The bar at Crookes Social Club is now being run by Maurice Champeau, who some may remember from his role as bar manager at the Hearty Oak in Dronfield Woodhouse (from where he got made redundant when the pub closed).
Maurice has been set a challenge at the club to get a lot more beer drinkers in and increase membership, making the club a bigger success.
As well as the usual keg beers, lagers and ciders that is subject to a tied supply arrangement, he has introduced a selection of guest cask beers on handpump supplied by Stancill Brewery – Barnsley Bitter is always available with two other beers on rotation. On my visit I found the beer well kept and tasting great, the beer was also very reasonably priced.
Crookes Social Club is quite a big venue. There is a concert room and function room in addition to the two main bar rooms – the members lounge and the tap room. Anyone is welcome to drop into the tap room for a drink with no membership requirement and there is a friendly atmosphere. If you enjoy your time in the tap room you may consider joining up as a member, there are regular gigs at the club and they also play bowls, snooker and pool.
The club is on Mulehouse Road, which branches off the main road just after the Ball Inn, it is a few minute walk up the hill from here. Bus 52 drops off just before the Ball.
A beer festival is planned for November, the exact date is still to be confirmed at the time of writing but expect a range of beers from Yorkshire breweries sold at a reasonable price and a modest admission fee. Keep any eye on the club’s Facebook page or website.
Since Tracey and I took over as managers, 10 weeks ago, we have made quite a few changes. Neither of us are new to the pub as we have both worked here, as bar staff, for a few years and we both know the trade well.
One of the changes we have made is to the number of different guest cask ales which we have been able to put on since we got onto the SIBA listing. Recent ales include Abbeydale Moonshine, Greenfield Silver Owl, Thornbridge Wild Swan and Bradfield Farmers Blonde. Future cask beers on order include Acorn Barnsley Bitter, Peak Ales Chatworth Gold and Sheffield Crucible Best. We have as our resident cask ales Easy Rider and Doom Bar.
Another big change is our introduction of Sunday lunches which are cooked fresh on site, using meat from local farms provided by local butcher, Chris Beach. (Even the Yorkshire Puddings are cooked fresh!!)
We have continued with a live Band night on Friday evenings. Future bands include Fahrenheit, Mahogany Newt and Amelia Carter. The ever popular Wednesday Jam night also continues.
Amongst coming events in the planning are; a school disco fancy dress night on 27th September, Kids Halloween party during the day on 31st October and an adults Halloween party on the evening of the 31st October with fancy dress and Reservoir Rocks providing the live music. All the staff will dress as burlesque zombies for this event.
Heather Gamwells, Manager
The Tickled Trout, Barlow is the latest of our local pubs offering CAMRA discounts. Fot the record, these are:
Miners @ Hundall
Travellers Rest @ Apperknowle
Coach and Horses
Talbot Arms
Jolly Farmer
The Dove and Rainbow offers 10% off all local ales to CAMRA members, so what better place to seek refuge when the mass influx of new students hit the main bars and pubs for their first few weeks away from home. The Dove is a real haven in the center of town, with its brightly painted beer garden, and where you will often find live music as well as request-friendly DJs and a well stocked Rock juke box.
The Dove is very student-friendly too, and will be looking forward to welcoming Sheffield’s newest residents, as well as the returning students who have already discovered them, tucked away in Hartshead Square, just behind Pizza Hut and the Bankers Draft, by Castle Square tram stop. For the latest news and details of gigs and events etc, just add “Dove AndRainbow Page” as a friend on facebook and you’ll happily be welcomed into the friendly bunch of all ages who like to call the Dove their “local”. You can even bring your own food, making for a cheap pub lunch between lectures…
Halloween is one of the Dove’s biggest and best nights of the year, and this year it falls on a Friday, so you can expect a massive party with plenty of fancy dress and drinks offers to liven up proceedings!
cheers, Dawn
A recent planning application to Sheffield Council is a proposed ‘micro-pub’ to replace a former e-cigarette store at 623 Ecclesall Road (near Hunters Bar). The applicants say the concept is ‘keep it small, keep it simple’, with a limited range of real ales, ciders, soft drinks, wine, tea and coffee. If the planning application is approved, there will be no keg beer, no hot food, no amplified music, no TVs and no electronic games. The emphasis will be on “convivial conversation,” say John Harrison and Chris Sinclair in their submission. The pub would be open until 11 pm seven days a week, the application stating that: “the presence of loud and badly behaved persons is counterproductive to attracting the target patronage and their presence would be actively discouraged.”
