April 2024. Sheffield.
3 years in Sheffield and we still haven’t really got to grips with London and Abbeydale Roads, the lanes snaking south from the centre and United’s ground, so on an increasingly blustery Saturday I set off to remedy that.
I really must see Dr John Cooper Clarke live, while I still can; Saddleworth legend Quosh had brought a great poem about Sheffield to my attention and it popped up on Division Street while I searched in vain for a vinyl copy of the new Lizzy McAlpine album.
No luck, and with new vinyl releases seemingly now priced at £30 or more I’ll stick to my Tidal sub thanks.
The area immediately around Bramall Lane is a bit short on pubs, (see also : the Etihad), but 5 minutes brings you to the antiques quarter of Heeley, with the delights of the Sheaf View, Brothers Arms and the White Lion and a bar hidden in Hagglers Corner.
Despite being obliged to sit through 3 hours of antiques-focused TV when I visit Mum and Dad (the Bidding Room, Antiques Hunt, Repair Workshop etc etc etc), I have no interest in old tat except in pubs.
Luckily, Hagglers Corner seems more interested in selling you burgers and beer than brass, though the What Pub description of “a space offering weekly craft sessions, yoga tuition and events, with a buzzing cafe open daytimes.” sends shivers.
Pleasingly, the sign (top) says “Pints Only”, and the laughter from upstairs suggests a few pints have indeed been sunk by 3pm.
I’ve been reflecting on how rarely I see an Abbeydale Moonshine pump in central Sheffield, and today I’ll see two, starting in a bar marked as keg on What Pub.
Andy at the CAMRA branch has already updated the description (here); and I can only apologise that I couldn’t provide an NBSS score (almost certainly a 3) because I stuck to the Gamma Ray. My life membership may be revoked (again) at the CAMRA AGM.
You get a quirky interior,
and a courtyard where the warmth of the sun was competing with a swirling wind.
Pleasingly for me, everyone cheered when one chap dropped one of the four glasses he was carrying without a tray.
Pleasingly for Mrs RM, I decided against buying her an artwork for the garden.
That barrel would have made a great seat for the garden.
retiredmartin 
I think that John Cooper Clarke is still on tour at the moment. I saw him at Bristol Beacon last month. Excellent. I’ve not seen the Sheffield poem before though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Pints Only” suits me but is illegal, a half pint being the only measure that MUST be available.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting point. I did not know that and I’m curious if you know why that came into being?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Paul is (as always) correct on the legal point. Given that halves were being drunk in Hagglers it was more an exhortation than an instruction ! I know a few pubs over the years where ordering a half would be seen as “disappointing” behaviour !
LikeLike
The availability of halves was, quite reasonably, all about moderation from when the Temperance Movement had a strong following.
Quarts and pints were the two main measures during Stuart times but the Weights and Measures Act of 1878 properly recoignised half pints.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Quite true. And the French in Soho only serves halves apart from one day a year when Suggs rocks up to pull the first pint.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s an interesting debate about “tasters” on CAMRA Discourse at the moment, Bill.
LikeLike
I’ve seen John Cooper Clarke in Sheffield and I don’t remember him doing the poem. He was with Hugh Cornwell, whose opening remark was a snarly I hate Sheffield. Went down well.
LikeLiked by 1 person