The Old Swan

The Old Swan, Atherstone, Warwickshire CV9 1AH

Atherstone is a market town in the northern “panhandle” of Warwickshire, standing on the main West Coast railway line and the A5 Watling Street, which gained a bypass as early as the 1950s. Historically, it was a major centre of the hatting industry.

The Old Swan stands on Long Street, the former A5, at the eastern edge of the town centre. It is a substantial, mostly half-timbered building set slightly above street level, dating in part from the 16th century. The interior was remodelled in 1962 and is largely unchanged since then, meriting a two-star entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory.

The front door leads into the main bar along the front of the pub, with dartboard, tiled floor and ornamental plates recording the history of the area’s collieries. There is a cosy snug to the right accessed by an original serving hatch, once used as a children’s room, and a comfortable lounge at the rear with extensive bench seating. There is also a small outside driking area behind the pub. It’s a Marston’s tied house, acquired via Banks’s, and on my most recent visit was serving Pedigree and Banks’s Amber Bitter. No food is currently served.

The pub is about 12-15 minutes’ walk from Atherstone station, which has an hourly service on the Stafford-Rugby line. It has its own small car park at the rear, and there is also a free public car park on Woolpack Way a couple of minutes’ walk away. There are several other characterful pubs to visit in the town if you have more time to spend there.

The Lord Eldon

The Shepherds Arms

The Shepherds Arms, Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire SK23 7HR

The Shepherds Arms is an old, whitewashed, stone-built pub, originally a farmhouse, situated close to the town centre between Old Road and the newer Buxton Road, which was formerly the route of the A6. The main entrance faces Old Road, but it can also be accessed from Buxton Road via the attractive, sloping beer garden.

The main door leads into a small lobby with its own bar. To the right is the splendid, unspoilt tap room, with stone-flagged floor, scrubbed-top tables, bench seating and real fire. On the left is the lounge, which is more modern, but still has extensive bench seating and another real fire. The unspoilt interior qualifies it for a two-star entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory. To the side of the pub is a substantial heated smoking shelter.

It is a Marston’s tied house of long standing, and the beer range generally consists of two or three beers from the Marston’s stable (which of course now has no connection with the Marston’s pub company). No food is served, While there are televisions in both rooms, the volume is generally turned down. Unlike most of the other pubs in the town, it is open from noon every day of the week.

It is about five minutes’ walk from Whaley Bridge Station on the Stockport–Buxton line. There is a very small car park on Old Road, and on-street parking can generally be found in the town centre except at very busy times.

(Pub suggested by David Brown)

The Cross Keys

The Cross Keys, Penkridge, Staffordshire ST19 5HJ

An old pub standing by the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal to the south-east of the village centre, it was originally isolated in the middle of open fields, but has now been surrounded by post-war housing development. It is accessed from a residential street called Filance Road, and is not signed as such, although it is clearly visible along a side turning.

The original front door opens on to the canal towparth, and leads into the long public bar, with a real fire at one end, which enjoys a healthy local trade from the nearby estates. It is also popular with boaters in the summer months. There is a sizeable lounge to the rear right, where food appears to be popular. At the far end of the lounge is a lower section with bench seating. A rear door leads from the lounge to the car park.

A possibly unique feature is that the cask beers – on my visit Doom Bar and Hobgoblin Gold – are dispensed by electric metered pump into brim measure glasses. The fact that they fit in the glass with the sparkler fairly slack underlines how brim measures provide a small degree of overmeasure. The handpumps mounted on the bar are dummies. This style of presentation may discomfit some cask drinkers, but arguably it retains more condition in the beer than if drawn through a handpump, and the beer is certainly real enough.

The StreetView link shows the rear of the pub. The front is not directly accessible by road and I have borrowed the photograph from CAMRA’s WhatPub site. The pub has an extensive car park and is around 15 minutes’ walk from Penkridge Station on the Wolverhampton-Stafford line.

