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Next in our mini tour of Norwich pubs was the West End Retreat, first opened in the 1840s although the gardens are a little less extensive than they once were as the bowling green was sold off for housing at the turn of this century. An advert in the Norwich Mercury on 25 May 1859 notes:

“To Builders, Speculators and Others. To be sold, by private contract, the well known premises called the West End Retreat. This freehold estate comprises house, containing bar and bar parlour, and other rooms, pleasure grounds, ninepin ground, stables and coachhouse; also baronial hall capable of holding 3,000 persons, conveniently fitted up with galleries, bars, etc; and also another large room with bars, and other conveniences therein, and contains, with the site of the buildings, about 2.25 acres. The above is admirably adapted not only for a public house and pleasure gardens, but also for building purposes.”

The extent of the bowling green is visible from this map from the 1870s.

On 4 August 1860, the Norfolk News mentioned the case of a 16 year old who had smashed the windows of the home belonging to his parents and they said they didn’t know what to do with him. He kept going out and getting drunk, with the Chief Constable of the police commenting that “the Orchard Gardens, the West End Retreat and such like places were perfect sinks of iniquity”. Those pubs are the favourites of Julian S, I can imagine he’d be there until late in the evening… The Mayor told the Chief Constable to arrange visits so that the magistrates could take action, but the pub continued trading despite its reputation.

I won’t spent too long on the history of this pub, but there were no shortage of press reports of fights, disturbances and issues at the pub throughout the 1860s to 1890s. It would be fair to say that the pub seemed to be attracting all manner of issues, it wasn’t a pub at ease with itself, although I make no comment on what happened in the twentieth century but matters seemed to calm down judging by newspaper reports. The structure was though damaged during air raids during the Second World War and so there was some rebuilding necessary. I will though quote from CAMRA in what appears to from around 2010.

“Built in the early twentieth century it retains the floor-plan of two bars and an off-sales. The little altered interior from c.1960 is rare and due to the fact that the pub was run by Jan & Jack Wakefield for 37 years until they retired in 2005. On the right the public bar with a ‘1’ on the door has a 1960s flat roof extension which almost doubles its size and retains an old counter which has a new top over a Formica one, 1960s bar back with an old till drawer and old Bullards Ales window. Opposite the front door is the separate off-sales with a ‘3’ on the door and a red Formica top counter – intact off-sales like this are very rare. The former lounge on the left with a ‘2’ on the door is now a games room which retains its 1960s counter with a red Formica top, classic 1960s bar back but the fireplace has been lost. To the right is a now disused bowling green which is due to be sold as building plots.”

It’s evident that someone has recently removed all of this, as CAMRA now note:

“A pub interior of limited or no national historic interest.”

The remainder of the pub’s gardens, with the building on the right being placed on what was the bowling green.

This was my only interior photo as it was quite busy and I didn’t feel entirely comfortable going around taking too many photos of the arrangements. The service was polite and immediate, although there were no real ales available. The customers mostly seemed to be regulars and I can’t say the welcome was unfriendly but I suspect our presence was noted. Incidentally, the document above relates to the Bricklayers Arms on Bull Close which closed in 1995.

There weren’t many seats available, so we went out into the garden area for our drinks, something which is most unlike us.

It’s not Stella, as I would never be seen drinking that, it’s instead Camden Hells and it tasted as expected and was reasonably priced.

We had some company in the garden.

It appears that new owners have taken over the pub relatively recently, so it’s not clear whether the fish and chips will be making a return. Indeed, I can’t find out much from social media or the venue’s web-site exactly what is going on.

All told, this is another pub survivor and we should be most grateful for that. It was busy on a weekday afternoon which is the sign of a proper community pub, with the welcome being warm and friendly. They accept card and cash, with the surroundings feeling inviting and clean. The lack of real ales is sub-optimal, but that might have just been a temporary matter as one pump clip was just turned around so perhaps there’s one available at the weekends. There’s plenty of external space and I hope that they get the fish and chips going again, a most agreeable situation for those visiting the pub.

This is quite sad to see, the Nelson seems to be long-term closed and there doesn’t appear to be any activity going on at the moment that suggests that it might open again. The pub first opened in the 1850s and it’s fortunate that it’s still here as the owners attempted to demolish it in 1989 to build eight homes.

Located on the junction of Nelson Street and Armes Street, this is in a residential area and not far from the Fat Cat, so it certainly has some potential.

