MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Let's be having your nominations, please!
From me;
The Malet, Newton Tony (Wilts) - Simply perfect country pub. Great beer, great service, great food, thanks Noel! This has to be my personal favourite, bar none.
Some others, in no particular order;
The Sloop, Bantham (Devon) - Food, beer, location, all top notch.
The White Horse, Parson's Green (That London's Famous London) - If you like beer, you simply won't find a better pub.
The Three Cups, Stockbridge (Hants) - Friendly, well run little pub.
Farmer's Inn, West Hatch (Summerrrrzet) - Great place, really like it. Spent a very drunken evening on the port and cigars in the garden there earlier this year!
Nag's Head, Kinnerton Street (That London's Famous London) - A REAL pub. No frills, no nothing. Oh, and no mobile phones. Seriously, no mobile phones!
So, come on, hivemind, let's have your personal recommendations.
southern pubs in good beer shocker! i suppose it had to happen one day 🙂
the one that's nearest
or failing that the nearest one that's open
The Nags Head, Malvern. 12 real ales on at anyone time (4 reg, 8 guest)
and a load of other local ones down this way that no-one will ever visit. We're blessed with superb pubs and excellent beer (i.e. not northern syrupy shite with whipped cream on top)
The Palace is my current fave.
Just near Leeds Parish church, huddled in the shaddow of Daffys flat.
Nice selection of beer and good customer mix.
The Jolly Brewmaster, Cheltenham. GREAT beer.
The Queen's Head, Longford (nr Gloucester). Great home-cooked food and great beer.
The Farmer's Arms, Guiting Power. Good beer, always welcoming (even to muddy/wet/smelly MTBrs).
I prefer the plough at Ford IHN.
Too many in Bristol to mention...and it's best to keep these things to ourselves. And plenty in Bath too, surprisingly.
My vote goes to any of the countless Banks pubs in the Black Country although it's tough for me to vote against the aforementioned Sloop at Bantham.
Banks
dear god, no.
You'll be singing the praises of Marstons soon as well, wont you? [img] /vomit-smiley-9529.gif[/img]
The Black Horse, Clapton-In-Gordano, North Somerset. Great cider that includes Black Rat, which makes the ride home more interesting up Naish Hill.
The Barn, Wraxall, North Somerset. Convivial with a pleasant atmosphere.
Agree with deadlydarcy but excluding anything on North Street.
Agree with the three cups
And i'll chuck the Square and Compass at Worth Matravers in to the mix
Agree with luke.
Also The Brown Cow at Bingley, Tim Taylors ale and you can park and go biking from there.
The Bear, Alderwasley
Pub at Low Newton by the Sea, (nr Embleton, Northumberland) can't just fink of name.
Mildly shocked that someone else knows the Sloop, but it's obviously improved since I used to go down there... Is the bar still made of boats? I might have to try to get back down there sometime this year!
The Boat at Penalt, near Monmouth. Local ales straight from the barrell and a cat to sit on your lap. Some tasty singletrack hidden around as well.
http://www.theboatpenallt.co.uk/home.html
Pub at Low Newton by the Sea, (nr Embleton, Northumberland) can't just fink of name.
The Ship. Rubbish. Don't go there. Especially not for the spicy bean and tomato soup. Not at all. Terrible. 😉
+1 for the Square and Compass!
Stealthcat, I grew up around the Salcombe Estuary (The [i]right[/i] side of the estuary though, I might add....), of course people know the Sloop! Seems to be a very well run pub at the moment. Very well run indeed.
Fighting C0ck, Bradford, if it's still there. Great choice of real ales, but I haven't eaten there. You don't go to the FC for the food...
