurant in Broomhill, however the food focus here will be more on the meat including steaks and rotisserie chicken. The bar will stock quality wines designed to go with the food along with local cask ales and cocktails.
Also in Kelham Island a new beer shop with a drink in option has opened in Kelham Island. Hymn to Ninkasi is located on the Little Kelham development, which is accessed next to the Fat Cat.
The former Stew & Oyster bar is no more. Following refurbishment it is now a Salt Brewery tap bar and the food offering is Bao buns.
The Yorkshireman pub on Cross Burgess Street has now been demolished. The pub is thought to be dated back to around 1790 but was apparently suffering structural issues. Sheffield City Council had compulsory purchased it and other buildings in the area as part of the Heart of the City regeneration project. The people that ran the pub until its closure have relocated to the former Mulberry Tavern on Arundel Gate which has been renamed the Yorkshireman Rock Bar.
There are still plans to open Rag N Tag on Shude Hill (between Sheffield Interchange and Ponds Forge), which is located in an arch underneath Commercial Street. This is a long abandoned space that was a pub called Barrow Boys many years ago. It is planned to be a rock bar with some live music, possibly also serving food. The target is to have it finished and open late summer/autumn this year, the delays in the building work have been partly due to Coronavirus restrictions but also issues with drainage from the road above and complications of there now being a tramway running over the structure!
Sheffield’s newest branch of JD Wetherspoon is now open at Beighton, near Crystal Peaks. The Scarsdale Hundred, is in the premises previously occupied by Damons restaurant.
The Dark Horse, a new microbar at Banner Cross, has now opened. Two cask beers are available along with all the other usual pub drinks and food is provided by Slap & Pickle Burgers.
The Royal Standard on St Mary’s Road (inner ring road) was sold off by Enterprise Inns at auction last year and has been stood closed for about a year or so now, but work has started to take place on the premises. The new owner is the company that runs Prime Pizza & Grill in Firth Park, however we do not know their plans for the building as yet.
The Three Cranes has been removed from the Sheffield’s Real Heritage Pubs guide following its conversion to a hotel (with bar) as all the original features have been ripped out in the process.
The Anchor near Tideswell is currently closed for renovation, including renewing the electrics.
The Lescar Hotel at Sharrow Vale and Two Thirds Beer Co. on Abbeydale Road both closed in January temporarily for a refurbishment.
A charity gig for NHS charities featuring a night of great music from rock to punk to blues is taking place upstairs at Shakespeares on 26 March. Promised is a night of giving back featuring great music from Kill Your Darlings (covers band playing great tracks from Weezer to Hives), The Hey Hounds (Americana blues rock) and Seconds to Go (Sheffield-based punk, post rock).
The Washington in Sheffield City Centre is hosting a music week from 31 January to 4 February. Each evening there will be live music from 8pm to around 10-11pm, followed by a DJ on until 3am. Real ale available.
In December 2021, the Frecheville was demolished without planning permission. The owners, Nelson’s Development & Construction Limited, had applied for planning permission for demolition and erection of a three-storey building to create 11 apartments (7 x 2 beds and 4 x 1 bed) with associated car park, bin store and landscaping works.
However, at the time of demolition, no decision had been made by Sheffield City Council regarding the planning application. We note comments from local residents regarding the planning application and recent press reports which quote local councillors.
The Carlton Tavern (Kilburn, London) sets a clear precedent for actions of this sort.
This 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. Earlier this year, having been totally rebuilt, it re-opened.
CAMRA Sheffield & District believe that Sheffield City Council should take a similar hard-line approach to that adopted by Westminster. Developers should not be allowed to demolish, without first achieving the appropriate planning permission.
Chesterfield CAMRA normally hold their annual beer & cider festival at the Winding Wheel theatre every February, the 2020 event was one of the last to take place before the first Coronavirus lockdown of March that year and of course the 2021 event could not take place.
Due to limited planning timescales and uncertainty with the pandemic, including the Winding Wheel being used as a vaccination centre, the festival in its normal format won’t be back until 2023.
For February 2022 the festival will be going walkabout with pubs in three areas of Chesterfield – Whittington Moor, the town centre and the Brampton mile – putting on events over the same weekend of 4th and 5th February.
Regular buses run from Sheffield to Chesterfield via Whittington Moor, the fastest being the X17, the others being 43, 44, 50 and 50a. The Brampton pubs are walkable from the town centre or various buses (84,90,X70) run along the Chatsworth Road.
