The Free Magazine from the Barnsley Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale
THE BAR
Barnsley Ale Report
FREE
Autumn/Winter 2021
S G N I N E P NEW O
! E R O GAL www.barnsley.camra.org.uk
PUB, CLUB AND BREWERY NEWS
Since the previous edition of BAR was published last October a lot has developed on the local (and national) pub scene though not in the way most people expected. When the pandemic hit last year and lockdowns became a fact of life, the consensus was that this would have a devastating long-term impact on the licensed trade, with thousands of pubs calling time permanently. It’s absolutely the case that nearly all pub businesses have suffered enormously over the last 15 months; there have been casualties and others are just about hanging on and may yet fail. However, losses of actual pubs, both here and elsewhere, have been remarkably few. Where pubs do fall vacant, agents and pub companies report plenty of interest from prospective new operators. The only local pubs that have gone for ever over the period are the Hope Inn, Cundy Cross (converted to a wardrobe showroom) and the White Bear, Kexbrough (and read more about this shameful story next issue). What’s truly remarkable (and again this is a national pattern) is the number of actual and planned new pub and bar openings. Many of these are, or will be, small-scale operations and that’s certainly where the future seems to lie – great news for those of us who love micro-pubs and their ilk. This is all connected with the reshaping of our buying habits – the move to online means lots of empty shops, many of which are the ideal shape and size for a small licensed outlet. It’s surely much better that pubs and bars move in than buildings stand empty. The Barnsley Chronicle recently reported ‘Outrage at pub plans – fears ‘jewel in crown’ shopping destination will be over-run by bars’ – this to do with the plans (see below) for three new bars in the Victorian Arcade. The fact is that
even when these bars open, there will still be empty shops in the Arcade so it’s not a case of bars pushing out other businesses. Anyway, on to what’s happening In The Pipes Of the three Victorian Arcade newcomers, one has already opened (see below). Planned for 26-32 is the Spiral City Bar. The ground floor will be primarily a craft beer bar but also have a unit for selling vinyl records – sounds like heaven to your editor. The first floor will have extra seating for the bar and a gallery with artwork and prints for sale. There is also a room to be used for events like art/craft nights, book clubs and music events. Bring it on. At 52, Black Velvet is likely to be of less interest to us beer drinkers being primarily a cocktail bar. Nearby, on Shambles Street stands a fine old half-timbered building which was once the Three Travellers pub then went under a variety of names, including Draycotts, before closure in 2010 and reincarnation as the Red Ginger restaurant, now also closed. Work then began on the building and the words ‘Inn of Draycott Pub & Restaurant’ appeared on the fascia board. However, there has been no activity recently. Also currently silent is the former Royal Bank of Scotland in Church Street where planning permission for conversion to licensed premises was granted last year. More ex-bank news. The former NatWest and HSBC banks opposite each other in Market Street, Penistone will become a cocktail bar and a pub respectively.
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PUB, CLUB AND BREWERY NEWS
A planning application has been submitted to convert the former M C Mills engineers merchants premises in Lower Castlereagh Street to licensed premises with a bar on the ground floor and function room above. The exciting news, though, is that the applicants are our good friends Maison du Biere from Elsecar. The building will be called Maison@TheMill and will have 20 taps, 5 draught ciders and over 500 bottled and canned offerings. They’re working with Yorkshire Deli to provide ‘the ultimate entertainment venue and craft bar in the area.’ Maison are also opening a shop and tasting room in Stocksbridge.
and Beer Ink. A good selection of bottled beers includes the very tasty non-alcoholic Ilkley Virgin Mary. Owners Ruth and John Pell named the pub in commemoration of Ruth’s beer-loving Dad. One wall celebrates that great film, Kes – both John and Ruth attended the school at which much of it was shot. The pub is open 4pm-10.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
Now Serving The new openings at Heaven & Ale, Barnsley and the Corner Tap, Goldthorpe are covered in detail elsewhere.
