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THE BUCCANEER - Leopold Street, Sheffield


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Guest thejoker53

good memories of the Bucc good music ,youngers tartan bitter ,Newcastle brown ,guiness,great atmosphere great times with my brother john sad day when it closed, if it hadn't closed I think I would still be going

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This was my pub of choice in town and I started drinking there in 1970/71. If we were there early enough we went for the seats below the window to the street level on your immediate left as you went downstairs. You had the advantage of seeing everything that went on in the bar and admiring the view as mini skirted girls walked past on Leopold Street. It was dimly lit and I remember that being an attraction. If it had been well lit I guess it would have looked far worse than it was as a lot of beer finished up on the floor most nights! It was so dark that if you popped over to the Stonehouse for a late drink you needed shades as it seemed so bright in comparison. The toilets were a dump and very small?

I remember paying 1/6d (7.5pence would you believe) for a pint of double diamond. I don't remember them having draught lager at that time and I still hadn't aquired the taste for bitter. I seem to remember the music was better and louder than most pubs which they probably got away with being below street level. This also had the disadvantage of it being very smoky. We all seemed to smoke back then and if you didn't you probably breathed in a pack of 20 a night of other peoples smoke! You sometimes use to see the the odd group of Sheffield Wednesday players there and I seem to remember Wilf Smith, David Ford being there a couple of times.

There was a lot of protest when plastic glasses were introduced and things didn't seem the same after that. I haven't lived in Sheffield since 1982 but was there to see it close which was a sad day. I only ever went to the place that replaced it once. Featureless I remember.

ps. evidently it closed in 1973 but I thought it was a lot later than that.

I remember well the introduction of plastic glasses, my mates and I walked out and never went in again. It was a great place before that however, plenty of gorgeous young lasses.

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Guest KevinM

We used to call it "The Beakers" because of the plastic glasses.It closed before I was 18 so I never did drink in there legally.We used to sneak in,sometimes got funny looks,but I can't remember ever being turned away.There was a barmaid called Lorraine who used to serve me even if I was miles away from the bar,then she'd give me a wink.Hehe.Best pub ever.

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When it was announced that it was to close loads of people arranged descend on the Bucc to have one final wild time. The date was getting close and anticipation high.

Me and a few mates decided to go there a few days before the closure date only for it to be announced it was to close that night probably due to worries regarding the number of people who may try to get in on the closure date.

At the end of the night we said our goodbyes and helped ourselves to a keepsake or two like ashtrays, beermats or posters.

Wondered around a while then went for the whistle bus home but as we came up the escalator onto High Street about 6 policemen brushed past me and arrested 3 of my mates for theft (they weren't trying to conceal anything).

They were release with a caution at West Bar.

Real shame we used to love going there even though it could take an age to get a drink.

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This was my pub of choice in town and I started drinking there in 1970/71. If we were there early enough we went for the seats below the window to the street level on your immediate left as you went downstairs. You had the advantage of seeing everything that went on in the bar and admiring the view as mini skirted girls walked past on Leopold Street.

You possibly saw me fall over the row of beer barrels waiting for the drayman!

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Spent part of my STAG night in there in October 68. Don't remember much about it except some clown trying to get us to go to the Barley Corn next, - now that was a pub ?????

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My one memory of the Buck was my stag night. One of our stops on our pub crawl.

How I made the stairs I have no idea. Luckily we did this on the thursday so we made the church on the saturday ok.   

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On 14/02/2007 at 16:31, Sheffield History said:

also a piece about Vietnam, but right now I cannot remember the singer – lyrics were:

"And its one. Two, three, what are we fighting for? Don’t ask me I don’t give a damn,Next stop is Vietnam

This is a song by Arlo Guthrie, son of Woody Guthrie.  I have it on an album, (I think the album is Alice's Restaurant), which I bought in Wilson Peck music store, in about 1975 or 76 - just a few yards from where The Buccaneer had been.  I don't remember the name of that particular song.

I was far too young to ever go in The Buccaneer, but I do remember a huge pirate outside the Leopold Street door, which isn't in the photo at the top of the thread.  Does anyone else remember this?  I think it was sitting down in a huge chair, and it may have had a hook for a hand.  Was it made of plastic, wood, plaster?  It was certainly there in the last two or three years before they demolished The Grand Hotel.

I spent 1979 to 1984 working on the 7th floor of the Fountain Precinct, so the Pig & Whistle, (later the Fountain Bar), which occupied the physical space of The Buccaneer, became a regular after-work drinking hole, and Josephine's felt like it was "our" sports & social club.

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On 22/07/2013 at 23:50, thejoker53 said:

I remember the dancer he was called Mighty Melvin

 

He was indeed. He also went by the title of the Mighty Atom iirc - at least I herd him called that. He also used to perform at a bar/pub at the junction of Staniforth Road and Attercliffe road, near the old Banners store because we saw him there. I did have a girlfriend who knew him to talk to and he was a nice guy, and couldn't half dance too. 

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On 13/01/2019 at 18:26, Craigio said:

This is a song by Arlo Guthrie, son of Woody Guthrie.  I have it on an album, (I think the album is Alice's Restaurant), which I bought in Wilson Peck music store, in about 1975 or 76 - just a few yards from where The Buccaneer had been.  I don't remember the name of that particular song.

