Another day in Tier 3, another day where I can cock-a-snook (whatever that means) at you lot in Tier 4, which now includes Cambridgeshire.
I have NO idea what further deprivations Tier 4, or Tier 5, or Tier 99 will bring, but rest assured the upshot will be that the only person able to visit pubs will be Eli, the sole GBG ticker on the Isle of Scilly.
In complete contrast to Scilly, my latest walk into central Sheffield (1:27 hours, will I be allowed that after tonight’s restrictions ?) take in more urban attractions.
The Philadelphia looks more appealing every time I walk past.
What I think of as the University quarter either side of West Street is completely deserted.
The spot above is the point where I tripped on the tram line in 2006 while heading for the GBG Red Deer just before closing. Torn jeans and bloodies knees, I just made it.
I’ve never been to the student (and Pulp) fav the Washington. Abbeydale, Black Iris and Bradfield would get you in the GBG 62% of the time (95% of the time in Scotland).
Despite the setbacks of 2020, the cranes still loom large over the city. James is convinced it’s just a giant student accommodation building scheme that will come crashing down when we realise we don’t need students anymore, but as in Manchester cranes warm my heart.
I popped back into the Moor Market to give Beer Central another chance.
They were so lovely and cheery I overlooked the lack of mini kegs of Doom Bar Belgian Blue and picked a couple of random beers.
It’s hard to do the indoor market justice at the moment; wearing masks means that lingering isn’t any fun and you just get in and out within 15 minutes. But I’m starting to thing that Moor Market is a cracker.
With a can in one pocket and a bottle in the other, and the snow descending, I wasn’t going to linger.
But just behind the market is a little treasure trove of tyre shops, street art and what looks like an unspoilt cracker.
“a juke box was pumping out some middle of the road 70s pop, but it soon calmed down” said Sheffield Hatter, mysteriously, on Pubs Galore.
Back home I decanted my latest Takeaway ticks into the trusty Bass glasses.
The Blue was a bit fizzy; I’ll order ahead for the mini keg next year. But the mysterious Saint Mars of the Desert may just have produced the best canned beer I’ve ever tasted.
“The Philadelphia looks more appealing every time I walk past” – yes, it looks like the Dolphin in Dundee that we never got to because you told me there were Autovacs in Broughty Ferry. .
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I mentioned earlier that the Jodrell Arms in Whaley Bridge was the most violent pub I had ever visited back in the 1970s, but for sheer terror, nothing beat Nottingham’s Bendigo in Sneinton. It featured a clientele composed of the East Midlands’ answer to the Kray twins, along with various heavies, several of whom seemed to dress in drag. Everyone who walked through the doors was studied at length by every single customer, accompanied by jeers, by heckles, and by every shouted observation or accusation that you could imagine.
Don’t think that they did real ale.
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I can believe that of Sneinton. A lot of Sheffield seems rough; I did a studenty pub up the road from there in Carlton and Alan Winfield mentioned the Fox & Hounds by the station being rough.
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I see that some innocent souls – the chain I think – have opened the Bendigo Lounge in kind, gentle Beeston.
Given the infamy in which that name is held to this day in those parts, I think that they might come to regret that choice.
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This is inside the Philadelphia
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.3891345,-1.4844285,3a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sAF1QipORpsHPOiriG4VMuVJJ4QWDgBxdE2zu4kUoYo9F!2e10!3e11!7i13312!8i6656
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What sorcery is this ! I can blog without ever having to go in a pub again.
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You can look inside the other rooms and outside too – just click on the doors.
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Wow. That looks brilliant, Really. Nutty black in bottles, too. Need a few folk in there, and be great.
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Etu,
I think “the most violent pub I had ever visited back in the 1970s, but for sheer terror” is what the late Rhys Jones would have described as “rough as a bear’s arse”.
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I’ll have a look for that Old School IPA next time I’m in the market – “the best canned beer I’ve ever tasted” eh?. I bought one from the same brewery at Beer Central in June: St Mars of the Desert Babalu Imperial Russian Stout. This is what I wrote about it on the Pubs Galore Forum: http://forums.pubsgalore.co.uk/showthread.php?31156-pubs-galore-bar/page50 #497.
