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| Sheffield's old railway diner is brought back brilliantly to life | Sheffield's old railway diner is brought back brilliantly to life |
| (17 days later) | |
| All too often, drinking at a train station is like eating at motorway services, nothing more than serving a basic function. The atmosphere is strange, as if nobody is really supposed to be there; everyone is in the middle of their journey, has somewhere to go or has just arrived from somewhere else. | All too often, drinking at a train station is like eating at motorway services, nothing more than serving a basic function. The atmosphere is strange, as if nobody is really supposed to be there; everyone is in the middle of their journey, has somewhere to go or has just arrived from somewhere else. |
| As a result, such places are seldom much fun. Bright lights, fusty smells, sticky tables: they can exude a cold, static atmosphere, a room-full of people killing time, sat alone and in silence, other than the TV stuck on a sports news channel or the beep and clatter of bandits and quiz machines. A rowdy group of drinkers, maybe a hen or stag do, or perhaps a group of football supporters fuelling up may break this dismal scene. But which are likely to enhance your experience if you enjoy good beer in a good pub? | As a result, such places are seldom much fun. Bright lights, fusty smells, sticky tables: they can exude a cold, static atmosphere, a room-full of people killing time, sat alone and in silence, other than the TV stuck on a sports news channel or the beep and clatter of bandits and quiz machines. A rowdy group of drinkers, maybe a hen or stag do, or perhaps a group of football supporters fuelling up may break this dismal scene. But which are likely to enhance your experience if you enjoy good beer in a good pub? |
| However... | However... |
| Roll in to Sheffield train station and take a walk into the Sheffield Tap and you'll experience something altogether different. Snake through the cavernous Grade II listed building and come to the bar, and you will be greeted with beers from across the world in their hundreds, a glorious interior and not a television or generic brand in sight. The Tap is not a new arrival to the city; it has been winning awards and recognition from beer lovers all over the country for three years now. But it has just opened up a huge extension, now complete with an on-site brewery. | Roll in to Sheffield train station and take a walk into the Sheffield Tap and you'll experience something altogether different. Snake through the cavernous Grade II listed building and come to the bar, and you will be greeted with beers from across the world in their hundreds, a glorious interior and not a television or generic brand in sight. The Tap is not a new arrival to the city; it has been winning awards and recognition from beer lovers all over the country for three years now. But it has just opened up a huge extension, now complete with an on-site brewery. |
| The pub is housed in an Edwardian Refreshment and Dining Room, converted into a humble waiting room by British Rail, vandalised and mistreated, closed in 1976 and left to rot. Until 2008, when, via private investment and a grant from the Railway Heritage Trust, work began to restore it to its former glory, with a commitment to keep its architectural integrity. It re-opened as the Sheffield Tap in 2010 but the neighbouring dining room remained behind closed doors, in disrepair. | The pub is housed in an Edwardian Refreshment and Dining Room, converted into a humble waiting room by British Rail, vandalised and mistreated, closed in 1976 and left to rot. Until 2008, when, via private investment and a grant from the Railway Heritage Trust, work began to restore it to its former glory, with a commitment to keep its architectural integrity. It re-opened as the Sheffield Tap in 2010 but the neighbouring dining room remained behind closed doors, in disrepair. |
| Come January this year, that last sorry reminder of the bad days ended. The Tap revealed an eye-popping conversion with loads of extra seating, the brewery and a public viewing gallery, allowing customers to see their beer being made as they swill the results. | Come January this year, that last sorry reminder of the bad days ended. The Tap revealed an eye-popping conversion with loads of extra seating, the brewery and a public viewing gallery, allowing customers to see their beer being made as they swill the results. |
| I go down to the pub to speak with head brewer and co-owner Jamie Hawksworth along with fellow brewer Pete Dakin. Walking into the new extension, you encounter an overwhelming aroma – the smell and texture is almost like being enveloped in a humid but tasty fog. The smell is that of malt: the team are currently mid-brew. Dakin says: | I go down to the pub to speak with head brewer and co-owner Jamie Hawksworth along with fellow brewer Pete Dakin. Walking into the new extension, you encounter an overwhelming aroma – the smell and texture is almost like being enveloped in a humid but tasty fog. The smell is that of malt: the team are currently mid-brew. Dakin says: |
