Sheffield Pub News - August 2005

Sheffield's 31st Steel City Beer Festival, organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), has been confirmed as taking place from Thursday 29th September to Saturday 1st October. The venue is once again St Phillips Social Club, which is next to Netherthorpe Road tram stop and very close to the University of Sheffield. The Festival will feature a choice of around 70 different real cask ales, many of which are brewed in our region, Including those from Bradfield Brewery, the newest brewery to start up in Sheffield. We will also have bars offering a selection of traditional Ciders, Perry, Country Wines and Continental Beers (both draught and bottled). To complete the experience and create a great atmosphere, live music will also feature at all the evening sessions, plus on the Saturday afternoon we will be running a pub quiz in aid of the festival's chosen charity. For more information and details of opening hours, admission prices and entertainment, please visit Sheffield CAMRA or contact the festival organiser, Myk Eccles, on 07751064053. Finally, on the Wednesday night before the festival opens to the public, we have a beer tasting evening, where all the beers in the festival that are regularly brewed are tasted and scored, to decide the winner of the beer of the festival award. We have a number of guest places available for journalists, to book one please contact Andrew Cullen on 07863341497 or Myk Eccles on 07751064053.

Bed Nightclub on London Road has been virtually destroyed by fire. The landmark, partially listed, building went up in flames on Friday evening after wood from construction work caught light. Firefighters are trying to determine the cause of the blaze.

A compromise has been reached between the Hammer & Pincers in Bents Green and local residents who objected to the pub's application for an extended license. The pub applied to open until Midnight but elderly residents living in flats opposite the pub objected on the grounds of noise pollution. Councillors were called in to settle the dispute and have now ruled that the pub may serve drinks until 11:30PM with 30 minutes drinking up time Sunday to Thursday and may serve until Midnight with 30 minutes drinking up time Friday and Saturday. However music must be stopped at 11PM and notices must be displayed in the pub asking customers to leave quietly.

Sheffield City Council is again reminding licensees across the city to apply for new licences ahead of the Government's deadline of 6 August 2005. The new licences are necessary to comply with the Licensing Act 2003, which comes into force later this year and allows pubs, clubs and other leisure outlets, such as cinemas, to extend their opening hours, provide music and other entertainment, or serve food. So far less than 10 per cent of licence applications have been received in the Licensing General Section at the Town Hall. While this is well ahead of the national figure of 2 per cent it is still only a trickle of the 5,000 applications licensing officers will have to process. Extra staff have been drafted in to deal with the transfers, but the team is concerned it will struggle to cope with a late surge of applications. Chief Licensing Officer, Steve Lonnia, said: "We are writing to all our licensees to spell out the implications of them applying too late and missing the deadline of 6 August. If licensees fail to meet the deadline pubs and clubs in the city would close while they apply to the Council for a new licence. Also applications to open longer hours (variations) are deemed refused simply because we haven't had the time we need to process them. This would result in the licensee having to appeal to Magistrates Court - a lengthy and costly process." "This is a situation we are very keen to avoid, particularly as it could effect businesses in the run-up to Christmas - one of their most profitable times. We are calling on all licensees to act immediately to protect their licensing arrangements."

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