The Ball, Crookes, Sheffield

This is a large and rather smart Greene King pub on a main road through the student friendly suburb of Crookes. The front of the pub has two large seating areas either side of the front door – one with stone walls, the other with some pleasant enough wood panelling and each with its own fireplace. There is ample seating in both areas and the furnishings all look quite new, making it look quite smart upon entering. The servery is located along the left hand side of the room and beyond it the pub extends to the rear where there is another even larger, split level seating area with a mix of comfortable looking chairs and sofas. Several TV screens throughout the pub were showing muted Sky Sports News coverage whilst music was playing quietly in the background. There are benches outside the front of the pub as well as a rear patio area, as if any further seating was necessary. A framed text near the front door gives the history of the pub and Crookes area in some detail and explains that there was originally a farmstead where the pub is now located. Bags with an ‘I Heart The Ball, Crookes’ logo were on sale behind the bar for £1, with customers encouraged to take photos of themselves with the bag in unlikely locations. The pub is listed in the GBG and it was nice to find a good choice of guests alongside the core Greene King range. The full line-up on my visit was Greene King IPA, Abbot Ale and St Edmunds, Moreland Old Speckled Hen, Ruddles County, York Guzzler, Titanic 1914, Westgate Thunderball, Lees Best and Brains Milkwood. Having just read an article about the Westgate brewery in a local CAMRA magazine, I decided to plump for the Thunderball, which was well kept and a tasty enough beer. Unusually for a Greene King pub, this place is worth visiting for the beer choice as much as anything else. The interior is smart and clean although it felt a bit too gastro for my liking, but all things considered this is a good pub and well worth a look if you find yourself in this part of town.

As GK pubs go I suppose this place isn't bad. On a recent visit there were six ales on including guests from Everards and Kelham Island. A good place to go for live sport as they have both sky and setanta although I think the interior is pretty horrible