Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Beer of the Week (w/e 14th April 2024) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
Gardeners Rest, Sheffield
Sheffield
S3 8AT
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Blue Scrumpy left this review about Gardeners Rest
2024 Good Beer Guide pub in the Neepsend area of Sheffield. The surrounding area appeared to be quite lively and trendy with a large food court and events space just a few doors up.
We'd had a few by the time we get here. But I do recall a two-room set up with access to the bar on both sides. My notes tell me that there were 6 real ales - Stancill Barnsley Bitter, Dorking Black Noise, Triple Point Debut & El Centillo, Little Critters Blonde Bear & Kelham Island Easy Rider. The cider was Pulp Mango Daiquiri. Craft beers were Thornbridge AM:PM, Abbeydale Salvation Latte Stout, Triple Point Cryo & Stancill Callisto.
The bar staff were friendly and we were soon indulging in some bar snacks. Ham and cheese rolls were available, alongside other snacks such as sausage rolls and onion bhajis which were described as being the size of cricket balls. I saved my bhaji for the train journey home and decided that the cricket ball analogy was very much an understatement. They were meals in themselves.
The Gardeners Rest seems to be a well-run place with a good selection of drinks. My El Centillo was one of my two favourite beers of the day. However, the pub was a bit on the quiet side for a Thursday evening.
On 1st February 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Brainy Pool left this review about Gardeners Rest
Mixture of a traditional pub with a community events space, also a conservatory (always feels strange in a pub) and large garden at the back. Clientele were mixed and it seems to be quite popular with students. Loads of traditional games available and DVDs to borrow. I initially found it a bit weird but ultimately it was very friendly and the ale (6 pulls) was excellent.
On 13th May 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1058 recommendations about 1023 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Gardeners Rest
Steves description below still holds pretty true with the garden being particularly pleasant on a sunny day. There were five beers on from nine available handpumps, Drone Valley Derbyshire Blonde , Elland 1872 Porter,Yorkshire Heart Quaffer, Sheffield Blanco Blonde and my choice of Deeply Vale Equilibrium. Worth the walk.
On 14th September 2021
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about Gardeners Rest
This was the last pub stop for me on the recent Pubs Galore crawl of Sheffield and in some ways one of the most enjoyable. Sometimes you just sit there and instinctively feel that you are in a cracking pub where everything is being done right, and the local Sheffield CAMRA branch obviously feel so too as they made the Gardeners Rest their POTY for 2019, which is no mean achievement when you consider what it is up against.
Now owned by the Gardeners Rest Community Society, a collection of some 380 plus shareholders and former locals who took it over in 2017 after the long standing landlord and landlady retired in 2016, this pub is now being run for the community, by the community.
The main bar room that you enter into is a clean bright room, with light coloured walls that house picture collections from local artists that are for sale. Then behind this is a conservatory space that now houses two manekins guarding the door that leads out to a very fine multi area beer garden overlooking the River Don. There is a good use of stained glass windows used as dividers for the different areas and an eclectic collection of what I am inclined to refer to as tat, but could well have been another art installation by a local member of the community. And then on the left is a smaller snug room, apparently referred to as the Dram Shop, that contains a bar billiards table.
Apparently there is now also an upstairs function room which is pushed for use by various local community groups during the week and there is live music at the weekends and regular beer festivals throughout the year.
The pub was being very well utilised when the remnants of the Pubs Galore crawl entered and in fact the only obvious available seating was the padded seating area next to the piano opposite the bar in the lounge room which was reserved from 8.00pm for the “musicians”, so we plonked ourselves here on the knowledge that these arty types like to be fashionably late, and so it proved, meaning we could enjoy some quality pub banter time concerning whether some of the crawl would make it back down to the train station in time for their carriage back to London.
This free house continues to act as the brewery tap for the nearby Sheffield Brewery and there was Blanco Blond, Five Rivers and Crucible Best on, all at under £3 a pint with the last two at an incredible £2.60 a pint. In addition to those the guests were mainly from small independent breweries and for our visit these included Peak Ales Summer Sovereign, Dawkins Eaton IPA, Potbelly Hedonism, Crosspool Mount Zion, Eagles Crag Eagles Feather and Parkway Monkey Business. And the 4% Mount Zion smoky treacle stout was absolutely superb.
This clearly is a pub on the up, especially with its future secure in more ways than one. Not only has it the security of being community owned , but in developer speak Neepsend has now been swallowed up into Kelham Island in much the same way that the large Ikea store on the North Circular Road in West London was magically transported into Wembley Park from Neasden. Therefore it will benefit from the ongoing gentrification of this once run down industrial area which will move more population and more venues , such as the new Cutlery Works next door, into the area.