Lord Darcy, Alwoodley, Leeds. One of the many favourite haunts of North Leeds MTB. Several real ales, and decent food too
The Fisherman's, Bingley. Haven't been for a while, but some great riding from there too (short ride from The Brown Cow as mentioned above)
The Sun Inn, Norwood, near Harrogate. Great riding nearby in the Washburn Valley, including Stainburn if that floats your boat, and decent ales for afterwards
Riverhead - Marsden - 12 ales or so on the go, 8 or so are 'homebrew'
Sportsman and The Grove in Huddersfield
The Marble (& others I forget) in Manchester
*note - I is a lager drinker** so the above may not be true....... 😉
**being weaned onto lighter ales at the mo 😉
Banksdear god, no.
You'll be singing the praises of Marstons soon as well, wont you?
🙄 Whatever mate.
The Durham Ox in Crayke.
The Rose & Crown Sutton on the Forrest.
The Blue Bell in Alne
All serve great food, and a decent pint too.
my 'Favourite-Ever-Pub-That-Was-Called-The-Nag's-Head' was in Rochester. Great jukebox, pool table roast dinner inside a big yorkshire pudding and a landlady with biiiig hair who was also (and on quiet afternoons, sometimes simultaneously) a fortune teller. I believe Angie has gone but the jukebox is still an oasis of taste in the cultural desert of the Medway.
From anniversary weekend recently spent down there I also like the [url= http://www.oldmillhouseinn.co.uk/ ]Old Mill House[/url] in Polperro. Nice selection of real ale all at less than £2.60 a pint (lager is more hahahaha!), good cheap-ish food, loooads of local fresh fish, real fire, friendly cats, nice sofas, pile of board games in the corner. Yum.
Ship Inn, Porlock
Cwmann Tavern nr. Lampeter for real ale and scrumpy on tap, only 8 miles from home on my local road ride.
Where to start...
[url= http://www.theroyaloakinn.co.uk/Site/Real_Ale.html ]Royal Oak, Rhandirmwyn.[/url]
- for Mynydd Mallaen, Doethie Valley and Cwmrhayadr. Chris the barman is an ex Fullers? brewer. Lee, his predecessor kept a good pint and Chris is doing a really good job too. Open fire, three or four guest ales, a 3, a 4, and a 5. Plus a good cider too. We have lunch there every Christmas day and have done so for the best part of a decade. Fantastic bar food, now even better.
[url= http://www.ancientbriton.co.uk/ ]The Ancient Briton, Penycae, near Abercraf.[/url] Perfect for a pint or two after the stupendous descents into the Upper Swansea Valley. A regular watering hole. Missed my most recent pint there (Butty Bach) whem Kim went and fell off and ended up in A+E, the inconsiderate sod 😉 real Ale, real fire, allow dirty boots as does the Royal Oak.
[url= http://www.bryncelyn.daweshost.co.cc/ ]The Wern, Ystalyfera[/url]A stunning pub in the least likely of settings. A regular champion brewer for many years. Pork scrathings and pickled eggs too. Fabulous clientele. A treasure trove of artefacts in the bare boarded bar, inc an OMO packet priced at 1/3! If you like old bricks, mining memorabilia, foul jokes (pinned up in the unheated, prehistoric toilets) mummers or Amazing beer- this is the place to go. Some decent riding too, but it takes a bit of finding. Unlike the previously mentioned pubs, no beer garden.
[url= http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rhosaman/The-Rose-and-Crown-Hotel/103938731931?v=feed&story_fbid=112188272848#/pages/Rhosaman/The-Rose-and-Crown-Hotel/103938731931 ]Rose and Crown, Rhosaman[/url]
Lovely old traditional miners vilage pub/hotel. Good beer, pig snacks, lively locals who also ride bikes- like the bloke who bought an electric bike and rode it to Mumbles, Swansea, approx 20 miles away. Battery died, he had to pedal back. He's 70? years old and to quote 'had an arse like a f'ing blood orange' Class act.
And then there is the Wernoleu Hotel, now rebranded as the Ammanford Hotel- another regular Camra award winner. A lovely beer garden with some serious steps to be ridden. Free food too on occasion!
Out of Wales we have
[url= http://www.ploughinn.com/ ]The Plough Inn, Coldharbour[/url] landlady has sometimes seemed tetchy, but beer good and some reasonable 🙂 riding close by.
