17th January 2023.
As the song goes, “Sheffield, so much to answer for“.
I’d never have moved from Cambridge if I’d known there were pubs on every street corner here, pubs that will probably never grace the Good Book, but are are as essential as anything in the rest of the UK.
And I still haven’t revisited the couple of dozen Guide in Sheffield. two years after moving.
But now I made myself an hour from home, but only five minutes from The Broadfield.
Five minutes walk from the heart of Nether Edge to Abbeydale Road, a long road of craft bars, Polish vodka and Richard Hawley references.
I must have ticked the Broadfield 15 years ago, just before the 2007 floods, but I have no recollection of it at all.
I mean, it’s not as if the only beautiful ex-Tennants pub in Sheffield.
I don’t think it features on many “Classic Sheffield Pub Crawl” lists. Most CAMRA members wouldn’t contemplate the mile walk south with better-known treasures so close to the station. Perhaps I’ll drag Stafford Paul out here when he comes to the AGM in April and he can tell me how much of the interior is authentic.
You’ll know my fear of buses, so I’d been putting off a trip for ever, but I timed it right with Deya on the hand pumps.
Not that I care what the beers are, but it’s nearly always Deya on keg round here.
A lovely mix of seating,
an eclectic soundtrack,
and a decent turn-out for 14:30 on a Tuesday in January, possibly helped by some innovative food deals to tempt in the wary
I also like the complementary dispenser of cucumber-infused water on the bar, and drank three glasses before attempting the cool pint of murk (3.5).
I can imagine Paul looking jealously at that pint, even as I write this.
retiredmartin 
It looks authentic enough to fool me. We could carbon date the woodwork.
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An authentic pump clip never features more than two colours, Dave.
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It used to be a pub of two halves, with the right hand side being in what was originally a different building (or perhaps an extension). But about 15 years ago it was completely stripped out and made into one large room with the big central bar counter. There are booths with stained (or painted?) glass panels (these used to have luggage racks with actual luggage in, like an old fashioned railway carriage). Warning: these are not original! I can’t vouch for domino chairs either.
My problem with the Broadfield is that the hand pumps are distributed in three or four locations around the counter, with no blackboard to list the options. So I start walking round the counter checking what’s on, but by the time I get to the end I’ve forgotten what was on at the beginning.
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That’s a problem with getting old Will, not a problem with the Broadfield. Younger people can deal with the distribution and the multicolor clips.
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Maybe I’m just too fussy about what I drink. Young Martin just walks in and asks for a Deya. I’ll bet he didn’t notice any of the other beers.
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I misread it as Deya Bar.
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He’ll tell you it isn’t about the beer. It’s whether the tap is dripping.
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Those triple chairs originally had flat seats but 60 years of fidgety Domino players arses have worn those horseshoe grooves.
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You’ve done your research.
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I was that arse!…
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Sheffield is to me Leeds and/or Manchester but without the ego.
The three beer capitals of England.
They can have their flat Boring Brown Beers in East Anglia, Kent and Bristol.
But I’ll be having a Marble or Ossett…
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We never used to hear much of this on the BBC for some reason
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TTDD,
But the Strawbs version was played more than the original
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1g4ddaXRs0
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Great stuff, Paul, thanks.
We could do with a few Woodies today.
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“he can tell me how much of the interior is authentic”.
It doesn’t look “authentic” to me but they’ve done a nice job there, spending that bit more than Black Country Ales do but not as much as Humphrey might.
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Less pumps than Black Country Ales, Paul.
I peeped in the Wellington in Birmingham this week bit despite (or because of) a dozen beers nothing appealed so I used the new Spoons at the station.
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I was meaning the fixtures and fittings rather than the beers but agree with you.
When in the Shrewsbury Arms to see the Crewe Martin not many weeks ago I noticed a surprisingly narrow range of strengths for the ten beers.
I’ve not been to Birmingham since seven minutes in August 2019 on my way home from Worcester – but changed at Smethwick Galton Bridge on a couple of other day trips that year.
Is Lees Moonraker still a feature of Tim’s railway station venues ?
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Yes I’d agree on the fixtures and fittings, Paul.
Interesting that I’d actively avoid the Wellington (as I did the Shrewsbury Arms with you last month) because the beer quality is such a gamble. But then it was good in the Bird in Hand, wasn’t it ?
Haven’t seen Moonraker for too long, Paul.
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“A bit of a gamble” indeed but 205 scores averaging 3.66 makes it one of twenty pubs competing for thirteen slots next time.
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“It was good” last time but 148 scores averaging only 3.47 isn’t good enough.
( You can probably guess the pub that only had the three scores, 2, 2, 2.5 last year – most recently, and possibly all, on 7th December )
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