COVID-19 pause

By Rob

All of Sheffield's pubs are shut,

The Red Lions and the Whites,

Up with this we'll have to put,

For many coming nights.

The Closed Shop has closed shop,

Like the Punch Bowl and the Plough,

From Chapeltown to Manor Top,

There lies an eerie silence now.

There's little life in West Street Live,

Or in much of town at all,

No buzzing in the Beehive,

Not even ghosts in Carbrook Hall.

The Brown Bear's in hibernation,

The Roebuck's hiding in the brush,

The Three Cranes chose migration,

The Fat Cat's in the Hollin Bush.

The Red Deer is lightly snoozing,

The Itchy Pig is loudly snoring,

Because no beer and nightly boozing,

Sure makes life profoundly boring.

So it's now last orders at the bar,

At the Tavern and the Gardener's Rest,

No more jazz at the Lescar,

A solemn pausing of Pubquest.

Pub 174, Day 62 - The Cherry Tree

By Andy

Turning down Carter Knowle Road we headed to The Cherry Tree, a short stroll slightly slowed by snowfall.

In a weird sort of way the pub reminds me of Park Hill Flats: horrible, Brutalist architecture with exposed building materials and angular add-ons, but the more you see it the more it grows on you – looming over the hill with its annexes and its windows and did you know they made the walkways wide enough to drive a milk float down?

Just over the road I spotted Rounds Newsagents and smiled to myself – many years ago a friend of mine used to work there at weekends, so often after a Friday night out we would get a 5am taxi to Rounds Newsagents, he would open the shop up and I would sit in the back room all morning, recovering from my hangover and eating stolen pick 'n' mix.

As The Cherry Tree was our 8^th pub of the day it was beginning to get late, so we bustled inside in a bid to beat last orders.

Our short journey down Carter Knowle Road had taken us outside the boundaries of S11, and it showed. However, as non-S11ers ourselves, this was not necessarily a bad thing! Beers were reasonably priced again, and ordering a gin & tonic wasn't accompanied by 17 different types of berry getting stuck in your teeth.

We selected two pints of Tribute – our second St Austell beer of the night. We soon came unstuck though as The Cherry Tree was cash only, and we had spent all ours in the previous seven pubs. Thankfully, we still had a couple of tagalongs from our Mosborough pub crawl with us, and they were able to bail us out.

As the old men at the bar judged us for not carrying cash, Rob and I – not for the first time – found ourselves wishing we could just take the aspects of posh pubs we liked, and combine them with our favourite elements of not-so-posh pubs.

Why can't we have card payments and beers from around the world and incredible meals cooked by professional chefs, while also keeping prices at absolute rock bottom? One of life's great mysteries.

We chose a table in the circular annex, as there was a weird disco vibe going on in the rest of the pub and we wanted absolutely no part in it. This offered us an excellent view of the snowfall while sat in the warmth – peak pub satisfaction.

Although the scene outside resembled a postcard, the interior looked like it had last been decorated in 1965. That being said, there were a core band of locals enjoying themselves at the bar – the lifeblood of any pub, yet sorely missing from most.

Hastened by the ever-quickening snowfall, we drank up and left. Thankfully, the roads were still just about traversable, so we booked a taxi home. Besides, even if we did get snowed in, we could just camp outside Rounds Newsagents and wait for my friend to open it up. 

It had been a successful night for Pubquest, with seven new pubs visited across the city. As we patted ourselves on the back, there were murmurings of upping the ante next year, and ticking off as many pubs as possible.

2020 was going to be a great year for pubs, we could feel it in our waters...

Pub: The Cherry Tree (12 Carter Knowle Avenue, S7 2ER)
Rating: 6/10
Pint: Tribute
Brewery: St Austell Brewery (St Austell, Cornwall)

Pub 173, Day 62 - The Prince of Wales

By Andy

With darkness arriving, we headed to Ecclesall Road, and jumped in The Prince of Wales.

The pub has reinvented itself several times over the years, and in many ways the venue's fortunes tell the story of Sheffield itself.

In 1983 the pub rebranded as an American diner, and announced plans to recruit 50 members of staff. At a time of industrial decline, approximately 1500 applicants queued for over two hours in an attempt to secure a job. The scene also attracted acclaimed photographer Martin Jenkinson, and the image has since been displayed in exhibitions of his work across the country.

For more information on Martin Jenkinson's work, see this article.

In the 1990s the 'Woodstock Diner' reverted back to The Prince of Wales, and by the 2000s I became a frequent visitor myself (as a nearby sixth-form student, whiling away free periods with a game of cards in one of the pub's many offshoot rooms).

