Yorkshire South Tourism unveils a new regional Food Trail which offers a fresh perspective on the culinary offerings, local suppliers and fresh produce available in the region.

The Yorkshire South Food Trail covers the key locations of the region, which includes Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster and parts of The Peak District National Park.

By no means exhaustive, the Food Trail offers a starting point to showcase the diverse foodie options available, sometimes unexpectedly, to visitors to the Yorkshire South region.

Sample gastro cuisine, Michelin starred menus, authentic family run restaurants, organic and locally grown produce from farmshops and delis. With cookery classes and themed dinner events running throughout the year, there’s no excuse not to join in!

Organically Yours

Adjacent to Sheffield Hallam University, the Butcher Works on Arundel Street is a 19th century Grade II listed building and former cutlery works. Recently transformed, it is now home to one of the city’s best kept secrets – Fusion Organic Café, which offers organic food in atmospheric, historical surroundings. Across in Barnsley , Glenroyd Organics are a husband and wife team that have created a fantastic range of organic products which can be purchased online or at food fayres across the region, including the regular Sheffield Farmer’s Market. In Hathersage, just west of Sheffield, The Walnut Club is a Michelin star-aspiring eatery on the edge of the Peak District and is one of the UK’s first strictly Organic Restaurants, where Head Chef John Oates sources wholesome organic food and offers a wide range of vegan and gluten free cuisine.

Fresh from the Farm

McCallums Farmshop in Doncaster is an impressive converted barn that makes a great stop off. Buy homegrown farm produce onsite or online, explore the three fishing lakes and quench your thirst at the onsite cafe. The award winning Cannon Hall Farm Shop offers a real farming experience for the whole family. Situated in the pretty village of Cawthorne in Barnsley, visitors can purchase fresh produce from the farm shop and delicatessen to take home, while kids of all ages can enjoy the adventure playground and farm experience. Still in Barnsley, the place for homebred free range meats is Broad Close Farm Shop which sells Tamworth Pork from free roaming woodland pigs, homebred, free range Dexter beef and lamb. Pick your Own Fruit at Eastfield Farm Shop in Tickhill where a wide range of home grown soft fruits are available to harvest during June & July, and homegrown vegetables are available year round.

Michelin Stars

For a special treat visit Tessa Bramley, the chef patron of Sheffield’s only Michelin restaurant The Old Vicarage in Ridgeway on the outskirts of Sheffield. Her seasonal menus use ingredients from the acres of gardens that surround this country house restaurant, with its stunning countryside views. On the edge of the Yorkshire South region, bordering the Chatsworth Estate in The Peak District stands the stunning manor house and private grounds of Fischer’s Baslow Hall. This renowned Michelin starred restaurant is rated for both its classical favourites and more adventurous dishes using the best of local produce.

Offbeat & Quirky Views to Dine For

Get away from it all and see the region from a different perspective, with some of the more unusual places to dine in Yorkshire South.

Combine food with travel and hop aboard A&G Passenger Boats. Their Cruise and Dine packages on the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal run through from the heart of the city and offer a unique perspective to enjoy a British menu. For a real blast, head for the quirky ambience of The Garrison Hotel Sheffield, situated in the Hillsborough Barracks. This Grade II listed building houses a former jail, guardhouse and ammunition building. With many buildings unchanged from the exterior, you can easily envisage troops parading whilst dining in the Jailhouse Bar and Restaurant or enjoy drinks al fresco the Outdoor Terrace. Sprotbrough, near Doncaster is home to The Boat Inn, a 17th Century pub serving quality food on the grassy banks of the River Don, next to Sprotbrough Lock. For true character, history, distinctive surroundings and some lovely riverside walks, look no further.

World Cuisine

Platillos Bar & Restaurant is all about little plates and big Mediterranean and Latin American flavours. Eating with abandon is encouraged and has earned this atmospheric restaurant in the heart of Sheffield ‘Best Tapas Menu’ award and ‘Restaurateurs Restaurant of the Year’ award in the local EatSheffield Food Awards 2009.
No trip to Sheffield would be complete without a taste of Nonna’s. Sheffield’s best loved Italian restaurant serves authentic Italian food, over 120 Italian wines with a Latin passion. It has been critically acclaimed, included in The Independent’s Top 10 places to eat Italian in the UK and named as one of the UK’s Best Restaurants in The Observer Food Monthly Awards 2008.

