The Hen & Chickens, Sheffield

We came here on what was meant to be a real ale tour of some of Sheffield's lesser known pubs, not in expectation of finding any real ale - more because, having lived here for many years it seemed rude not to. Having heard of its rough reputation, one of my mates pleaded for a chance to make a farewell phone call to his children, but this proved to be unnecessary. The pub is in a strange little back street around the corner from a chippy and opposite the Co-op, being otherwise surrounded by disused and derelict buildings. The first thing we noticed, couldn't fail to notice, was the landlady stood behind the bar bellowing quiz questions at the top of her voice; it was 5.15pm and the pub was heaving. On the bar was a collection of keg fonts: my mates went for the John Smiths Smooth Crap, while I, disappointed that there was no keg Stones Bitter so that I could compare it with the Farmers Blonde we'd been drinking in the previous pub, went instead for Stella. There was an atmosphere of friendly conviviality, with about 30 or 40 people seemingly having a very good time. The décor is sparse: plain walls embellished only with small acrylic paintings of the regular customers, set quite high up. As we left, one of my mates said to the other, "who was your mate in there that you were talking to?", only to be told that it had been a complete stranger - that's how friendly it was in this pub.