Is Sheffield the Hay-on-Wye of Beer?

[Stoatwobbler 10]

Interesting blog post about the Sheffield real ale scene and whether the council should be marketing it more to tourists.

 

http://boakandbailey.com/2012/04/the-hay-on-wye-of-beer/

 

Hay-on-Wye is a small market town on the border between England and Wales famous for its thirty or so bookshops. Since the 1970s, those bookshops, and then the literary events they’ve attracted, have helped Hay prosper. Without them, it would receive a fraction of its current number of visitors.

 

We don’t think there’s quite an equivalent ‘beer town UK’, but Sheffield springs to mind as a possible contender.

 

Has anyone measured the impact on beer tourism on Sheffield’s economy? Has the City Council considered actively promoting Sheffield as a destination for beer lovers?

 

With a little work, it could it be Britain’s Beervana. As it is, anyone visiting the UK looking for good beer should certainly aim to spend a day or two there.

[sedith 19]

Hay-on-Wye as indicated is a Welsh border town on the banks of River Wye, situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty overlooking the Black Mountains, Lord Hereford's Knob with the Brecon Beacons in the distance.

Sheffield however, is a scruffy northern city on the banks of the Rivers Don and Sheaf, neither in the north or the midlands situated on a barren wasteland of long gone industry, feckless locals who hate anyone south of Chesterfield and one of the biggest and worst estates of social housing in the country. Good beer in Sheffield, but no better than other towns!

You'd have to ask yourself, 'why on earth would anyone come to Sheffield,' surely not just to sit in a pub drinking Moonshine or Farmers Blonde which incidentally can be bought as far afield as Wetherspoons in Southampton!

Non starter if you ask me!

[Stoatwobbler 10]

Good beer in Sheffield, but no better than other towns!

You'd have to ask yourself, 'why on earth would anyone come to Sheffield,' surely not just to sit in a pub drinking Moonshine or Farmers Blonde which incidentally can be bought as far afield as Wetherspoons in Southampton!

Non starter if you ask me!

 

People already do come to Sheffield for the beer in Kelham Island. It's quite normal to see out-of-town beertickers in Kelham Island pubs.

 

And if you think the real ale scene is no better then other towns then I suggest you get out and visit more other towns! Places like Norwich & York are very good, but on balance I think Sheffield is still the best place in the UK for quality beer.

[InSheffield 10]

Interesting blog post about the Sheffield real ale scene and whether the council should be marketing it more to tourists.

 

http://boakandbailey.com/2012/04/the-hay-on-wye-of-beer/

 

Sheffield's as good as anywhere in the country, and better than almost everywhere. People do come here for the real ale, and they always seem to leave happy. Promoting it would surely be worth a go. There was a bit of this around the Food Festival last year, but something ongoing would be good. Perhaps a weekly walking tour visiting some of the breweries would pull in some extra tourists?

 

As lots of the blog comments say, Sheffield's never going to be the Hay-on-Wye of beer, because Hay is a tiny town where most of the economy relies on the book trade - that'll never be the case with Sheffield and beer - but promoting what's already here and good can't hurt.

[sedith 19]

People already do come to Sheffield for the beer in Kelham Island. It's quite normal to see out-of-town beertickers in Kelham Island pubs.

 

And if you think the real ale scene is no better then other towns then I suggest you get out and visit more other towns! Places like Norwich & York are very good, but on balance I think Sheffield is still the best place in the UK for quality beer.

You're missing my point ... I travel the UK regularly and these days the beer in Sheffield is pretty good, more so than can be said 20 years ago, might I remind you the tank beer garbage that many WMC used to serve. I too use the Kelham, Harlequin and Rising Sun at Nether Green when I'm in Sheffield, but what else would drag the punters to Sheffield apart from the beer. Hay-on-Wye is a beautiful town with idyllic surroundings and people visit because of that ... if you think that people will visit this city purely to sit in a pub and drink cask and not want to venture out and take in the local 'ambience' (sic) you're dreaming ... the minute you get off the station in Sheffield you can tell its a town on its arse and hasn't recovered from the Thatcher years! You have to have more than a few pubs selling good ale and chip shops selling Sheffield fishcakes to entice visitors.

[Walkley Dave 10]

..... but what else would drag the punters to Sheffield apart from the beer.

 

Seems like loads of visitors need little else! And surely the first thing to do when alighting at Sheffield Station is to visit the Sheffield Tap!

[InSheffield 10]

...but what else would drag the punters to Sheffield apart from the beer. Hay-on-Wye is a beautiful town with idyllic surroundings and people visit because of that ... if you think that people will visit this city purely to sit in a pub and drink cask and not want to venture out and take in the local 'ambience' (sic) you're dreaming ... the minute you get off the station in Sheffield you can tell its a town on its arse and hasn't recovered from the Thatcher years! You have to have more than a few pubs selling good ale and chip shops selling Sheffield fishcakes to entice visitors.

