MORE SHEFFIELD MICROS BY TRAM. THE PIG & WHISTLE, GLEADLESS

February 2026. Gleadless Townend. Sheffield.

I suppose it’s best to accept the inevitable…in 2026 we’re just not going to get any new Victoria/Edwardian multi-room heritage pubs. But there’s an infinite number of one room shop conversion micros to be developed in otherwise underpubbed suburbs.

No more so than in South Yorkshire, where recent years have seen neighbourhood bars pop up in Rotherham, Woodhouse and now the Gleadless Valley, 20 minutes south of Sheffield Station on t’tram.

I know you’ll assume that all of Sheffield is cool and glamarous, what with Mrs RM, the Sheffield Hatter and Jarvis Cocker living here,

but it gets a bit more plain as you head towards Halfway and Crystal Peaks. “Nowt wrong with plain“, as they say up here.

More exciting culinary options near Gleadless Townend tram stop than in the whole of Turin,

and opposite the Greene King roadhouse a proudly self-proclaimed micro that had opened that very week.

The words on the window say it all. “Do the read” as English teachers probably say in America.

It’s Friday, it’s five to five four, Crackerjack Valentine’s Day Eve. And it’s totally packed, a joyous pubby atmosphere.

Actually, I didn’t click it was VD day for a while, thinking I must have intruded on a private party, and feel a bit sheepish approaching the bar, assuming I’ve missed a big sign telling me to keep out.

The crafty keg range looks incredibly inviting, Cloudwater, Deya and Yonder, but in the interests of future GBG potential I feel obliged to test the cask. As always, read the board.

And it’s a cool and foamy Abbeydale in branded glass which was good enough and might have tasted even better if I hadn’t had to stand (not complaining) and also hadn’t just noticed the price. £5.80 for Moonshine, more expensive than the Deya Pils.

But then, why should cask be cheaper than keg just because old men drink it ? I have a gorgeous half of the Cloudwater Butterfly Effect, expertly decanted into the pint glass which I’ve ensured isn’t collected,

because as you know, beer tastes better in a pint glass.

Quite a bit to unpack here, but clearly a well-run popular pub already, and that’s a wondrous thing. Tram out, two pints of strong craft, walk back down via the Gleadless Valley. Add it to your list.

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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.

64 thoughts on “MORE SHEFFIELD MICROS BY TRAM. THE PIG & WHISTLE, GLEADLESS”

  2. So, there’s a “cool and glamorous Sheffield Hatter”, in addition to this short and decrepit one. Sheffield truly is a city of infinite resources.

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  3. Loved the Crackerjack reference. Then it goes on: “I didn’t click it was VD day for a while…” Thinks: “Oh no. Has Retired Martin wandered into the clap clinic by mistake.” Luckily, all was explained.

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      1. I have been found out! Well done sir. (doffs hat)

        Yes, to be honest, my (slow golf clap) remark references trying to have a conjugal visit in the back seat of a VW Golf. 😉

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      3. “VD commemorated BRAPA’s successful trip to tick the Spyglass in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, one of the scariest places on earth.”

        That is a bit too much to digest at one reading. 🤔🤗

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    4. I once worked with an older lady whose initials were VD. In those secretarial days you had to reference your initials next to the author’s initials as part of the letter’s reference. She had no middle name so made up a middle letter, purely to save her shame on circulating correspondence.

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      1. Lana, One of my staff many years ago was a Vin(cent) Degg from Fenton. I never asked if he had a middle name.
        I recently heard of a Theresa Green. Certainly.

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  4. I made a rare visit to London this weekend and although service was a tad rude, Mash Paddle Brewery on the Bermondsey Beer Mile served me my halves in pint glasses, which I appreciated.

    On my way back to the YHA, I planned to pop into the Mayflower, but instead found a wonderful local pub called the Ship.
    https://untp.beer/QBBOv

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      1. Yes, a bit like stepping back in time, and wondered how they hadn’t got round to ‘improving’ it.* Although I enjoyed the calm, bit sad seeing it so quiet 10pm Friday, so bought two halves (the other was a TT Landlord) … and a packet of crisps to keep place ticking over. Irish landlady (“good night and god bless”when I left) said lots of Americans walk in then walk straight out. Philistines!

        *Marston’s currently spending £300k+ to trash my local.

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      4. Yes, the buggers. As I’m not on Facebook etc, the first I heard about it was hearing dreadful banging as I walked past one day, then read a scary article about it. It sounds like the company is going to be segmentising the pubs in their estate into one of five formats (listed below to excite/depress anyone who’s interested). Apparently, we’ll be getting the ‘Granstand’, so white subway tiles on the walls like something from a Wickes kitchen catalogue .

        https://toot.wales/@rhysw/116051446230869496

        The “locals” segment will be aimed at regulars and locals between the ages of 35 and 64 to “share good times at your local”.

        The “locals sport pub”, under the name of Grandstand, will be aimed at “regulars and locals entertainment focused adults” under the proposition of “the big event shared at your local with cutting-edge technology”.

        The family pub segment, under the name Woodies, will be aimed at families with primary school children under the proposition of “sharing good times with the family”.

        The adult dining pubs, under the Signature Pub Collection, will be aimed at affluent adults between the age of 35 and 64 under the proposition of “good food, good times”.

        The “two-room” pub will be under the proposition of “shared good times for everyone”.

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      6. Well it was. I’m unsure of its status now, especially as Marston’s are spending £345,000 on it. Looking at its website this morning (it’s due to reopen today, so I will likely pop over lunch time to be nosey), the email address is VictoriaParkHotel.Cardiff@phoenixpub.co.uk, so I don’t know if that’s another subcompany.