Unfortunately for the venue, it’s owned by Stonegate and that often means a tied pub and a hefty rent package so it would be a brave person who takes this on. Also, since it’s September and the open day was on 15 March, that doesn’t suggest they’ve found such a brave person yet. Likely Stonegate will spend £300,000 doing up the inside of the pub in some generic manner and then jack the rent up to something unachieveable. At the moment, and in support of Stonegate, they’re currently advertising the rent of this at £17,500 per year which is much lower than I’d expect from them although there are caveats to that.

Stonegate themselves describe this pub as:

“The Nelson is situated in a residential suburb to the Northwest of the city just outside the inner ring road and is considered a very traditional wet led venue. The décor is traditional, with a modern touch which creates a warm and relaxed atmosphere and welcomes the surrounding local community with traditional pub games and live sports. The pub has two distinct trading areas, which are divided by a double-sided central bar servery. The bars have a traditional style, fitting with the theme of the pub; one area having a pool table with space for up to 30 covers and the other approximately 50 covers. The Nelson also boasts an outdoor covered beer garden with a patio and spacious lawn, a great selling point during the summer season which has the potential to be very popular. Another great facility of this pub is its outbuildings which may be very useful for storage for the future publican. The light and spacious private accommodation consists of three-bedrooms, a lounge and a kitchen, ideal for a family. Stonegate Pub Partners are seeking an experienced publican who is willing to immerse themselves within the local community and maximise revenue.”

I’m not convinced that this will re-open, but the community would no doubt benefit by having another pub open in this area.

Julian and I decided to postpone a more rural visit to the further reaches of Norfolk in favour of a Norwich based tour, as I needed to be back for bar billiards. Julian S refers to this as something like bare knuckle stick action, but he doesn’t understand sport in the way that I do, although at times I wonder if he might just be right. When talking to people outside Norwich, the Fat Cat is one of the pubs that most people identify with the city as it has a long tradition of being a destination real ale pub since it opened in 1991. It has won many CAMRA awards, not least the National Pub of the Year twice, and is also listed in the Good Beer Guide. The pub, located on West End Street, had first opened in the late 1860s and was known as the New Inn until 1991, when it took its current Fat Cat name under the ownership of Colin Keatley. He had previously run the White Lion on Oak Street, which is today one of the best pubs in the country despite the landlord’s ability to lead me astray, but we won’t go too far down that line on this blog post.

Some of the extensive range of real ales, of which they had around twenty which shows just how much they’re selling here. There were also ciders and craft beer options, but the real ale selection was well balanced and all major beer types were covered. Breweries included Titanic, Thornbridge, Green Jack, Oakham to name just a few, along with the beers brewed in-house by the Fat Cat Brewing Company. Julian and I are very punctilious in every possible way, so we knew we had just time for one beer here despite the number of tempting and almost seductive options.

The beers are keenly priced, with one lower priced option which is a marvellous idea for a pub. It’s not cheap visiting pubs today given the cost of living increases, so affordable options are much appreciated and venues might find that they’re a necessity if matters continue as they are.

And more of the beer selection.

I went for the Marmalade Cat from the Fat Cat Brewing Company, which was well kept, fresh and suitably full bodied. Julian S also commented positively about his Citra from Oakham Ales.

There’s plenty of character to the pub and there’s no shortage of beer memorabilia about the place. That door leads to another seating area which is often used for meetings and the like.

Decorations attached to the ceiling. I would never dare do this in a pub that I had, I’d be nervous one would fall on someone’s head. I admire their confidence, or at least, I am realistic about my own DIY abilities. But, I digress.

There’s one long central bar and the venue has been extended on numerous occasions over the years. Although we visited on a quiet afternoon, I understand that it’s often very busy and it’s not always easy to find a seat. There was a mixture of regulars and also I got the impression a couple of visitors new to the pub who had heard about its reputation.

Some old pub signs and unfortunately the King’s Head at Worstead and the Shropham Three Horseshoes are no longer with us other than as memories.

I haven’t been to this pub for nearly ten years and by chance, I was to visit it again the following evening for a CAMRA planning meeting for the Norwich Beer Festival. I was pleased to return, the choice of real ales was as good as anywhere in Norfolk and the service was immediate and friendly. I’m also pleased that I don’t need to write anything negative about this visit, as it would have been just a little sacrilegious to be critical of this fine establishment. Although, for the record, Julian and I are not easily kowtowed, so I would have mentioned any issues that arose, but I’m pleased to say there was nothing negative.