Beer enthusiasts in Cudworth have welcomed the arrival of a new micropub, Ken’s Keg & Cask, which has opened in a former solicitors’ office on Barnsley Road. This is a true micro - just a single, small room with benches all round plus three tables on the pavement outside. Three handpumps serve local ales and on a recent visit they were from Bradfield whilst the quality keg offerings were from Saltaire, Three Fiends
Peakys Bar opened on 17 June in the Victorian Arcade, a couple of doors down from the Jolly Tap. The simply-appointed ground floor has bare-brick walls, boarded floor and panelling to one-third height. The upstairs is similar to that at the Jolly including a balcony. Peaky Blinders memorabilia adorns the walls. On the beer front, no real ale but a delicious Lagunitas Daytime IPA on keg, plus a choice of bottled beers, featuring (of course) Sadlers Peaky Blinders Pale Ale and Black IPA. Daddy Beanz is a newish cafe bar on May Day Green. Unusually for such an establishment, it sells real ale in the form of Thornbridge Jaipur IPA. However, the handpump is hidden away next to the till so you wouldn’t necessarily notice it on first entering. Three Thornbridge keg beers – Green Mountain, Astryd and Lukas (lager). BAR has often bemoaned the shortage of
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PUB, CLUB AND BREWERY NEWS
interesting beers in Penistone but things are really looking up. In Market Street,
Whitefaced Brewery has opened the Penistone Tap and Brewhouse. The front bar has a handful of tables with a couple more outside and the brewery itself is behind and in full view. Two beers on handpunp and six on keg plus Whitefaced beer to take away. Opening hours are Thur 10-4, Fri 2-10, Sat 12-10 and Sun 12-8. During the last lockdown, the beer lovers of the town could quench their thirsts by visiting the excellent Penistone Beer Shop a few doors down. This has a huge range of bottled and canned offerings including loads of Yorkshire beers. Yet another former bank to become a bar is the imaginatively-named Old Bank on the corner of Market Street and High Street in Hoyland. It describes itself as a Cocktail Lounge and those concoctions certainly dominate the drinks menu. Camden Pale Ale (£4.50 a pint) is the best bet for beer lovers. A small barbers shop operates in the alcove facing High Street! The Clothiers Arms in St Helens Street, Elsecar closed a few years back and was assumed to be lost forever – but happily it has returned as the Official Cobcar. Inside is a single space it what presumably had been a two-room layout. There’s attractive
rough timber dados all round the walls, which are painted purple above. The middle section features a dance-floor inset with records (not real). Two handpumps adorn the bar, the initial offerings being Clarks Classic Blonde and Dark Star Hophead. The pub’s unusual name derives from the fact that the current team part-owned the nearby Cobcar Sports & Social Club. They still have the same football and pool teams and a lot of their old regulars come to the new pub, so they wanted the Cobcar name to live on. Other News Ian Simpson and his team have kept themselves busy during lockdown at the Darton Tap, Darton (the former Station Inn), making more changes to this already excellent pub. A new bar, Upstairs, has opened, well, upstairs. It’s described as a ‘marriage of an intimate cocktail den and a social, comfortable neighbourhood bar’. As with the downstairs, it’s all very stylish with the wood panelling an especially pleasing feature. The bottled beer list includes four German examples, one being the fabulously smoky Schlenkerla Rauchbier. Elsewhere, the outside areas have been further improved and offer lots of seating options, many under cover. Ian has started holding tutored beer-tasting sessions – worth looking out for. The Fountain, Ingbirchworth shut in 2017 and its new owners applied to demolish it and redevelop the site for housing. Following a local outcry, the Council chucked out the proposals and the developers went back to the drawing board. Happily, their new plans will see the pub fully restored with nine houses built on the rest of the site. It should be open by the time you read this.
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PUB, CLUB AND BREWERY NEWS
The White Heart Penistone closed in 2019 and then suffered a fire. However it has been revived by local businessman Miles Rodgers and, after renovation, reopened in early August under its old name, the New Inn. Inside, the layout is not significantly changed but the left-hand side, with its attractive balcony area, is no longer confined to restaurant use. The contemporary décor, mostly in shades of grey offset in places by bare brick, is restrained (some might say stark) though a selection of David McKee prints brightens up the walls. The New Inn advertises itself as ‘an upmarket pub serving only the finest home-cooked food’ – though the food prices are actually pretty reasonable and the menu sticks mainly to pub favourites. Reviews so far have been very positive. The real ale choice, though, is disappointing – Sharps Doom Bar and Sharps Atlantic. Local coach firm Yorkshire Rose have a new service – the Pub Hopper. This operates on Saturdays between 3pm and 9pm on a round trip from Mapplewell through Darton to Barugh Green and back again. You can hop on or off at the excellent pubs along the route (including the Nailmaker Brewery Tap) for just £2 per person. The new team at the Anglers Rest, Wombwell are doing a great job. The interior looks very smart after a full-scale redecoration – much overdue it’s fair to say. On a recent visit the four real ales were from Imperial (2), Lost Industry and Flathead, all unusual offerings for our area and all in tip-top condition. The lease of the Junction, Brampton is on offer by Star Pubs & Bars. Their advert says they plan to spend £180k to create ‘a modern premium local’ that ‘will reposition
the pub from a restaurant to a community pub that sells great food’. Also still on the market with Star is the Ship Inn, Worsbrough with ‘significant investment of £222k’ promised. Admiral Taverns are seeking a new tenant for the Greyhound, Worsbrough Dale. The advert says that ‘the successful applicant will be looking to support the locals and attract new clientele with cask ale, more frequent entertainment and a rhythm of the week’ (whatever that is). A licensing application is in from Thwaites to make internal changes to the Ring O’Bells Royston – working handpumps would be a good start. Worrying news reaches us about the excellent Geeves Brewery. Owners and founders Peter and Harry Jeeves sold the business in June to an outfit who have recently taken over two other breweries, Maldon in Essex and Binghams in Berkshire. Neither of these is currently brewing, nor has there been any sign yet of Geeves restarting brewing, and the intentions of the new owners remain unclear at the time of writing. Just beyond the Branch’s eastern border is the village of Barnburgh where the Coach & Horses has been bought and reopened by Gordon Jones, who also owns Don Valley Brewery and several other pubs in South Yorkshire. The pub is a fantastic example of an unspoilt, multi-roomed inter-war pub with especially wonderful glazed counter screens and is on CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. Under its previous owners, it had gone into a steep decline before closing altogether.
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PUB, CLUB AND BREWERY NEWS
Gordon and his team have carried out a masterful renovation job and the place positively sparkles – well worth a visit.