On 17th July 2019
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2109 recommendations about 1991 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about Gardeners Rest
Still a good place to start the Valley of Beer trails in Sheffield, and it still serves good ale both from Sheffield brewery and a good variety of guest ales. We enjoyed White Rose Blondish, Fox Golden Bullet and Sheffield Millowners Ale this visit. Interesting garden overlooking the river Don, and a lovely conservatory.
On 3rd August 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Gardeners Rest
Mr Bonser has been his usual thorough self,little needs to be added.On my visit 13 handpumps were on the go,with five from Sheffield Brewery (Forgemaster,Five Rivers,Crucible Best,Bianco Blonde,EPO),Phipps IPA,Laines Porter,Twisted Oak Ultra, Red Rock Wedding Ale,Billericay Zeppelin,Holdens Cuckoo Nest,KI Easy Rider and an ale from George Samuels (?).I may have missed some details !
Surprisingly my Bianco Blonde was not on top form,and possibly having so many ales on during a quiet Monday may be a possible reason.However given the range,and it's proximity to other Kelham Island real ale outlets it would seem churlish to miss out on this pub.
The Dram Shop etched glass window refers to off sales in the distant past,there is a bar billards table,art is for sale and pickled eggs are behind the bar in case you need anymore reasons to visit.
On 18th July 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about Gardeners Rest
This is yet another decent real ale pub seemingly in the middle of nowhere, hidden away in an industrial area to the north of the City, but, based on my recent visits, well worth a bit of detective work to track down
It’s a red brick building, evidently of Victorian origin, which has been a pub since 1871. Inside the pub, we find a two pub, consisting of a cosy lounge bar on the left hand side which is usually deserted and a larger, more modern, main bar on the right hand side. The main bar has something of a light, airy feel, particularly around the bar area where we find a modern looking bar counter with spotlights up above on the ceiling. The walls are adorned with some eclectic modern artwork that is advertised for sale. Notably, despite this, it still feels like a proper traditional drinkers pub with a good band of regulars ( despite the location ) and, notably, an old bar billiards table. Various flyers and posters advertised live music for Friday and Saturday nights
In one corner sits a rather life like looking mannequin with blond hair which a rather raucous group of crawlers sat down close to for a considerable period of time before finally realising that this was not in fact a real customer. My latest visit was also memorable for a very rare sighting of some Pubs Galore calling cards on a window ledge just inside the entrance, presumably left previously by a fellow PuG reviewer.
At the back of the pub there’s a smallish conservatory, the walls of which feature some rather faded old black and white photos of the area. This conservatory leads out to a rather scruffy looking garden area at the back where, inter alia, we see an old Whitbread pub sign, indicating former ownership. This conservatory looks out over the River Don and, looking down below at the river from the fence at the bottom of the garden, it’s hard to believe that the river rose sufficiently high, causing flooding and necessitating the pub to close for a considerable time period.
The pub acts as the brewery tap for the Sheffield Brewery, with 8 pumps usually offering either 4 or 5 Sheffield Brewery beers, supplemented by other micros. On my most recent visit, 5 Sheffield beers were on with Forgemasters ( £ 2.60p ) and Crucible Best and Champion ( both at a very reasonable £ 2.28p ) all proving to be decent pints in fine form. Pleasingly, oversized glasses are used Other micros on were, notably, from further afield than is normal for Sheffield pubs and included beers from New Lion Brewery in Totnes and also a beer from Dawlish. A very moreish pint of Hoxne Smoked Porter from Hoxne Brewery in Suffolk was also on. The pub is in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide for 2014.
This is another pub worth seeking out, but note that it doesn’t normally open till 3pm in the afternoon during the week
On 27th May 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Gardeners Rest
One of the famed 'Valley of Beer' pubs, not visited previously as it was still closed following the flooding when I was last in the area. Anyway, glad I finally made it to sample the excellent range of beers from eight handpumps in the main bar and four more in the small side lounge (e.g. Tollgate Old Rasputin stout, £2.94). Also has a conservatory and beer garden at the back, overlooking the River Don. A bit of an isolated location, but well worth making the effort to find.
On 9th November 2013
- rating: 8
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about Gardeners Rest
Great little pub with a beer garden overlooking the river.Weirdly furnished but I loved it.Great range of beers and friendly landlady.
On 13th September 2013
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about Gardeners Rest
Wonderful pub, and a must on the crawl round the real ale pubs of Sheffield. Hard to leave it really with so many decent beers. They have their own Sheffield Beer Co beers, plus a range of beers sourced form new breweries and all in tip top condition. Our beers of the day yesterday were: Privateer Red Duke, Hamelsworde Spanish Stout, Fell Progressive Pale, Big Hand First Hand, Eden Experiment 103, Blacker & Son Chester Best, Wentworth Bath Watter. Brilliant.
On 4th May 2013
- rating: 9
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]