The Circus Tavern

The Circus Tavern, Manchester M1 4GX

A tiny single-fronted pub in a row of Victorian buildings that is a surprising survivor amongst the modern chrome and glass that surrounds it. It still carries Tetley’s livery, and the blue plaque on the front records it being recognised as a Tetley Heritage Inn. Not surprisingly, it also qualifies for a full entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory.

It claims to have the “smallest bar in Europe” and, while it certainly isn’t the smallest pub, that is probably true. The servery is a small quadrant halfway down the corridor leading from the front door, serving Tetley Bitter and a second beer that in recent years has been a paler offering such as Wainwright or Robinson’s Dizzy Blonde.

On the right-hand side of the corridor are two small cosy rooms separated from the corridor by a wooden screen, both with extensive bench seating. The one at the front features entertainment-related photos and tends to be more favoured by the regulars, while that at the rear has a TV screen and football photos and is more popular with casual visitors. The pub as a whole has a good balance between loyal customers and those attracted to it as something of a curiosity in the city centre. No food is served.

Despite its small size, it still provides separate gents’ and ladies’ toilets that would put most micropubs to shame. Hydes’ Grey Horse three doors to the right is almost equally tiny and, while somewhat more modernised, is also well worth a visit.

The Bell

The Bell, Aldworth, Berkshire RG8 9SE

An old brick-built pub where the licence has been in the same family for 250 years. It stands off the main road in a small village high on the Berkshire Downs, but only a couple of miles away from the Thames at Goring Gap. It won CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year award in 1990 and 2019 – making it the current holder (May 2022), and its unspoilt interior qualifies it for a full entry on the National Inventory.

The core of the pub is the glazed bar servery with sliding sash windows, one of very few now remaining. On the left is the tap room, with its quarry-tiled floor, inglenook fireplace, high-backed settles and scrubbed-top tables. To the right is a slightly more modern L-shaped room wrapping around the servery, with more benches and wood panelling, that was opened out as recently as 1974. The front of the servery holds an impressive display of pumpclips from the defunct West Berkshire Brewery.

Six beers are usually available, with Arkell’s BBB, Indigenous Baldrick and Rebellion Roasted Nuts as regulars plus three guests, mainly sourced from local microbreweries. Food is limited to soup and rolls with a variety of meat and cheese fillings. It is another of those predominantly wet-led rural pubs with a cross-section of customers that crop up in places in the South but are pretty much entirely absent from the North of England.