Situated in the village of Blacker Hill this issue we find ourselves at the Royal Albert. This is the first pub and brewery tap for Wentworth brewery of Wentworth, South Yorkshire. The pub has been owned by the brewery for almost 2 years. It was once owned by Wards brewery of Sheffield. This pub is a haven for real ales as unlike most pubs the Albert has no keg beer on sale.
What they do have are three hand pumps, two of which sell Wentworth beers and the third has a rotating guest from one of the breweries in the local area. At the time of writing the beers of choice were Wentworth Best Bitter 4.1, Wentworth Bluebell 4.0 and the guest beer was Acorn Forester 4.1 from the Acorn brewery at Wombwell Barnsley.
The pub consists of two halves the tap and games room and a snug. The tap room has the main bar and the inevitable gaming machines but the snug is totally different as it is wood panelled and contains cabinet with a fine collection of Royal Albert china. (This is now used as a community kids room). There is also a small meeting room that seats up to about forty people. The Albert as the pub is affectionately known is the meeting place for several groups. The metal detectors and the Ratting society also known as the rat pack whom have been featured on Calendar. The pub also has a ladies darts team that play on Thursday and Monday is games night.
Bar snacks with Hot and cold sandwiches are available all day with plans to expand this in the future. There are also plans for B. B. Qs on the outside patio and seating area when the weather gets warmer (thatwill be about 2050) but seriously as the last social outlet in Blacker Hill this G.B.G listed pub is well worth a visit.
You may find it unusual that such a small village has such a well appointed and run pub. In conclusion the Royal Albert is a typical example of the traditional village pub that is so sadly vanishing from England’s pleasant land to be replaced by town centre bottle bars and dead keg beer. So next time you are in the area pop in and say hello and help keep the tradition of real pubs and real beer alive and well in Barnsley
Opening times:
Monday to Sunday 12noon to 12pm
(This needs updating as the brewery has now sold the pub).
