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.

The Peveril of the Peak

The Peveril of the Peak, Manchester M1 5JQ

An early Victorian pub with an impressive tiled exterior, situated in the angle of two streets and now overshadowed by more modern office buildings. The name comes from a stage coach rather than directly from the Walter Scott novel. The landlady is the longest serving in Manchester.

It has a largely unchanged interior meriting a full entry on CAMRA’s National Inventory. There are three rooms around the central bar, including a public bar with an antique table football game, a comfortable lounge (originally smoke room) and a further rear room with a pool table. The cask beer range is sensibly limited to four, including on recent visits Taylor’s Landlord, Millstone Tiger Rut and a couple of guests.

The Star

The Star, Bath, Somerset BA1 5NA

A four-storey pub of Bath stone standing on a handsome historic street on the north side of the city. While externally imposing, the interior is in fact surprisingly shallow. It remains largely untouched since being remodelled in the 1920s, earning a place on CAMRA’s National Inventory.

On the left-hand side of the door is a cosy lounge with bench seating and wood panelling. To the right, a corridor leads to the bar, featuring a long settle known as “Dead Man’s Row” due to it being favoured by senior customers. Beyond this are two further snugs facing the bar, with more benches and panelling. There are real fires throughout.

For many years, it served Bass from the jug dispensed from casks stillaged beinhd the bar. This was brought to and end when Bass ceased being supplied in the necessary cask size, meaning it has now been replaced by the locally-brewed Abbey Ales Bellringer, although Bass is still available on handpump. The pub is now leased by Abbey Ales and features a couple more of their beers alongside another guest, which on my recent visit was Taylor’s Landlord.

One of the finest unspoilt interiors in the country in a pub of great character and atmosphere.

The Victoria

The Victoria, Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Staffordshire ST5 1HX

A bay-windowed street corner pub just east of Newcastle town centre on the main road to Hanley. Internally, it has been knocked through into one room, but retains a carpeted snug area to the right of the entrance door, together with a longer, wood-floored bar area to the left, both liberally provided with red dralon bench seating.

Draught Bass is at the core of the beer range, alongside, on my recent visit, Doom Bar and Titanic Plum Porter. Not, maybe, an absolute unspoilt classic that people will travel miles to visit, but a fine example of that vanishing species, the cosy, welcoming local.

The Slubbers Arms

The Slubbers Arms, Huddersfield, Yorkshire HD1 6HW

Stone-built pub in the sharp apex of two roads about half a mile north of the town centre. The cosy core of the pub surrounds the horseshoe-shaped central bar, with comfortable bench seating and a real fire on either side. There’s also a games room and a separate snug in the angle of the building which can be closed off for private meetings.

Formerly a Timothy Taylor’s tied house, it still features Boltmaker and Landlord as permanent beers, alongside typically three guests. It normally doesn’t open until late afternoon, but may open earlier when there is a match at the nearby John Smith’s stadium, when straightforward pub grub may also be served.

The name comes from a traditional wool processing technique.

Ye Olde Dolphin

Ye Olde Dolphin, Derby DE1 3DL

An ancient timber-framed pub at the north end of the city centre close to the Cathedral, it claims to be the oldest pub in Derby and to date from 1530. The interior was sensitively remodelled by local brewery Offilers in the inter-war period and is largely unchanged since, earning it a place on CAMRA’s National Inventory.

A passageway running right through the pub gives access to four rooms – the front public bar with quarry-tiled floor, the adjoining “Offilers Room” at a slightly higher level, a comfortable lounge with a large inglenook fireplace and a delightful, cosy snug at the rear of the servery. There is also an upstairs room used as a steak restaurant in the evenings.

Offilers became part of the Bass empire, and for many years the pub was a Bass stronghold. Draught Bass still features at the core of the beer range, together with Marston’s Pedigree and up to six other guest beers. Straightforward pub food is available lunchtimes and evenings.

A truly special historic pub that is a must-visit if you are ever in Derby,

The Lord Nelson

The Lord Nelson, Hythe, Hampshire SO45 6AG

The Lord Nelson was converted from two cottages around 1800 and was named after the famous admiral after his victory at the Battle of the Nile. The pub has been part of the old settlement of Hythe for over two hundred years.

