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The Ship Inn, Sheffield
Sheffield
S3 8UL
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Moby Duck left this review about The Ship Inn
A nicely tiled pub on the exterior gives way to something a little more basic inside. The beer offering was also quite basic, in Sheffield terms, with Doom Bar, Abbeydale Moonshine and Old Rosie available on the handles, the Moonshine was neither great nor poor, good enough for a pint. Although there's nothing wrong with the pub there's not enough of interest to make me rush back.
On 29th October 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Ship Inn
A very striking pub, with the splendid nut-brown Tomlinsons tiling looking a picture on a fine sunny day. Less sure about the modernised interior, though, but this is well done it its own way. Not sure what the Artisan Tap branding means, but Landlord, Abbeydale Absolution, Henry Smith Session IPA (£3.05) and Swoon Chocolate Fudge Milk Stout available were found on handpump when we visited.
On 28th July 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Ship Inn
In the mottled sunshine of a Saturday lunchtime this really is a good looking pub and the superb Tomlinsons Anchor Ales tiled exterior almost glints in the sunlight. The transformation internally to something more resembling a student bar has been well documented below and I won’t repeat any of that except to concur that the striking blue curtains do actually add to the overall effect.
Six ales were on for my visit and alongside TT Landlord there were Best Bitter and Session IPA from the Henry Smith Brewery, Sheffield Brewery New Dawn, Revolutions Brewing Co. Swoon and Abbeydale Absolution.
It was quite quiet for my visit except for a steady flow of groups of guys I assumed were also on the start of the Kelham Island crawl, (something substantiated later when I kept bumping into them in other pubs ) who seemed to favour the secluded section at the far end of the bar so I took my half of New Dawn to one of the studded banquettes in the deserted main section and started reading the information mag for the forthcoming Sheffield Fringe that I found on one of the tables. This was actually such a good read that I decided to delay my departure for another half , this time of the Chocolate fudge milk stout from Revolutions which was a lovely stout.
And I am not sure if the young barmaid was the same one as mentioned by Will below but she was really friendly and efficient to such a level to be an absolute credit to her profession.
On 18th July 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2111 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Ship Inn
Seemingly now under different ownership or management from my previous review, and the policy now includes curtains, or blinds, so the place looks a little less stark than previously. There are eight hand pumps on the bar, but only four beers at the time of my Tuesday night visit. There are more real ales on at weekends. The young woman who served me was friendly and efficient and the atmosphere was congenial, if a little loud at times - but after the noisy group of students had left it reverted to being pleasant. My half of Henry Smith Best Bitter was in good condition - this is a new brewery for me and on a subsequent visit I also had their Dark Mild; both were easy drinking and well presented. Worth a look in if doing the Kelham Island pubs, though expect this one to vary between busy and loud, and the opposite, depending on the time of day or week.
On 23rd May 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3745 recommendations about 3482 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Ship Inn
A striking exterior with fine well preserved tiling including a frieze of a ship over the door and the former Tomlinson's Brewery name running along the front, a rear whitewashed piece at the back may be an extension albeit from some time ago. Inside there is a L-shaped space with the bar in the crook, the front area has rugs on the floor, different coloured wooden slats cladding the chimney breast, button backed banquettes, small bottles containing daffodils on the tables and a small low table fashioned from a small wheeled trailer. A DJ mixing desk suggests the pub gets livelier in the evenings.
The other side has a walk through "door" all painted in almost electric blue, looks like an old chimney/fireplace, this leads to a rather secluded bit of seating at the far end where there is a horseshoe banquette around a single table. Window blinds were similarly coloured. The toilets are through here too, of note on the way is an upright clock (Grandmother?) with a Ward's Brewery face. Past evidence of this brewery were to feature throughout our Sheffield visit, they must have held a huge number of pubs.
Beers were Kelham Island Pale Rider and Kelham Best, Bank's Sunbeam, Bradfield Farmer's Stout, Landlord, Black Sheep Best Bitter, Moonstone Pale Ale reversed and one not clipped.
Easily visible from the tram stop across the busy roundabout, a good start to a Kelham Island crawl.
On 4th March 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Al Bundy left this review about The Ship Inn
A very nice pub and though its a bit wine barish its decent nonetheless. There were 4 handpumps with Chantry New York Pale, Poachers Imp Ale, Old Golden Hen and Front Row Pause on today.
On 10th March 2016
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3487 recommendations about 3390 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about The Ship Inn
What a transformation. From the outside, nothing much has changed. It's great to see that the old brown tiling has been retained. Much more open and bright inside now, with a large bottle store at the rear. A much fuller desription from Will is below. Now giving a 20p per pint CAMRA discount. In a way, it's a shame to see the old Ship go, but it was beginning to fail. It should have a whole new lease of life now.
12/11/2012
This pub has some excellent tiling on the outside. Inside it's been opened up with a small seating area to the left as you enter, further seating straight ahead and a pool room at the rear. We didn't mind the 80's music at all. It was mainly Sheffield bands as well. There were a friendly bunch of regulars eating in the main room, obviously from a local office. 3 handpumps on the bar serving changing guests and my pint of Kelham Island One Step Beyond was in good nick. It's not a "must do" pub around here, but it's well worth calling in for one whilst on a crawl around the area as we were.