Branch Secretary Nigel Croft camra@barnsley.camra.org.uk Social Media & Publicity Coordinator Nigel Croft media@barnsley.camra.org.uk Acorn Brewery Liason Officer Nigel Croft acornblo@barnsley.camra.org.uk Branch Magazine Distribution Coordinator Colin Mallin barmagazine@barnsley.camra.org.uk Clubs Officer Colin Mallin clubs@barnsley.camra.org.uk
Also out that way but beyond our boundary is Moorthorpe where a pub, the Mallard, was opened in the old railway station building in the early 1980s. It closed in the early 1990s and the building became derelict but was rescued and became a coffee lounge. This was a victim of the pandemic but our own Jolly Boys Brewery has stepped in to reopen it as a pub. BRANCH OFFICERS
Beer Festival Organiser Andrew Taylor beerfestival@barnsley.camra.org.uk Branch Chairman Andrew Taylor chairman@barnsley.camra.org.uk Branch Contact Margaret Croft socials@barnsley.camra.org.uk 01226 714492 Membership Secretary David Walker membership@barnsley.camra.org.uk Treasurer Margaret Croft treasurer@barnsley.camra.org.uk Young Persons Coordinator Position Vacant youngmembers@barnsley.camra.org.uk
Jolly Boys Brewery Liason Officer Colin Mallin jollyboysblo@barnsley.camra.org.uk Nailmaker Brewery Liason Officer Colin Wilson Email tworosesblo@barnsley.camra.org.uk Outhouse Brewery Liaison Officer Guy Walton outhouseblo@barnsley.camra.org.uk Pub Protection Officer, Branch Magazine Editor Paul Ainsworth paul.ainsworth@camra.org.uk Pubs Campaigns Coordinator Phil Gregg Social Secretary Margaret Croft socials@barnsley.camra.org.uk h 01226 714492 - m 07734 155792 8 Newtown Ave, Cudworth, Barnsley S728DZ Whitefaced Brewery Liaison Officer Tim Clark whitefacedblo@barnsley.camra.org.uk Cider Representative Andrew Hamilton cider@barnsley.camra.org.uk Geeves Brewery Liason Officer Closed Penistone Brewery BLO Closed Website Editor Nigel Croft camra@barnsley.camra.org.uk
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FAREWELL TO ERIC
ERIC GILBERT 1947 - 2021 Eric passed away peacefully in Barnsley Hospital earlier this year after a short illness. Eric was an active member of Barnsley CAMRA, and held many posts over the years, treasurer, chairman and in the latter years was president of the branch.
Eric was born in Stalybridge and grew up there with his sister Rhona who now lives in Canada. All his family live in Canada, Rhona, his sister, with her children Emma, Jason and Nick, his niece and nephews. Eric meant so much to so many in many different ways, messages from all over
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Yorkshire were sent in condolence to his friends and family. A kind, friendly, walking Wikipedia was a description from one friend, a very knowledgeable intellectual said another, and others remarked he was a true gentleman. He was an avid listener to Radio 4 and 5’s informative programmes and loved to do the Guardian crossword every day. His knowledge on Middle East politics was exceptional and he was your oracle on any historical British period, but you should never get him talking about Richard III. Eric got the branch social secretary Margaret to organise a trip to his favourite brewery, Sarah Hughes in Sedgley, the home of Sarah Hughes’ Dark Ruby Mild. When the brewery trip was booked and the bus bookings were coming in thick and fast, Eric announced he couldn’t make the trip. Then there was the time Eric was at one of Margaret’s bonfire night socials. Eric was seen with a dark beer sat on a low wall in the garden, shortly afterwards someone asked “Where’s Eric”, only to hear his voice from the other side of the wall, which had hidden a 5ft drop. He said “I’m here, and I haven’t spilt a drop”, holding up his tankard glass to show everyone. Following a conversation with Dave Lawson on a trip to York, Dave now knows five ways to eat cabbage. This is from one of Eric’s best friends, Richard Lawrence (aka Loz): Eric Gilbert, the man with the natural greasy lips, feared by quiz machines across the land and lover of real ale.
Eric wasn’t just a great man but a great friend, and had a big heart. Eric was perceived as the bloke in the pub who would read the Guardian and bore you to death with his knowledge if you got into conversation with him. Now that’s pretty accurate until you got to know him, yes he banged on a bit, but if you actually listened he was very interesting and would educate you on a vast range of subjects. Eric was the reason I got into real ale, when we started drinking together in the Wat Tyler he would buy me a beer but refused to buy me a lager. From this grew an unbelievable friendship that was for life. We travelled far and wide in the pursuit of beer, normally this got us as far as York if I’m honest. There are so many wonderful memories I could share and some that Eric and I would never tell. We loved a “romantic” meal together and had steak and a bottle of wine in Spoons, with the team at the Horseshoe always ensuring we had a candle at our table. Eric will be missed by many and will leave a hole in many people’s lives, he was one unique gentleman and unfortunately, his theory of being immortal didn’t quite work out but he did give it a damn good go. Thank you Eric for everything you have done for me and the happiness you brought to everyone. Rest easy my sacred friend. Loz Nigel Croft - Branch Secretary
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PUB COMPANIES WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT DO THEY DO ? CAMRA reckons that many drinkers would find it helpful to have more information about the companies that control many of our pubs. This is the first in a series of articles that will provide the facts on pub company practices and operations, explaining in particular how their business models work and what this means for both licensees and, ultimately, us as customers. The aim is to let the facts speak for themselves so that you can make up your own minds about the positive or negative effects of these practices on our pubs and the folk who run them.
a few guest beers in their pubs. As a result, new breweries found outlets hard to come by and we customers were hardly spoilt for choice, as a glance at a Good Beer Guide of that era will reveal.