[url= http://www.thecarewarms.co.uk/ ]Found this place in the Quantocks- blummin great, must get back soon.[/url]
And finally, maybe my favorite hostelry of all...
[url= http://www.refuge-abricotine.com/uk/restaurant.htm ]L'Abricotine, Les Brocheau[/url]
or maybe here...
[url= http://bouger.lenouvelliste.ch/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/20090722_nf_lapisa.pdf ]La Lapisa. Some of the best cheese I've ever eaten![/url]
or here [url= http://www.refuges.info/point/1916/refuge-garde/chablais/refuge-de-chesery/ ]Lac Vert, Refuge de Chesery[/url]
or here...[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/chaletlaforet/1093413751/ ]Chalet Floria, La Praz, Chamonix[/url]- AMAZING views, service is superb, situation cannot be faulted
pegasus- good choice. I forgot to mention the Black Lion in Pontrhydfendigaid too. It's a good place. As is the Teifi Pool Inn.[url= http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1222168 ]Tafarn y Groes, Ffair Rhos[/url] They have sorted us grand several times in the past for Christmas meals, and given us coal and wood for the bothy too. Beer good as well.
No shortage of decent pubs - we all have our favourites in our local area
Her'es mine - after having been in it for a while!!
Golden Bannock - known locally as "The Dipper" in Lauder
and
Clarks Bar - Edinburgh
The Bridge Inn - Peebles
Eagle and Child - Staveley
Staggs Bar - Musselburgh
Taybank - Dunkeld
Ship Inn - Broughty Ferry
oh dear - I could go on....
I am mosty enjoying The White Hart at Buckfastleigh. Great food and a nice pint of Jail Ale.
riverhead......marsden
rose and crown.........thurstonland
barge and barrel.......elland
rosebud.......carleton
gaping goose......garforth
sun inn.........coniston
traquair arms.......innerleithen
all pubs used in 09 after rides and caked in mud
all with stonking beer............proper beer. 8)
Traquair Arms!!! lol
Like sitting in someones living room!!
depends on the company tiggs............ 😉
CFH
The White Horse, Parson's Green (That London's Famous London) - If you like beer, you simply won't find a better pub.
Is that the one I know as the Sloaney Pony?
Ton
very true - apologies!
The Three Stags Heads, Wardlow Mires, Derbyshire deserves a mention. Two very small rooms, just like you've walked into someone's cottage. At first you might think of the Slaughtered Lamb from An American Werewolf in London, but it serves excellent beer and really good home cooked food. Just don't step on the dog, ask for lager, or use your mobile.
The Black Dog just outside Dalton and the Spinners Arms in Adlington.
2nd the three stags, a dam fine ale house, also mind the owls and falcons in the main bar (I kid you not)
However I am drawn to the Hargreaves Arms (rossendale), bank top ales and moorehouse beers, does it get any better than that.
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Ton - if you liked the Barge and Barrel, come back along the road to Brighouse and pop into the Red Rooster, great little boozer with a good selection of beer. Also the Cock O'The North at Hipperholme - a pub/microbrewery in a portacabin!
The Works in Sowerby Bridge is also worth a visit.
sorry for hijack, but Ambrose are you local? If so fancy a (pub crawl), sharing some knowledge?
My Local
Not saying where, dont want it ruined by southern jessies.
The Dove - Ipswich. Sublime.
+1 for the Traquair Arms
Leathers Smithy - Macc Forest
The Crown - Churchill,Somerset
The Crown, Churchill.
Hunters Lodge, Priddy.
To go with the Dove, The Fat Cat, good ale (loses points for dog prohibition). Heard good things about the Brewery Tap but not been
Kings Head Orford, beer ok, food great.
My current favourites where I now live... which is Ulverston in Cumbria
[b]The Swan[/b] many real ales, not expensive, proper fire, can take my dog in. Good music when it's on too.