I was far too young to ever go in The Buccaneer, but I do remember a huge pirate outside the Leopold Street door, which isn't in the photo at the top of the thread.  Does anyone else remember this?  I think it was sitting down in a huge chair, and it may have had a hook for a hand.  Was it made of plastic, wood, plaster?  It was certainly there in the last two or three years before they demolished The Grand Hotel.

I spent 1979 to 1984 working on the 7th floor of the Fountain Precinct, so the Pig & Whistle, (later the Fountain Bar), which occupied the physical space of The Buccaneer, became a regular after-work drinking hole, and Josephine's felt like it was "our" sports & social club.

I feel like i'm fixin to die, --probably were if you were in the queue for the bar.

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/country-joe-the-fish/i-feel-like-im-fixin-to-die-rag

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If I remember this right, you went down stairs and the bar was kinda in front of you and was a u-shape affair? The DJ area - and I remember George  Webster really well - was to the right of that up against the far wall. We'd always try and go to the right at the bottom of the stairs and get closest to the speakers!!! Had a copy of 'The Snake' by Pink Fairies (in my velvet shoulder bag - no, don't laugh) and I was always pestering George to play it and, in fairness, he always did. Local biker gang 'The Blue Angels' would turn up from time to time and were always cool. Saturday night's, if Leeds or Newcastle had been in town for a match were always a 'lively' affair.

Tried to make a couple of pints last all night as I'd invariably spend most of my money on records; nearly everyone smoked and if you didn't then you did by association.

Have to say a big 'Hat's Off' to Olga Marshall for her running the Bucc and The Wap for us all for as long as she did. Thank you Olga - you were a rock in the truest sense.

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Two other memories. The bar to the right had fluorescent lighting so the girls had to be careful sat down in their short skirts. The other memory was the short row of seating downstairs with a view up to the road pavement. I confess with others to gazing at the girls as they walked by. I'm not a perve honest 🙄

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Truly an institution for the generation of the BEST era of  
popular music and epic artists The   UK - in fact  The World - has ever seen.....also, sadly, of much less attractive aspects such as the significant incidence of drugs and as someone else mentioned ...the Vietnam War. Sobering thought that the majority of those of we males who patronised the Buccaneer, would have already been or be going to the jungles of SEAsia, had we been American subjects..... 
Can’t now recall when I first went in....certainly 1970 - possibly even ‘69. 
Does anyone know when it actually opened?
For all it’s faults, many,many, great times in there. Did anyone have a bad one (if you weren’t slaughtered and spoiling for it, as the former  doormen have commented above)?!
Worthy of a ‘Blue Plaque’ but doubtless, doesn’t technically qualify! Maybe just a dingy, grimey one then?,

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Can't give you the exact year it opened!   The Buccaneer was owned by The Grand Hotel.  I worked on the refurbishment of a dozen or so bathrooms at the Grand  between 1964/65, and was often called on after the weekends to carry out maintenance on the Buccaneer toilets.

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Knew the old Grand but didn’t realise that they were linked ....apart from the obvious co - location. Loved both at various times! I just have a gut feeling that the Bucc wasn’t actually opened for very long. I’m sure someone will see this thread, our contributions and have more to say.....

Another interesting place was the Gold Room which part of another hotel - The Grosvenor. Nice place for a quiet drink in a more sophisticated atmosphere but I did see some remarkable - eyebrow - lifting activities in there sometimes!

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On 06/02/2021 at 16:32, ManoutotCity said:

Truly an institution for the generation of the BEST era of  
popular music and epic artists The   UK - in fact  The World - has ever seen.....also, sadly, of much less attractive aspects such as the significant incidence of drugs and as someone else mentioned ...the Vietnam War. Sobering thought that the majority of those of we males who patronised the Buccaneer, would have already been or be going to the jungles of SEAsia, had we been American subjects. 
Can’t now recall when I first went in....certainly 1970 - possibly even ‘69. 
Does anyone know when it actually opened?
For all it’s faults, many,many, great times in there. Did anyone have a bad one (if you weren’t slaughtered and spoiling for it, as the former  doormen have commented above)?!
Worthy of a ‘Blue Plaque’ but doubtless, doesn’t technically qualify! Maybe just a dingy, grimey one then?,

Just a slight but important correction to your post, the Americans are citizens not subjects. As a republican I feel so strongly about this that the hairs on the back of my neck start to bristle when the ‘S’ word is mentioned.

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I really don’t  like reducing predominately  light- hearted chat sites  to politics or semantics but as you raise it; aren't the people of ANY country in This World,  ‘SUBJECT’ to the laws and controls of those countries - be it Monarchic democracies, Federal/Republican democracies or downright  dictatorships.
Whether the use, interpretation of such words offends our sensitivities or not, that is a fact.  
Moreover, if you think you’re addressing a Monarchist - I can tell you that you couldn’t  be more wrong but subject, I am, like it or not!

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My mates and I had done the Mojo and Esquire, had moved on to the Heart Beat and Penny Farthing, we tried the Buccaneer which didn’t quite do it for us. We unilaterally agreed that we had grown out of ‘Town’ drinking and after sampling a good array of suburban ale houses finally settled on the Nursery Tavern, and later the Riser on Abbey Lane when the Riser started to lose it’s shine, mainly due to the age of the wonderful Vera Jenkins.

Our son and his mates never got the ‘Town’ bug, probably because they, like me and mine, could always get involved in a Sunday Morning football game from a suburban pub, and the ‘talent’ was of a far better quality, I’ve got to say that as I met my wife in the Nursery.

 

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