Bedford brewery Wells & Young’s is to revert to its former name of Charles Wells. Wells & Young’s was created in 2006 with the closure of Young’s brewery in Wandsworth, London, and the merger of production with Charles Wells. Young’s has since withdrawn from the partnership to focus on pubs and the business is now entirely owned by Charles Wells, hence the reversion to the company’s previous name. Wells will continue to supply Young’s beers to its former partner.
Ten years ago, in August 2004, Kelham Island Pale Rider became Champion Beer of Britain (CBoB) at CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival. Twenty years ago, the winner was also from Yorkshire, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord was CBoB for the third time. This year, again from Yorkshire, Timothy Taylor’s Boltmaker. Who’s up for 2024?
Pop up German bar – Das Fat Cat @ 23b alma street. The Fat Cat will again be holding a small German beer festival starting from the 2nd of October , with a bit of live music and a bbq on Saturday night .
A ‘Hop Forward’ beer festival is to be held at the Bath Hotel on Victoria Street (off Glossop Road, a short walk from West Street or University tram stops) from 2nd to 5th October.
Wetherspoons next beer festival is to be held from 17th October to 2nd November.
The Three Merry Lads at Lodge Moor will be having a Spooky Walk in the Woods on October 31st. Barry the landlord, will be leading the walk in nearby woods telling spooky stories. Aimed at children accompanied by adults, the walk starts at 5pm followed by a buffet at 6.15 pm. On the bar will be Abbeydale Moonshine, Abbot Ale and a guest beer and cider.
The nearby Sportsman has had an exterior makeover including a new pub sign. Tetley Bitter and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord is joined by Taylors Havercake Ale, a 4.7% robust Yorkshire Ale
Fears that a Sheffield village pub could be eventually turned into a supermarket have been raised by concerned residents. Plans to make alterations to the closed Royal Oak pub on High Street, Beighton – including a single-storey side extension, removal of a stairway and car park alterations – have been approved by Sheffield Council. Documents submitted by the applicant Langar Estates say they intend to retain the premises for class A4 use, which covers drinking establishments, and that 10 staff will be employed. The ground floor will become a ‘modern restaurant/dining and bar room accommodation’. The pub has been closed since December.
However, some local residents fear other moves could be planned as the applicant for the case has purchased another pub in Manchester and turned it into a Tesco supermarket without the need for change-of-use approval. The applicant’s agent, Edgeplan, say they are not aware that the site would be used for retail.
Aubrey Hill, of Beighton, said: “Residents of Beighton were elated to hear The Royal Oak is to be revamped and reopened as a restaurant or pub. But are we being hoodwinked? Those named on the application have apparently been involved in buying up vacant village pubs which are then quickly converted into a Tesco Express before anyone can create a fuss. Apparently they are able to do this without applying for any change of use. I believe old, traditional pubs, like The Royal Oak, should be kept as an asset for the community if at all possible and not as an asset for the greedy supermarket chains.”
Sheff Brew Fest is a group of beer loving individuals who have come together inspired by the fresh crop of independent beer festivals popping up across the UK from London to Liverpool.
Their first event is a lovingly curated, hop forward beer festival to be held at The Bath Hotel on Victoria Street from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th October 2014. The event will feature more than 20 specially selected draught beers from around the country, a wide range of hard to find and international bottled craft beers and a hand-picked selection of quality ciders.
Festival organiser, Jules Gray explains, “As individuals and as a group we’re excited by Sheffield and Yorkshire breweries on our door step. We’re also energised when you search out and find fresh, interesting beers from further afield. We wanted to showcase a good mix of the two together under one roof. Beer is so diverse, with its multitude of styles and it’s about coming together to celebrate that.”
The objective is to host fundraising pop-up beer events in the run up to a larger scale beer festival in October 2015. The Bath Hotel is a beautiful heritage pub known for having a well selected range of cask ales and provides the perfect back drop for this first event.
