February 2025. Chapeltown. Sheffield.
A Saturday attempt to reach West Yorkshire foiled by overcrowded Cross Country carriages. If you learn only one (1) thing from this blog it should be “NEVER attempt to take a train from Sheffield on a weekend“.
So, instead, a short hop to the Sheffield burbs,
to S35, home of the roundabout elephant,
a park boasting the first sign of Spring just as CAMRA hosts its Winter Beer Fest down the road,
shops called “Oops a Daisy” and “La Di Da“, and a bench dedicated to a couple who always sat facing different directions, which is very South Yorkshire.
The Commercial, back in the Guide after a year’s holiday, is one of Sheffield’s GBG perennials, and I wanted to remedy a failure to revisit it since moving here.
It’s very Yorkshire, perhaps more Huddersfield than Sheff,
with comfy seating, roaring fire and brewery tat.
They had the 10% Carolus Christmas beer on keg, but someone on Untappd had last night raved about this;
and you can trust a beer with an old CAMRA logo on the clip, can’t you.
Oh, you can’t ?
It was great; cool, silky and chewy (NBSS 4). Pork scratchings are a tricky subject at the moment so I won’t score those.
10am opening for a heady breakfast trade.
“Full English please, but NO black pudding, no fried bread and NO mushrooms“. WTF. “Can I have more eggs instead“.
Lovely atmosphere, charming barmaid, top beer. Probably none of these beers, mind;
And urinals designed by Mr Stuart Goddard himself,
probably after his career crashed following that disastrous Live Aid slot.
retiredmartin 
I was once in a genteel hotel, with a bunch of workmates, taking breakfast to the quiet strains of classical music.
“‘Scuse me squire, can I order?” bellowed the “most senior” among us across the room to the waiter in Estuary English.
“Full English please, but NO sausage, NO black pudding, NO tomatoes, NO mushrooms, NO fried bread, NO hash browns, and NO baked beans” he demanded.
“So that’s egg and bacon, Sir?”
“Yes. And can I have extra bacon?”
“Certainly”
The lady sitting next to me spoke. “The thing is, he’s entirely serious”, she said.
He was.
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I had never heard of “Estuary English” so I looked it up. Very interesting to find out what it means.
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There’s Adamant urinals and sometimes Derby Brewery beers in the Metropolitan Bar near me.
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