I've reported elsewhere the reopening of The Sheaf in Sheffield, now a real ale house called... The Ale House. Also today, the Sheffield Telegraph reports the permanent closure of the historic Robin Hood in Little Matlock on the edge of Sheffield.
I must admit to only having been in this pub three or four times in the nearly 14 years I've lived in Sheffield, so I clearly share some of the blame for its demise, but it has to be said that it's seriously remote. I went there a couple of years back with some friends of mine from Dunstable who were up here for a visit. We caught the tram to Malin Bridge and set off to walk to the Robin Hood. After about half a mile there was a sign at the side of the road: "This way to the Robin Hood - 800 yards". This was encouraging, as one of my friends was recovering from an operation and wasn't really up to a long walk. After another ten minutes, we saw another sign: "This way to the Robin Hood - 700 yards". (We weren't walking that slowly.) One of these signs was clearly being economical with the truth. Unfortunately it was the first sign that was the liar.