Shakespeares, Sheffield

Official site of Shakespeares - www.shakespeares-sheffield.co.uk

Another very good pub in the area. 9 handpumps dispense an excellent array of real ales. Its a multi roomed pub that's well worth visiting. A large blackboard to the right of the bar tells you what ales are on. I had Brodie's Archer Pale.

The building was covered in scaffolding on my visit so taking any pictures of it was fairly futile. Inside it's another great unspoilt pub with a superb selection of ales. I noticed the name Wards etched on one of the windows which would suggest that it once belonged to them and a look at the 1978 GBG confirmed that. I counted nine handpumps and beers noted were North Riding Fat Lads Mild, Redwillow Seamless, Blackjack Bramlimg Cross, Blue Bee Real Aussie Pale & Sorachi IPA, Abbeydale Deception, Kelham Island Rye Plains Drifter and Shiny Silver Man. The other beer was the 8.5% Siren Empress Stout which it took a lot of effort for me not to fork out a fiver on. Also on keg at the same strength was Bristol Beer Factory Double IPA priced at £5.80 which shows just what a rip-off so many keg beer outlets are. I went for the Fat Lad's mild (£3.00) which was in excellent condition and served in a lined glass. All in all I thought this was a great pub, but the live music may be a downside for me.

Nice enough pub with beer garden at the rear.Famous for its beer range and didn,t disappoint with exceptionally good beers from Steel city and Hopcraft.Could have stayed here all night.

Enjoyed our visit to this pub yesterday and there was a good choice of ales on the board. Enjoyed beers from Clarks and Ascot this time. The pub has a friendly welcome and an interesting layout.

Built in 1821 as a coaching house, this is another fine traditional ale house in a part of town already blessed with many excellent pubs. You enter the pub into a terrazzo floored corridor, typical of many pubs in this part of the world, with the servery situated to the right. There is a small public bar here with a single button backed banquette and some low stools arranged opposite the bar, whilst a covered fireplace with a beer board above dominates the end wall. There are some fine stained glass windows as well, which are worth a look before exploring further. To the left of the entrance is a small, almost snug-like lounge with some tidy seating and an impressive grandfather clock. A folk band were practicing in this room during my stay and the pub has quite a notable musical heritage, playing a key part in the city’s folk scene in the 1960’s and 70’s. The corridor runs round to the rear of the servery, where a relatively open space with some high tables and stools leads to a small seating area before opening into a narrow side room with a dartboard and decent pump clip collection. There is a function room upstairs (Bard’s Bar) which was being used on my midweek visit, and a nice, partially covered garden to the rear. I noticed an old sign in the corridor for the ‘Angel Hotel’, but I’m not sure where it originates from, as this pub doesn’t appear to have used that name in the past. The range of ales available at the bar was as comprehensive as anything you’re likely to find on a Valley of Beer crawl. I had a choice of Abbeydale Deception, Copthorne Wish You Were Here, Sheffield Brewing Co Five Rivers, Salamander Carpet Bagger, Osset Snow Drop, Liverpool Organic Stella Gold, Raw Citra Pale, Axholme Graizlelound Ginger and Dark Star 1910 Porter plus Brooklyn There Will Be Black on tap as well as Thatcher’s Traditional Cider and Janet’s Jungle Juice. There looked to be a good range of bottled beers in the fridges and some punters at the bar were trying whiskies from a decent list. I tried a pint of the Citra Pale and found myself with an excellent brew served by a very friendly barman. I thought this was an outstanding pub and one that ranks alongside the best that this city has to offer. Quite how I never made it here on previous crawls I’ll never know, but this will be near the top of the list for a revisit the next time I’m in town.