1. A POTTED HISTORY OF THE PUBCO
By now, because of closures and sell-offs, the Big Six owned fewer pubs between them but the Orders still meant around 11000 pubs coming onto the market. We, of course, dreamed of a new golden age of multi-handpumped free houses galore, but the reality was sadly different. Companies were quickly established, usually with close links to the Big Six, to hoover up these pubs in big batches then negotiate supply deals, invariably with the company who previously owned the place. Enterprise Inns, for instance, started off with the purchase of 368 pubs from Bass, and that’s where they bought the beer from.
Fifty years ago, when CAMRA was formed, the pub landscape looked very different. For a start, there were many more of them – some 75000 against around 47500 now. The majority of pubs (52000 or so) were owned by breweries. The 89 small and regional breweries had 13800 of them and the rest were in the hands of the ‘Big Six’ – Bass Charrington, Allied, Whitbread, Scottish & Newcastle, Watney/Grand Metropolitan and Courage/Imperial. Most of the other 23000 pubs were free houses (in name anyway – many tied their beer supplies to a big brewer in return for loans and discounts). Companies that just owned pubs were few and far between – the likes of Sir John Fitzgerald in the north-east and Heavitree in the south west (though they tied themselves to Bass). Just about every pub-owning brewery rigorously imposed a supply tie on its own products. As late as the mid-1980s, I remember a Greene King Director recoiling in horror at my suggestion that they allow
Then, in 1989, along came the Beer Orders. The story of this epochal legislation (for better or worse) is superbly told in Laura Hadland’s recent Fifty Years of CAMRA book but, in essence, the government acknowledged the stranglehold on the industry exercised by the Big Six and, among other things, capped their pub ownership at 2000.
In the years that followed, wheeling and dealing saw companies variously grow, collapse, merge, acquire, dispose – it was very difficult to keep up with who owned what. Some companies concentrated on managed pubs, some on tenancies, a few on a mixed model. Behemoths emerged – by 2004, Punch Taverns and Enterprise each owned more than 8000 pubs, though both had accumulated so much debt that they ran into trouble come the financial crash and subsequently retrenched. We’ll have
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a closer look at the current pub company scene in the next article. A brief history of Punch Taverns illustrates the volatility surrounding pubcos from the 1990s onwards. Punch formed in 1997, purchasing a tranche of pubs from Bass. Two years later, they bought Inn Business (mostly former Whitbread pubs) and then the rump of the Allied estate. The managed pubs were spun off into a separate division called Spirit. In 2003, they acquired their 3100-strong rival Pubmaster plus a couple of smaller companies. Next, Scottish & Newcastle’s managed pubs were snapped up and added to Spirit. By 2011 the impact of the crash was being felt, calling for a ‘strategic review’. Spirit was demerged and, in 2015, sold to Greene King. Come 2016, a takeover bid totalling £403m (plus the taking on of a billion pounds of debt) was accepted; 1900 pubs went to Heineken with the remaining 1300 residing with Patron Capital, though the Punch brand has been retained.
article. In this context, though, it needs mentioning that the currently accepted definition of a pub company embraces breweries that own pubs. Final comments. Pub companies are here to stay and some of them (mostly smaller ones) are very good, treating their licensees well and clearly regarding their pubs as more than just property assets. It would, though, be difficult to argue that the ways in which some companies operate raise many issues around their custodianship of what aren’t just piles of bricks-and-mortar but, in most cases, precious and valued community assets. We’ll examine those issues in due course.
What, then, of the breweries that still owned pubs? The Beer Orders were actually revoked in 2003 so brewers are no longer prevented from having over 2000 pubs. However, brewers have tended to move in different directions. In some cases (e.g. Greene King and Marstons) this extends only so far as having separate management structures for their brewing and pub operations. Others, though (Fullers, Youngs, Charles Wells), have sold their breweries to become just pub companies. Thwaites sold their main brands and downscaled to a mini-brewery. In the meantime, the treatment of their tenants by many of the Pubcos had become a major issue and, after years of campaigning, the Government was persuaded, in 2014, to announce a statutory Pubs Code aimed at regulating their practices and ensuring fair treatment for tenants. We’ll return to the Code in a future
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Paul Ainsworth
RANDOM RAMBLES NO. 8 – LANGSETT TO THURLSTONE
How this works - I draw from a hat the names of two places in the area and visit pubs there and at two places in between. This time the starting point was Cundy Cross on the eastern edge of Barnsley.
