Plough Inn, Sheffield

Revisited today when the place was pretty much full with Sunday afternoon diners. The pub has changed hands since my visit two years ago, and staff were wearing tee-shirts that said "Old Horns and Plough", which suggests that Thwaites now have a hand in this business. This is confirmed by the presence of their Lancaster Bomber on one of the six hand pumps. Others were from Bradfield - Brown Cow, Blonde and the seasonal Belgian Blue - and Kelham Island - Best and Pride of Sheffield. The beers I had were fine, and a good deal cheaper than in the sister pub up the road, but while there were a few stools to perch on, this could not really be described as a pub for drinkers on a Sunday afternoon: every table was taken in both rooms.

The public bar's hand pumps had no pump clips on, so we went round to the main bar, where some locals were sat or leant at the bar. They seemed surprised that we wanted to see the hand pumps which were pretty much obscured by their bodies. There were apparently three Bradfield beers available, but on requesting one, this turned out to be not on. The two that were, Bradfield Pale and Farmers Blonde, are much of a muchness, especially if you're not a fan of pale bitters. In addition, there was a Royal Wedding special from local Derwent brewery. Otherwise this is quite a pleasant pub, with plenty of interest (especially the model ships) and comfortable seating at the tables, which although there is clearly an emphasis on eating, did not appear unwelcoming to drinkers.

10 miles or so to the North West of Sheffield, on the fringes of the Peak District, is The Plough, a stone built village pub. Its unusual length reflects the fact that it is a former farm building and the distinctive large arched window is apparently where the original cattle entrance was ( see photo here). The main bar on the left features much exposed stonework and is attractively decorated in a country pub style with, notably, much RNLI and nautical memorabilia, including a number of model ships on a window ledge. Perhaps more typically, there’s a few farming implements attached to one of the brick walls. A framed potted history of the pub tells us that it has been a pub since 1809 and a list of the 23 landlords since that time is displayed. We also learn that the pub narrowly survived the famous Sheffield Floods of 1864, but areas nearby were less fortunate. The pub is a former Whitbread owned pub and the Unicorn logo still appears on the pub sign. Whilst it’s still first and foremost a pub – as opposed to a restaurant with a drinks licence – there’s a clear food emphasis with good value home cooked lunches proving popular. Most tables in the main bar were laid out for diners and quickly filled up with people arriving either by car or on the bus. Although there’s a couple of stools at the bar for drinkers, the plainer public bar on the right is where drinkers are principally catered for. On the real ale front, the pub primarily showcases the products of the local Bradfield Brewery, a mile or so away in High Bradfield. There’s 5 pumps which were serving Bradfield Farmers Blonde, Plough and Four Furrows, together with Hambleton’s Ales Cocky Jockey. The Farmers Blonde ( £ 2.06p ) tasted a bit thin, but both the Farmers Plough and the Four Furrows were excellent distinctive pints. Several local CAMRA branch certificates are prominently displayed, together with a collection of beer mats. By the splendid inglenook fireplace, a blackboard tells us that the pub has sold 253 different real ales from 60 different breweries since 1 March 2007. The pub can be easily reached by bus from Hillsborough Interchange Bus Station. Low Bradfield is an attractive village with several good local walks nearby to build up a thirst and an appetite. It’s well worth a visit, but do bear in mind that it’s a country pub and check opening hours.