Each month, CAMRA Sheffield & District selects the best of the bunch, based largely on the quality and range of real ales available there but also taking into account various other factors from the decor and atmosphere to the food.
These are the 11 latest winners of the group’s coveted pub of the month award, together with the reason they were chosen. The list stretches back to 2020 as the distribution of the monthly award was badly disrupted by Covid, and in that time one pub has scooped the accolade twice.
The latest winner, for March 2023, is the Dog & Partridge, a popular city centre pub which dates back to 1796 and boasts many historic features, along with some modern graffiti art on one of its walls. Other recent winners include one Grade II-listed boozer famed for its live music and another historic inn which with a grisly past which was successfully revived after years as a nightclub and then a hotel.
1. Award-winning pubs
Some of the latest winners of CAMRA Sheffield & District's coveted pub of the month award Photo: Google/National World
2. The Bankers Draft
Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin outside The Bankers Draft in Sheffield city centre. It was named CAMRA Sheffield & District's pub of the month for February 2020 - only the second time a Wetherspoons pub had won the award. The Bankers Draft on Market Place became Sheffield's first Wetherspoons pub when it opened in 1996 in the old Midland Bank building. It was praised by CAMRA for the range of real ales, including regulars Abbot Ale, Ruddles Bitter and Doom Bar, and for showcasing local breweries. CAMRA said the pub had 'improved greatly' in recent years, especially since Jonathan Atkinson took charge Photo: JPI Media
3. The Wisewood Inn
The Wisewood Inn in Loxley, Sheffield, was named pub of the month for April 2020 - having previously won in July 2017. CAMRA described how it has one of the city's largest beer gardens, boasting great views over the Loxley Valley, and even has its own on-site microbrewery. As well as the beer, there was high praise for its 'delicious' homemade food - especially the popular Sunday Roasts. The Wisewood Inn recently won both the best beer garden and best Sunday lunch categories of the Dog Friendly Sheffield annual poll Photo: Google Maps
4. Chantry Inn
The Chantry Inn on Handsworth Road, Sheffield, is believed to be one of only four pubs in the UK built on consecrated land. It stands virtually within the churchyard of St Mary's Parish Church and there is a cemetery on the grounds of the pub. The historic pub, built in around 1250, was voted CAMRA Sheffield & District's pub of the month for October 2021. The original features include its low beamed ceilings and real fireplaces, while CAMRA said there are also claims of various tunnels and passageways from the cellar to the church. The building was originally a chantry and safe house for nuns, with other uses including a school and a washhouse. Chantry Brewery acquired the pub in early 2019, according to CAMRA, which praised the 'tasteful' restoration and the 'quality' beers, which it said always included five cask ales on tap from Chantry Brewery. Photo: Google