The Sun in September

The Sun in September, Burnage, Manchester M19 1NA

The newest entry on this blog in terms of when it opened as a pub, the Sun in September was originally a detached Victorian villa in extensive grounds that was converted to pub use by Samuel Smith’s in the 1980s. The décor originally had something of an Indian Raj theme, which is where the name came from, but successive refurbishments have largely removed this.

It is situated in a mixed residential area just off Kingsway and close to a busy local shopping parade. Although there is no lack of nearby housing, it is now the only established pub left standing for at least half a mile in any direction, although there a couple of newer micros. The derelict Albion is a few hundred yards away along Burnage Lane.

In front of the pub is an attractive beer garden featuring several mature trees from the original grounds, which shows up well on the StreetView image. The remainder of the plot is given over to an unnecessarily large car park which presumably was dictated by 1980s planning policies.

The main door leads you through into the extensive lounge, which has an L-shaped bar on the left, and four distinct seating areas centred around an impressive feature fireplace. One section has tramcar-style seating. There is also a plainer public bar with its own entrance around the back of the pub.

It offers cask Old Brewery Bitter together with the usual range of keg beers. Obviously the restrictive Sam’s house rules apply, in particular the mobile phone ban, but there can be a good buzz of conversation. The pub clearly has a strong band of regulars, but also attracts customers from further afield, particularly for the popular Sunday lunches.

Several bus services run nearby and it is only a short walk from Burnage Station on the Piccadilly-Manchester Airport line.

The Green Man

The Green Man, Milwich, Staffordshire ST18 0EG

Milwich is a pleasant village situated in the deep Staffordshire countryside on the B5027 between Stone and Uttoxeter. The Green Man stands on the road junction in the village centre opposite a picturesque red-brick schoolhouse with a stone plaque dating it to 1833.

It’s a long, low, cream-painted building. The entrance on the right-hand side takes you into the main bar, which is the heart of the pub, with parquet floor, real fire and bench seating against the windows. Beyond this is an area with more of a public bar feel, and further on again a raised dining area. There is a large and attractive beer garden at the rear.

It was once tied to Bass, and older StreetView images show it still in Bass livery, although it has been independently run since 1990. The regular cask beers are Bass and Ruddles Bitter, with typically a couple of others divided between national brands and local microbreweries. Food is served on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday lunchtime, with the Sunday lunches seeming particularly popular. It is open seven days a week, but only from 4 pm Monday to Wednesday.

It’s a good example of the kind of country pub striking a balance between local trade and dining that was once commonplace, but has now been rendered increasingly rare by widespread closures and the advance of the gastropub.

The pub has a large car park on the right hand side. A little research shows no evidence of a bus service through the village, so the nearest public transport is five miles away at Stone. A mile up the road in the Stone direction is the wonderfully unspoilt Red Lion at Dayhills.

The Swan With Two Necks

The Swan With Two Necks, Stockport, Cheshire SK1 1RY

A single-fronted three-storey pub situated on the now pedestrianised Princes Street on the north side of the town centre. It was rebuilt in 1926 and given a mock-Tudor frontage that has now succumbed to the regrettable modern trend of grey paint.

The original 1926 interior, with an abudance of light oak panelling, survives largely intact, and merits a three-star entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory. A drinking corridor giving access to the bar servery runs the full length of the pub on the right-hand side. At the front is a small, plain vault which I do not ever remember having fixed seating.

To the rear of the servery is the superb, top-lit smoke room, with fixed seating on all four sides, original bull-pushes and a stone Tudor-style fireplace. This must surely be one of the finest and cosiest pub rooms in the country. Further back is a plainer room, again with fixed seating, that was brought into pub use in the 1960s. The Ladies’ toilets have been brought inside, but the original outside Gents’ remains with its three large porcelain urinals.

It normally offers two or three cask beers from the Robinson’s range, always including Unicorn, with Old Tom barley wine available on draught in winter. A pie and mash menu served at lunchtimes.

