January 2024. Sheffield.
A bitterly cold few days home in Sheffield, but I managed to get Mrs RM out of the house for a walk into town for a late lunch. You know, those hills get steeper by the year.
“Find me a pint of Jaipur in the centre of Sheffield” demanded Mrs RM as we reached the Cathedral at the top of the steepest climb.
Should be easy, right ? But there’s no actual Thornbridge houses in the centre of Sheff (they’re in the posh suburbs west of town) and Untappd suggested Jaipur was largely drunk from cans by blokes in their underpants watching “Homes Under The Hammer” with Dion Dublin (not in person).
Where on earth is The Moojmansion, by the by ?
I gave up and settled on lunch at the Head of Steam, next to the Crucible in the heart of the city.
A GBG regular, perhaps a surprise in a city of real ale free houses, but the HoS also gets the nod in Leeds and Sunderland and I’ve always found the cask good.
Shame about the seating, but at least your feet touch the floor. It’s geared towards after-work and weekend groups pre-theatre, really.
Look, they’ve even got those rare US imports folks on beer twitter rave about.
£8 your Shawarma,
plus £2.50 your pint, as long as it’s Strongarm.
It’s odd to think of old-fashioned looking Cameron’s owing these fancy Head of Steam bars, and I really wanted that pint of Strongarm to compare with the one at the Hartlepool Tap.
“Do you do a banker ?”.
But Mrs RM had requested a Jaipur, and I exist on earth only to tick the GBG and do Mrs RM’s bidding, so when I saw the pump on the bar I overcame my deep despair at having to pay a fiver rather than £2.50 for the Strongarm.
The Cameron’s was OK (3), a poor advert for the brand without that head of foam, the Jaipur cool and chewy (3.5), the Shawarma surprisingly spicy, a lunch bargain.
Once again, the young staff are the stars, courteous and chatty, a wonderful advert for the Head of Steam.
Just a few other gentlefolk at 3pm (hey ! is that us ?), and as the soundtrack goes from Jefferson Airplane to The Cult I realise with alarm that this was a hit when those gentlefolk were in their mid-20s.
And then I make a fatal mistake.
The HoS pubs have a decent keg collection, and I’m a sucker for a white label, rather like I was a sucker for dubious white label New Order bootlegs in the early ’80s.
Prizm ? Probably Liverpool. I’ll have a half. It’s what Blackpool Jane would do.
“Oooh good choice !” enthuses the barman. That should worry me.
Reader, it’s from France. You remember France.
It’s sensational murk, but I have serious doubts it’s only 7.8%. I assume the French have different numbering systems these days as this tasted more like 17.8%, and Mrs RM and I were left reeling after a shared half that necessitated a brief stop for coffee in Le blé, the smart new Mediterranean cafe by the Cathedral.
Don’t judge us.
retiredmartin 
That’s a bit of Sheffield that escaped me last April.
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Not a pub on your “Must Visit” list, Paul, though next door to the Brown Bear, which has just closed for the second time in 6 months, Old Queen’s Head (Thwaites) is worth a look.
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Let me know when Humphrey reopens his Brown Bear.
I mustn’t forget that Sheffield is only a Derbyshire Wayfarer day ticket away from Uttoxeter.
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Do come and visit again. You know where the best B & B is…
Could take you out to the re-opened Royal Oak in Ulley where OBB was good. If it doesn’t close again.
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Thanks Martin,
That’s a very kind offer.
My diary’s fuller than expected over the next three months though.
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That’s good to hear. I was just about to work out where I might meet up with you in the next few months.
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The view from Le blé is one of the prettiest you’ve posted of Sheffield. Quite nice. Pabst is old news; connoisseurs have moved onto Hamms. Except for Dennis Hopper perhaps, “Heineken!? Fuck that shit! Pabst Blue Ribbon!”
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Hamms ? Is that on Untappd ?
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Hammonds of Bradford ?
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How are you going to choose your best 5 or 6 pubs in S. Yorks/ Sheffield! I had a pilgrimage to the World capital of real ale last week, what an impossible task to choose only 5 in Sheffield alone . I visited the Raven for the first time, the home brew was outstanding (4.5), I also went to the Old Queens’s Head was interesting.
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Worse, soon after that how is Martin going to choose his best 5 or 6 pubs in Staffordshire, home of the Burton Unions ?
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Staffs before South Yorkshire
Tayside will be tough.
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You walked past my house on the way to the Raven!
I’m not a big fan of the pub itself, but the Raven and the Wisewood both sell immaculate cask at good prices.
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Are you ever in?
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I plan not to be.
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I’m still reeling from the news that cheery Tommy Walsh has been given the boot from Homes under the Hammer to be replaced by some camp Welsh regional weather presenter I’ve never heard of.If only Tommy had upped his game by being a bit less stale,male and pale.Naturally Dion’s job is safe as houses.
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Dion is a legend in Cambridge, of course, but go on Twitter when he’s a summariser on the football and you’d believe he was Britain’s most hated man.
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Love the photo from inside Le Blé. Tremendous!
Jaipur is always (always, always) on at the Bath Hotel. Or is that not “central Sheffield” enough for you and Christine? I’ll buy you both one there when I get back from the Lakes on Wednesday.
Unless you’re away from Sheffield, of course. As an alternative, you could buy me a coffee in Le Blé as I’ve never been yet. And I could do with a day off the booze. Or an hour.
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