Sheffield’s best beer gardens — a not-so definitive list

What makes a great pub? As a journalist in England, it’s actually mandatory that I defer to perhaps the most famous answer to this question: “The Moon Under Water”, an essay written by George Orwell in 1946. (It’s only as I typed those words that the quivering red sniper dot on my forehead blinked out of existence.) While Orwell highlights many attributes of his fictional perfect pub — including “uncompromisingly Victorian” fittings and a stout on tap — there is one point on which he and I absolutely agree. “The great surprise of the Moon Under Water,” Orwell writes, “is its garden.” 

When it comes to beer gardens, Sheffield’s cup runneth over. Even on a sunny day, you can bag yourself a spot on a creaky outdoor bench, without having to deploy the meerkat-like scouring and sharp elbows required in other cities. But not all beer gardens, even those with enough seats to go around, are created equal. Some are little more than glorified smoking areas; many are really just car parks with benches. 

In preparation for the returning hot weather this week, The Tribune asked me to compile a list of some of the best beer gardens in this city. Given such round-ups can be surprisingly controversial, it’s worth adding a few notes on methodology, before I’m pelted with metaphorical pork scratchings in the comments. 

I’ve stuck to pubs, no bars, and I’m also limiting myself to pubs that within walking distance of the city centre — thus ruling out the excellent Three Merry Lads or the un-toppable Old Horns in High Bradfield. For the pedants in the room, any missing apostrophes have been double and triple-checked and thus genuinely reflect the wishes of the pub in question. I’ll also put my hands up now and confess to a West-of-the-city bias. My hope is that the comment section will be filled with tips from readers for the areas I’ve overlooked. That way, there’ll be more than enough room for us all.

The Gardeners Rest

If a children’s author looking to court controversy decided to write a whimsical storybook set entirely in a pub, I’m confident it would look just like The Gardeners Rest: a cheery red brick building with green-edged windows, trimmed by flower boxes bursting with blooms. Its beer garden is not the largest but is, in my opinion, one of the most charming Sheffield has to offer. This is partly due to its undeniably enviable location — right on the River Don — but also thanks to a trio of green-fingered regulars, who tend to the many plants and shrubs on its terrace. Visiting on a Friday evening, banks of pink-and-purple petunias ripple in the dwindling sunlight behind a group of tree surgeons enjoying post-work drinks, still in their hi-vis uniforms.  

Then again, not everyone will be so won over by its distinct aesthetic. There’s a fair amount of what some might call “art” and others would deem “tat” on display. Despite a recent refresh, the outside area still features a big golden cannon, stained glass panels, and a statue of a Native American woman, which arguably isn’t all that culturally appropriate. But, as a great lover of trinkets, I appreciate the lived-in charm of the place. 

For the last ten years, The Gardeners Rest has also been a community pub, owned by the people it serves, with over 400 shareholders. When I ask the barman about that, he points me and my half of Yorkshire lager (Ossett brewery’s Hell Rat; crisply drinkable) over towards the corner and a shareholder regular called Ian. “Ten years ago the area wasn’t as vibrant as it’s getting now, so a lot of people who did an investment, they put it in for the love of the place rather than to make a profit,” he tells me. And is the garden key to its success? “I think so. It draws a lot of people in. But it’s like a hidden gem: if you don’t know that garden’s there you could walk past the pub and miss it.” George Orwell would approve. 

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The Brothers Arms

What’s better than a beer garden with loads of space outside and a decent selection of drinks? One up a hill with a stonking view, that’s also near a city farm. I know of few better ways to spend a Saturday afternoon than visiting some frisky goats, then having a pint and splitting a family-sized bag of crisps in the sunshine. This Heeley institution can get very busy when the sun emerges — as a recent piece by Dan on the “Steel City skiver” attests — but its garden is so sprawling that it's still nearly always possible to secure yourself a pew.

Though the afternoon I visit is not entirely sunny, the pub’s large outdoor marquee still has a few people sheltering under its white cloth wing. I get chatting there to Gareth Pridding about what’s drawn him to the Brothers. As a devotee of both cigarettes and sun — despite the fact he’s taking a precautionary break from the latter at that exact moment — it turns out he’s given the subject of beer gardens a lot of thought. He is eager to share his top five, in which The Brothers comes in third place “because the staff are very friendly, and the beer’s very nice and quite cheap.” As evidence for this last point, his pint of Abbeydale Deception only set him back £3.70.

It’s immediately obvious that Gareth's rationale is detailed and comprehensive, although the price of a pint of blonde proves a far more decisive factor in his rankings than mine. Armed with his other expert recommendations, I slightly rejig my plans and venture out to test his logic.