BLACK EYE FRIDAY AT THE BLAKE

December 2024. Sheffield.

I had to leave Mum in the care of Council reablement staff for a day while we popped back to Sheffield to fetch her grandsons for Christmas.

Pulling into Walkley I thought I must message Will and say “Fancy a pint“.

Oddly, at that precise moment Will was composing his own 44 word message along the same lines, and an hour later I was rudely excusing myself from a social engagement with Emma’s parents to join the Sheffield Hatter at the Blake. I have a reputation for lacking the social niceties to maintain.

In the interests of pub research I knew I needed to be on the mad streets of north Sheffield on the Friday before Christmas,

but in truth the Blake is a bit genteel for “proper” Black Eye Friday action. Rotherham is the place to go.

Actually, the Blake was unusually quiet, though no less classic an ale house than it was a decade ago,

and three pints slipped down rather too quickly for comfort in the company of Will and James, who lives two minutes away but wouldn’t visit on his own.

We talked football more than beer over pints of Neepsend astonishing Cherokee Red ale. I’m sure Will wanted to upgrade me over an opinion I’d expressed on Discourse, but it’s long forgotten.

And he was probably wrong.

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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.

14 thoughts on “BLACK EYE FRIDAY AT THE BLAKE”

  1. Actually I was so far from upbraiding you that I even quoted your words on Discourse:

    “…as a wise blogger pointed out to me yesterday, we all have our own drinking experiences, and maybe someone went in the same pub a couple of hours later and had a really good [pint of Landlord].”

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      1. Bottle vs cask? Chalk and cheese.

        Obviously as a vegan I prefer chalk. I’m off to find a bottle of Landlord to put in my fridge.

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      3. Maybe that has something to do with Landlord originating as a bottled beer and, probably even before my time, draught Landlord only being available in the Hare and Hounds at Old Town above Hebden Bridge.
        39 pints of Landlord so far this year is more than only three other beers and I very much doubt if I’d find the bottled version an improvement.
        Yes, I will offer a prize for the first correct guess of my top three beers in the right order.

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    1. The Raven is quite a recent reopening, and lacks a lived in feel. But both cask and keg beers are always good and good value.

      Loxley have just opened a bar west of the centre near Endcliffe Park. See Will’s comment here.

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      1. Ecclesall Road in Sheffield, not Eccleshall in Staffordshire. You’ll be sending people all over the country spending fortunes on train fares and hotels. You don’t realise what an influence you have.

        Also the Loxley No.3 https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/92281/ is in Sharrow, not on Ecclesall Road.

        You know how I hate it when you bring out my normally well-restrained inner pedant.

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  3. Forgot to compliment you on the tremendous photo of Sheffield from outside the Blake Hotel. One of your best. And your pause to take it enabled me to catch you up in time for you to buy me a beer.

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    1. (For the uninitiated, I was walking up the hill from the opposite direction, definitely not trying to catch up in the desperate hope of being bought a pint.)

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