In the early-2010s it got a bit ahead of itself, and morphed into a fancy restaurant chasing Michelin stars – skint teenagers buying the odd pint of lager clearly wasn't bringing in the cash. However, everyone promptly stopped going, and thankfully a middle ground was found – the pub still serves high-quality food, but you will no longer be sneered at if you turn up asking “just for drinks”.

On this occasion we did eat – an assorted collection of burgers and steaks – although as usual we forgot to take a photo of our food, so you will have to trust us when we say it was all very appetising.

To drink we selected Virtuous by Kirkstall Brewery, one of my favourite breweries. I play for a football team in Kirkstall and their offerings have nursed me through several injuries in the local pub afterwards – I normally find around four pints is enough to take the edge off any pain.

Excited to see Virtuous outside its natural habitat, I momentarily forgot that it wasn't my first-choice offering by the brewery. While Virtuous hits you over the head with its tropical flavours, I prefer the maltier tones of Kirkstall Pale Ale. That being said, both beers excel in their respective categories.

With tasty food and top-quality beers, I wonder if The Prince of Wales has finally – after several reincarnations – found the winning formula.

Pub: The Prince of Wales (95 Ecclesall Road South, S11 9PH)
Rating: 7.5/10
Pint: Virtuous
Brewery: Kirkstall Brewery (Leeds)

Pub 172, Day 62 - Hammer & Pincers

By Andy 

Leaving The Queen Hotel, myself and Rob exchanged smiles at yet another milestone accomplished.

Pubquest had completed all the pubs in the area. Mosborough was now ticked off; signed sealed delivered; the i's dotted and the t's crossed.

Our four guests however, had not completed all the pubs in the area, and were beginning to enjoy their Mosborough pub crawl.

“That looks like another pub up the road,” observed someone, annoyingly. It was indeed The British Oak, which we had visited in 2015.

“Looks more like a restaurant to me,” I replied, trying to kill the conversation. Pubquest would take forever if we had to revisit random pubs.

“Yeah Andy's right,” said Rob, cottoning on. “C'mon guys, let's get a taxi somewhere else and see what other pubs we can find.”

“What are you talking about? It's definitely a pub,” declared Amy, still staring up the road.

“Yeah, it's got a hanging sign and everything,” added Damo.

'Who the fuck brought you along?' I thought, internally.

“Oh yeah, that must be The British Oak,” confessed Rob, remaining level-headed. “But we've already been, we thought mayb-”

“Oh I've heard of that!” Catriona interjected. “It's meant to be really good! They do cocktails and have loads of beers from all over the world.”

“Sounds brilliant!” exclaimed the others unanimously, setting off towards the lights.

***

Catriona wasn't wrong, The British Oak is indeed fantastic. It earned 9.5/10 from us last time around, so we won't bore you with another blog. Suffice to say, we enjoyed ourselves so much on this occasion that we stayed for several drinks. The problem was, by the time we decided to move on, our guests' enthusiasm for ticking off yet more pubs was beginning to falter.

As the majority of our accomplices were fancy S11 folk, we decided to continue our pub crawl up there – that way, they could head home at any time. Booking a taxi to basically drive the width of Sheffield, we ended up at the Hammer & Pincers on Ringinglow Road.

The pub was incredibly busy as it was showing the day's football, and it was quite a battle to get served. We went with Jolly Holly by St Austell Brewery, a rich Cornish winter ale. I had become quite hooked on St Austell beers during a recent trip to Cornwall, although the rowdy pub was quite far removed from my time eating mussels by Padstow harbour.

The low ceilings (due to the pub being built in the 18^th century^[1]) actually made it quite an atmospheric place to watch the match. However, the proliferation of widescreen TVs felt out of place in such an old building. The inn had initially developed to provide refreshment to weary travellers, but had predictably become part of a chain (Sizzling Pubs) in recent years. With the pub being so close to the countryside, I felt it could thrive if it returned to its original purpose, with a focus on fireplaces, home-cooked food and good beer. But of course, that would require a tailored business plan. So for now, it remains a venue for reheated meals and Sky Sports. 

Pub: Hammer & Pincers (Ringinglow Road, S11 7PW)
Rating: 6.5/10
Pint: Jolly Holly
Brewery: St Austell Brewery (St Austell, Cornwall)

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References:
[1] https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s00108&pos=2&action=zoom

Pub 170, Day 62 - The Royal Oak

Like all hugely successful authors, we have decided to outsource as much work as possible to our underlings, while still retaining the rights to receive all future income. The latest willing fool guest blogger is James – brother of previous blogger Amy – who continues the story of our pub crawl in Mosborough.

By James

“Life is not measured by time, it is measured by moments”
                                                                                     – Armin Houman

Since 2017 when I first met my good friend Andy, a fellow Sheffielder living in Leeds, there has been one moment I have longed to experience: the glitz and glamour of the infamous Sheffield Pubquest. This dream came true when, in December 2019, I had the honour of being invited on a Pubquest experience along with my sister Amy, Damo, Catriona and of course the iconic duo Rob and Andy.