In recent years it has received a boost to trade following the opening of the new RedRock leisure complex at the rear, including The Light cinema. The rear entrance has been revamped to make it more appealing and a small beer garden created.

The Commercial

The Commercial, Huddersfield, Yorkshire HD1 2AX

A four-square, stone-built, three-storey pub on a corner site towards the south end of Huddersfield’s main shopping street. It appears to date from the early part of the 19th century, and is noticeably older than most of the surrounding buildings.

It’s a Samuel Smith’s pub, with their characteristic comfortable, traditional interior. This includes two cosy rooms with bench seating on either side of the front door, plus a longer room with a pool table at the back left running along the side of the bar. A glass cabinet in the left-hand room contains a collection of beer bottles.

Sam’s usual beer range is on offer at good-value prices, including cask Old Brewery Bitter and a wide selection of kegs. No food is served. I read a description a while ago of its lively, convivial atmosphere, with the typical more mature clientele. After an extended period of closure, it has recently reopened, and hopefully its former character will be re-established. In such a central position there should be no shortage of trade.

The Bridge Inn

The Bridge Inn, Topsham, Devon EX3 0QQ

A rambling old tile-hung pub located at the “back” of the town overlooking the tidal estuary of the River Clyst. Although a substantial building, the interior is surprisingly small and intimate. It has been little changed for many decades and merits a three-star entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory. It has the distinction of having received an official visit from Queen Elizabeth II in 1998.

The door gives access to a panelled corridor running the length of the pub, on the left of which is the tap room, which occupies the front bay window and contains some fixed seating and old furniture. On the right is the bowed back of a built-in settle in a private parlour which also contains the stillage for the casks, into which favoured customers may be invited. Further along on the right is a small, cosy snug containing a massive stone fireplace, which has a small serving hatch linking it to the parlour.

The “Malthouse” at the rear is used for live music events and sometimes as an overflow area. There is ample outdoor seating overlooking the Clyst, plus a marquee at the far end of the car park. Sadly, my sole visit was on a rainy evening when the tide was out, which did not show the pub’s setting at its best.

Printed beer menus on the tables list about six cask ales served on gravity, mostly from local micro-breweries, with Branscombe Vale Branoc as a permanent beer. Simple pub food such as sandwiches and ploughman’s is served at lunchtimes.

The pub has its own car park and is about a quarter of a mile from Topsham Station on the Exeter-Exmouth line. Topsham itself is a characterful historic port on the estuary of the River Exe, and is well worth exploring.

The Templar

The Templar, Leeds, Yorkshire LS2 7NU

A long but shallow street-corner pub on the north-east side of the city centre, the Templar has an impressive tiled façade advertising Melbourne Brewery, who were later taken over by Tetley’s. It now belongs to Greene King, but still offers a wide range of other beers, including Tetley Bitter as a permanent beer, and brews from both Yorkshire brewers such as Acorn and Bradfield, plus ones from further afield. The licensee and many of the staff have been there for over thirty years.

The interior was opened out somewhat in the 1980s, but retains plenty of original features, including wood panelling, seating booths and a cosy snug at the far end. It merits a one-star entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory. No food is served, and a strict over-18s only policy is applied. It has a varied clientele, although tending toward the more mature end of the spectrum.TV sport is shown on numerous screens, so it does not offer the full hair-shirt Sam Smith’s experience. A fine example of a busy, atmospheric, traditional city-centre drinking pub.

The Olde Cottage

The Olde Cottage, Chester CH1 3DZ

Although now bypassed by Hoole Way, Brook Street remains a busy thoroughfare with a variety of restaurants, takeaways and independent shops, and forms the main pedestrian route between the station and the city centre. The number of pubs has much reduced in recent years, but one that survives is the Olde Cottage, a striking mock half-timbered street-corner building originally built around the turn of the last century by the Birkenhead Brewery.