[b]The Stan Laurel[/b] many real ales, good food, proper fire, can take my dog in.
[b]The Mill[/b] many real ales (£2 a pint for January), many good whiskys, some magnificent European beers (including Liefmans on draught), good pizza... alas I can't take my dog in and there is no fire.
[b]The Kings Head[/b] Jennings pub, ancient place with a medieval well, a fire, and I can take my dog in. More beer choice would be nice though.
Another vote for the Nags Head in Malvern, neatly located for a mid or end of ride pint 😉
Great one to visit in the summer and chill in the Beer garden, The Brandy Cast - Pershore.
[url= http://www.brandycask.pershoretown.com/ ]http://www.brandycask.pershoretown.com/[/url]
Neat Pub Guide to Worcestershire here:
[url= http://www.ukcider.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Cider_Pub_Guide_to_Worcestershire ]http://www.ukcider.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Cider_Pub_Guide_to_Worcestershire[/url]
pegasus, I'm in Garnant near Ammanford.
The Waggon and Horse, Halesowen - Proper real ale pub, 15 different beers on tap, no bells or whistles, just a good, proper pub
The Vine, Clent - Perfect for a mid ride pint and the food is superb
The Maverick, near Stourbridge - Real ale, live music and very strange locals, what more could you need?
Some great suggestions here, keep 'em coming! Worth keeping an eye on to plan any bike trips this year, I reckon! I feel a trip to Worcestershire coming on (Was at school there for a while, lovely part of the world!)
3 stags +1 so many good nights I cant remember them all
Bitter end in Cockermouth bit foody now but has its own brewery
Kirkstile - Loweswater
The Jerusalem Tavern London town [url= http://www.stpetersbrewery.co.uk/london/default.htm ]Pub Linky[/url]
noteeth - MemberHunters Lodge, Priddy.
Awful pub! Is it still run by Roger Dawes, the man who makes you feel as though he's doing you a favour by serving you? And serves poisonous beer into the bargain?
Always preferred the New Inn in Priddy proper - used to serve good food and beer...
That was a few years ago when I was a member of a certain caving club (the BEC...)
Malt and Hops , the Shore, Leith.
Small old docklands boozer thats now both an ale bar with 8 real ales and a locals booozer with a real fire.
[img] 
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The 3 Stags is mental - only been once and had an absolute riot. It was a brilliant pub.
CFH - youd be more than welcome in Worcs. Just drop me a line.
BoradinBob - I always wonder why the Scots cant do decent pubs, and then I see something like that... 😉
Exactly what noteeth said:
The Crown, Churchill
The Hunters' Lodge, Priddy.
Plus I've always liked:
The Queen Victoria in Priddy
Eli's in Huish Episcopi
The Speculation, nr Hundleton.
Turks Head, Rothbury.
The Victory, Gosforth.
The Westleigh (circa 1995).
The Keanes Head - Nottingham
Dixey's Arms - Bagthorpe
The Grampus - Lee
Cheshire Cheese - Hope (although it may now be chain-owned :cry:)
Schwanen Brau - Bernhausen (Stuttgart)
"Roger Dawes, the man who makes you feel as though he's doing you a favour by serving you? And serves poisonous beer into the bargain?"
He didn't know you or people you were with? It takes three months of regular visits to get past that. Then another 6 months. After that, he's a great guy and gives you nice stuff!
Anyhow. Eli's [url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/pubs/3310701/Pint-to-pint-Rose-and-Crown.html ]Linky here[/url]
The Bell and Bear nr. Blackheath (West Mids).
My mate doesn't like it because they don't serve Strongbow, they have Stowford Press Cider instead. Also, sometimes pops up in the Camra magazines and usually has a couple of ales on tap, though not from Microbrewerys. It certainly beats the places we tend to drop into in Brum (where cheap is the watchword).
My mate doesn't like it because they don't serve Strongbow, they have Stowford Press Cider
🙄
Yeah, he's a disgrace. Still he can drink what he likes. I'm happy down there!