First to Langsett, right on the south-west border of our area, and the Waggon & Horses. Built in 1809, this listed, stonebuilt pub has been in the hand of the same family since 1974. As would be expected given its location, the emphasis here is on food, the pies in particular having a stellar reputation. These are made fresh every day and come in two sizes – Langsett made with short-crust pastry and Mini-pies from hot water pastry. With accompaniments these come in at around £14 and £7 respectively. There’s plenty of pie alternatives with the menu particularly strong on fish dishes. On my visit, a warm June day, everyone but me was sitting in the garden which has terrific views across the reservoir and the surrounding moors. Inside, the large lounge was evidently once two rooms as a wall runs down part of the middle. It’s entirely pleasant but nothing fancy with benches round a couple of walls, a slatted wood bar counter and a large collection of plates. The overflow dining room is decidedly spartan with just some framed old photos of the locality to add interest.
On the real ale front, the choice was Acorn Barnsley Bitter or Tim Taylor Landlord. My pint of the former was in great nick but the £4.50 price tag is more Barnet than Barnsley (and a Landlord would have set me back £4.90).
Westwards now, up into the aforesaid moors and the welcoming outpost that is the Dog & Partridge on the Woodhead Pass at Hazlehead. Originally a farmhouse/ alehouse, it became known by its present name when obtaining a licence in 1740. It has been enlarged over the years and the adjacent old barn converted into stylish B&B accommodation. I was slightly flummoxed on arrival as the front doors were locked but soon worked out that entrance was currently at the back. Again, food is important here but you can always rely on a good pint as well. Today the line up was Bradfield Farmers Blonde, Black Sheep Bitter and Copper Dragon Golden Pippin. I tried the last, not having seen it for a good while. Copper Dragon grew very quickly from its Skipton base in the early years of the century but were caught out by the financial crash and went belly up. The original brewing team has now
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reconvened in Keighley and the Golden Pippin tasted as I remembered it – rather sweet but very drinkable. Back to the pub and I studied the menu for future reference. The regular menu features six mains plus pizzas, sandwiches etc. whilst a weekly specials list offers a further five mains. Prices are reasonable with most mains in the £11-£13 range (ditto the beer £3.50 for the Pippin). The interior features a main bar and a side room, both partcarpeted, part-flagged with comfy bench seating and a handsome wood-panelled counter. Behind is a large green-walled room with pine floor and assorted furniture which I’d never previously known was there. The Barnsley Real Ale & Cider Guide (from 2012) describes this as ‘the jewel in Barnsley’s pub crown’ and it’s certainly a belting place.
Onwards to a pub which, for some reason, I’d never visited before – perhaps because it only started selling real ale a few years back. The Blacksmith’s Arms stands near the western edge of Millhouse Green, at the junction with the Holmfirth road. This 200 year old building once incorporated a blacksmith’s forge, hence the name; its proximity to the Trans-Pennine Trail makes it popular with walkers as well as locals and it also provides B&B in four en-suite bedrooms. At present, food is only served on Sundays (12-6). The Blacksmith’s has a single U-shaped room, lounge-y at one end and more ‘public’ at the other but all very tasteful and traditional in style. The
remnants of internal walls suggest there were once three, if not four, separate rooms. The staff were most welcoming and offered a choice on handpump between Bradfield Farmers Blonde and the same brewery’s Euro 2020 Ale. Farmers Blonde is a hugely popular ale in these parts but it doesn’t tickle my tastebuds so I tried the ‘special’, a 4.2% beer with more hops than most Bradfield products – good stuff.
So finally into Thurlstone and the Crystal Palace, tucked away in Towngate. It’s a handsome, four-square building with, inside, a single, unassuming room with a pool table at the far end. The big surprise for me here was to find a handpump offering Kibble Kent Thin Pale Ale, a very tasty and refreshing beer. I subsequently learnt that the pub is owned by Julie and Rob Coe and Rob installed the brewery (a 2.5 barrel plant from the now-closed Hamelsworde brewery) in the old stable block across the car park. The brewer is local CAMRA member Alasdair Twist, assisted by Rob who is an ex-miner which explains the Kent Thin coal seam name. A kibble is a big bucket used in pit shafts and Rob reckoned the mash tun looks like one, hence the brewery name. The beer itself isn’t ‘thin’ – it’s 4.2% and brewed with Fawcetts pale malt and Willamette hops. Two other cask beers were on – Abbeydale Moonshine and the Stancill version of Barnsley Bitter. A most interesting way to conclude an interesting ramble.
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Paul Ainsworth
HEAVENLY DELIGHTS HEAVEN & ALE - AGNES RD, BARNSLEY
When BAR visited the former photographer’s studio at 66 Agnes Road, Barnsley last September, Gary Holmes, his partner Gaynor and their team were in the later stages of converting the premises to a pub. Opening was scheduled for November – but that pesky virus had other ideas.
Come 17 May, the long wait was over, Heaven & Ale opened its doors and the results are hugely impressive. The main bar, presided over by a chunky wooden counter, has a typically cosy micropub feel but there’s a tardis-like interior beyond. The bar itself is tastefully decorated, with deep blue walls, big feature shelves along one wall displaying quirky artefacts and beer bottles, and several ‘heavenly’ features like the pointed gothic mirror and a hymn board. On the bar, four handpumps dispense changing beers (the pub is fully free of tie) – all South Yorkshire examples on my visit (from Chantry, Stancill, Kelham Island and Bradfield) though ales from elsewhere will also appear. Two quality kegs (from Thornbridge and Salt) plus a genuine German dunkel from ABK were also available. Behind the bar, a back snug has a (nonworking) bank of 1940s Gaskell & Chambers handpulls, former church pews for seating and
more feature shelving. To the side of the bar is another snug, this one dimly lit with bare brick walls painted plum red and a big lozicky couch. Steepish, narrow stairs direct you to ‘the Gods’. Development of this area was originally planned as the pub’s phase two but the extended lockdown did at least allow Gary and Gaynor time to bring this fantastic space into full use. The premises were once a Co-op shop with goods delivered to this large, highceilinged room via a hoist, happily still in situ. A collection of curious framed prints adorns the walls and attractive patterned stencils cover parts of the windows. The pub has a music licence and Gary intends putting on early evening acoustic sessions up here.
