Gardeners Rest, Sheffield

I decided to call in here for one final pint, late on a Saturday night and soon started to regret the decision when I found myself walking through a dark, post-industrial landscape that didn’t seem like the obvious location for a pub. But in amongst all the old warehouses there is a pub and thankfully it’s a rather good one. The carpeted front room has the servery to the left and a number of standard table and chair arrangements as well as a bar billiards table. It’s quite a compact space giving it something of a cosy feel. Old maps of Sheffield are on display, whilst some nice metallic beer adverts are also on show. To the rear there is a tiled floor space which includes a conservatory type area. Various bits of local history are detailed in frames on the walls and the conservatory looks out to the rear garden, which I didn’t bother to properly explore in the dark. There was a fair bit of pub merchandise on sale including T-shirts. The pub is tied to the Sheffield Brew Co and they had three beers on the bar – Seven Hills, IPA X and Fifth Anniversary. Guests included Blue Bee Lustin for Stout, Brew Star Blonde Star Hafod Hafod Sun and Hopper and Raw Try Ale. I gave the Blue Bee a try and thought it was a decent pint of stout although I was reaching the point at which my palate becomes pretty unreliable. It’s a strange sort of pub that feels completely out of place, but I got a warm welcome and thought the beer selection makes it worth searching out – perhaps in broad daylight next time though!

Love this place. Advert in local CAMRA mag Beer Matters shows opening times Mon - Wed 15.00, Thurs - Sun 12 noon. Had 8 ales here on Thursday, all in great condition. Blue Bee Tangled Up IPA, Blue Ball Tropical, Tyne Bank brewery Monument, Owenshaw brewery had 2, Golden Bridge and HX6, Red Willow Faithless III, Backyard BPA, and White Rose James Blonde. Every time we go in the decor has changed according who is doing the displays for the walls. Perfect, and so many new breweries coming in now. They are doing up the outside seating area at the moment.