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.

The Queen’s Head

The Queen’s Head, Stockport, Cheshire SK1 1JT

A small single-fronted pub standing in the shadow of the bridge carrying St Petersgate over Little Underbank. It was originally a free house attached to the wine merchant’s next door actually under the arch, hence its local nickname of Turner’s Vaults.

In the 1980s, it was taken over by Samuel Smith’s, who carried out a very careful and thoughtful restoration project. In fact, although the general feel is very Victorian, much of what you see is a modern recreation, thus disqualifying it from a full entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory, although it does qualify for a mention under the category of Outstanding Conversion and Restoration.

On the bar counter are a couple of original fixtures carrying spirit taps – now disused – while to the rear it retains the “Compacto” urinal, described as the “World’s Smallest Gents’”. This was actually brought back into use immediately post-reopening, although it has been locked for many years as few modern men are skinny enough to be able to use it.

At the front of the pub is the main bar, with bench seating opposite the counter and in the window, while behind this is a distinctive “horse box” snug, and further back still a cosy toplit smoke room with a real fire, all featuring much dark wood. The present-day toilets are on the first floor up a flighgt of stone stairs.

There is the usual range of Sam’s beers including cask Old Brewery Bitter. No food is served, but there is often a good atmosphere generated by the archetypal Sam’s older male clientele.

The Grape Vaults

The Grape Vaults, Leominster, Herefordshire HR6 8BS

The Grape Vaults stands on the north side of the town centre at the top of the handsome Georgian Broad Street. Behind the plain two-bay frontage is a surprisingly shallow interior little changed since the Victorian era, which earns it a Regional entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory. The fron of the pub is basically a single room, with the bar counter on the left-hand side, original fireplaces and plenty of half-height tongue-and-groove panelling and bench seating. To the rear a small snug is separated off by a glazed screen. The original gents’ toilets are extremely compact.

It currently showcases beers from Ludlow Brewery just over the border in Shropshire, and a range of straightforward pub food is served. There is a good town pub atmosphere, with tourists mingling with old boys clustering around the bar.

The Old House

The Old House, Ightham Common, Kent TN15 9EE

An old tile-hung cottage pub hidden away on a narrow back lane in the Kent countryside close to the romantic moated manor house of Ightham Mote. It was first licensed as an alehouse in the mid-19th century, but did not acquire a full licence until 1953. The inn sign has long gone.

The unspoilt interior qualifies for a full entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory, and comprises a large public bar to the left of the entrance door, with an impressive inglenook fireplace and a wood block floor, and a smaller parlour to the right.

Another example of those unspoilt, genteel, wet-led rural or urban fringe pubs that are still found here and there in the South of England, but are pretty much entirely unknown in the North.

The Black Horse

The Black Horse, Preston, Lancashire PR1 2EJ

A striking redbrick corner pub on one of Preston’s main shopping streets close to the impressive Harris Museum and Art Gallery. It was built in 1898 by Kay’s Atlas Brewery of Manchester and is now owned by Robinson’s of Stockport.

The exterior conceals an even more impressive interior which merits a full entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory. There are two comfortable snugs at the front, a central lobby with a richly decorated ceramic bar counter, and a rear alcove surrounded by bench seating with mirrors on the walls above.

It is allowed to sell a selection of guest ales alongside Robinson’s own beers. The city-centre location ensures it is busy throughout the day with a wide cross-section of customers.

The photo was taken by me in the early evening of Friday 23 August 2019.

The Red Lion

The Red Lion, Rugeley, Staffordshire WS15 2JH

An outwardly unassuming cottage pub situated on what was once the main road through the town, but is now a dead end leading to a pedestrianised area. It used to have its own car park on the right-hand side, but this has now been sold off for redevelopment. However, there is a public car park on the other side which is free to use on Sundays.

The brick exterior conceals a timber-framed building dating back to the 16th century, with an unspoilt interior that earns it a full entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory. The heart of the pub is the central public bar, with wood panelling and a quarry-tiled floor. There are two other low-ceiling rooms on either side, the one on the right with a dartboard and an alcove of bench seating.

It still carries Banks’s signage, and the beer range consists of Banks’s Mild and Bitter, plus another from the Marston’s stable such as EPA. It is a traditional wet-led pub, and no food is served. Although the now-closed power station gives Rugeley an industrial image, it is a very long-established market town, and the centre contains a number of historic buildings.

The Hare & Hounds

The Hare & Hounds, Manchester M4 4AA

A small pub on Shudehill on the north side of the city centre, that was once part of a terraced row but is now isolated amidst modern development. The interior was remodelled in the 1920s and remains largely unspoilt, with a front vault, drinking corridor alongside the bar and rear lounge, earning it a full entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory.

Once a Tetley’s pub, the beer range is now Holt’s Bitter, Doom Bar and Robinson’s Dizzy Blonde, with the Holt’s, sold at a bargain price for the city centre, very much being the staple beer. No food is served, but the pub attracts a strong following of older regulars.

The All Nations

The All Nations, Madeley, Shropshire TF7 5DP

One of the original four home-brew pubs that survived into the 1970s, tucked away in a rural backwater near to the Blists Hill open-air museum. It’s set back from the road at a higher level, with an extensive beer garden in front and a car park at the side accessed by a track running at a sharp angle.

The interior, little changed over the years, is basically a single room on either side of the central door, with benches around the wall and the counter at the rear. No food is served, but you’re likely to encounter lively conversation from mature regulars.

Brewing has recently recommenced in the hands of the head brewer from local firm Brough’s. I enjoyed an excellent pint of All Nations Biiter, which is in the authentic pale, sweet West Midlands style, although it should be pointed out not the light mild for which the pub was originally known.