Tetley Brewery Visit Report

Date of visit 06 Nov 1996

Time of visit - 1200 - 1500

I managed to get myself attached to a group visiting Tetley's Brewery from The Sheaf in Sheffield. Probably because the visit was scheduled for 12 o'clock on a Wednesday ( a working day for most folk ), the visit was undersubscribed, only about 16 of the 40 places available were taken. Still, we had plenty of room in the coach, which battled along the M1 in heavy rain and high winds to get us to the brewery gates at about 10 past 12.

We were shown to the bar, where we were met by 2 guides / bar persons. We were promptly given a pint and sat down to watch a video about Tetleys, lasting about 10 minutes. We then had a tour of the plant, guided by one of the two young ladies, and returned to the bar by about 5 past 1. We were told the bar would stay open until 2.30 and we would have to drink up and leave the premises by 3 o'clock.

I sampled several of the ales. The Tetleys Bitter was excellent as you would expect. After a brace of these, I tried the Imperial, another excellent pint, stronger and slightly sweeter. I finished the session with a couple of pints of Autumn Ale, just recently introduced. Again, a stronger ale, but with a yeasty after taste ( which I could still taste the following day ). This proved not to be to everybody's liking.

The two guides played the good-guide, bad-guide routine. The good-guide showed us around the plant with the correct balance of information and speed. Several of us arrived back at the bar before the guide as she was helping one of the elderly members of our group negotiate some stairs. We received a frosty reception from the bad-guide who demanded to know what we had done with her colleague. I'm sure she thought we had dumped her in one of the vats and sprinted back to the bar. The good-guide was the one who organised a quiz for us, while the bad guide tried to sell us various Tetley's merchandise. Needless to say, it was the bad-guide who closed the bar on the dot at 2.30 and hustled us out of the door at 3 o'clock.

When we first arrived at the bar I was amazed to see how quickly we were all served. We worked out that this was because no money changed hand, allowing the staff to dedicate themselves 100% to serving us - no time was wasted going to and from the till. I recommend that this procedure be adopted in all pubs, to make them more efficient and attractive places.

On piece of information I picked up was that Tetley's Warrington plant is closing/has closed. This is good news for those who have drunk Warrington's Tetley's bitter, but bad news for those employed there.

The journey back to Sheffield was uneventful. I had been concerned about the lack of toilet facilities on the bus ( Roger had brought a bottle, he was willing to hire out.). However, a pre-emptive visit to the motorway services just south of Leeds provided enough relief to get us back to Sheffield

Overall, a very enjoyable visit. Many thanks to Tetley's brewery, and the good folk from the Sheaf for making it all possible.