Seems I ruffled some feathers by suggesting that Mapplewell was Posh Barnsley, with its £10 burgers, £12 haircuts and pashmina subculture. Clearly only our very own Pauline can definitively call this result, and I’ll be crowdfunding for her to survey the Old Bakery on our behalf.
This is a another classy micro bar, some way from the Herne mould. Proper tables, Happy Hours, Prosecco, gins, fresh flowers and as many ladies as men. More licensed café than pub, but anything that produces a mixed crowd is fine by me. As long as they don’t offer me tasters.
Loads of cushions.
Paul Weller and Fleetwood Mac the soundtrack to a classy place that was experiencing a bit of a stand-off at the bar.
Anyone who’s read this blog for more than a month will recognise the breweries, always a good thing. I went for Belgian Blue, the Citra of South Yorkshire.
The first three pints pulled were Veltins, a posh Fosters and Aspalls, a posh White Lightning. Then the gentlefolk piled in.
“Large glass of white and I dare say he’ll have a pint of Belgian Blue” signalling to hubby at the door.
There you go. As the chap at Elsecar told me, the Blue is ubiquitous. Could it be the next Plum Porter ?
Dunno, but it’s good to see a few new local cask beers challenging The Usual. I left before Happy Hour kicked off, and headed back to Darton.
retiredmartin 
Is Barnsley South Yorkshire ? I don’t go there -North or West only -thanks for the offer though -I will have to decline
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ah. South’s best from my POV.
The miners and steelworkers stuck together.
In Halifax etc., the mill girls hoped that they might marry the mill owners’ sons. It’s no coincidence that Last Of The Summer Wine was set in West Yorks.
That’s only a minor simplification, of the social and industrial history of the two areas, you understand…
LikeLike
Definitely, prefer Rotherham to York.
LikeLike
Your thoughts on Bradfield Belgian Blue? It’s a big seller when they brew it, usually pre Christmas. I would have said it might not be to the S.Yorks taste, but what do I know, obviously nothing. Nothing wrong with it at all, but .. Like my son said, it’s alright, but I wouldn’t want another one. One plus point it’s good that people are trying and liking different things. I’m not sure it tastes over ‘Belgiany’ though?
Point of order too… those weren’t Pashminas, they were recycled blankets that they used for the ponies down the pit, that’s when there used to be Collieries, of course.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Point of order accepted.
I’m with your son. I like the sherbert kick you get, but actually I prefer their Blonde. Do you think the colour is a feature in the appeal; it looks continental, even if it tastes not a jot Belgian.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would probably have gone for the White Prussian. I’ve not been disappointed by the Elland brewery. My some-time local stocked their beers for a while, but seems to have stuck with Saltaire for the time being, so I’ve not seen them for a while. Not that there’s any problem whatsoever with the latter.
LikeLike
It’s remarkable how well some of these beers do, even without a targeted advertising campaign:
LikeLiked by 2 people
Bradfield have big local following, their beers are ubiquitous in NW Sheffs. W. Barnsley.
LikeLike
“it’s good that people are trying and liking different things” – yes, so of all those thousands of breweries out there which one’s going to give us a 6½% Apricot Porter Grand Reserve ?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Apricot? You’ll be drinking sours and saisons next Mr Mudge.
LikeLike
– just give me time !
LikeLike
I think the beer is named after a breed of cattle rather than Belgian style beer whatever that is. I’ve never had more than one given a choice I’ll do without.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s named after the Antwerp Branch of Manchester City Supporter Club, actually. Sorry to use those words.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Liverpool.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s gone all cold in here….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good point. Explains why there’s no Belgian Yeast taste. I’d still only want one, even though it’s decent beer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is decent, and it’s distinctive at a time we’re told that cask needs to evolve to survive (Hmm). It helps that Bradfield gets sold in a lot of very reliable high-turnover outlets.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like I say it’s almost ubiquitous across a wide swathe of outer NW Sheffs, W.Barnsley, Penistone area – well brewed ale with traditional roots, whilst being progressive, but without going too far for the conservative taste. It’s the future.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“with its £10 burgers, £12 haircuts” –Possibly a UK vs USA difference here. A £10 burger sounds extremely expensive to me, while a £12 haircut sounds like quite a common price here in the States.
Oddly enough I can enjoy a great many Belgian beers, regardless of how ‘Belgiany’ they might taste, while the American super-hoppy IPAs and experimental stouts and so forth still do nothing for me.
LikeLike
£8 haircut for me now I look old.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Start worrying when your annual outlay for head maintenance consist of a tub of turtlewax.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve paid a lot more than £10 for a burger, which of course can range from a cheap 4oz patty to a proper 8ox bit of beef. Burgers cost less in Spoons, of course. Same with barbers (except they won’t cut your hair. Yet).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Barnsley is taking this “naming micropubs after what the shop used to be” to new levels….The Old Co-Op and The Old Bakery….WOW!
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s funny how we’re outraged when posh incomers take over old pubs as houses and keep the old name (Red Lion, The Star in our village), but we don’t complain when pubs take over the names of much-loved Co-Ops and Bakeries ;-0
LikeLike
I’ve not heard of this!! Is this a cambridge trait?? House called red lion!! Outraged from Derbyshire
LikeLike
Oh yes. You’ll see postal address as ” “the old red lion”
LikeLike
Not “T’old Bakery”?
LikeLike
“Posh Barnsley north of the Dearne”
That would be Smithies of course. 🙂
“and as many ladies as men”
I initially read that as ladies men… still reeling from the Gillette Youtube thingy.
(or is Barnsely the Bangkok of the north?)
“I went for Belgian Blue, ”
For a second I thought you were placing your bet on the stand-off between the wee doggies.
“Could it be the next Plum Porter ?”
In keeping with alliteration it would have to be brobdingnagian. 😉
Cheers
LikeLike
Interesting, no jam jars on the bar but some used as ersatz vases on tables. Is this a more acceptable use?
LikeLike
Yes, flowers in beer to cut out the middle-man (i.e. me).
LikeLike