Kelham Island Tavern: Legendary Sheffield boozer up for record-breaking 17th 'Pub of the Year' title

Voting to decide the best pub in Sheffield is set to close within days - and one venue is in the running yet again.

The Kelham Island Tavern on Russell Street has won CAMRA’s top title 16 times since 1982. Its record includes an eight-year run of back-to-back wins between 2004 and 2011 and again between 2013 and 2018.

The next nearest winners are the nearby Fat Cat, with four wins, and the Cask & Cutler (now Wellington) on Henry Street, Shalesmoore, with three.

The shortlist features Pub of the Month winners in 2023 and venues in the Good Beer Guide in the same period.

The Campaign for Real Ale was set up in 1971 to fight the homogenisation of the British brewing industry.

Heritage officer Dave Pickersgill said: "Our Pub of the Year competition celebrates our area’s best pubs for drinking real ale that embraces CAMRA’s consumer values."

To find the winner members rank 10 pubs from a shortlist. A judging panel then visits them to decide the overall Pub of the Year 2024 in Sheffield, and District Pub of the Year for surrounding parts of Derbyshire. They will be announced in April.

But the deadline is Saturday, January 20.

Once a traditional pub for steelworkers, the Kelham Island Tavern had fallen into a state of disrepair after its closure in the early 90s.

It was refurbished by Trevor Wraith with the help of Lewis Gonda and reopened with Trevor as landlord in 2001. He retired in 2018.

As well as winning Pub of the Year many times, it won CAMRA National Pub of the Year two years in a row, in 2008 and 2009, which had never been done before.

Credited with helping to turn Kelham Island into a trendy destination, today it is today sandwiched between new flats.