Campaign for Real Pubs: The Bird in Hand

The Bird in Hand, Mobberley, Cheshire WA16 7BW

Another classic Cheshire Sam Smith’s pub, in this case in prosperous Mobberley. Despite this, it still offers Sams’ usual bargain beer prices. It’s a long, low, attractive, whitewashed building, with four distinct rooms along the front, featuring extensive wood-backed fixed seating and real fires. The room furthest along from the door has a dartboard and in effect functions as a vault. The gents’ are still in their original tiled finery. The usual Sams’ menu of plain food is on offer, but is not allowed to dominate.

Edit (February 2022): This pub closed in September 2019 and has not reopened since, although there remains a chance it will reopen in the future.

WHAT ARE REAL PUBS?

Real pubs are pubs whose primary function is still the original core purpose of pubs – for people to meet and socialise over a few drinks.

They may serve food, and very good food at that, but they don’t allow it to dominate to the exclusion of all else. They’ll probably have a strong core of regular customers, but still make casual drinkers welcome. They may well serve a good drop of real ale, but won’t be full of beer bores droning on about hop varieties and IBUs.

In many parts of the country they’re getting very hard to find. In recent years, the smoking ban, beer duty hikes, the demonisation of “one-drink driving” and the general anti-alcohol climate have all had their effect, but such pubs do still survive if you know where to look and deserve to be celebrated.

Although in many ways they are a laudable organisation, this blog is not connected with and does not in any way represent the Campaign for Real Ale.

The inclusion of a pub does not necessarily reflect a recent visit by myself, although often it does.

Campaign for Real Pubs

The Bird in Hand

No comments:

Post a Comment