Pub 147, Day 54 – The Blake Hotel

By Rob

From the moment I clapped eyes on this pub, I knew I’d enjoy it.

Small, built into the surrounding terrace housing, and situated at the top of the nightmarishly steep (16.6°) Blake Street, The Blake Hotel boasts some spectacular views of Sheffield city centre. Like our previous stop, the name belies its overt pubness (let’s get this word in the dictionary), looking for all the world like a classic boozer from the days of industrial Sheffield. In fact, the pub featured as a backdrop in The Full Monty, and retains its vintage look from the exterior.

On the inside it’s warm, cosy, and traditional. There was no TV or music; just the gentle murmur of a reasonably busy, yet reasonably small public house (although at the back, I was surprised to find an unexpectedly spacious beer garden). The bar boasted an impressive range of guest ales, as we each ordered a pint of 4 Hop Men of the Apocalypse (because with a name like that – why wouldn’t you?). A strongly hoppy IPA from Totally Brewed, I think I enjoyed it a little more than stout-loving Andy.

Overall, I was really impressed with The Blake Hotel, would absolutely recommend, and will definitely return (just maybe after we’ve done the other 250+ pubs).

Pub: The Blake Hotel (53 Blake Street, S6 3JQ)

Rating: 9.5/10

Pint: 4 Hopmen of the Apocalypse

Brewery: Totally Brewed (Nottingham)

NEXT UP: Christmas Eve, at The Royal... 

Pub 146, Day 54 – The Hillsborough Hotel

By Rob

I know what you’re thinking – this doesn’t sound like a pub! After all, it’s true that not all the hotels we’d visited thus far were really pubs.

But this one clearly was. Upon our arrival, Andy, Katherine and I all agreed there was no question regarding the pubness of this pub – it looked, smelled, and sounded like a pub. It self-identified as a pub and, in October 2016, had won Sheffield CAMRA’s Pub of the Month award.

Case closed.

Once inside The Hillsborough Hotel (which is not in Hillsborough at all), we were reasonably impressed. Dark wooden floors, comfy chairs, and a spacious conservatory made for a stylish interior while not disguising the age of the building, which had once served ale to soldiers from the nearby Hillsborough Barracks.

There was a great range of guest beers on, so we each ordered a pint of APA, from Windswept Brewing Company. The ‘APA’ stands for Accidental Pale Ale, as it had originally been intended as a blonde beer, but through some unspecified mishaps ended up as a pale ale. It’s a good job it did, because this award-winning beer, with its blend of different malts and bitter hops, struck a wonderful note.

Sitting ourselves in the conservatory at the back, we discovered a stash of board games piled against the wall. We dug out the Connect Four, set up the board, and reminisced relentlessly in the direction of poor Katherine about the time we'd established our very own Connect Four tournament.

Pub: The Hillsborough Hotel (54-58 Langsett Road, S6 2UB)

Rating: 8.5/10

Pint: APA

Brewery: Windswept Brewing Company (Lossiemouth, Moray)

NEXT UP: The Full Monty, at The Blake Hotel...

Pub 145, Day 54 – Gardeners Rest

By Rob

Andy and I – along with Andy's workmate and previous guest-blogger Katherine – stood outside the Gardeners Rest, the final Kelham Island pub on our never-ending tour of Sheffield's ale houses. More than five years after Pubquest began, an important chapter was about to close.

In many respects, Kelham Island was the jewel in the crown of Sheffield's pub culture: the birthplace of the city's real ale movement, home to some of its greatest venues, and a shining example of post-industrial urban regeneration. Without it, Pubquest would have surely failed to grow into the earth-shattering success that it's become today.

Compared to the other Kelham Island boozers, the Gardeners Rest is a bit out of the way. Fortunately, the walk isn't too arduous and offers a good opportunity to catch sight of old industrial Sheffield, without the obscuring layers of gentrification you'd find in the busier parts of the quarter.

Like its nearby cousins, the Gardeners Rest is a handsome looking pub from the outside. Once indoors, it continues to impress with an old-fashioned, shabby chic feel (although some of the upholstery is perhaps a touch more shabby than chic). The pub is bigger than it appears from the street, with a nice extended seating area at the back, leading out into a quirky little beer garden. Not only this, but we discovered a bar billiards table inside, which was a rare treat!

The ale selection was excellent, and we each ordered a pint of Crucible Best, a perfectly pleasant traditional bitter from the Sheffield Brewing Company.

The Gardeners Rest has been a community-run pub ever since it was saved from closure by The Gardeners Rest Community Society, who raised more than £237,000 to purchase the business after the former landlords retired. Concerned that property developers would swoop in and repurpose the pub into yet more fancy Kelham Island apartments, over 400 investors pitched in, each donating between £100 and £5,000.^[1]

The pub has a strong community focus at its core, which guides their decision-making (just when you thought pubs couldn't get any better). As part of this, they provide amenities and opportunities for various groups throughout the city. These include an exhibition space for local artists, as well as facilities for people with mental health issues.^[2]

As the Gardeners Rest continues to thrive, we can only hope that this neat business model catches on elsewhere, saving other great spots from being closed down and converted into less interesting spaces.

I’ll take a pint of Magnet and a packet of pork scratchings over a prestige living space any day of the week.

Pub: Gardeners Rest (105 Neepsend Lane, S3 8AT)

Rating: 8.5/10

Pint: Crucible Best

Brewery: Sheffield Brewery (Sheffield)

NEXT UP: Accidental beer, at The Hillsborough Hotel...

---

[1][2] Beer Matters, Sheffield CAMRA, Issue 481, Dec 2017/Jan 2018, p.8