TJ - I agree - Malt and Hops is worthy of a mention.
The Louden Tavern is not!
Ambrose/Pegasus
sounds like we could arrange a wobble ride sometime??
My vote for my local would be Red Cow Inn, Llywdcoed, great beer always a guest beer on or too - The landlord Ray knows how to keep a pint and Tracey his wife is an awesome cook/chef and rustles up a good feed, hoping to establish it as a midweek ride waterhole/with scran this spring/summer
Thread resurrection as a counterbalance to the "why are pubs dying" thread!
Can I put a vote in for the Phoenix, on Palace St in that London's Famous London? Lovely beer, great service. Busy on a Thursday, mind you!
And i'll chuck the Square and Compass at Worth Matravers in to the mix
The Boat at Penalt, near Monmouth
Both faves of mine. I'd add the Lamb and Fox at Pwll-du and of course my brilliant local The Jolly Colliers at Waunllapria, Llanellyhill, totally MTB-friendly.
+1 The Crown
The Clytha Arms, Rhaglan
The Plough, The Foresters, the Rose and Crown, the Castle and the Red Lion, all in Ealing all good
The Belmont Bull.
A fine country Local, welcomes dirty bikers in all weathers. Great locals, great staff and the Landlord is a craftsman when it comes to keeping ale.
His cellar is like a place of worship.
Missed this the first time round. Great idea for a thread; here's a couple more..
Derby.
The Flower Pot
Brunswick Inn
Derbyshire.
Old Oak Inn in Horsley Woodhouse
The Red Lion Inn in Birchover (it's now surpassed the sadly over-rated Druids Inn)
Turks Head, Rothbury.
Ha. I nearly remember drunken teenage nights in the basement there many moons ago (tbh, it might also have been the Newcastle Arms). I can only guess it's moved upmarket in the intervening years, but then again I hear Rothbury has as a whole.
The Monkey @ Defford. No real bar so stand out in the orchard with your home brew jake.
Some cracking pubs out west of the Malverns, like the Stag at Titley, Live & let Live Bringsty Common, Bridge Inn Kentchurch, Green Dragon Bishops Frome to mention a few.
Brunswick Inn + 1
and while we're in Derby - The Falstaff http://www.falstaffbrewery.co.uk/index.php
the ruhr goch inn is nice too.
The Falstaff! I've not been there for a few years - i see they've had a doing up. Looks great!
Coach & Horses-Hanley, Greyhound-Hartshill, Post Office Vaults, Leopard & Bulls Head-Burslem, The Swan-Stone, The Greyhound and The Spittal Brook-Stafford, The Brittania Inn-Elterwater, The Dolphin-Derby, Den Engel & Wilkes Head-Leek, Britain's Protection, ODD Bar, Fringe Bar & The Marble Inn-Manchester, The Blue Bell-Hardings Wood. Admiral Nelson and Swan Hotel-Southwold.
I think that's enough to be going on with.
the Red Lion in Whitworth Lancs - landlord keeps a mean pint of blacksheep among others, lets you put your bikes in his secure logstore and has a roaring indoor fire that you can sit next to in all your stinking wet muddied up fineness - perfect !!
Got to add the Lochranza hotel on Arran. Was always the highlight of the geology fieldtrips during sixth form. Plus it has one of the best whisky lists I've ever seen. Literally hundreds of options. You can spend an absolute fortune at the bar and walk away with a single. Some of the bottles stashed away in the back are crazy!
My local - The Stables in New Herrington - turned up a month ago covered (literally) in mud and the barmaid insisted we come in, sit down and warm up. We'd been planning to sit out in the snow and scoff a quick burger washed down with a pint...
Great food, proper ales and fantastic atmos.
The Works in Sowerby Bridge is decent for a night out.
For a 'proper' pub, the Spring Rock on the edge of Norland Moor wins it. Excellent ales, excellent food and just so happens to be linked into various rides from my doorstep with little trouble.