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The best since the can of Baltika 7 on the tourist boat in St Petersburg a decade ago (I had to lead a revolt to get the Russian guide to open the bar for us).
Not a fan of cans, but the Old School tasted like cask murk. I’ll head to their brewery in Langsett at the weekend if I remember (if they haven’t locked us in the house tonight).
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We drank the can in about 10 minutes between us, MIGHT give the Stout more respect but doubt it. It cost £4.50 at Beer Central, interestingly same as from the brewery.
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St Mars of the Desert is in Attercliffe, isn’t it? I’ve been there once when it was open as a tap room, but wasn’t impressed enough with their beers to go back for takeaway. Drinking one of those short pint cans in 10 minutes is going some! Especially for someone who doesn’t like drinking at home…
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Yes it’s in Attercliffe, near the Gardeners Arms.
That’s WHY I don’t drink at home. Much easier to pace ourselves in a controlled environment like a Craft Union pub.
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I’m in Langsett, aren’t I ?
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Only if Mrs RM has thrown you out, which would be a little cruel given the prevailing cold snap; the village of Langsett is near Stocksbridge, quite close to the South Pennines.
My understanding is that the nearby tram stop being called Langsett/Primrose View is a reference to it being placed beside Langsett Road/Close/Crescent/Rise – I’ve not yet heard the name applied to the local area as a whole – as opposed to the housing estate – unless it’s an estate agent thing; I could be wrong, though, I’ve only been here 22 years.
If you’re within Pringles-throwing distance of the Blind Monkey, I reckon you’re in Walkley.
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Oh we’re definitely Walkley, rather than those stuck-up Crookes.
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Blimey. I’ve missed a few since last Thursday! So, I’ll begin a ‘new’ as it were. 😉
“another day where I can cock-a-snook (whatever that means) at you lot in Tier 4”
It’s either thumbing your nose at someone or dropping trou and mooning them. 😉
“which now includes Cambridgeshire.”
Yikes! Moved just in time, you smart fellow you.
“the sole GBG ticker on the Isle of Scilly.”
There’s irony. The Isle of Scilly being the only sane place left in the UK.
“(1:27 hours, will I be allowed that after tonight’s restrictions ?)”
Back in April last year (or thereabouts) my brother in France was restricted to walks of under one hour in total.
“The Philadelphia looks more appealing every time I walk past.”
I think it will come down to everyone praying in the end.
“What I think of as the University quarter either side of West Street is completely deserted.”
Egads! That’s frightening.
“but as in Manchester cranes warm my heart.”
The Japanese feel the same way. 🙂
“and picked a couple of random beers”
I’ve been doing that for years!
“and the snow descending”
That’s not snow in the photo below. 🙂
“said Sheffield Hatter, mysteriously, on Pubs Galore.”
Um… I don’t think you get the concept of calendar dates. 😉
“But the mysterious Saint Mars of the Desert may just have produced the best canned beer I’ve ever tasted.”
See! Random isn’t all bad. 🙂
Cheers
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Confirmation this morning, from HMG, that following last night’s imposition of a further national lockdown, pubs will not be allowed to sell alcohol to takeaway, is yet another nail in the coffin for the hospitality trade.
It also confirms the unfair treatment being handed out to struggling pubs.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it was all over the national and local news pages when I woke up this morning. ☹️🙄
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Don’t shoot the messenger. Unless he’s Welsh and in the grounds of Hereford Cathedral, of course.
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T’other Paul,
I know “pubs will not be allowed to sell alcohol to takeaway” is wrong but I don’t think it will make any difference to the pubs I used most before last March.
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Not tried St Mars of the Desert beers yet; although I am intrigued by the back story. Simon at the Campaign for Really Good Beer (CAMRGB) reviews three of their beers here =>
https://www.camrgb.org/2021/01/saint-mars-of-the-desert-go-belgian/
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