Category: Pubs

With the football season getting back into full swing, we take a trip around Sheffield to look at some of the real ale available around the grounds of each of the city’s clubs. Obviously there are too many pubs to list them all, so to avoid any possible accusations of favouritism we will be visiting the three closest hostelries to each ground that serve real ale according to our records (if you know differently, please let us know!). These places are not all necessarily frequented by football fans but can get very busy on matchdays, so if you want a quieter pint you may be better off visiting during the week.

Sheffield United – Bramall Lane

The closest of Sheffield’s clubs to the city centre, Bramall Lane has been in use as a sporting venue for more than 150 years. Its central location means there is a plethora of choices for discerning drinkers in the local area. Cricketers Arms: Situated directly opposite the the away fans’ turnstiles, the pub’s name references Bramall Lane’s history as a cricket ground, with cricket matches first being hosted there in 1855. The pub usually offers two real ales from local brewers such as Bradfield, Abbeydale and Stancill. Buses 18 and 252. Railway Hotel: Just 200 metres further down the road is the Railway Hotel, which has been run by Jack Cater since late 2015. Previously a “football pub” focused on lager, the change of ownership saw the introduction of real ale and cider, along with craft keg lines and a large bottle range. The Railway offers five real ales, many from local breweries, plus a real cider, and there is a very generous discount of 30p per pint available to CAMRA members. Buses 18 and 252. Sheaf House: Named after the football ground, Sheffield Wednesday’s home between 1877 and 1880, that was located on the site where the pub stands today, the Sheaf House of 2017 is a pub focused on games, with darts, pool and snooker all available. One real ale is on offer in the shape of Bradfield Farmer’s Blonde. Buses 18 and 252. Also within half a mile: Cremorne, Albion, Old Crown Inn, Clubhouse, Beer Engine, Sentinel Brewery, Royal Standard, Lord Nelson

Sheffield Wednesday – Hillsborough Stadium

Wednesday moved to their current location in 1899 having previously played in the Lowfield area of the city but being forced to find a new ground following the extension of the railways. Being a little further out, there aren’t quite as many pubs, but still plenty of choice for fans of real ale. Riverside Cafe: Just around the corner from Hillsborough Stadium, this is a modern, community-run cafe and pub offering four real ales from breweries such as Acorn, Bradfield and Great Heck alongside excellent food and an outdoor seating area overlooking, as its name suggests, the River Don. Buses 35, 38, 85, 97 and 98 or tram to Leppings Lane. Park: Another pub focused on food following its takeover by Sizzling Pubs in 2008, the Park is located about 250 metres from the football stadium, overlooking Hillsborough Park. One real ale is available, which at the time of CAMRA’s last visit was Wells’ Bombardier. Buses 35, 38, 85, 97 and 98 or tram to Leppings Lane. Old Crown: Very popular with Wednesday supporters on matchdays, the Old Crown can be found about 500m down Penistone Road from the stadium, near Owlerton greyhound track. The pub offers two changing real ales from guest breweries. Buses 7, 8 and 86. Also within half a mile: Railway, Castle Inn, Horse & Jockey

Hallam FC – Sandygate

Almost 250 metres above sea level on the western edge of Sheffield lies Sandygate, the home of Hallam FC since 1860, making it the oldest football ground in continuous use in the world. The plight of the Plough across the road from the stadium has been well documented, but real ale connoisseurs still have a number of options in the local area. Sportsman: A gastropub with a dedicated bar area, the Sportsman offers at least five real ales including Ember Inns’ own Pale Ale brewed by Black Sheep, plus rotating guests. Pub quizzes are hosted on Wednesdays and Sundays, while CAMRA members can also enjoy a discount of 20p per pint. Bus 51. Crosspool Tavern: Probably better known for its carvery than its real ale selection, the Crosspool Tavern nevertheless does offer cask beers, most recently Sharp’s Doom Bar and Black Sheep Best Bitter. A range of bottled beer is also available. Bus 51. Bull’s Head: A 10-minute walk down the hill in Ranmoor, the Bull’s Head is popular with real ale drinkers, offering regular beers from Abbeydale, Bradfield and Kelham Island breweries plus two changing guest beers. Entertainment includes live music on Saturday nights and a general knowledge quiz on Sundays. Bus 120. Also within half a mile: Ranmoor Inn, Florentine