        The website is obviously a generic one, but says that there’s cask on sale, so fingers crossed that the “drinks refresh” promised/threatened doesn’t include swapping Brains Bitter for Pedigree https://www.victoriaparkhotelpubcardiff.co.uk/

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      7. Ok, I know you’re all desperate to know what the verdict is on the Victoria Park refurb, in Canton, Cardiff. Not as bad as I’d feared, lot’s of dark blue paint instead of white tiles, which is a win. Mild panic as I approached the bar as the two hand pumps had no clips on, but the young Welsh-speaking barman (detectable by his orange lanyard) served me a crystal clear pint of Brains Bitter as usual, and at the same price.

        Seating wise, they’ve taken out some benching and replaced with tiny stools, and the three comfy booths by the front window. and replaced them with high tables chairs, possibly gaining two seats (14 now instead of 12), but half of them now have their backs to the massive tv screen they keep going on about!

        Some pics here, but wasn’t able to photograph the main areas. They’ve gained two dart boards and gone from one fruit machine to three.

        https://toot.wales/@rhysw/116131986009128763

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      12. Rhys,
        I don’t doubt that some proper pubs will be harmed by those concepts but have only known two of them.
        My nearest Marstons pub, a ‘new build’ family dining venue, reopened not long ago, and very little changed, as a “Woodies”.
        “Two-room” makes sense to me as it’s bringing back a Bar and a Lounge.

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    2. Rhys, That’d be Rotherhithe YH, now Riverside YH, which I best remember for the Queen chatting to me when she officially opened it thirty-five years ago. With far far too many pubs in the capital for a day, I’ve spent forty-nine nights at ten different London Youth Hostels since 1973.

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    1. Not only £5.80 for the pint, which is unheard of in Sheffield, but the half is £3.10, according to the pphoto above, which was certainly not half of £5.80 when I was doing my maths O-level.

      Actually when I did my O-levels it would have been £5 16s 0d, of which half would have been £2 18s 0d, not £3 2s 0d.

      That’s a difference of four shillings, which would have bought you four or five pints in 1970. And now it’s the size of a casual rip-off.

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      1. Yes SH, two florins for maintaining a glass washing machine that’s replaced the bowl of soapy water and tea towel that worked perfectly well when I were a lad.

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  6. I was very cautious about mentioning the price, but it’s clear on the beer board so I’ve no complaint and if you want cheap Moonshine there’s other options. The other cask was a novelty one I wasn’t touching!

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  7. “I suppose it’s best to accept the inevitable…in 2026 we’re just not going to get any new Victoria/Edwardian multi-room heritage pubs. But there’s an infinite number of one room shop conversion micros to be developed in otherwise underpubbed suburbs.”

    Definitely a sign of the times; or maybe a sign of the ‘economic’ times. 😏

    “20 minutes south of Sheffield Station on t’tram.”

    Yes, yes, but… how far if you had to walk?

    “I know you’ll assume that all of Sheffield is cool and glamarous, what with Mrs RM, the Sheffield Hatter and Jarvis Cocker living here,”

    I am thankful I didn’t have a mouthful when I read that!
    (Mrs RM, of course, not included in the above remark)

    ““Nowt wrong with plain“, as they say up here.”

    They may say that up there, but in the rest of the world the saying is ‘sex sells’.

    “and opposite the Greene King roadhouse a proudly self-proclaimed micro that had opened that very week.”

    (checks – outdated – Google maps)
    Ah, more kitty corner than opposite. Also, did the new micropub take over from Rapid Tan n Tone and W. H. Webster Quality Meats?
    (I’m going on a 2022 Google Street Map view)

    “The words on the window say it all. “Do the read” as English teachers probably say in America.”

    Nah. Over here, especially in Minnesota, it’s ‘Quality Learing Center’.
    (best way to scam millions of dollars apparently)

    “It’s Friday, it’s five to (five) four,”

    The best line for time is ‘it’s a quarter to three’. 😉

    “Actually, I didn’t click it was VD day for a while”

    Yes, we know.
    (also, calling it VD day kinda takes away from the romance)

    “As always, read the board.”

    (looks down)
    Oof. That’s bordering on Canadian prices.

    “and also hadn’t just noticed the price. £5.80 for Moonshine, more expensive than the Deya Pils.”

    Pretty sure moonshine (in the hills of Kentucky at least) is a LOT cheaper than that.
    (but that’s because it may cause blindness) 😉

    “But then, why should cask be cheaper than keg just because old men drink it ?”

    Because (most) old men are on a strict budget (i.e. pension).

    “because as you know, beer tastes better in a pint glass.”

    Mostly true. I think some of the lads in Belgium may have a slightly different opinion on the matter. 😎

    “Tram out, two pints of strong craft, walk back down via the Gleadless Valley. Add it to your list.”

    Aha! So, how long IS the walk back?

    Cheers

    PS – I’m ‘clocking in’ early as the weather here is bloody awful! Luckily, the 15cm of snow overnight turned into a driving rain, otherwise we were looking at another 30cm of snow, instead of 30mm of rain. Needless to say, my darling wife and i are going to settle in to some binge watching for the rest of the day, seeing as how it’s not quite 2:15pm over here).

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      1. That’s RM walking pace. Google says it takes 26 minutes by tram, and almost an hour and a quarter to actually walk to the station.

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      6. Google says it is just a bit more than three miles. I know you can do that in half an hour while supping a pint and buying and eating a Chinese takeaway, but some of us are not quite as fast.

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      7. I will never have anything to do with it but a farmer at Colwich, on my way to Rugeley, said his family was one of the first in the country to use it during the 1950s and that explains the great variety of cattle on his farm.

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