retiredmartin

April 2024. Sheffield.

I concluded a two hour stroll,

through the pub interiors, graveyards and botanical gardens,

and cryptic comments,

at The York, the smartest pub on Fulwood Road, the “University street”.

Or at least that’s how I remember the York from James’s first year in Endcliffe residences, when True North ran a more pubby version of Brunning & Price at which nervous parents enquired about their offspring’s laundry over £15 Sunday roasts.

That was 2017. The York has just been taken over by a collaboration of Kirkstall and Five Points, which sounds like a fair swap for True North (no offence, their grub has been better than their attempt to resurrect Stones).

No obvious changes inside; the photos of Great Explorers survive,

the soundtrack firmly in Sheffield Uni rather than Sheffield Hallam mode,

and the handwash will reassure anxious parents that Johnny and Mary have come to a “decent” city.

It still looks upmarket;

it was just a bit quiet. Perhaps Easter holidays was a factor; perhaps I was an hour too early.

The beer range, for folk who like that sort of things, was pretty good, and a pint of Three Swords (NBSS 3, £4.50, not bad) creamy if not cutting edge.

I like Kirkstall a lot; the York will suit them. Oddly, I’d had a pint of their cask the night before at the monthly Peddler street food market in Kelham, where I’d got the price of a pint of their Pale down to an improbable £3.50 by reusing my cup.

The chicken nuggets in blue cheese sauce weren’t quite such a bargain, but at least I didn’t need any supper.