It has two separate front rooms, each with access to a separate bar and a centre ‘snug’ room called ‘The Poop Deck’ which has panelled wood and glazed screens and a separate door off the hall corridor. This snug shares the bar with the left hand front room. Though there is a large rear extension it does not detract from the original front part of the pub, which is all still quite original and it is on CAMRA’s National Inventory. The rear courtyard beer garden overlooks Hythe promenade with views of Southampton Water.

It is a friendly, lively and popular community pub and serves simple pub meals as well as real ales. As it’s stituated on a pedestrianised street, there isn’t a clear image on StreetView, but it can just be spotted in the background of the linked view.

(Pub suggested by Garden Hermit)

The Hop Pole

The Hop Pole, Crewe, Cheshire CW2 7RQ

A four-square corner local in an area of Victorian terraced housing to the west of the town centre, the Hop Pole is a splendid traditional multi-roomed pub, although a little bit of opening-out, including knocking holes in one of the internal walls, means that it only qualifies for regional rather than national status on CAMRA’s National Inventory. There’s a central bar with glass shutters, no longer actually in use, surrounded by a quarry-tiled public bar on the right, a front pool room and a long lounge at the rear with alcoves of comfortable seating upholstered in a bright tartan pattern.

At the rear is a drinking terrace overlooking the bowling green, now a rare feature in pubs, which in the summer is busy with teams playing in various leagues. There are typically three cask beers available, including on my visit Bradfield Farmers Blonde, Moorhouse’s Pride of Pendle and Weetwood Cheshire Cat. A classic example of a welcoming, characterful community local.

Note: I understand that the pub has now been substantially altered, and most of the historical features removed, so the above description remains as a record of how it used to be.

The Barley Mow

The Barley Mow, Kirk Ireton, Derbyshire DE6 3JP

A historic 17th century stone-built pub in a quiet village on the southern fringes of the Peak District between Wirksworth and Ashbourne. The exterior, with its two prominent gables, resembles a small manor house. It may not look very open from outside, but if it’s within the scheduled opening hours (12-2 and 7-11 or 10.30 on Sunday), turn the latch and you should be able to get in.

The interior, not surprisingly, features on CAMRA’s National Inventory, although some of the furnishings are more modern than they look. The heart of the pub is the main bar with its massive fireplace, quarry-tiled floor, wall benches and counter, not much more than a serving hatch, in the far corner. There’s also another room with a parquet floor, more benches and French window opening out into the garden.

Hartington IPA, served from the jug, is stillaged in the cellar, with two or three guest beers in casks behind the bar. Food is limited to a choice of cheese or salami cobs. It’s a true old-fashioned character pub that makes no concessions to modern marketing gimmicks, but its fame means it attracts ramblers and other outside visitors as well as a core of regulars.

The Holly Bush

The Holly Bush, Makeney, Derbyshire DE56 0RX

A stone-built pub of considerable age situated on a narrow lane off the A6 south of Belper in the picturesque Derwent valley, with a superb unspoilt interior that earns it a place on CAMRA’s National Inventory. At its heart is a wonderful old snug formed from a quadrant of fixed bench seating with a glazed section filling the gap between the top and the ceiling. Next to this is the cosy main bar with dark beams and a quarry-tiled floor. There’s also a more a more conventional but still characterful lounge and a conservatory and beer garden at the rear. Children are not admitted to the main bar and snug.

The permanent beer range comprises Greene King Abbot Ale, Taylor’s Landlord and Fullers London Pride on handpump, plus Marston’s Pedigree drawn from the cellar and served from a jug. There are also three changing guest ales, and the pub stages regular beer festivals throughout the year. There’s an extensive menu of conventional pub food, plus a variety of snacks including pork pies and cheese platters. It’s a rare example of a pub occupying a stunning historic building that also excels in its customer offer.

The pub only has a small car park, and apart from this parking nearby can be difficult – at busy times, visitors may need to go down to the “main road” a couple of hundred yards away.