The Pubquest took us to south-east Sheffield in the area of Mosborough; an area I’m not too familiar with myself, but one which I was sure I would see in the best light with the guidance of Rob and Andy. After two very successful pub visits, I will pick up the evening with the third pub of the evening, The Royal Oak.

Now, with this being my first ever attempt at writing for a blog, I will fall back on something I am more familiar with as a primary school teacher: learning objectives and success criteria.

Learning objective: To understand the importance of visiting every pub in Sheffield for Rob and Andy.

Success criteria:

• To drink in a pub I would most likely not drink in otherwise.
• To finish a pint of alcohol before being thrown out of the pub.
• To see something I have never seen in a pub before (working at greater depth).

The air-conditioning system was a little breezy.

As we approached The Royal Oak, the first thing we noticed was the broken front window which was being patched up with some plywood. As we entered, the pub was relatively busy compared to the previous two, and we felt the eyes of the locals glaring at us as we walked up to the bar. Nonetheless, three pints of Stone’s Bitter at £9 for myself, Amy and Damo was certainly nothing to complain about. 

We kept our eyes down as we took our pints to the main room and sat ourselves by the half-covered up chilli, which we dared not eat. Attempting to act like we belonged, we forbid Damo from speaking, lest his Australian accent alert the regulars we weren't locals.

We were soon joined by the other three. Catriona strode over with her pink gin & tonic followed by Rob and Andy with their… 5 bottles of Holsten Pils? Maybe there had been some confusion with the rounds?

As I went to tell Andy that we had already bought our drinks, I noticed that along with their five bottles they were also carrying two empty pint glasses. I began to suspect that the Pils were all for them, but why had they made that choice of drink? More importantly, why did they get five bottles between them? Rob and Andy proceeded to pour the Pils into their pint glasses, and as they had finished pouring the fourth bottle, I could see their pint glasses were not quite full.

Andy clearly clocked the look of confusion on my face. “I forgot to mention, on Pubquest we need to have a different drink at each pub, and the drink must be at least a full pint each.”

With a quick bit of mental maths, a bottle of Holsten Pils is 275ml. With a UK pint equating to 568ml, two bottles each would not quite be enough, which explains the purchase of five bottles to share. Is this the sign of genius or madness? I’m not quite sure. However, it is certainly something I have never seen in a pub before, so it can be put down as a success criteria which had been fulfilled.

Meanwhile, a group of scary looking men accompanied by a large Rottweiler occupied a table across from us. After nervously stepping around the dog to get to the toilet and back, we decided we should hastily finish our drinks and move on to the next pub.

My first Pubquest experience proved to be everything I hoped it would be and the learning objectives were certainly achieved.

OFSTED rating: outstanding.

Pub: The Royal Oak (53 High Street, S20 5AF)
Rating: 3.5/10
Pint: Holsten Pils
Brewery: Holsten Brewery (based in Hamburg, Germany)

Pub 169, Day 62 - The George & Dragon

By Rob

Here at Pubquest, we have never pretended to be rigorously scientific in our pub-rating methodology, nor entirely objective in the conclusions we reach. Though we generally strive for robust empirical fairness, we are fallible and flawed, and sometimes fall short. Thus we have, in the past, given unduly high scores to pubs for providing sandwiches, employing my sister, having customers that didn’t stab us, and for making possible certain bizarre sexual encounters.

The reason for this little confessional is that, after drinking up at the Alma, we headed to the George and Dragon, which at the time was managed by my aunt. It is also worth noting that my aunt, as a human being with an internet connection, might someday read this (certainly once it becomes a best-selling literary masterpiece). I ask you to bear all of this in mind as I proceed with the review.

***

The George and Dragon is easily the best pub in Mosborough. In fact, it is probably the best pub in the city. Never mind that you haven’t heard of it, or that it sits on the very outskirts of Sheffield, or that it appears in not one single guide to the city. This pub makes boozers like the Fat Cat and Kelham Island Tavern look like overflowing latrines. By comparison, the Rutland Arms and White Lion are piss-stained crack dens.

We discovered the pub’s radiant magnificence upon entry. Sure, from the outside it didn’t look especially radiant. And sure, from the inside it didn’t look especially magnificent (although there was a cosy little lounge, somewhat hidden from view, which we sadly didn’t realise until we were leaving). And sure, the beer selection wasn’t extensive, although thankfully they did sell Theakstons (a particular favourite of Andy’s), of which we ordered two pints.