| We had an old lady come to the bar and ask for a Horlicks the other week. She could smell the malt coming from the Brewery from next door. | We had an old lady come to the bar and ask for a Horlicks the other week. She could smell the malt coming from the Brewery from next door. |
The Tapped Brew Company has only been brewing twice a week for a couple of months, but already the bar is heavily stocked with new products. As the day passes slowly and blissfully I start with a pint of the clear golden pale ale Bramling followed by Liberty Stout (made with treacle), Miami Weisse (a hoppy wheat beer) and a 10% Double IPA Barley Wine. Hawksworth says: | The Tapped Brew Company has only been brewing twice a week for a couple of months, but already the bar is heavily stocked with new products. As the day passes slowly and blissfully I start with a pint of the clear golden pale ale Bramling followed by Liberty Stout (made with treacle), Miami Weisse (a hoppy wheat beer) and a 10% Double IPA Barley Wine. Hawksworth says: |
| We're all about selling good beer. It's all we want to do | We're all about selling good beer. It's all we want to do |
But Dakin chips in: | But Dakin chips in: |
| Hang on a minute. You're all about creating places you want to drink in. | Hang on a minute. You're all about creating places you want to drink in. |
Jamie again: | Jamie again: |
| That's true. I was tired of having to travel all over the country or a city, 'oh let's go to Manchester because they've got a wheat beer there, or oh that place has a fruit beer, let's go there'. We just wanted to create somewhere that had all of that under one roof | That's true. I was tired of having to travel all over the country or a city, 'oh let's go to Manchester because they've got a wheat beer there, or oh that place has a fruit beer, let's go there'. We just wanted to create somewhere that had all of that under one roof |
| We also pride ourselves on the quality of beer we offer from other breweries, so ours instantly has to be on the same level as that. It's like being put in the Premiership League from nowhere; if you aren't very good then you're going to be found out very quickly. | We also pride ourselves on the quality of beer we offer from other breweries, so ours instantly has to be on the same level as that. It's like being put in the Premiership League from nowhere; if you aren't very good then you're going to be found out very quickly. |
Head to the Sheffield Tap at any time and it will be swelling with people, not used just by passengers but local regulars and people who have come out of their way to visit the pub. Hawksworth's business partner Jon Holdsworth says: | Head to the Sheffield Tap at any time and it will be swelling with people, not used just by passengers but local regulars and people who have come out of their way to visit the pub. Hawksworth's business partner Jon Holdsworth says: |
| We have people coming for a night out from the north of London, getting the two-hour train from St Pancras. Because if they are drinking in the south side, in Croydon or wherever, they can spend just as long travelling within London. | We have people coming for a night out from the north of London, getting the two-hour train from St Pancras. Because if they are drinking in the south side, in Croydon or wherever, they can spend just as long travelling within London. |
The Tap is a business success with £4,500,00 annual turnover after four years and sister outlets in York and London. It has avoided rowdiness, maybe as Dakin says, because | The Tap is a business success with £4,500,00 annual turnover after four years and sister outlets in York and London. It has avoided rowdiness, maybe as Dakin says, because |
| There are none of the multi-national products that are associated with loutish behaviour here. There are no energy drinks, no alcopops, no big brands. It means they don't have anything to associate with. | There are none of the multi-national products that are associated with loutish behaviour here. There are no energy drinks, no alcopops, no big brands. It means they don't have anything to associate with. |
The discussion of binge drinking and the culture it creates is never far away from the media spotlight, but it's something Hawksworth is happy to stay away from. | The discussion of binge drinking and the culture it creates is never far away from the media spotlight, but it's something Hawksworth is happy to stay away from. |
| We choose to close at 12am even though we are actually licensed until 1am. Do I want a pub full of people who have been drinking all day? No, I don't. It's not what we are about. | We choose to close at 12am even though we are actually licensed until 1am. Do I want a pub full of people who have been drinking all day? No, I don't. It's not what we are about. |
