TREES GROWING OUT OF DEAD PUBS IN ROTHERHAM SPECIAL

You left me standing opposite Rotherham Minster with a flat white (Derbyshire : “picnic”) in my hand, with about 20 minutes to go till I picked up something essential for Mrs RM.

There was no one about, bar an old chap perched on a seat 20 yards away with his takeaway coffee (probably a latte, all old people go for a latte), so I also took a seat on the wall of the Minster for a few seconds.

Big mistake.

A lady stared at ME, then started a long tirade about young people ignoring the rules, all the while looking at me. Yes folks, even you can be thought of as young in Rotherham.

Suitably chided, I jumped up and took my flat white on a further exploration of the Edwardian splendour,

interspersed with “art” perhaps lost on happy Harry and hairnet Hilda but appealing to me.

Talking of alliteration, I had high hopes for the Hoo Ha Bar (near the High House),

but it’s one of approximately 377 closed pubs in town.

The Wellington has been closed so long it’s escaped the grip of What Pub,

which leaves the afore-mentioned Cutlers Arms as one of the very few remaining Proper Pubs, thanks to Chantry Brewery.

I’d have loved a session in the Cutlers, but it’s always the Alma that draws me in, with the foliage now protected by the Forestry Commission.

I only went in once, nearly 20 years ago. In truth, it wasn’t great beer, but it WAS dirt cheap and that attracted the sort of clientele that Pub Men really want, not the polite atmosphere of the microbar.

They don’t make them like this anymore (thank goodness, says Will, possibly).

Pic : breweryhistory.com

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

11 thoughts on “TREES GROWING OUT OF DEAD PUBS IN ROTHERHAM SPECIAL”

  4. The Cutlers Arms has become a regular for me in the last couple of years, and I often cast a regretful eye in the direction of the Alma next door. The Wellington across the road is also a fine looking building. The Rotherham Civic Society had quite an interesting website, though they can’t afford the class of photography that you find on this blog. It seems to be undergoing regeneration, as it used to have a piece about the Wellington which is no longer there; watch this space: https://www.rotherhamcivicsociety.org/

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  5. “TREES GROWING OUT OF DEAD PUBS IN ROTHERHAM SPECIAL”

    That seems familiar, but it was a church, not a pub. And didn’t you say that trees growing out of the top of buildings is always a sign of a great town? 😉

    “with about 20 minutes to go till I picked up something essential for Mrs RM.”

    It was that dress in the middle of three outfits in that window from a few posts back, right? 😉

    “A lady stared at ME, then started a long tirade about young people ignoring the rules, ”

    I hope she was wearing TWO masks, plus a face shield?

    “and hairnet Hilda ”

    (slow golf clap)

    “I had high hopes for the Hoo Ha Bar”

    Hopefully they don’t mean ‘Hoo Ha’ as in the euphemism for, um, thingy. 🙂

    “The Wellington has been closed so long it’s escaped the grip of What Pub,”

    Especially sad as it appears they were giving away free stockings!

    “In truth, it wasn’t great beer, but it WAS dirt cheap and that attracted the sort of clientele that Pub Men really want, not the polite atmosphere of the microbar.”

    (nods)

    Oh, and my deductive powers have figured out that’s an apple tree growing at the top of the Alma. My reasoning is thus; the Alma is a river in the Crimea (site of a battle I recall) but ‘alma’ is also the Crimean Tatar word for apple! 🙂

    Cheers

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