Sheffield FC – Coach and Horses Ground

OK, so they might not play in Sheffield these days, but no article about the city’s football clubs would be complete without mentioning the oldest football club in the world still in existence. The club played at several grounds around Sheffield for almost 150 years before moving down the road to Dronfield in 2001. There are two pubs serving real ale within half a mile of the ground. Coach & Horses: This Thornbridge pub is located at the ground, so you can enjoy your pint while watching the football. One of the venues of the annual 3 Valleys Beer Festival, the pub offers five Thornbridge cask ales plus one guest cask, along with a range of keg and bottled beers. There is also a 20p per pint discount for CAMRA members. Victoria: This pub in Dronfield town centre was awarded Dronfield & District CAMRA’s “Most Improved Pub” award in 2013. There are up to six cask ales available, with all pints offered at a very reasonable £2.50 per pint on Mondays. Dominic Nelson

In an effort to reduce and eliminate single-use plastic things we no longer provide free drinking straws. Customers asking for drinking straws will now be asked to donate a minimum of 5 pence to charity. The first charity we are supporting through this initiative is Refuge, a domestic violence support group for women and children. So far, customer response has been wholly positive with most customers donating considerably more to the charity and not even accepting the plastic straw! Live music throughout September is: Saturday 2 September – Swear Box Saturday 9 September – Outside the Box Saturday 16 September – Bad Penny Saturday 23 September – Blaze Friday 29 September – Mahogany Newt Saturday 30 September – Band With No Name Pete Roberts

Stancill Brewery has confirmed the Albion will officially re-open its doors on Friday 28 July following an extensive refurbishment of the historic pub. Since receiving the keys to the building, which has been serving the people of Sheffield since the 1830s, Stancill has undertaken an extensive refurbishment of the interior, as well as overhauling The Albion’s large beer garden. Twenty new beer lines have been added to the bar which has ten hand pumps which will feature five Stancill ales as well as a changing selection of guest beers. Complementing the beer range, The Albion will stock a rotating selection of world beers. The refurbished bar pays homage to Sheffield’s industrial past in its styling and will feature artwork from local artists on the walls. CAMRA members can benefit from a 50p discount on all real ales sold within the bar as well as being able to take away your favourite beers to enjoy at home. The new venue will be managed by Stancill’s experienced pubs manager Katy Streets (pictured) and will offer a greater choice and variety of beers for the London Road area of the city. Thomas Gill, Managing Director of Stancill Brewery said: “The Albion is a pub which is something of a sleeping giant and when we were offered the chance to acquire it, we felt it would be a good fit with our future growth plans. We wanted to create a slightly different drinking environment from our existing pubs, reflecting its location whilst also offering something genuinely different to London Road and we look forward to giving a warm welcome to CAMRA members who can enjoy similar benefits to those found in our existing pubs.”

Just in time for Midsummer’s Day, the revamped beer garden at the Palm Tree at Walkley had its official opening. Sheffield Outdoor Living have changed the small sheltered area into a wonderful decked area with an outside bar and a children’s play area including a sand pit. The pub has free snooker on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and an open mic night on Thursday. Different events are planned throughout the summer, including some for charity, with live music at weekends. Tetley’s Bitter and Bradfield Farmer’s Blonde are the two regular real ales. John Beardshaw The Palm Tree is located at 35 Palm Street, Walkley, S6 2XF. Buses 31, 31a and 95 all stop on South Road, a couple of minutes’ walk from the pub.