Doncaster offers some of the region’s most exciting and exotic cuisine. For an authentic taste of Nepal try Balrams Neplese Restaurant. The husband and wife team run a homely restaurant that delivers first class food and service with a smile. With no set sittings, they open when you arrive and close when you leave, and even offer kitchen tours and cookery lessons. For a taste of sunshine, try Doncaster’s first Caribbean restaurant. Banana Boat Caribbean Restaurant & Bar uses authentic ingredients to create traditional dishes such as ackee and salt fish, jerk pork and curried goat. Alternatively, try the Jinja Tree in Bawtry, an oriental infused restaurant, where your personal chef will cook you vegetables, fish or meat dishes on a hot griddle right before your very eyes.

Gastronomic Delights

Tucked away in the heart of Sheffield’s cultural quarter, Silversmiths Restaurant & Bar is housed in the former premises of George Ellis (Silversmiths) Ltd, a producer of silverware and cutlery. Diners can take in the city’s industrial past, with Sheffield made cutlery, artworks and exhibits, while sampling a simple yet stylish contemporary British menu. On the outskirts of the city in a suburb of Dore, lies Moran’s Restaurant & Wine Bar. Its modern European menu has attracted praise from some of the UK’s toughest food critics who have unearthed one of the city’s hidden culinary gems. The industrial heritage of Kelham Island is home to one of the city’s top dining hotspots, The Milestone. This chic gastropub raise their own free range rare breed pigs, offer cookery classes and cocktail evenings. It has recently been awarded a coveted Michelin recommendation, joining fellow Michelin acclaimed Sheffield eatery Artisan, a modern, bistro style restaurant. The stylish Leopold Square hosts The Wig & Pen in the heart of the city, where British recipes are reinvented with a contemporary twist and served in the relaxed Georgian dining room. Further afield is Nordest, Doncaster’s leading gastro restaurant. This former fish restaurant now serves traditional Anglo-Italian food with a modern feel.

A Taste of the Country

Famed for its traditional country inns, the region has become synonymous with real ale drinkers and is responding to the needs of visitors and changing tastes that want high quality fayre in countryside, ambient, historic settings. On the boundary between Barnsley and Sheffield, the former 18th century coaching inn, the Wortley Arms and Montagu’s Restaurant retains a real sense of history with period features including revolving doors, oak beams and open fires. The Spencer Arms is simply one of the region’s finest gastropubs, set in the delightful Pennine village of Cawthorne, Barnsley. The cosy pub atmosphere and bar full of real ales is complemented by an exciting new contemporary dining space. Traditional country cooking is celebrated at The Beaters Restaurant at The Dog and Partridge Inn, on the edge of the rugged northern Peak District, an ancient Inn with a history that can be traced back to the Elizabethan period. As CAMRA award winner, visitors can enjoy cosy log fires, stunning moorland and real ales. Iconic Sheffield pub, The Cricket Inn is located on the edge of the Peak District, with a feel of a great country pub only minutes from city life and is one of the most popular foodie haunts in the area.

Now we’re cooking!

Why not take home some of the region’s top fayre with a day of cooking? The Milestone in Kelham Island, Sheffield offers a range of cookery classes for all abilities. Learn the basics or enhance your skills, with themed classes on meat, fish, dinner party food and more. Or try your hand with a course at Coghlans Cookery School in the outskirts of Sheffield, from a Half Day Chocolate Team Building Day, to Foraging for Wild Foods.

For more information about the culinary delights of the South Yorkshire region, start your visit at www.yorkshiresouth.com/dine

If you would like to recommend somewhere to add to the Food Trail, then Yorkshire South Tourism would love to hear from you. Please send your suggestions to visitor@yorkshiresouth.com

Holidaymakers across Europe are being offered a unique opportunity to explore the country’s most beautiful beaches and stunning countryside locations as Eastbourne Holiday Campers launch Dolly, a 21st century VW.

From March, keen explorers will be able to hire the brand new 2010 VW Camper Van from Eastbourne Holiday Campers based in the country’s sunniest place and tour the best locations around the UK and further into Europe in a real retro inspired vehicle.

The brand new model, currently the only UK van available for hire with power-assisted steering, offers the most reliable option for a VW camper holiday allowing tourists to create their very own room with a view aboard a fun and iconic camper.

Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Member for Tourism, Cllr Susan Morris said “We are extremely excited to have Eastbourne Holiday Campers set up in Eastbourne and offer a unique option for holidaymakers looking for a break with a difference. The vans are very fun and mean that visitors have the freedom to explore a range of locations, not only here in the south east but further afield too, with many living the dream inspired by the VWs of the 60s and 70s. With such a strong portfolio of accommodation options here on the Sussex coast, the new camper van hire adds another dimension to our product and another reason for new visitors to make a trip to Eastbourne!”

