James is safely settled into his new digs for Year 2 at Sheffield Uni, his toaster checked by his Mum and found to be fully functional. Microwaves can wait till Year 3.
I think you’re supposed to leave your children to their own devices when they’re at Uni. But, hey, this is Sheffield, where you can combine parental duty with ticking.
On Saturday, we explored Neepsend. I don’t think it has its own Tourist Office.
This is the view when you emerge from James’ residences. Proper Sheffield.
Mrs RM was intent on an afternoon shopping. I wasn’t so keen.
“Have you explored around here yet James“. So far he’s only walked through Kelham en route to Uni.
“Let’s go north. There’ll be a beer for your Mum“. Mrs RM forgot the shopping.
So instead of the Fat Cat we crossed the Don.
James at least has inherited my love of pointless street art,
some of which was being freshly applied in Ball Street.
Gentrification is edging beyond Kelham Island; we passed wine bars, thali cafés, and a craft beer place called The Old Workshop.
“Why aren’t we stopping there ?”
She doesn’t get ticking does she ?
We pressed on through the tunnel to the slightly less gentrified heart of Neepsend.
Mrs RM wasn’t immediately won over by The Forest, unlike me. If it was in Stockport, it would be the Railway (either of them, actually).
A neighbourhood pub which felt surprisingly simple compared to the rest of the Valley of Beer, and none the worse for it. A couple of lads playing pool, locals talking Owls v Leeds, usual pub stuff. It looks like the pub in “Full Monty” said someone, though that was as much about the view back over the city.
We went for the homebrew, resisting the lure of the Stones. Somehow.
£2.70 bought us two halves, a soda water (probably free) and a bag of those Snyders pretzels that cost £1.50 in Cambridge. Bargain land.
In fact the only place I know as cheap is Glossop’s Globe, whose homebrew is equally idiosyncratic. I think you know what I mean.
Sadly, the jukebox wasn’t plugged in so no “Lady in Red“.
We headed back towards cosier Kelham.
“Are you taking me into the red light area or is that how people dress on Saturday afternoon” whispered Mrs RM, who comes from Tunbridge Wells.
Some of the best pubs in our industrial cities are close to red light areas (I’m told). At least James now knows where to avoid.
retiredmartin 
Getting pretty complex with your photos. Nice touch.
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“She doesn’t get ticking does she”. No.
“The jukebox wasn’t plugged in. so no Lady in Red” . There is a god.
And finally, street art is never pointless, to someone.
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Keg Stones Bitter. Years ago it would have been cask and probably dispensed by electric pump. Back then the clip/illuminated box would have said “Brewed IN Yorkshire” rather than “Brewed for Yorkshire”.
I wonder who makes the stuff nowadays?
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Paul,
Yes, that’s a bit vague.
I can remember when Bass’s Brew Ten was “For the Men of the North”.
But what does “Brewed for Yorkshire” mean ?
For the plants of Yorkshire, for the urinals of Yorkshire ?
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And Brew XI was for the Men of the Midlands. Women obviously didn’t drink beer back then!
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Paul,
Yes, indeed.
Well it was actually a snowball or a Babysham “for the lady” – or brandy and Babysham if she was greedy.
And there were plenty of “Ansells Bittermen” around here, a bit like “Tetleys Bittermen” but not expecting their beer through an Autovac.
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Great stuff! Is stones making a comeback? Do you think everywhere in Britain…apart from Coalville obviously…will be gentrified eventually?
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You’ve never been to the “true” Fens, have you Beermat ?
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Chatteris once if that counts and also a Dave boy green book launch from his village! But no, not really 😉
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First brewed in 1948, maybe Stones is making a comeback for its seventieth anniversary.
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Great kowledge!!! Yes that would be good, I think…
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Chatteris ! – you’re practically Fen then. Did you see Dave Boy’s boxing gloves on the spikes at the gate to his mansion ?
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I was reeling from how far away it was from anywhere!!!
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“Mrs RM was intent on an afternoon shopping. I wasn’t so keen.”
LOL! You and me both. (one of the few things my beloved and I can’t do together)
“Mrs RM forgot the shopping.”
She’s definitely a keeper. 🙂
“She doesn’t get ticking does she ?”
But she obviously needs some tweaking. 😉
“though that was as much about the view back over the city”
I panicked for a second there after seeing ‘view’ and wondered what would come next!
“Sadly, the jukebox wasn’t plugged in so no “Lady in Red“.”
Of course my pick would have been “Easy to Be Hard”. 🙂
“At least James now knows where to avoid.”
Suuuure. 🙂
Cheers
And with that I’m leaving the last two Worcester posts (and god knows how many others you write!) until after the weekend as we’re heading down island for a big clan gathering (on my wife’s side) for Canadian Thanksgiving. I will take it as a small mercy if you’re too busy to write too much. 🙂
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And I give thanks for this particular Canadian and his family. Have a good day.
NB Had never heard of “Easy to be Hard” until I google it. Grief
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Mmm -real dancing on the tables track there -admittedly I didn’t watch to the end -didn’t want to get too over stimulated at the start of the day
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Stones Bitter was the first beer I drank as a student in Sheffield. It was a lot stronger than 3.7% back in 1982.
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– the 1982 Good Beer Guide gives it an original gravity of 1038.2
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I was led to believe that it had an OG of 1038 and an ABV of 4.1%. I may of course be wrong.
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Wes,
No, that is quite likely.
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