RELAUNCHING THE SHIP

16 months into life in Sheffield and I’ve barely scratched the surface of the city’s culture, Chinese takeaways and cask outlets.

The Ship, on the edge of Kelham, is undoubtedly one of the gems for lovers of brown tiling. And aren’t we all ?

It re-opened last summer, had an inconclusive visit from Will and myself, then promptly closed (events unconnected).

But it’s just re-opened with new owners maintaining that troublesome pub sign but switching the Marston for Tim Taylor and two unidentified house beers. I know how house beers trigger people.

Otherwise, it’s stylistically unchanged, a bright, open, allrounder that I just don’t warm to.

It’s the colours, I think.

Or perhaps the high seating.

It’s certainly not the beer that’s the problem, which was superb.

A second Landlord Dark in two days was cool, crisp and tasty (NBSS 3.5+). Lovely. One other drinker was on it, but otherwise it seemed to remain a Pravha stronghold.

Especially for those of you who like scummy heads on the beer;

And lacings.

A mixed crowd of couples, and groups of lads, and loners, perhaps drawn by the “Best of ’90s Indie” soundtrack (The Changingman, Sandstorm, Common People).

So why didn’t I quite warm to it as much as Mrs RM ?

That’s the mystery of what makes pubs “pubby” . Head across the road to the similarly sized Wellington and compare the two and report back. And then nip in the Ship for a pint of Dark.

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.

18 thoughts on “RELAUNCHING THE SHIP”

  2. I agree, the colours are most unpleasant.
    It was probably a lovely pub when owned by Tomlinsons Brewery until they were put out of action in 1940 by an air raid.

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    1. House beers are, by and large, to be regarded with suspicion.

      Blue colour schemes are to be regarded, by and large, as plain wrong. Unless you are a chip shop of course, when you might just get away with it

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    2. And of course Tomlinsons, as a result, went on to form one half of Hope & Anchor Breweries, whose attempts to turn their Jubilee Stout into a national branch had very unpleasant consequences. Part of the Anchor Brewery still remained until a few years back.

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      1. John,
        So if Hitler hadn’t known that bombing Victorian tower breweries was the best way of destroying a nation’s morale we wouldn’t have suffered Bass Charrington ?

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  4. It’s somewhat ironic, that on the same day that I publish a post bemoaning the spread of blue interiors, you feature a pub where blue is the dominant colour.

    Glad to see I am not alone in my dislike of this new ” trend!”

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    1. You’re never alone, Paul ! Mrs RM could see my point. Cross the road to the Wellington, a similarly sized pub with beer that you’d score similarly and just observe what makes pubs great or merely OK.

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  5. I kind of like blue paint schemes, they are calming make the place look brighter, and is better than the artisinal battleship greys we suffered in the noughties, just not sure it looks like it works at this pub.

    as for the house beers, well the hackles raise, and not just because of the unappealing tiny jam jars look on the bar, but because the question is always, so who brewed it ? and some pub owners dont get that its quite useful for us beer tickers to get a feel for what the beer might be like via knowledge of the brewery output, some house beers might be very good, but your suspicions are always well its just a GK (or Belhaven) beer rebadge then.And so Ill avoid the beer theyve lovingly created a pumpclip for to promote their pub, because they wont tell me who made it and I fear it will just be disappointing.

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