PUB OF THE WEEK
Broomhill Tavern, Sheffield
SEVERAL hundred feet above sea level, and still only three-quarters of the way up one of Sheffield’s most prominent hills, sits The Broomhill Tavern. It was built as a typical Victorian-Edwardian pub, and divided into several snugs and bars, but it has been sympathetically widened out into a series of rooms, each leading one from another, and designed around a central bar.
There’s an area where sport can be seen, another is an area for reading the paper and having a conversation, and so on. Some walls are covered with quirky signs and advertisements (there’s one which shows the ‘Periodic Table of Yorkshire Dialects’ which someone must have worked on for quite some while), and there are also gleaming brass rails and ancient oil lamps that have been converted to our new-fangled electricity. The Tavern is hugely popular with students, many thousands of whom live in the surrounding areas, and it’s easy to see why they like it so much – no fussy bits and pieces, well-run, a good selection of ales and lagers, and, these days, the ubiquitous selection of cocktails. The beers the other day included Farmer’s Blonde and the ever-popular Moonshine.
There’s a great veranda area to the front of the pub, with garden-style tables and benches, where you can observe who is leaving, who is arriving, and the world going by in general. One of the main bus routes also has convenient stops a few yards away, otherwise parking is a little limited.
There are quiz nights, where anyone and everyone can join in, and there’s a genuinely friendly feel to the place, people can feel instantly at home and relaxed. The bar staff are engaging, friendly without being ‘in-your-face’, and knowledgeable. They can also pull a good pint without the punter asking for it to be topped up.
This is a proper pub, lively without being raucous, and a genuine welcome for all. It knows its place, and its market, and it ticks the boxes. And long may it prosper.
RATINGS
Welcome ............... 5/5 Atmosphere ......... 4/5 Drinks choice ...... 4/5 Prices ...................... 5/5
The Broomhill Tavern, 484
Glossop Road, Broomhill, Sheffield, S10 2QA.
Tel: 0114 2663470