Walkley Cottage Inn, Walkley, Sheffield

Luckily we caught the bus to this impressive-looking pub, as the Walkley area of Sheffield is up a fairly steep hill. One of the bus routes stops directly outside. Inside is not quite so impressive and is one large room wrapping around the central bar. This was also the least impressive beer range we found on our Sheffield crawl. Landlord is the regular ale. Guests were Abbot & Old Peculier. It was quiet inside, with very few customers. However, they were gearing up for some kind of Scottish cheese evening. By Sheffield standards, I would say that this is a below-average pub, but the city does set a high bar.

A food oriented community pub that was full to bursting at the time of my late lunchtime visit on a recent Sunday. Most people were tucking into large portions, but I was just here for the beer. Fortunately there's also an emphasis on good real ale here, with seven hand pumps in three groups along the large central bar. The layout has been changed in recent years, but when it's bustling like this it's hard to argue that the slightly awkward old bar in one corner, and the isolated lounge to one side, were somehow better. Beers available were Bradfield Belgian Blue (lively but topped up without having to be asked), Farmers Blonde, Timothy Taylor Landlord, Adnams Broadside and Abbeydale Moonshine, with Tetleys having gone off. This is a reasonable selection for a pub of this type, as its location means it's never likely to become a destination pub for real ale fanatics or beer tickers. It is what it is: a popular community pub, well used by local people.