Sheffield Pub News - April 2007

We have heard that the Old Mother Redcap pub in Bradway reopened a couple of days ago following a 6-week refurbishment.

The Beeley Wood pub in Middlewood is to reopen again shortly under new management following a refurbishment. The pub closed earlier this year in the wake of a shooting in November 2006.

CAMRA will be providing a bar at Sheffield's Philadelphia Blues festival next Saturday, 5th May. The festival is being held at the Burton Street Project at Hillsborough, and will feature a full days program of live blues music from midday to 11pm, with many of the bands performing being locally based - some you may see playing in local pubs at some point. The festival organisers believe in keeping music real and is supporting keeping the local music scene live. CAMRA's bar will be adopting the same spirit, with real ale and real Cider from local breweries and producers. Expect to see beer from Wentworth Brewery, Bradfield Brewery, Abbeydale Brewery and Thornbridge Brewery among others. And in what we think is a first for a Sheffield festival, the bar will feature locally produced Cider. Real traditional cider is more associated with the West Country, however a choice of two ciders will be available from Woodthorpe Hall Cider - in Holmesfield! Owd Barker (a dry cider) and Ruby Suzy (medium sweet cider) are the two that will feature. More information about the blues festival can be found on the dedicated festival website at www.philadelphiafestival.co.uk

Rose & Crown in Stannington in now a completely no-smoking pub.

Ballot papers were posted to all the members of the Sheffield & District branch of the Campaign for Real Ale recently to vote for their annual Pub of the Year award.

The winning pub gets entered into the county round of the national competition. As Sheffield & District branch straddles both Yorkshire and Derbyshire, a winner for each is declared.

The overall winner was the Kelham Island Tavern on Russell Street, for the fourth year in a row. This pub continues to press all the right buttons and hasn't rested on its laurels after previous wins! The pub is well presented, has an excellent range of well-kept beers at reasonable prices, friendly staff and management, value for money food and a lovely beer garden at the rear.

The Kelham Island Tavern faced some tough competition too, with its longer established neighbour, the Fat Cat coming in at second place, and the Gardeners Rest, which is now the Sheffield Brewery tap, in third place, and the Sheaf View at Heeley in fourth place.

In Derbyshire, the Cheshire Cheese at Hope was voted the top pub, with the beer, food, location and people clearly providing a winning combination. Also scoring highly in Derbyshire was the Monsal Head Hotel, the Grouse at Longshaw, the Little John at Hathersage and the Jolly Farmer at Dronfield Woodhouse.

South Yorkshire:

1) Kelham Island Tavern (city centre)
2) Fat Cat (city centre)
3) Gardeners Rest (Neepsend)
4) Sheaf View (Heeley)
5) Hillsborough Hotel (Hillsborough)
6) Cask & Cutler (Shalesmoor)
7) New Barrack Tavern (Hillsborough)
8) Bath Hotel (city centre)
9) Devonshire Cat (city centre)
10) Ranmoor Inn (Ranmoor)
11) Red Deer (city centre)
12) Commercial (Chapeltown)
13) Cobden View Hotel (Crookes)
14) Archer Road Beer Stop (off license)
15) Fagans (city centre)

We have updated the details for the Dove & Rainbow pub in the city centre.