On 5th January 2016
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3224 recommendations about 3135 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Ship Inn
After a period of closure following the departure of the long-time landlord, the Ship has now reopened under the ownership of Artisan Tap: "a range of venues in the UK providing a haven for Craft Beer lovers". I'm slightly torn between nostalgia for the old model of a community local with its dwindling but loyal clientèle, and welcoming the revival of a beautiful pub building in new and vibrant ownership.
Approaching along Shalesmoor, the difference is immediately apparent as there are no curtains or blinds, and the interior is brightly lit. The refurbishment is in the modern style of distressed chic, mostly in fairly good taste. There are good quality floor boards with an area of tiling in front of the bar - I don't recall this from the old days, perhaps there was a carpet on top, as I can't believe they've taken the trouble to lay these apparently antique 3"x3" tiles in a variety of patterns, using discoloured grouting. The walls have numerous pictures of Sheffield, mostly showing former industries and associated grime.
The bar looks like it's been repositioned slightly - it's made out of some old doors - the bonus being there's room to see the hand pumps where before a pillar got in the way. As well as a dozen or so fonts and a gleaming coffee machine, there are four hand pumps serving locally produced beers. On our first visit we had Acorn Old Moor porter and Dukeries Black Swan mild, both in very good condition; the other beer was Geeves Clear Cut, a pale ale. A subsequent visit two nights later found the same three beers on, plus Daleside Blonde. Beers were all priced at £3.20 a pint, which is quite expensive for this area. Although this lack of turnover indicates a low consumption of real ales, this is a quiet time of year, and the beers we tried were still in good condition. There are also cabinets of international bottled beers, from which customers are encouraged to serve themselves. Menus are available for these, craft kegs, coffees and spirits, and food is also available.
Clearly the new incarnation of this lovely old pub is aimed at the nearby student and young professional demographic in the high rise housing that has sprung up in and around Kelham Island in the last 10 years or so, and if this allows me the chance to call in from time to time and appreciate once more the glazed brickwork of the classic pub front, all well and good.
On 7th October 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3745 recommendations about 3482 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about The Ship Inn
Occupying a street corner position across the busy road junction from Shalesmoor tram stop ( the pub can therefore be conveniently combined with a visit to the Bottom Wellie ) is The Ship, a fine traditional pub with a superb Tomlinsons Anchor Ales tiled exterior - Tomlinsons Brewery was apparently based close to Sheffield United’s football ground and was largely destroyed in the blitz in World War 2. A splendid tiled depiction of an old sailing vessel is above the main door and the upper storey frontage is in the black and white Tudorbethan style. In an area of Sheffield that is gradually changing from industrial to residential, with new blocks of apartments springing up all around, externally, the pub really does stand out as being from a different era
A small metal plaque by the front door reveals that, during the 1864 floods, two seamen drowned without trace in the secret tunnels beneath the pub. A ghost of one of them allegedly now frequents the cellar.
To some extent, the pub looks slightly forbidding from the outside, with no sandwich boards or anything at all to indicate what the casual visitor might find inside, nor indeed, perhaps surprisingly, to tempt him to venture inside, apart from a prominently displayed CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2014 sticker.
Inside, we find a comfortable, traditional L shaped single bar, carpeted interior with padded banquettes and normal tables, chairs and bar stools. There’s some old shipping photos and, notably, some old bells from H M S Sheffield. An old Tomlinsons Anchor beers price list is displayed and, reflecting its earlier days as a Hardy and Hansons house, a Kimberley Classic brewery mirror. I gather that the pub is no longer an H & H pub, and, indeed the external branding which I noted on my previous visit, has now gone, although I did spot a number of Greene King bar towels on the counter. Down the far end, in what appears, externally at least, to be an extension to the original building, a smallish room houses a snooker table.
It is quickly apparent that, whilst the pub is evidently CAMRA friendly, this is much more of a locals pub with a wider customer mix than certain other better known pubs around here ( which I suspect, hardly need naming here ) , and, whilst the number of real ales has increased, there is not the same real ale emphasis here.
An oddly positioned pillar means that the pumps are not immediately visible and I don’t recollect seeing any blackboard or anything immediately indicating what was on. Perhaps this is a reflection of the lack of real ale emphasis here which I’ve touched on above. Beers on during my latest visit were Abbeydale Moonshine, 2 Bradfield beers and – a new one for me – Stancill Barnsley Bitter, priced at £ 2.50p and which proved to be a pretty impressive, copper coloured, beer drinkers beer.
The first time Valley of Beer crawler will, understandably, want to focus on other pubs nearby that offer a wider choice, but The Ship is worthy of consideration and a look in.
On 27th May 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Ship Inn
This is more of a locals pub, as we didn't see many beer tourists about the place. The manager had a very strong Sheffield accent which I thought was great. There were three ales on offer, I went for the Kelham RPM 45 which was spot on. Well worth a look in.
On 29th April 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]