| He is a brewmaster and trained at the The Strahov Monastic Brewery in Prague, followed by work at other high quality breweries including the Thornbridge in Bakewell. He speaks in elaborate and entertaining metaphors and uses wild analogies, comparing beer consumption with communism and suddenly asking questions such as | He is a brewmaster and trained at the The Strahov Monastic Brewery in Prague, followed by work at other high quality breweries including the Thornbridge in Bakewell. He speaks in elaborate and entertaining metaphors and uses wild analogies, comparing beer consumption with communism and suddenly asking questions such as |
| Have you ever been offended by a fish finger? | Have you ever been offended by a fish finger? |
He talks about how Sheffield was once one of the country's best brewing cities and how he wishes to restore that former glory – the heyday of Ward's and Stones among other brewers. He doffs his cap to Kelham Island's Dave Wickett, Sheffield's first commercial independent brewer when he started in 1990 and a huge influence on subsequent progress. | He talks about how Sheffield was once one of the country's best brewing cities and how he wishes to restore that former glory – the heyday of Ward's and Stones among other brewers. He doffs his cap to Kelham Island's Dave Wickett, Sheffield's first commercial independent brewer when he started in 1990 and a huge influence on subsequent progress. |
| Beer runs in Hawksworth's veins. He says: | Beer runs in Hawksworth's veins. He says: |
| I remember being a child and sitting outside the pub in the summer and dipping my fingers into my Dad's pint glass and it being really foamy and bitter. I thought, why isn't beer like that anymore? And I wanted to recreate that. That nostalgia. And I did. | I remember being a child and sitting outside the pub in the summer and dipping my fingers into my Dad's pint glass and it being really foamy and bitter. I thought, why isn't beer like that anymore? And I wanted to recreate that. That nostalgia. And I did. |
| Now it flies out and I get old men telling me that's it's like a beer they used to drink. | Now it flies out and I get old men telling me that's it's like a beer they used to drink. |
You can get a high quality pint for under £3.00 at the Tap or if you're feeling extra flush, try one of the many rotating guest beers which can cost a lot more. The 10% imported Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout I tasted will set you back £10.00 a pint. | You can get a high quality pint for under £3.00 at the Tap or if you're feeling extra flush, try one of the many rotating guest beers which can cost a lot more. The 10% imported Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout I tasted will set you back £10.00 a pint. |
| In a city still disfigured by hundreds of derelict buildings, the Sheffield Tap is a beacon to follow, proving that with investment, time and passion, there is much of the same to be done. Not simply for idealistic or aesthetic reasons, but to create a functioning, economy-stimulating enterprise. The Tap provides £100,000 in rent per year to the railway station, money that when the building was sat empty, simply wasn't there. Now it will go on helping to improve services to and within the city. | In a city still disfigured by hundreds of derelict buildings, the Sheffield Tap is a beacon to follow, proving that with investment, time and passion, there is much of the same to be done. Not simply for idealistic or aesthetic reasons, but to create a functioning, economy-stimulating enterprise. The Tap provides £100,000 in rent per year to the railway station, money that when the building was sat empty, simply wasn't there. Now it will go on helping to improve services to and within the city. |
| That's specially pertinent in the context of the cuts in public spending in the city this year which which will see every service affected and in some cases, completely eradicated. As someone who lives in Sheffield, I draw solace and hope from the new life given to this grand old building. | That's specially pertinent in the context of the cuts in public spending in the city this year which which will see every service affected and in some cases, completely eradicated. As someone who lives in Sheffield, I draw solace and hope from the new life given to this grand old building. |
| Daniel Dylan Wray is a freelance journalist living in Sheffield. Primarily covering the arts, he can be read at such places as Loud and Quiet, The Quietus and The Yorkshire Post, amongst others, he is also currently music editor of the website Peel Apart. | Daniel Dylan Wray is a freelance journalist living in Sheffield. Primarily covering the arts, he can be read at such places as Loud and Quiet, The Quietus and The Yorkshire Post, amongst others, he is also currently music editor of the website Peel Apart. |
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