Accessed through the corner door, the interior is split into two sections. The main bar is on the right, with some bench seating around the walls, whereas on the left is more of a games area with loose seating, a dartboard and a rare bagatelle table. There are four cask beers, with Otter Bitter and Wye Valley HPA on permanently, plus a variety of guest ales including local micros and favourites from other parts of the country such as Draught Bass and Wadworth 6X.

It is essentially a community pub, and no food is served, although given its location it attracts its fair share of casual trade. Pub cat Arty turned up as a stray kitten in the summer of 2019 and has since made himself very much at home, although he often keeps a low profile during opening hours. Note that it does not open until 4 pm, except for 2 pm on Saturdays.

The Blue Mugge

The Blue Mugge, Leek, Staffordshire ST13 6LJ

A highly characterful street-corner pub situated in an area of mixed terraced housing and industrial premises a few minutes’ walk to the east of the town centre. The plain redbrick exterior conceals a surprisingly extensive multi-roomed interior. There are a variety of areas radiating around the central island bar, including a large lounge with seating alcoves at front left, a spacious dining area to the rear, and a public bar in the apex separated by doors from the rest of the pub.

On a recent visit, the beer range was Bass, Doom Bar, Exmoor Ale and a guest ale from Neepsend. It is a permanent Bass outlet and sells it at a very reasonable price. The handpumps are situated on the back bar fitting rather than the counter. It evidently does a good trade in lunchtime meals and is open, and busy, at a time when many pubs in similar locations would be firmly shut.

Free parking is available on the surrounding streets, and it’s only a short walk to Leek Bus Station from where there is a regular, although bladder-challenging, service to Stoke-on-Trent.

The Cricketers Arms

The Cricketers Arms, Oakamoor, Staffordshire ST10 3AB

Oakamoor is a small village set in the wooded Churnet Valley close to Alton Towers, and approached in both directions on the B5417 by long, steep hills. The Cricketers Arms is a small, white-painted pub set right at the lowest point next to the river and slightly below the road level.

While it outwardly gives the appearance of a basic rustic alehouse, inside it is actually smarter and more modern than might be expected, although still intimate and cosy with a multi-roomed feel. The bar is against the back wall, with two snug-type areas with bench seating at the front on either side of the door, and another seating area to the rear right. There is also a fairly plain pool room, and a beer garden next to the river.

On a recent visit, the beer range was Bass, Pedigree and Sharp’s Atlantic Pale Ale. No food is served, and it only opens in the evenings during the week, opening at 2 pm on Saturdays and noon on Sundays. There is no pub car park, but there is a small public car park opposite next to some old lime kilns. The village is served by the 32A bus service between Alton Towers and Cheadle, which does run on Sundays, but not at all in the evenings.

The Olde Boar’s Head

The Olde Boar’s Head, Middleton, Lancashire M24 6UE

An ancient, leaning, half-timbered inn, dating back at least to 1632, situated at the north end of the town. While Middleton’s town centre has been extensively redeveloped, Long Street on which it stands retains a number of handsome buildings dating from the Georgian and early Victorian periods.

Entering through a low doorway, the interior lives up to the promise of the exterior, with a central bar serving a variety of different rooms. Along the front are a lounge on the left and a vault on the right, with several areas to the rear including a couple of cosy snugs with bench seating. Although it does not appear on CAMRA’s National Inventory, it retains a very traditional character, with low beams, stone-flagged floors and even a viewing panel giving a sight of the original wattle and daub.

There is a cosy beer garden at the rear, and on the right-hand side is the Sessions Room, now used as a function room, which was once the local court house. It’s a J. W. Lees tied house, offering their Bitter alongside their various seasonal beers. A range of food is available at lunchtimes. There is a spacious car park on the right-hand side, although you will have to enter your registration inside to avoid being charged, and Middleton bus station is about ten minutes’ walk away.

Despite its great historical character, it remains a down-to-earth working pub rather than a tourist showpiece. Maybe it doesn’t get the attention it deserves being situated in a workaday Lancashire town off the railway network.

