Revisiting some Sheffield favourites
Kelham Island is an old industrial area bordered by the River Don to to the north and the A61 dual carriageway to the south. It’s famous among beer fans as the location of two influential pubs which together spurred the transformation of the Sheffield beer scene. The factories and chimneys have been replaced by an industrial museum, restaurants, cafes, bars and new apartment blocks. and the area is now very fashionable. Its impact has led to an expanding boundary and I counted at least 6 decent pubs on the wrong side of the Don or A61 now listed with “Kelham…
The Thursday Murder a Beer Club
There’s quite a few of us in this club. You’ll see us in groups of 3 or 4 on a Thursday afternoon with pints in front of us in a pub that serves good beer, or has a bit of character, or probably both. We’re aged from 63 upwards, mostly male, retired, and up for a good day out. We’re not local, we’ve used our Senior Railcards and maybe also our bus passes to get here. Sometimes we’ll stay in the same pub if it’s really good but it’s much more likely that we’ll visit three or four, and maybe…
My Top Five Pub Discoveries in 2025
For my first and last blog post of the year I’ve chosen five of the best pubs I visited for the first time in 2025. I’ve done this for the past five years and it’s fair to say that my tastes haven’t changed too much in that time. All of this year’s are ‘proper pubs’ (whatever that means) and four out of the five are ‘heritage pubs’ with a historic interior.
My Top Five Pub Discoveries in 2024
A lot of my pub trips this year have been guided by my quest to visit all art deco pubs in the UK. I didn’t just visit art deco pubs of course, and came across a few classic pubs which I’d never been to before. The top five pubs this year go from Tynemouth in the north of England to Brighton in the south plus a hop across the Irish Sea to Belfast.
Art Deco Pubs in the UK, Part 3: The Suburbs
This is the third and final part of a survey of art deco pubs in the UK and looks at those in the suburbs.
Art Deco Pubs in the UK, Part 2: the City Centres
This is the second of a three part survey of art deco pubs in the UK and looks at those in city and town centres.
Art Deco Pubs in the UK, Part 1: Beside the Sea
This is the first of three posts looking at art deco pubs across the UK. This one is about art deco and moderne pubs in seaside towns.
My Top Five Pub Discoveries in 2023
I managed to go to about 60 new pubs in 2023 which was quite an achievement for me. It did mean it was very difficult to narrow the choice down to the top five, but I’ve chosen a varied selection from Norfolk in the East to Herefordshire in the west (of England) up to Glasgow in the north.
A stroll around the heritage pubs of Maida Vale
Maida Vale is a well off residential area in north west London known for its streets of mansion blocks. It’s also home to Little Venice, the canal basin on the Regents Canal famous for multiple narrowboats and waterside cafes and pubs. What the area is less well known for is its collection of exceptional Victorian heritage pubs. This short walk takes in four pubs, all well worth a visit to see the extravagant steps brewers and entrepreneurs took to ensure their pub outdid their neighbours in style and elegance.
Translucent Style: Cut & Etched Glass in Pubs
Cutting, etching and embossing glass was perfected by the Victorians and put to excellent effect in many of the hundreds of pubs they built towards the end of the 19th century. Almost all Victorian and Edwardian urban pubs had decorative translucent glass and although most of it has been torn out, much still remains. Etched glass was still popular in the 1920s and 1930s, although the intricate art nouveau patterns had given way to simpler geometric designs. Pubs continue to add etched glass windows today, often to replace glass that was removed in the clear glass craze of the 1990s and early 2000s, and sometimes to replace original glass with modern copies.