The festival starts at 5pm Thursday and is open all day over the weekend.
Examples of breweries showcased include: Buxton Brewery, Magic Rock, On the Edge, Steel City, Quantum, Anarchy, Black Jack, Weird Beard, Wild Beer Co., Thornbridge, De Molen, Siren, Founders, Odell, Rogue, Beavertown, Burning Sky, The Kernel, Arbor, Ilkley, Moor and 3 Fonteinen.
The Sheff Brew Fest team includes members from Sheffield Homebrew Club (@SheffBrewClub), Edd Entwistle (manager of The Bath Hotel), Sean Clarke (Beer Central @BeerCentralLtd) & Jules Gray (Hop Hideout @HopHideout).
Maurice Champeau is the new manager at the Crookes Social Club, some will know him from his days as bar manager at the Hearty Oak in Dronfield Woodhouse. Plans are afoot to improve the real ale range at the club, more next month!
The Tickled Trout in Barlow reopened after extensive refurbishment on August 5th. Owners Derek and Chris Mapp, together with their management team of Margaret Robbin, Tom Schofield and Lauren White welcome all customers, both old and new, to the much improved premises. Four real ales are available on handpump. Regular is Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. there will be three guest beers at all times. At the reopening these were Oldershaw Heavenly Blonde (an excellent sample was enjoyed), Abbeydale Moonshine and Welbeck Abbey Portland Black. Quality food is served daily (pub closed Mondays).
The Bowhsaw Inn (Toby Carvery) at Bowshaw roundabout near Dronfield reopened after refurbishment in mid-July.
A planning application to replace the car park in front of the Robin Hood pub in Millhouses with an outdoor space have been rejected by Sheffield Council Planning Committee. The planning application was to pave the area and install a heated ‘jumbrella.’ Almost 30 residents objected as they feared the move would force customers to use already limited parking nearby, affecting them and local traders. Following an hour-long debate Councillors voted 10-2 against the plans, despite a recommendation to approve being made by council officers. They also decided to add extra weight to a planning condition from alterations approved in 2001, which said parking facilities must be retained.
30 years ago, in July 1984, Theakston’s brewery was sold to Matthew Brown of Blackburn. MB were later taken over by Scottish and Newcastle. To-day Theakston’s is independent again.
Sheffield band, the Everly Pregnant Brothers have taken on The Shakespeare at Heeley. It will soon become The Brothers’ Arms. The six-piece Sheffield band is leasing the building from pubco Punch Taverns, who will carry out a refurbishment. The Brothers’ Arms will be free of any tie to a specific brewery.
A planning application has been submitted for a residential development on the site of the currently closed Fleur de Lys pub in Totley.
The current building was built on the site of previous pubs in 1933 – ‘Mock Tudor’ style – a popular 1930’s style for both houses and pubs. Possible sources of the Fleur de Lys name are: (i) the heraldic iris on the coat of arms of the Barker family who lived at Totley Hall OR ii) the arms of King Edward III who was King of both England and France.
Angel at Spinkhill update – to confirm: all monies are now in place from both community offered loans and the principal investor group. Completion of the purchase of The Angel is all set to be completed towards the end of August as planned. Hopefully we’ll see the pub open again before too long!
The New Barrack Tavern is hosting a charity music festival over the weekend of 22nd to 24th August.
The White Lion in Heeley, Sheffield has been chosen as the Regional Finalist (Yorkshire, The North East and Scotland) for the Great British Pub Awards 2014, a prestigious annual event that takes place nationally.
Following recognition as the only pub from Yorkshire selected as a finalist for the Best Entertainment category, The White Lion will be heading to the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane in London on Thursday 11th September to attend the awards ceremony and battle it out with the 5 other region winners for the acclaimed award of being the UK’s number #1 pub.
Danny Grayson, multi-site operator and owner of both The White Lion and Champs, said: “This is fantastic news for Yorkshire and I am delighted to see the work put in by myself, my managers Martin and Linda Allen and Punch Taverns has been recognised at a national level. Thanks are due to the performers and customers who have supported us, helping to keep music live – we’re absolutely thrilled by the award”.
The White Lion, with a great selection of real ale and fine malt whisky, has a
diverse range of live music all week round and all events are free.