This is Gary’s first pub though his parents were licensees and it is something he’s always wanted to do. This part of town has long been devoid of pubs and, two weeks in, Gary was already delighted with the number of people making Heaven & Ale their local. We CAMRA members are also likely to be regulars, not just because of the excellent beer range but also because a member discount is to be introduced – but most of all because this is a real pub for real people. Make sure you go to Heaven as soon as you can.
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IRRIGATING THE EASTERN DESERT THE CORNER TAP, HIGH STREET, GOLDTHORPE
Real ale outlets have always been few and far between in the part of the Branch area east of Barnsley. In Goldthorpe, cask ale was available for a while in the Picture House Tap but disappeared in 2019. Relief, though, has arrived with the opening of the Corner Tap in High Street.
The pub’s story begins a couple of years back when Dave Jarvis and his partner Francine were looking to invest their savings in a modest property portfolio. Having secured the High Street building for a modest sum, Dave realised that its size and location lent themselves to a micro-pub operation. Obtaining the necessary permissions was a challenge but they got there eventually – then along came Covid. In fact, there was a positive aspect here. Dave was unable to carry out his teaching day job for ten months, enabling him to do all the building and fitting out work himself. The pub opened in September and proved hugely popular – cue the second lockdown. Again, there were bonuses to off-set the disappointments, in particular help with funding for the big picture windows at the front of the pub. 20 May saw the Tap’s second coming and by my visit a couple of weeks later it was settling down nicely. Day to day running of the pub will largely be in the capable hands of Dave’s daughter, Savannah,
The interior is in two main parts. The front section has a variety of seating (benches, metal chairs, stools, leather couch), different wallcoverings (wooden slats, brick, mirror) and an amazing corrugated-iron ceiling inspired by a cafe/tattoo parlour in Newquay. Up a couple of steps is the bar, with a wall made out of old doors, a counter that repays detailed attention and a bit of seating. Off the corridor to the loos is a tiny snug area. Everywhere you look there are quirky items and interesting artefacts – I loved it. Three handpumps dispense changing beers though Ossett White Rat is so popular that it could become a fixture. On my visit the other beers were Ossett Yorkshire Blonde and the wondrous Titanic Plum Porter. Brewdog Punk IPA is on keg and likely to be joined by Thornbridge Green Mountain. A wide variety of other quality drinks is available, including local flavoured gins. The original licence prohibited outdoor drinking though this has been relaxed during Covid and its popularity means Dave will re-apply in due course. There’s a small, sheltered yard at the back which is a pleasant place to sit. The Tap is open Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 11pm (10pm Sunday)
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Paul Ainsworth
HEAVEN & ALE THE OLD CO-OP BUILDING • AGNES ROAD • BARNSLEY
CASK & KEG ALES • LAGERS • PORTERS • IPA • STOUT • WINES • SPIRITS • COCKTAILS A very warm welcome awaits
you at one of the newest pubs in Barnsley. Heaven & Ale resides at the old Co-op building on the corner of Agnes Road and Spring Street just a few minutes walk from Barnsley Town Centre. Gary & Gaynor have lovingly converted the building through Lockdown with an eclectic mix of decor and music memorabilia. The aim is to bring back the very best traditions of the great British pub - a place to sit, relax and enjoy a wonderful and constantly changing variety of beers, ales, porters and IPAs along with the very best wines and spirits.
10% OFF ALL REAL ALES FOR
In a few short months they have gained an enviable reputation for the variety of real ales on offer with well over 50 of the very best UK and continental breweries being represented to date. Your canine loved ones are welcomed too, after all, what could be better after a good walk than a welcoming pint or two..? There are three rooms downstairs and a large function space upstairs available to customers for special occasions and events. Check out Facebook at @garysheavenandale for details of quiz nights, special events and guest beers.
CAMRA MEMBERS
OPENING HOURS: TUESDAY TO SUNDAY 12 NOON UNTIL 10.30PM • PETS WELCOME
OUTSTANDING PUB CONVERSIONS AND RESTORATIONS CAMRA is dedicated to supporting pubs, as well as promoting best-quality beers and ciders. In particular, we’re widely regarded for our work on identifying and helping to protect the UK’s most important heritage pubs through the compilation of our inventories of pubs with historic interiors – the most precious survivors. CAMRA defines heritage pubs as those that are wholly or mostly unchanged or retain important historic rooms or features from before 1970. Since then, huge numbers of pubs have been expertly refurbished and many have been established in buildings previously used for other purposes. And, contrary to popular belief, a lot of new pubs in both urban and rural locations are really good. They deserve to be recognised and applauded.
