I was walking through Walkley in Sheffield today and saw that some peeling paint on the wall of a house had revealed a previously hidden sign saying "Wards Fine Malt Ales". (See photos attached.) I've not been able to find any information to confirm that this was a pub. There's no mention on the Sheffield History Forum's index of pubs, which is pretty comprehensive, I've found.
There's a website concerning the history of a family who once lived here (386 South Road), and this has photos from 1903 and 2002. The first shows the corner of the house but before the Wards advert was added. It doesn't seem to be a pub, though; more like a shop, but the photo is hard to interpret. The second shows just the front elevation.
Looking at streetview, there's clearly a trap door for lowering barrels into the cellar (seen behind the white van). Interestingly, the pub is on the corner of Palm Street, which has a pub called the Palm Tree half way down - most pubs in residential areas are on the street corner, as I pointed out in my review. Obviously I've fallen in love with my theory...
I've looked at a range of old Ordnance Survey maps on the www.old-maps.co.uk website, and there is no sign of it ever having been a pub (with the nearest being the Freedom House, located a short distance down South Road opposite the Freedom Road junction).
Thanks for that RPA. One of the Sheffield History forum posters describes it as a "beeroff shop", so it may have served draught beer to be taken home in jugs. This would explain the trap in the pavement, which is clearly much bigger than a coal hole and which initially convinced me that this must have been a pub.
The further reference to the off-licence found by PSM wraps this up for me - it always looked more like a shop than a pub.
Possible closed pub in Sheffield
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Originally Posted by rpadam