So, what exactly was staggeringly fantastic about this boozer? Well, it wasn’t the atmosphere, because at the time of our visit, which was in the afternoon, the place was largely empty. And it wasn’t the beer selection, which was perfectly standard for a pub outside of the real ale trails, but nothing to write home about. It also wasn’t the décor, which was pretty threadbare in the main room. So why, I hear you ask, is this pub so much better than anything else Sheffield has to offer? Why has it been awarded 10/10?

Well, it’s difficult to articulate, but certainly has nothing to do with a familial connection to the landlady.

Pub: The George and Dragon (20 High St, Mosborough, S20 5AE)

Rating: 10/10

Pint: Theakston Best Bitter

Brewery: Theakston (Masham, Ripon, HG4 4YD)

 

 

 

 

Pub 168, Day 62 – The Alma

By Amy, Andy & Rob

After our hugely successful pub crawl with Sheffield Ale Pubs which almost broke Twitter, we decided to once again collaborate with a local beer blogger in order to combine our loyal fanbases.

But who could possibly be worthy of sharing a blog with Pubquest, the masters of the craft? Who would even begin to bring viewing figures to rival our own?

Enter Amy from Beer, There & Everywhere – a friend from school who is now a pub walk specialist, planning her own routes before journeying through cities from Rochester to Riga. She has recently set up a blog to share her experiences.

But to which far-flung destination would we take this seasoned traveller? In order to satisfy both our criteria we needed a cluster of pubs within walking distance, but it also needed to lie within Sheffield's city boundaries. Luckily we knew just the place: Mosborough.

***

Andy: Here at Pubquest we're always supportive of new blogs about pubs, and we're not in the least bit concerned that they'll encroach on our territory. As such, we don't give a second thought to the fact that they might gradually become a more successful version of ourselves, and we absolutely don't hope that they crash and burn with no readers, no revenue, and no reason to exist. To that end, we'll always support new writers upon their entry to the beer blogging world.

Over to you Amy, take it away! We'll interject if we feel we can offer any support. 😀

Amy: On a cold winter’s day, I, along with Damo and my brother James, were invited on a very important and privileged mission by an old school buddy of mine, Andy. We were asked to join PubQuest (set up by Andy and his friend Rob) in discovering the pubs around Mosborough, Sheffield.

—

From https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/em-dash.html
© 2020 thepunctuationguide.com

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From https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/em-dash.html
© 2020 thepunctuationguide.com

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From https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/em-dash.html
© 2020 thepunctuationguide.com

—Rob: Cheers Amy, but we just did the intros further up. Also, no capital Q in Pubquest please. Don't give up the day job.—

Amy: Mosborough is a beautiful, picturesque village on the cusp of Sheffield bordering Rotherham. Although I’m born and bred in Sheffield it’s a place I’ve never been to before, but it has a great pub walk to explore. With our thick winter coats pulled tight and bellies lined for the copious amount of beer that was about to be consumed, we were ready to take on this mission.

—Andy: Actually, Mosborough is 1.8 miles away from Rotherham. Check your facts.—

Amy: After a close call on the journey when our taxi ran a red light going over the tramlines, one pint was the very least we needed! Stepping out of the taxi and waiting for the dizziness to stop, outside The Alma we could really take in the views of Mosborough and the surrounding countryside. The pub was set on the top of a hill; it was quiet and peaceful.

—Rob: Semi-colons are used between closely related independent clauses, when the two clauses are opposed or contradictory. As your second clause supports your initial statement, the semi-colon is not appropriate punctuation in this instance. Honestly, they'll let anyone blog these days.—

Amy: On entering, we soon realised we were the first people there – there was no money in the till and no one in either side of the pub. This didn’t put us off though! It was a cosy pub with corner settees. The choice of beers was limited: there was only one pull beer which was the Robin Red Best at 4.5%. On tap there was Tetley’s, Carling and John Smith’s. It was super cheap though and was a cute pub to visit. I didn’t see the view from the beer garden but apparently it was stunning.

—Andy: My goodness you're not gonna last long in the blogging game with incomplete reviews like that. Get out into the beer garden and see the view for yourself! Paint a picture of it to your readers! Take photos to illustrate your blog! Rob, send me your photos of the view from the beer garden and I'll upload them.—

—Rob: I haven't got any photos.—

—Andy: Yeah you have, you went off to take some.—

—Rob: I went to the toilet. Didn't you go out to take some?—

—Andy: It was raining!—

—Rob: Ah. Here's a photo of a sign instead.—

Pub: The Alma (76 South Street, S20 5DF)

Rating: 7/10

Pint: Robin Red Best

Brewery: Laine Brew Co (Adversane, West Sussex)

Visit Amy's fantastic Beer, There & Everywhere blog for reviews of her pub crawls from around the world, as well as ideas for your own pub walks!