The Magazine

The Magazine, New Brighton, Cheshire CH45 1HP

An imposing double bay-fronted pub situated half a mile south of the town centre commanding an impressive view over the Mersey estuary, although this is partly blocked by trees opposite. It was badly damaged by fire in 2010, but has been sympathetically restored and qualifies for a regional entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory. The bar counter is on the right, with a small cosy alcove at the front right and three separate rooms along the left-hand side, the first two featuring extensive bench seating.

It still bears Bass livery, and has long been renowned as a Draught Bass shrine, in pre-Covid times reported to be selling up to 100 gallons a week, alongside around four guest ales, mostly from local breweries. Unfortunately on my visit earlier this year there was none available, with the barman reporting ongoing supply problems. A menu of straightforward,r easonably-priced pub food is also served. The pub still has its own bowling green at the rear.

The pub has its own small car park to the right, plus there is plentiful on-street parking nearby. There are regular buses along the main road from Birkenhead to New Brighton about five minutes’ walk up hill.

The North Star

The North Star, Steventon, Berkshire OX13 6SG

An old white-painted cottage pub in a quiet location to the west of the main road through the village. The name comes from an early locomotive used on the main line of the Great Western Railway, which passes nearby. The unmarked entrance is through a covered porch which now doubles as a smoking shelter.

It has one of the most unspoilt interiors in Britian and richly deserves its full entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory. The core of the pub is the main bar, with a quarry-tiled floor, and three fixed high-backed old settles arranged around the open fire. There is no bar counter as such, with drinks being dispensed across a half-height stable door from a kitchen-type servery room.

A second room at the rear with a parquet floor is served by a hatch from the bar area and contains a wealth of memorabilia about the local area and the pub itself.

Three or four cask beers are available served directly from cask stillaged in the bar area, typically including the locally-brewed Loddon Hullaballo and others from nearby microbreweries. No food is served.

The Heatons Bridge Inn

The Heatons Bridge Inn, Scarisbrick, Lancashire L40 8JG

A freestanding redbrick pub situated in the West Lancashire flatlands next to the eponymous bridge over the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. It dates from 1837 and was built as a goods office for the canal. Since the StreetView image was taken, a couple of letters have been lost from the pub name on the front wall, but in a sense this is a positive sign that the interior has not been modernised to death. The windows contain some original Tetley’s stained glass.

It has been opened out to some extent, with a central bar on the left of the entrance, but still retains a variety of separate areas. There is an alcove of bench seating at the front facing the bar, with smaller snugs on either side, and a further comfortable seating area to the rear.

In keeping with its heritage, Tetley Bitter is permanently available, alongside one guest which is likely to come from North-West independent breweries. The garden contains a World War Two concrete lookout tower next to the canal, and the pub occasionally stages displays of historic military vehicles and hosts a classic bus service.

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.

The Boat and Horses

The Boat and Horses, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire ST5 1LU

A street-corner pub just outside the town centre on the road to Eccleshall and Newport. The name comes form the Newcastle-under-Lyme Canal, closed in 1935, which joined the Trent & Mersey near Stoke station, following a U-shaped course to avoid the hill between the two towns. It is now painted white, but was blue in earlier iterations of Google StreetView. After a brief period of closure, it was revived by an experienced licensee and merited an entry in CAMRA’s 2022 Good Beer Guide.

At the time of writing, it offers four permanent beers – Draught Bass, Salopian Oracle, Thornbridge Jaipur and Facer’s North Star Porter – together with two rotating guests, although unfortunately on my recent visit Bass was not available due to the current supply difficulties. There is no food, but customers are welcome to bring in their own meals or snacks. It seems to have re-established itself as a welcoming wet-led local in a part of the town dominated by modern bars.

The interior is basically one long single room, with the bar in the centre faced by a bank of bench seating, a raised snug-type area to the left and a section with more of a public bar feel to the right. There is also an outside drinking area at the rear. There is a public car park opposite which is free on Sundays.