Pub 20, Day 6 – The New Inn

By Rob

Well, I’m pleased to see that Andy has elected to take up his fair share of the blogging. I won’t lie to you, doing this alone has been a difficult burden to shoulder. It might have been easier had I just been writing pointless posts that nobody was ever going to read, but when you’re catering to an innumerable array of avid fans who hang upon your every word, it can be difficult.

Now, back to the Gleadless pub run.

We moved from The Punch Bowl down towards The New Inn. In the interest of fairness, I would like to point out that this is my parents' local pub. They love it. Come hell or high water, when Friday evening rolls around they are in that boozer. My dad loves it because it’s the only pub in the area that offers a good selection of real ales. My mum loves it because she can take her dogs inside and beam with pleasure whenever anybody shows even the remotest interest in them.

As for me, I've always found it to be a friendly little pub that is nicely decorated, warm and welcoming. I think it’s safe to say that, of all the pubs within walking distance from my parents' house, this is easily the nicest one there is.

But, as I said, I’m hardly impartial. 

We ordered ourselves a pint of Spire Brewery’s Dark Side of the Moon, which incidentally is also the name of an album by Pink Floyd as well as being a line in what is unquestionably the best song in Disney’s animated musical Mulan. Of course, this beer might never match the commercial success of Pink Floyd’s album, and will surely never be quite as child-appropriate as Mulan, but it was a nice dark mild with just the slightest hint of toffee in the taste.

I should say that Andy was a good deal less content than I was. As he previously mentioned, The New Inn was not showing the World Cup match. Given that the owners were neither Australian nor Dutch, I found the situation somewhat less incredulous than he did. Additionally, given that I don’t care much about football, I found the situation somewhat less upsetting than he did.

So, the New Inn gets a hearty 8/10 from me. It serves nice beer, the staff are friendly and the pub is small enough to be cosy while still big enough to allow you to find a seat. Overall, the most impressive thing about the pub is that it manages to maintain an almost rural feel to it, despite being in the midst of Sheffield’s suburban sprawl and just thirty seconds from a busy dual carriageway.

Pub: The New Inn (282 Hollinsend Road, S12 2NR)

Rating: 8/10

Beer: Dark Side of the Moon    

Brewery: Spire Brewing Company (Chesterfield)

NEXT UP: Upsetting the locals, at The Red Lion...