December 2025. Sheffield.
Leg 4 (of 5) of my attempt to get to the heart of Black Eye Friday in my own city.
But first ! I nip into Marks & Spencer’s, ignoring the lure of Alpine Bar, a Top 100 pub as recently as 2021 but which may lose that status as I need to maintain the integrity of the hundred, as pure a competition as its namesake in cricket (well done England !).
£51 and two pairs of jeans and a ramble around the University quarter later I re-join Will, who’s spent the morning photographing crumbling pubs in Burngreave for Pubs Galore.
Nothing in Burngreave will match the Hallamshire House for beer range,
but even a near complete Thornbridge set can’t guarantee a place in the Guide these days,
which tells you all you need know about Sheffield’s embarrassment of cask riches, and gorgeous multi-room interiors.
Will, a principle man, had scored the Jaipur highly here of late, and although I was a tad less impressed (3.5 perhaps) the subsequent Goat Void Baltic Porter was a star in another pub with low-key Christmas fuss. Viscosity, indeed.
I hadn’t seen Will this happy since Luton Town escaped from the evil Premier League and VAR.
As he was in such a good mood, I thought he might join me in a pint third of the 10% Imperial IPA.
But he’s not THAT daft.
retiredmartin 
Reading yet another reminder of the richness of Sheffield’s pub estate prompts me to mention the dearth of truly memorable pubs in North East Wales. The few exceptions ( Dinorben at Bodfari, Fox in Ysceifiog, Mold Ale House) don’t make up for those pubs which wouldn’t get anywhere near GBG inclusion in many areas. Another reason to review the CAMRA branch allocations, and perhaps one reason why we have very recently moved on from Denbighshire….
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