Pub 27, Day 10 – The Rawson Spring

By Rob

Now, as the more diligent readers will have noticed (I am, of course, working under the delusion that people are reading this) we had so far been fairly unadventurous in our visits. Most of the pubs we had been to were either near the city centre or situated within reasonable walking distance of our individual abodes.

So, given our rather gingerly progress thus far, we decided to go a bit further afield in search of our next public house.

We hopped on a tram and didn't get off until we reached Hillsborough, a suburb borrowing its name from the nearby Hillsborough House, an eighteenth-century dwelling built for a local landowner who named it in honour of his patron, Wills Hill. Not only was Hill a prominent politician, but he also happened to be the Earl of Hillsborough, a townland in Northern Ireland.

The first pub we visited was the Rawson Spring. Originally an old swimming baths built in the early 1920s, it now represented the second Wetherspoons of our pint-filled pilgrimage.

The Rawson Spring is typical of a Sheffield Wetherspoons, occupying an impressive building of not inconsiderable age and playing host to the usual mixed crowd of customers, with the standard Wetherspoons decor. That being said, the shape of the former baths makes for a large, open-plan, and striking interior.

Like every other 'Spoons, we had no trouble whatsoever in selecting a drink we hadn't seen before. We each had a pint of Young Henrys, a nice – but quite bitter – ale from Australia.

The exciting topic that consumed our attention was the possible return to Sheffield of Andrew Wilson. Naturally, the fact that Andy lived in Howden was slowing down our Pubquest progress. As such, he had decided that he needed to uproot himself from village life and return to the fold. There was also the small matter of a job in Sheffield, for which he had attended an interview that very afternoon.

Suffice it to say, we were both crossing our fingers and hoping for his success.

Pub: The Rawson Spring 
Rating: 7/10
Pint: Young Henrys Real Ale  
Brewery: Young Henrys (based in Newtown, Australia)

NEXT UP: An embarrassing pub quiz performance, at The Shakey...