Pubs Galore - the UK pub guide

Another one driven by it was directly opposite or near to in adverse weather conditions a venue I had trekked to. Small bar, un busy on my arrival about 8pm. Front room with the bar at the back as you walk though the front door and a small seating area behind the front room / bar. This one didn’t have the attendance of the fashionable venue opposite.

Quaffs wise, it wasn’t any worse than the last venue with just a small bank of shiny taps dispensing Camden Pale Ale and a range of lagers, including r the Brains offering on that front, namely Bayside.

Ambiance wise it was chalk and cheese to the venue across the road, this place was quite depressing. Can’t say there is much I could write that would draw you to this place.

Brand new craft beer bar run by Siren at the base of a newly built development. Not exactly an eye-catching exterior but inside is done to a high spec and looks the part. Some semi-industrial stylings and Scandi-chic, you could be drinking in Stockholm. The bar has a very neat set of curved wooden beams running above it. At the bar are 24 keg beers (15/7 in Siren’s favour), 1 cider and 2 cask (over four pumps), both Siren. I tired a few of the keg beers alongside one of the cask, their Liquid Mystique (not to be confused with the much superior Liquid Mistress) which was a rather insipid and watery brew, though may have been three or four off the bottom (NBSS 2.5). Pricing is ambitious (my pint of 4.4% cask should have cost £6.30 but it was 50% off for the session, phew!) so at that level of coin I doubt it’ll see much of my business. Although given its location at the run-down end of Friar Street opposite ropey late night student bars, a grotty Spoons, McDonalds and a titty bar, perhaps the pricing strategy is a form of customer filtering.

This was a typical Brewhouse & Kitchen experience - I opted for a cask Session IPA, brewed on site but pretty ropey, and looking like more like an under-conditioned Best than a Pale.

Let's be honest, these places tend to be more of a restaurant really, with the beer as a sideshow. If you approach them in that frame of mind, I'm sure you'll be fine. As a beer-drinking experience, this one fails to excite, as seems to often be the case.

Nice building, mind you.

Grade II-listed and rebuilt in the mid-19th century, as the Coach & Horses, this dates from 1785 and until CBeebies turfed up, it had been known as the Clock House – there’s a clock to the corner splay – by at least 1974, when it appeared in the GBG and first visited by me in March 2016.
With a CAMRA heritage citation of *, the green banded occluded windows are a clear indication that this was once a Charrington’s house and a nicely retained touch; the etched glass partitions are a modern addition, courtesy of Taylor’s Classics of Stafford. It’s the ceiling that’s the star here, with the ribs and ventilation grills dating from the 19th century, likewise the attractive mirrored bar back; the ceiling’s mirrored panels with Roman numerals are a late 20th century addition; also of note is the pretty fireplace, topped with the to-die-for Charrington’s mirror. Given the small interior, furniture is tall stuff to the periphery, décor is thin and customers are mixed with quite a few for my Tuesday visit at 9.34pm, all in good spirits.
The pump selection here seems somewhat pneumatic, with more coming online later in the week, six on the go, with a good selection of strengths and styles as expected, my first choice of Macintosh Best (£2.85 a half) was in good nick, likewise the Mill Hill Mallow Monsta (£2.85), both served by attentive bar staff.
This is a decent place and although it doesn’t have the 10-pump selection of sister pub Cask (visited the day before), it does offer a far more authentic pub experience – probably because it’s a pub – and also the beer here was in drinkable condition.

The Legh Arms is a prominent roadside pub on the A537 a short walk south east of the town centre. Opposite the pub, on the other side of the road, is an old red phone box that is now used as a seed exchange, much like the red London phone boxes of old. By the left-hand entrance to the pub is an A-board that states that they’re proud to be dog friendly. Is this something to be proud of? Is Knutsford generally known as a dog hating town? This entrance leads to some seating in the front left and then a bar counter that runs mid-way along the front wall with windows on the back bar that look onto the aforementioned phone box out front. On the right-hand wall an exposed brick fireplace with log burner faces some seating. Premium keg, Carlsberg and Beavertown’s Neck Oil were available on keg alongside two banks of three hand pumps. Two were unused and the Pedigree was off which left Directors, Wainwright Gold and Bank’s Amber. I drank half of my decent pint of Amber whilst listening to the background music before investigating the back garden. This is accessed via steps opposite that bar counter that lead up to a raised rear seating area that stretches across the entire rear of the pub, and a door that leads to a small outside cobbled seating area which feels very northern. Past this area are some booths with transparent walls that overlook a huge grass covered beer garden that is strewn with picnic tables. A couple of the booths were being used by young couples, but I was the only person in the garden on a nice sunny bank holiday Monday afternoon. I think the fair on the Heath may have drawn away a lot of trade. This place is close enough to town to warrant the walk out on a nice day.