We have therefore begun a project to identify, preserve and promote pubs that are Outstanding Conversions and Restorations (OCR). These are the best examples of pub owners taking care to present a pub for modern times whilst respecting the origins of the building in which it is located. Or, they have taken care to refashion a pub so that it has a genuinely historical feel and/or has design to admire. All pubs included have that essential quality of, well, pubbiness. Why is CAMRA doing this? 1. To raise awareness of examples of outstanding pub conversions and restorations, thus stimulating interest in visiting and enjoying them. 2. To inspire pub owners and others to pursue excellence when converting or restoring buildings for pub use. 3. Thereby to establish yardsticks against which future pub conversions and restorations can be judged. 4. To help protect identified pubs from unsympathetic changes. 5. To contribute to CAMRA’s wider objective of generating enthusiasm for pub-going.
0 9.5 r y £ 5.50 e v Car er ts £ s Des
No pubs in our Branch area have currently been included in the listings. However, within a 20-mile radius of Barnsley, ten pubs have been identified as worthy entries and here are four of them.
Welcome Inside Barnsley CAMRA’s BAR - Page 20
Richard Oastler, Brighouse Wetherspoons have a proud record of imaginative and tasteful converting buildings to pubs and 30 of these feature in the current OCR list, including this superb conversion of an 1878 Wesleyan chapel. Organ pipes, pews and even hymn book numbers can be seen in the upper floor. The main bar is lit by impressive chandeliers and the ceiling decoration is a delight to behold. Photograph by Michael Slaughter Blind Monkey, Whitehouse Lane, Sheffield Formerly the Firwood Cottage, the pub reopened in April 2018 after extensive renovation by the company that also owns the Coach & Horses, Barnburgh (see pub news) and Don Valley Brewery. Inside, the four separate areas are adorned with fixtures and fittings, mostly old and characterful and from a variety of sources. The unique handpumps are a particular delight.
Draughtsman Alehouse, Platform 3B, Doncaster Station Opened in 2017, this is largely the work of one man, Russell Thompson, who runs it with help from his sons. The former Victorian buffet had lain empty for 18 years and Russell has faithfully restored original features, notably the glorious wall tiling. The three changing beers are mostly from local breweries.
Kirkstall Bridge Inn, Kirkstall, Leeds Kirkstall Brewery renovated the former Old Bridge Inn in 2013, resulting in a faithful recreation of a Victorian pub interior, with lots of dark wood, mirrors and cut glass plus an extensive collection of breweriana. It makes the most of its riverside location and offers a wide choice of the superb Kirkstall ales. You can find out more about the project and see the full national listing by going to the CAMRA website and clicking on https://ocrpubs.camra.org.uk/
Go and enjoy as many as you can. This is a live project so if you know other pubs that you think should be included as outstanding conversions or restorations, please let us know at: info@ocrpubs.camra.org.uk.
Welcome Inside Barnsley CAMRA’s BAR - Page 21
BARNSLEY CHOMPS
It had been some eight months since the last time Jane and I had eaten out in a Barnsley area pub so we were hoping that our trip to the Bridge Inn, Thurgoland wouldn’t disappoint – and it certainly didn’t.
This old stone-built pub is on the road from the village down to the Wortley Top Forge heritage site and is positioned between the River Don and the Trans-Pennine Trail, the latter occupying the trackbed of the former Sheffield to Manchester railway line. The pub is therefore popular with walkers and muddy boots and paws are not a problem in the stone-flagged, characterful Tap Room to the right of the entrance. We were greeted by friendly landlady Karen Jubb and shown to a table in the comfortable lounge, an L-shaped room divided by a handsome free-standing brick fireplace. The walls are adorned with framed old photos of the village and other items of interest, including a list of previous licensees. This shows that Karen arrived in December 2019 so she has had an ‘interesting’ first 18 months. She says that whilst open the pub has been able to build a good following, particularly for its homecooked food – she’s particularly pleased to have recruited experienced chef Rin quite recently, freeing her up for the front of house duties she clearly relishes.
The real ales available were Bradfield Farmer’s Blonde and Tim Taylor Landlord and my pint of the latter was bang on. The menu offered five starters but having seen the pudding options, we decided to go straight for the main courses. The choice here was between seven ‘pub classics’, six grill dishes, several salads or just sandwiches. Most of the dishes are priced between £9.95 and £11.95. Jane plumped for Hunters Chicken and was soon facing a very generous portion of chicken breast, cooked to tender perfection and draped with lean crispy bacon, barbecue sauce and heaps of melted cheese, accompanied by delicious chips and a mixed salad. Her verdict? - ‘the best Hunters Chicken I’ve ever had’. I fancied something hot and spicy so I hoped Beef Chilli would hit the spot which it very much did. Sadly the kitchen had run out of sour cream but the replacement salsa blended well with the juicy jalapenos and the guacamole. Jane suggested I slap on some mayonnaise which worked a treat. A most enjoyable plateful. On to the sweet stuff then and Jane was delighted to see Rice Pudding on the menu – something of a restaurant rarity these days. Chef Jen later explained that it’s a personal favourite and Jane proclaimed it another triumph. I had Chocolate Fudge Cake, a very good example with especially tasty vanilla ice cream (I forgot to ask whose it was). As you’ll have gathered, we were mightily impressed with the offerings here and can thoroughly recommend a visit. At the time of writing food was served from 4-8 on Thursday, 12-8 Friday and Saturday and 12-4 Sunday. The pub is open every day for drinks (from Noon except Tue and Wed when it’s 4pm) .