Eastbourne Holiday Campers will be introducing the blue dashing Dolly from March this year, sleeping up to four passengers, with plans to introduce further vans throughout the year and they are already taking bookings from excited campers.

Whether holidaymakers are 25 or 75, the camper vans offer a great sense of freedom and well-being and come equipped with bike racks, awning, bed linen, and towels, everything the budding explorer needs.

David Irvine, owner of Eastbourne Holiday Campers said “As busy people ourselves, also running our holiday cottage business through eastbourneholidaycottages.co.uk, we realise how important a holiday is and our VW hire offers the perfect opportunity to get away from it all. Once our guests drive off in Dolly we are confident they will have a stress-free, relaxing and fun holiday.”

The VWs will also be members of the Camping and Caravan Club and holiday packages can be tailor made depending on where visitors would like to go, with advice given on campsites and attractions in the chosen destination.

Based in the East Sussex resort of Eastbourne, budding campers must visit the seaside destination to collect their VW before setting off on their own adventure. Whether staying within the south east and hopping from one seaside town to the next, travelling cross country to the more mountainous terrain of the Peak District, or over the channel for a European getaway; Eastbourne offers inspiring choices for an unforgettable week with endless possibilities.

For more information or to enquire about booking a holiday aboard an Eastbourne Holiday Camper visit the website at www.eastbournevwcamperhire.co.uk .

If you’re trying to organise a big weekend getaway for a group of friends, finding a suitable venue that suits your requirements can be tricky. www.internet-cottages features a wide range of properties, all over the UK, that cater for large groups to ensure a weekend to remember.

Billy’s Bothy, Ashbourne, Peak District. Prices for a weekend start at £1250
This stunning barn conversion is full of charm and character and the perfect venue for a weekend party, sleeping up to14 guests. They offer pampering treatments, outdoor activities, full service dining or home delivered meals. There’s a surround sound home cinema for a movie session during the quieter moments.

The Old Mill, Oakridge Lynch, Glos. Prices range from £1945 – £4750
A former 17th century mill house in the delightful Cotswolds, this beautifully refurbished property sleeps up to 19 people. It offers a mixture of antique and contemporary furnishing and features a state-of-the-art kitchen, with a dining table seating up to 30! The pub that is 5 minutes away and golf, riding and water sports facilities are all nearby.

Llanfendigaid, Gwynedd. Prices range from £1001-£3750
This magnificent, 13th century, ancestral home is set in an acre of woodland and is just half a mile from the sea at the Southern end of Snowdonia. With 10 bedrooms, sleeping up to 16 people, this home retains original character with the addition of modern day comforts to make your stay comfortable. If the sea’s a bit chilly, there’s always the indoor heated swimming pool.

Day of celebrations for 60th anniversary of National Parks legislation

Award-winning novelist Berlie Doherty will be joined by Peak District school children to plant trees as part of a day of activities to celebrate national parks.

The events are being held on Wednesday 16 December to celebrate the day 60 years ago that the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act became law.

The legislation created Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Nature Reserves, National Trails, and National Parks, with the Peak District the first to be designated two years later in 1951.

To mark the occasion author Berlie Doughty will join pupils from Elton CE Primary School to plant trees – donated by the Peak District National Park Authority – in Exlowmere Community Wood at Elton Moor.

Berlie is helping the national park authority celebrate the 60th anniversary by being a cultural champion. The author lives in Edale, which is the inspiration and setting for several of her stories.

She said: “Where would we be without National Parks? We need them. They are special places for people to enjoy and for people to live and work in.

“I love to be surrounded by the natural beauty of trees, hills, mountains and rivers so it is very fitting to be planting trees to celebrate the reason we have National Parks.”

Other tree planting ceremonies will happen at:

• Bakewell allotment site – where Sustainable Bakewell and Bakewell Area Gardeners’ Action Group will plant eight fruit trees. The trees have been paid for by a £250 grant from the Peak District National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund.

• Aldern House, Bakewell – staff and members will plant six trees in the grounds of the national park authority’s headquarters, one for each decade.

The day’s celebrations will end with a reception for individuals and organisations that have played a big part in the history of the Peak District National Park.

At the ceremony Narendra Bajaria, the authority’s chair, will announce the winner of a public vote to decide how to spend £5,000 on a legacy project to benefit the national park. Members of the public can choose their favourite from seven shortlisted projects by visiting www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/legacyproject The deadline for votes is 11 December.

Narendra Bajaria, chair of the authority, said: “Thanks to the Act passed by parliament on 16 December 1949 there are now 15 National Parks protecting Britain’s most beautiful landscapes.

“National parks have a responsibility to make sure these areas remain protected for the benefit of current and future generations, while ensuring that communities within them continue to thrive.”