THE BLAKE

A quick pint on the way into town. It is possible, sort of.

The walk down through Ruskin Park from the Blind Monkey to the Blake Hotel ought to be immortalised in song by Van Morrison but he’s too busy wittering on about lockdown these days.

ALL THE PUBS IN SHEFFIELD ON FOOT No. 15 – The Blake Hotel, Upperthorpe

When we visited the Blake in Summer on our house-hunting expedition it looked idyllic; an independent street corner boozer with children playing across the street and a scary view down the steep hill (handrail use optional) into town.

The Blake is what in most towns we’d call “The CAMRA pub” to signify it’s where the casketeers go every week, but in Sheffield half the pubs round here seem like “The CAMRA pub”, with the other half serving John Smiths Smooth.

Mrs RM wasn’t as convinced by The Blake as I was; perhaps the Covid restrictions in place robbed it of its spontaneity or perhaps Mrs RM just wanted pizza.

But last week there was no long (but necessary) lecture on restrictions inside the pub, it was straight into the beer garden via a furtive glance at the pumps.

The garden, 10 tables well spaced, is huge. Dunno where they find these outdoor spaces from.

The sun shone, birds chirruped, the wisteria wound up the wall behind me, I wondered what to do about ordering.

A sheet with the keg, a fading memory of the pumps (something “Aruba”?), no ordering app. It’s so confusing when you can’t just order at the bar, he whined.

But the young man came and he knew what real ale was and actually recommended the Azeban (see, I was close) and although it took a while to come I didn’t much care.

Suddenly, sitting in a pub beer garden made perfect sense. Two dozen drinkers from 19 to 79, in couples, groups and solo, and not a chance of “carnage”.

“If the whole country had Bitcoin you wouldn’t need to tax us” said someone, probably an IT type. It’s the sort of thing my eldest lad, who lives 2 minutes walk away, would say.

If he said that I’d just look bewildered and finish my pint (cool, crisp, foamy, 3.5).

Yum.

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.

8 thoughts on “THE BLAKE”

  2. “The CAMRA pub to signify it’s where the casketeers go every week”,
    But in the mid 1970s the casketeers would go every day, and to the
    Firwood Cottage, Walkley Road, 6, Tetley (Leeds) Bitter, H, A small but lively working-class pub in a quiet side street,
    Old Light Horseman, Penistone Road, 6, Tetley (Leeds) Bitter, H, A working man’s pub on the way to Sheffield Wednesday soccer ground from city centre.
    Palm Tree, 35 Palm Street, Walkley, 6, Tetley (Leeds) Bitter, E, A small pub.
    One beer was plenty even with more beer shifted in a day back then than in a week now.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Firwood Cottage is now Blind Monkey, and Palm Tree is called Raven Inn. The Old Light Horseman closed in 1991 and was demolished for road widening before I moved to Sheffield, otherwise I’d have saved it by drinking lots of Tetleys.

      Like

      Reply

  3. “The walk down through Ruskin Park from the Blind Monkey to the Blake Hotel ought to be immortalised in song by Van Morrison but he’s too busy wittering on about lockdown these days.”

    You sure he’s not withering ‘in’ lockdown like Gwyneth Paltrow, who had to resort to eating bread? 😉

    “and a scary view down the steep hill (handrail use optional) into town.”

    You’d have to be pretty tall to use some of those handrails.

    “but in Sheffield half the pubs round here seem like “The CAMRA pub”, with the other half serving John Smiths Smooth.”

    Talk about the great divide!

    “it was straight into the beer garden via a furtive glance at the pumps.”

    Blimey. A bottle of 8.5% Duvel for not much more than a (pint?) of 5% Budvar.

    “Dunno where they find these outdoor spaces from.”

    They’ve all been loaned reverse Tardis thingies.

    “But the young man came and he knew what real ale was and actually recommended the Azeban (see, I was close)”

    Hmm. One’s an island in the Caribbean and the other is either a small country in east Asia or a place in the world of Harry Potter.

    ““If the whole country had Bitcoin you wouldn’t need to tax us”“If the whole country had Bitcoin you wouldn’t need to tax us”“If the whole country had Bitcoin you wouldn’t need to tax us””

    I have to usually look up my password when I log into my credit card online (not affiliated with my bank). If I had to do that for Bitcoin, well… (shudder).

    “If he said that I’d just look bewildered and finish my pint”

    (slow golf clap)

    And he’d probably say you’re entitled to look bewildered because you’re retired. 😉

    Cheers

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. (profusely abases himself by touching his forehead to the floor many times)

        I am so sorry! I’m so ashamed that I’ll probably stop posting for a few weeks. 😉

        Cheers

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment