Frog & Parrot: Famous Sheffield pub where Arctic Monkeys drank as teens and Joe Cocker signed record deal

It's a Sheffield institution famed for its musical heritage and for once brewing the world's strongest beer.

The Frog & Parrot pub on Division Street is one of Sheffield's most famous pubs. It is where the Arctic Monkeys drank as teenagers, before their mums would come along and 'kick them out of their seats'.

It's also where another of the city's music legends, Joe Cocker, signed his first record deal, after playing to the crowds on the street below from the windows of the secret upstairs bar, the Parrot's Beak.

To drinkers of a certain age, meanwhile, it will forever be associated with the fearsome tipple Roger & Out, which was brewed there during the 80s and 90s and which, at 16.9% ABV, was certified by The Guinness Book of Records as the world's strongest beer.

Nick Simmonite has been the Frog & Parrot's landlord for more than two decades and is a proud custodian of this slice of Sheffield's heritage.

Frog & Parrot's 300-year history

He explains how a trade directory from the early 1700s lists a 'licensed victualler' operating at 37 Westfield Terrace, on the corner of Division Street, meaning there has been a pub at the site for at least 300 years.

The Frog & Parrot undoubtedly has a fascinating history stretching back centuries. But it is best known today for its more recent musical links, celebrated in the photos, album covers and other memorabilia adorning the walls, as well as the famous passengers of the trams hanging above its doors.

The Arctic Monkeys and Joe Cocker are not the only members of Sheffield's musical royalty associated with the venue. Reverend and the Makers, Little Man Tate and Catfish and the Bottlemen have all performed there, Human League's Phil Oakey often drops in, it is a favourite haunt of Richard Hawley and his bandmate Shez Sheridan, and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, who famously fell from the window of a Division Street flat, has also been known to frequent the joint.

Boyzone filmed a segment there when they hosted Channel 4's The Sunday Night Project in 2008, Roots Manuva have also filmed at the pub, and Pete Doherty, Cheap Trick and Slash from Guns N' Roses are just some of the other famous visitors over the years.

Arctic Monkeys would come on a Saturday afternoon

But it is the Arctic Monkeys with whom the pub is most associated. Chris McClure is pictured on the back of their debut album stumbling out of the secret bar there, then known as the Booze Club, after an all-night drinking session. And the band's track Cornerstone references the time he accidentally set off the fire alarm when having a sneaky cigarette up there.

Nick is keen to point out that when Alex Turner and co drank there as 17-year-olds no laws were being broken as they were permitted to drink alcohol as long as it was accompanied by a 'light meal'.

"They came when Andy was still their bassist and they would have whatever was cheap, usually a £3 burger and a pint of lager, because they didn't have much money back then," he said.

"They'd usually come on a Saturday afternoon and stay until their mums turned up to kick them out of their seats and take over. They were regulars. We would look after them, play their music and support them."

Musical talent 'bubbling under' in Sheffield

Nick looks back wistfully on those 'great' days when the Arctic Monkeys were part of a huge wave of emerging talent in the city.

It may have been a while since Sheffield produced a really big name. But with the Reytons and Self Esteem, both of whom Rotherham claims as its own, on the cusp of great things, and many more local artists ready to break through, Nick believes it's only a matter of time.

"Things are bubbling under," he says. "Sheffield seems to reinvent itself musically every 20-odd years. You had Human League and Def Leppard, then the likes of Pulp and the Arctic Monkeys, and I think we're ready for another explosion."

Asked who he rates today, he gives a nod to Django Jones and the Mystery Men and to J. Kas, who was born in Meersbrook and grew up in Firth Park but has to date found more success overseas, especially in Portugal, than in his home city.

Roger & Out was a 'deadly drink'

Recalling Roger & Out, Nick describes it as a 'deadly drink', which was so potent it was served in third pint glasses. He tells how punters who were bold enough to try it would be awarded certificates. "Those days of rewarding drinking with a certificate are long gone," he adds.

The pub's brewery, which was located downstairs, is also no more.

"It was dangerous to brew underground," says Nick. "CO2 which gives you the natural effervescence in any beer sits heavier than air.

"Filling the cellar with this heady brew which was constantly bubbling was never a good idea. There were a lot of tingly lips and tight chests. It didn't help that we used to mix it with absinthe."

It's not just the brewery that's gone. That secret bar, celebrated by the Arctic Monkeys and on national TV, is today the women's toilets, explains Nick, and the wild nights are perhaps no longer quite so wild.

In 2009, the Frog & Parrot won the national Best Bar None award, which recognises the country's most responsible licensees. "When you've been named the most responsible premises in the country, all eyes are on you, aren't they, and you have to be a bastion of good practice," says Nick, who is today chair of Unight Sheffield, which represents the city's night-time economy.

Pedestrianisation has made a 'cracking difference'

While Nick may look back wistfully on some of the excesses of the past, there are plenty of changes for the better, like the decision to pedestrianise Division Street.

"It's made a cracking difference," he says. "I think people have got used to being able to eat and drink outdoors post-Covid, and the pavement seating you have now on Division Street is really popular. It's created a more European style of eating and drinking, which is definitely more relaxed."

Nick adds that he would like to see the car-free zone extended to Devonshire Street Carver Street and even West Street, possibly after a certain time in the evening, and for the city to 'really embrace active travel'.

He also wants the authorities, whether that's Sheffield City Council or the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, to do more to shout about Sheffield, starting with the creation of a musical heritage trail, which could include places like The Grapes pub, where the Arctic Monkeys famously played their first gig in 2003, and, of course, the Frog & Parrot.