The Cherry Tree on Carter Knowle Road has held three major music events over the last month.  Well known Sheffield band Jack’s Rake performed at two: the annual staff party for St Luke’s Nursing Home and ‘Music Sunday’, which now takes place the first Sunday in every month. Due to holidays, the next event will be on August Bank Holiday Sunday, when a full BBQ will be available. Although the pub currently does not have the ability to serve food, outside catering has been brought in for each event. Big audiences have attended them all and the atmosphere has been vibrant and fun. Meanwhile, the Cherry Tree/Co-op planning application saga rolls on. At the recent Sheffield planning committee meeting, councilors voted 10-0 in favour of keeping the pub and backing the planning officer’s decision to refuse the application. A big thank you to all those who took the time to visit the Sheffield planning portal and post your comments. The Co-op have appealed to the Secretary of State regarding planning issue, so this will now be decided by committee in Bristol, which takes two months. The value of the ACV status gained by the Cherry Tree in potentially protecting it from the planning application is now all the more obvious by the fact that Enterprise have chosen to ask Sheffield City Council for a review of the decision to award the ACV status. Ashley Ramsey The Cherry Tree is on Carter Knowle Avenue, Millhouses, S11 9FU. The number 6 bus serves the road regularly.

Running this lovely, local country pub is myself, Dave. This is the second time I’ve run this little pub, the first time being around nine years ago. I started out at the young age of 18 working for Ward’s Brewery in Sheffield, which gave me my love for real ale. I took the Arms back on in January 2015 working as a manager for somebody else, but it soon turned out that it wasn’t for him and wanted to leave. It then became apparant that the place was going to shut and get boarded up, which I couldn’t let happen as it’s been my local in one way or another for around 15 years, so I took on my own lease in April 2015. In that time we have redecorated twice and increased the cask ale range from one to now six cask ale pumps. We stock a huge range of real ale with the regulars being Bradfield Farmer’s Brown Cow and Robinson’s Dizzy Blonde. The rest are made up from a range of breweries from local ones like Bradfield, to Cross Bay in Morecambe and Maxim in Sunderland. We have a strong relationship with Robinson’s brewery, who have been really supportive in helping this little pub grow and for which I’m grateful. As well as the beer, we have a great range of other things going on. We hold bingo nights on a Mondaywhere every penny is paid back out in prizes. We also do a quiz night on a Wednesday which has proven to be very popular, with a gallon of beer given away every week. Alongside that we run “The Golden Cap”, which is basically a bag of bottle caps with one being gold. Pick the golden one and you’ve won the jackpot, which was £1000 the last time it was won. We hold a brilliant folk session on the last Thursday of each month, which is run by the Fates group and is proving highly popular.  Every Saturday night we have a live singer which ranges from a five piece band to some brilliant solo acts, we also do karaoke once a month just to break it up a little. On a Friday tea time we serve our home made gourmet burgers, including our now famous Wharncliffe Whopper (try it if you dare!). We also have a lovely riverside beer garden with swings and a slide for kids to play on. Coming up on Sunday 27 August from 1-7pm we have a special one-off live music festival in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, featuring Tony Walsh, Amy Carnall, Stevie Moore, Shades of Vinnie and more plus an outside bar and food. Please come along and support this great cause! Dave Briggs You can find the Wharncliffe Arms at 72 Main Road, Wharncliffe Side, Sheffield, S35 0DN. The number 57 bus from the city centre stops almost directly outside the pub, as does the SL1 Supertram link bus from Middlewood.

The Harlequin is delighted to have been shortlisted once again as a national finalist in the Great British Pub Awards. The pub is one of six venues across the country to have been shortlisted in the best cider bar/pub category. Judging for the final round is taking place over the summer, with the results announced at an awards ceremony in September. Landlady Liz Aspden said: “we’re up against some excellent and well established cider bars, and for a back-street pub in sheffield to have been shortlisted for the second year running is testament to our excellent selection of ciders and perries, and to the enthusiasm and hard work of the staff”. The pub stocks a minimum of 25 ciders alongside an excellent range of beers and spirits, so you’re sure to find something to suit your tastes. Speaking of tastes, The Harlequin is busy arranging a programme of tasting events over the summer. These popular and informative events can focus on beers, ciders, or spirits and start from just £15 per person for beer or cider, and from just £22 per person for spirits. All prices include drinks, snacks, and a talk about the history and development of the drinks. Tailored sessions are available on request for groups of six people or more; please contact the pub for additional details or to make bookings. Our live bands for August are as follows: Saturday 5 August – Rooster Thursday 10 August – Jazz and Swing night with Ralph Salt Friday 11 August – Deep in the Top Saturday 12 August – Slingshots Saturday 19 August – Blues Train