Sheffield & District

Stagecoach have announced that they are to improve the daytime frequency of this route from the 28th April 2008, with buses running every 30 minutes compared to the current hourly service. This is also supplemented on parts of the route by buses 25,44 and 253. With a number of good real ale pubs along the route, it does lend itself well to a pub crawl by bus, so buy yourself a dayrider ticket and join us for the ride....

First stop out of Sheffield City Centre is at Heeley, where we have a couple of pubs to visit. The first is the Sheaf View which has a decor of bare wood and brickwork with old signs adorning the walls. The bar features up to 9 real ales - 4 of them regular beers from local breweries, the rest guest beers from across the UK . The other Heeley pub is the White Lion, a former Tetley Heritage pub, which is a classic multi-roomed local. This is one of the few Sheffield outlets for Tetley Mild.

On the bus up to Woodseats next for the Woodseats Palace , a Wetherspoons pub. It delivers all you’d expect from a ‘spoons - choice of quality real ales at a reasonable price. Watch out for their beer festival promotions and local brewey features which are both run from time to time.

Back on the 43 or 44 bus to Dronfield now to the Coach & Horses. This has been voted April Pub of the Month, you can read more about it on page 9.

Next jump on the 43 bus up to the Civic Centre for the Victoria , under new management it’s got two real ales and some of the decor and the evening entertainment reflects the landlords  interest in music.

We now get the bus to Dronfield Woodhouse, the suburban part of the town, and the Jolly Farmer, another Good Beer Guide listed pub. The pub was opened by Shipstones Brewery in 1976, about the same time as the housing estate was built. In the early 90s it was converted to an ‘ale house’ theme, which features a lot of wood, several distinctive areas to the pub and a bar with a glass fronted cellar. It is still a comfortable local that appeals to all, and an excellent selection of real ales are available, and usually has a couple of interesting guest beers.

Also walkable from the Jolly Farmer are a couple of other pubs that are reasonable. The Talbot Arms is an estate pub with a large games/tap room, a smaller lounge and a restaurant. Theakston Old Peculiar is one of the two real ales available. The Miners Arms is a comfortable, recently refurbished pub with a reasonable selection of popular, well known ales.

We now get the bus down to Dronfield proper, alight at the fire station and walk down the hill to the White Swan, a two room pub with a choice of three real ales, including one guest which changes weekly.