Welcome Inside Barnsley CAMRA’s BAR - Page 22
Paul Ainsworth
BARNSLEY CHOMPS
HANNAH AT THE HOB WHEN DOES A STARTER BECOME A MAIN? Remember the Scotch egg debate of November 2020? Is it a snack or a substantial meal? Pubs could only open if alcohol was served as part of a substantial meal but Downing Street would not set out the difference between a snack and a meal. Did it matter? It mattered because of the consequences for people working in the leisure and hospitality sector and contributed to the confusion over COVID regulations. Food is a significant income stream for many pubs and the wet only pubs were having it tough. I began thinking about the difficulty of introducing regulations based on the status of dishes and how we got to where we are now. The starting point for lawyers would be defining the terms - no simple matter. Going out to eat has changed over my life time and for the better, with less formality and better food. Have you fond memories of the Berni Inns of the 1970s? Going out for a meal, with friends, was no longer limited to anniversaries. Meals were less formal but the menu was structured with clear courses, a prawn cocktail starter, steak and chips as the main course and a black forest gateau dessert. I loved the Chianti in a raffia basket and thought Irish coffee was the height of sophistication, even at home. I bent a teaspoon to use for pouring the cream into a glass of hot coffee & whisky. You could buy lined and decorated glasses for the purpose and I did. Pubs began serving food and chicken or scampi in a basket evolved to become the gastro meals of today. Even M & S have a gastro pub range. Menus have changed
too; starters may be small or large served as a main course and let’s not go near sharing platters. Online menus are replacing paper menus and ordering is by app and payment contactless. Back to regulations and the issue of different dishes and their status on the menu. I tried to make sense of it and started looking at terminology and changes over time. Only the more affluent could afford more than one course and a choice of food. In the Tudor court all the courses were put on the table at the same time rather than sequentially. Interestingly they believed that pork was healthy food because pork meat was similar to human muscle. But the richness of the meat was balanced with vegetable potage/soup and leek pudding. Root vegetables were only for the poor and the Court only ate surface vegetables such as leek and onion. A meal was finished with cheese to cap the stomach. Perhaps the origin of the cheese course which, in England, follows the dessert. The French have cheese then dessert. A menu is a list of the food and drinks on sale. It may be à la carte – a list of options for the customer to select from – or table d’hôte, which is a number of dishes selected by the restaurant, in French The Table of the Host. Historically a communal table in an inn obviously before bubbles or distancing. Specials are those dishes not on the menu because they are only offered for a short time, perhaps dish of the day. Set or fixed menus offer a very limited number of courses with a fixed price for the whole meal. Tasting menus are popular
Welcome Inside Barnsley CAMRA’s BAR - Page 25
in more expensive restaurants and are a collection of small dishes served as a single meal to showcase the skill of chef, 10 dishes perhaps. Another more recent fashion is the all you can eat for £15 menu. Hors d’oeuvres are savoury morsels served before a meal and include canapes, bite sized snacks served with drinks/cocktails. So in my view a quail scotch egg could be an hors d’oeuvre, a standard scotch egg is a snack and a standard scotch egg with chips is a meal. Then there is the side dish, often the vegetables/garlic bread part of an M & S Meal Deal. So it is part of the main course but an accompaniment rather than the main dish itself. Therefore a bowl of salad is not a main meal but a salad with chips could be. An amuse bouche is a single bite of food not ordered from the menu and designed to tease the palate between courses. I have concluded that the notion of defining and categorising food is a moving feast and so an unworkable framework for regulation, especially for those trying to earn a living in hospitality. Britain now has more people needing foodbanks and more families finding it difficult to feed their children during the school holidays. I understand that a food bank provides food costing £1.75 per person per day. Many of the people needing this support are working but not earning enough. Many are employed in leisure, hospitality and retail. I want a better normal for more of us. Thank goodness I can now do me bit by eating and drinking in my local free from ambiguous regulations.
BRANCH DIARY We have only recently re-started having physical meetings for members, having had to rely on the dreaded Zoom for far too long. As a trial, we’ve decided to hold all meetings on the 28th of the month, regardless of which day this falls on. Weekday meetings start at 19.30 and weekend meetings normally at noon, followed by a social/pub crawl. At the time of writing, the only scheduled meeting was for 28 September at the George & Dragon, Summer Lane, Barnsley where we’re guaranteed excellent local beers and a warm welcome from Andrew and Diane. Details of future venues will be posted on our website at www.barnsley. camra.org.uk There won’t be a meeting in December as per usual. Pub promotion surveys and socials now take place on the 15th of the month, again with details on the website and again not happening in December. These ‘crawls’ take us into pubs and clubs in a chosen area, whether or not they serve real ale – though we sometimes find that cask beer has been installed without us knowing it. In any event, the visits are a great opportunity to campaign. Beer Festival meetings are held on the 3rd of a month (though not every month) but can move either side to help festival committee members attend in maximum numbers.
Welcome Inside Barnsley CAMRA’s BAR - Page 26
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