 

There's plenty to do in Sheffield for anyone who visits for a few days. There are the museums and galleries, theatres, Showroom cinema, the Peak District, some great parks - particularly the Botanical Gardens, decent shops on Ecclesall Road and Division Street, or Meadowhall if they really must, and sporting stuff like IceSheffield and the Ski Village. I don't know why a few people who live here are so convinced the city is utterly unappealing - whenever I've brought visitors here, we've found plenty to do, and we've had a great time.

 

As for the station, I reckon the walk up from there to the city centre gives a great first impression of the city.

Edited April 5, 2012 by InSheffield

[sedith 19]

Seems like loads of visitors need little else! And surely the first thing to do when alighting at Sheffield Station is to visit the Sheffield Tap!

Indeed, hoards climbing off the train from Doncaster, dressed in Regatta cagoule's, walking boots, armed with their little notebooks and rucksacks, a leisurely walk to the Harlequin, Riverside, Cat and the Kelham, then back on the train home. Can't see the wife falling for that one???

[taxman 12]

Whenever we go to other cities one of our main pleasures is visiting decent pubs looking for good ale. York and Edinburgh are wonderful but I reckon to an outsider coming to Sheffield and hoping for a decent pint or three this place is great. Even though most of the top drawer real ale pubs are a walk or a tram ride from the centre.

[sedith 19]

Whenever we go to other cities one of our main pleasures is visiting decent pubs looking for good ale. York and Edinburgh are wonderful but I reckon to an outsider coming to Sheffield and hoping for a decent pint or three this place is great. Even though most of the top drawer real ale pubs are a walk or a tram ride from the centre.

Yes, I agree, we too like to sample the local pubs when I travel but there has to be other reasons for expanding your experience too? The wife and I wouldn't want to sit in a pub in York or Edinburgh getting sozzled and not venture outside, you could be anywhere, might as well as sit in the Fat Cat all day ... back to the original post ... Hay has it all .. the bookshops, The Swan At Hay, The Three Tuns, The Black Lion, Kilverts etc, etc and then the beautiful location at the foot of the Golden Valley on the banks of the Wye ... I know it well!

[moopind 10]

Surely a little bit of trollery in post #2? Hay-on-Wye is a little town and Sheffield a city, so it's only natural that you can't wander into the countryside within a couple of minutes like you might in Hay.

 

If you're suggesting people in the big cities are more closed-minded than people in small towns, I wouldn't agree.

 

As for the natural charms of Sheffield, the fact you could walk from the city centre out into the Mayfield valley and over to the Peak District national park boundary means it would be a lovely place to visit if you wanted scenery (and there are other routes to the country from the other sides of town).

 

I'd rather in live in Sheffield than Hay (hence I do).

 

There's a lot more to the beer scene than the Moonshine and Farmer's Blonde, too. This area has loads of decent breweries, some tiny, some doing quite well. The number of great pubs is to the city's great credit and it is certainly up there with the best in this country.

 

I also think that drinking in a different city is a great way to see a city. You could go to Jorvik and the Castle Museum and learn less about York than by spending an afternoon talking to friendly locals (the people in York's good pubs, like the people in Sheffield's good pubs will have a friendly conversation with a stranger) in the Blue Bell or the Swan. You'd also go off the beaten track to find some of the places, which means you'd explore beyond the obvious sites.

 

I don't see Sheffield as a hole, but it's hardly worth saying that on this forum. Some people just don't seem to get out much. There's loads of good stuff in this city.

Edited April 5, 2012 by moopind
Post #2, not original post, sorry.

[Stoatwobbler 10]

what else would drag the punters to Sheffield apart from the beer. Hay-on-Wye is a beautiful town with idyllic surroundings and people visit because of that ... .

 

If you look to the west of Sheffield we have the peak district, which is pretty idyllic. You can even walk there from the Rising Sun pub!

 

if you think that people will visit this city purely to sit in a pub and drink cask and not want to venture out and take in the local 'ambience' (sic) you're dreaming ... the minute you get off the station in Sheffield you can tell its a town on its arse and hasn't recovered from the Thatcher years! You have to have more than a few pubs selling good ale and chip shops selling Sheffield fishcakes to entice visitors.

 

People already do visit Sheffield solely for the beer. If you bother to have a Saturday session down at Kelham Island and maybe talk to a few other drinkers you will see that much.

 

If you take the effort to click on the link to the blog post you will see that the arguments about this centre on Hay-on-Wye being a place people visit solely for bookshops, whereas the replies on the blog post from beer geeks point out that Sheffield has quite a bit more then real ale pubs.

 

Oh, and minute people get off the train at Sheffield these days they see the Sheffield Tap, which is hardly all that run down and sells some very nice beer.