The Albion

The Albion, Conwy, Caernarfonshire LL32 8RF

Externally unassuming town pub that must once have been dismissed as being nothing exceptional, but now appears on CAMRA’s National Inventory of historic pub interiors. Still bears Ansells livery. The interior, remodelled in the early 1920s, has a main bar to the right of the door, snug at the rear, and smoke room to the left with an astonishing inglenook fireplace with built-in seating. This features on the cover of CAMRA’s book of Britain’s Real Heritage Pubs. Now taken over by a consortium of local brewers so you might expect so see the likes of Purple Moose and Great Orme.

The Loggerheads

The Loggerheads, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY1 1UG

Originally called the Shrewsbury Arms, this is a remarkable survivor of the old-school, unassuming town pubs of a bygone age, tucked away just off the town centre on a narrow cobbled street running between two churches. Inside there are four small rooms – a lounge on the right with a parquet floor, a small front bar, a rear snug rather lacking in natural lighting, and best of all the room on the left separated from the corridor by wooden screens and featuring ancient scrubbed-top tables. This was men-only until the mid-1970s.

A Bass pub in the 1970s, it was later taken over by Banks’s who then metamorphosed into Marston’s. For a long time Draught Bass continued to be sold, which always seemed particularly appropriate for this pub, but the beer range is now limited to five or six from the Marston’s stable. The current licensees offer a speciality sausage menu, but it’s basically a drink and chat pub rather than an eaterie. The pub’s website can be seen here.

The Great Western

The Great Western, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire WV10 0DJ

Tucked away in an unpromising location behind the station, this pub was taken over a couple of decades ago by Holden’s Brewery and has since thrived under their ownership. It offers the full range of their beers plus the superb Batham’s Best Bitter and three guests.

The interior comprises a classic, bustling front bar, a snug to the right, a long lounge area to the left with bench seating along one wall, a conservatory dining area at the rear with separate tables and a south-facing beer garden which can be a surprising sun-trap. Unusually for a pub in such an urban location, it has its own sizeable car park. A range of straightforward meals is served at lunchtimes. The entire pub is, not surprisingly, packed with railway memorabilia.

It seems busy throughout the day with a wide variety of customers, although with something of a bias towards an older male clientele. Once stranded amongst post-industrial dereliction, the surrounding area has more recently seen extensive housing development which hopefully will provide a supply of future customers.

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.

The Blue Bell

The Blue Bell, York YO1 9TF

A tiny terraced pub on Fossgate just off the heart of the city. The exterior is plain and unassuming with just a single window facing the street. The interior was remodelled in 1903 and is untouched since then. It’s a classic two-roomer, with front bar, rear snug, central servery and corridor along the left-hand-side. It has been described as “a symphony in brown”. Both bar and snug have extensive fixed seating. About six cask beers are served, but it’s more a pub for regulars and pub connoisseurs than beer tickers. Food is limited to lunchtime sandwiches. The declared capacity is a mere 60 people, so admission may be refused to large parties on weekend evenings, something to which the local CAMRA branch seems to have taken exception.

The Digby Tap

The Digby Tap, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3NS

An unassuming small-town local tucked away in a back street just across the way from Sherborne Abbey, built of stone and claiming to date back to the 16th century. Inside it has been opened up to some extent, but still has four distinct areas and retains a plain, no-frills atmosphere with stone-flagged floors throughout. Simple food is served at lunchtimes and there is a range of real ales from West country microbreweries, generally tending towards the accessible rather than exotic end of the spectrum. It has a lively local feel to it, but in a busy tourist town is also welcoming to casual visitors. Not far from Sherborne Castle, a spectacular Jacobean house that is more folly than stately home.

The Railway Tavern

The Railway Tavern, Flixton, Lancashire M41 6NA

A long, low, whitewashed pub tucked away off the beaten track on the western side of Flixton in a location that realistically would not see any passing trade. In fact, despite having lived in this area for many years, it was only recently that I even became aware of its existence. It’s a Sam Smith’s pub which demonstrates the company’s customary respect for internal layout and fittings. Handpumped Old Brewery Bitter is available alongside their keg range, at the usual keen prices.

Much of the interior gives the impression of being little changed since the 1950s. There’s a traditional vault on the right, a small “saloon bar” with a curved wooden bar counter and a quarry-tiled floor, and a spacious lounge on the left with extensive bench seating which may in the past have been opened out from smaller rooms. It gives the impression of being popular with older regulars. No food is served.

Note that in 2024 this pub stopped serving cask beer, although in other respects it is unchanged.

The Hawk

The Hawk, Haslington, Cheshire CW1 5RG

An attractive old half-timbered pub on the main street of a large South Cheshire village just north of Crewe. The village has now – fortunately – been bypassed, but the road has a couple of sharp bends near the pub which mean care is needed when emerging from the car park. Over the years it has obviously been modernised to some extent, but retains a core of four very traditional-looking rooms around the bar. Best of all is the cosy room at the rear with wood-panelled walls, bench seating, a real fire and a stained-glass window. The main room has an impressive inglenook fireplace decked with horse brasses. It’s a Robinson’s tied house, offering on a recent visit Hatters and Unicorn plus a seasonal beer. A varied food menu is served, but is not allowed to dominate. The wording on the beams on the end of the pub says “A jug of ale, a whispered word, can be found within these old walls”.

The Davenport Arms

The Davenport Arms, Woodford, Cheshire SK7 1PS

An old redbrick pub dating from the early years of the 19th century that used to be part of a working farm. The licence has been held by the same family for over 80 years. The interior has seen a few changes over the years, but retains a multi-roomed feel, with a traditional tap-room on the left, cosy snug on the right and a more open-plan main bar area at the rear, all warmed by real fires in winter. There’s a paved outside drinking area at the front and a spacious enclosed garden to the rear. The exterior is enlivened by hanging baskets of flowers in Spring and Summer.

The pub’s situation close to the now defunct BAe Systems plant at Woodford, home of the Lancaster and Vulcan bombers, is reflected by numerous pieces of aviation memorabilia displayed on the walls. The tap-room is also home to old Farmer’s Weekly posters of breeds of livestock and British Working Dogs. A variety of mostly home-made food is served at lunchtimes, but there is no food in the evenings. It’s a Robinson’s tied house, offering 1892, Unicorn, Old Tom and a rotating guest or seasonal beer from the Robinson’s range.

Its location on the edge of prosperous “stockbroker belt” territory is reflected in some of the clientele – you might well see a vintage Rolls-Royce in the car park. However, there is a wide spread of customers and, especially in the tap-room, it can be surprisingly down-to-earth.

Edit: This pub was extensively refurbished in the Spring of 2014. While it retains its multi-roomed layout and plenty of character, it is now much smarter and cannot be said to be unspoilt in the way it was previously.

The Red Lion

The Red Lion, Dayhills, Staffordshire ST15 8RU

A truly unspoilt country pub, part of a working farm, in the depths of rural Staffordshire east of Stone. The building itself has no sign indicating that it is a pub; there’s just an inn sign at the roadside and the small sign on an outbuilding shown on the picture. The car park is the area of hard standing, without any marked bays, in front of the pub.

The interior is basically just one room with a quarry-tiled floor, bench seating and old settles, dominated by a huge inglenook fireplace. The beer range centres on Midlands classic Draught Bass together with a couple of guest beers - Bombardier and Doom Bar on my visit in August 2016. No food is served. There aren’t many like this left, more’s the pity.