I’ve been to Bath Brew House before, but it was before I was Untappd and it was before this blog, so it’s like it didn’t happen…. Anyway, it’s listed in the Good Beer Guide and so I thought I’d visit it again to restore order to my historic record.
Some of the real ale selection. There have been beers brewed on the premises since 2013 when they started with the Emperor and the Gladiator, with a rather more extensive range available now.
The bar area which all felt suitably on-trend and CAMRA note that a modernisation has just taken place. They add:
“Formerly the Metropolitan, and before that the Midland Hotel, the whole building underwent a major refurbishment in the summer of 2013 and re-opened as a brew-pub in September of that year.”
The rear of the venue and there’s also a large external garden area for those who like sitting outside with lots of insects.
My first half was the Caesar Golden Ale which was clean, light, slightly thin but had a pleasant enough flavour.
And my second beer was the Deus which was creamy, chocolatey and slightly sweet.
There was something of a bee incident outside, but I’ll post a separate video about that, which should increase the excitement no end. I appreciate that this may not sound like premium drama, but we all work with the material available to us. Some travel writers have mountain rescues and political upheaval. I had some bees.
All told, I rather liked this pub, it felt a little over-staffed (which is an observation rather than a complaint), but the service was efficient and the ale selection was suitably interesting. The online reviews are reasonable and I hadn’t realised at the time that the pub is operated by Youngs, I had thought that it was a free trade pub. Anyway, the drink prices were reasonable, there were numerous power outlets and the surroundings were comfortable.
When I was in Bath, I thought it would be sensible to tick off a few more Good Beer Guide pubs in my ever failing quest to visit them all. I didn’t pick a great time to do as it was hot, it was a Saturday, Bath were at home playing their rugby thing and so the city was busy. But research requires bravery at times, and I am nothing if not heroic when faced with the possibility of sitting indoors with half a pint.
Anyway, before I get further distracted, this is the Raven on Queen Street which has four bars across six different rooms and although the upper floor is more for dining, drinkers are welcome throughout.
The Raven’s history stretches back from uncertain Roman and pre-Roman origins to a site that was part of Barton Farm’s farmland in the 17th century, before appearing on a 1735 map as a narrow garden, apparently lower than the surrounding streets and now forming part of the building’s underlying structure, in a pleasingly Georgian “just build upwards and hope nobody asks too many questions” arrangement. By 1800 the site was occupied by tradesmen including John Jarvis, a calenderer, and Thomas Trendell, a grocer, before the Carnall family butchers were associated with the address in the early 19th century.
The move into licensed trade came in 1864, when Thomas Toleman took over the Bazaar Wine Vaults from Charles Wright, who was described as a wine merchant to the Royal Family. The premises later became Fuller’s Wine Vaults, then Hatchett’s Wine Lodge, with Second World War pilots from a nearby airfield said to have used the pub and left messages on the upstairs ceiling, sadly painted over in the 1960s. It later became a city centre pub favoured by Goths and bikers, opened as The Raven in 2004 and expanded in 2022 by taking over the adjoining building.
There were ten real ales available including their house beers of Ravens Gold and Ravens Ale, brewed by Blindman’s Brewery. There were also beers from Stonehenge Brewery, Exeter Brewery, Frome Brewery, Otter Brewery, Sandstone Brewery, Goffs, Bowland and Wharf Brewery, so that’s a fair number.
I went for the Lyra’s IPA from Sandstone Brewery and it was citrusy, well rounded and had a decent flavour. I hadn’t had a beer from Sandstone before, but they’re based in Wrexham and have been brewing since 2008.
The food menu has pies and sausages at its heart, which is never a bad start. There is also quite a broad selection beyond that, and the pricing wasn’t unreasonable for the location. The team members were friendly, the service was efficient and it wasn’t quite as busy inside as I had expected. Certainly, in my humble view anyway, a well deserved entry in the Good Beer Guide with its beer, history, character and atmosphere.
Next on the CAMRA coach trip was the Lion at Thurne, another marvellous choice by Ivan as it’s a Good Beer Guide pub that I haven’t been to before. Although there has been a licensed premises called the Lion in Thurne since the 1830s (although until the earlier twentieth century it was known as the Red Lion), this site was built in the 1930s by Lacons and their name is still above the door, although it is now a free trade pub.
Here’s the newspaper advert noting the sale of the former Lion Inn as it was known, with the new Lion Hotel now ready. From this, it’s clear that accommodation was available in both the old and new buildings, although accommodation is no longer offered.
The keg arrangement on the back bar, all looking shiny and interesting.
The real ale selection and I have to note the professionalism of the team member who was behind the bar. She appeared to realise that she had twenty customers suddenly standing at the bar, but this presented no problem for her as she rattled through the service whilst remaining professional, friendly and efficient. Some people might panic under pressure, others simply become calmly excellent while a small army of CAMRA members tries to make decisions about beer.
I did struggle to see what the beer options were initially, but then I realised that I had managed to miss the below.
I did struggle to see what the beer options were initially, but then I realised that I had somehow managed to miss the main board. I am not entirely sure how I missed it, as it was hardly subtle, but this does rather suggest that my observational skills are at their sharpest only when there is a plate of chips nearby. In any case, it was a decent selection of keg and cask options across a range of styles.
I opted for the Royal Pillow Fight, brewed for the venue by the Mr Winters brewery. It’s a light and slightly fruity beer which goes well with salty crisps.
Given the keg options were also intriguing, I had the Pixel beer from Only With Love, a small brewery in West Sussex, which was juicy, fruity and refreshing.
The food menu, not that there was time for us to order anything and I was content with my packet of crisps. There’s a separate dining room area in the pub which looked busy.
The pub has so many CAMRA awards that they have enough to put some of them casually on the windowsill, which is quite the flex really. Some pubs display awards very carefully in decadent frames, whereas the Lion appears to have reached the point where they can scatter them about like loose change. It is a strong look.
One handy source of extra trade for the pub is from the nearby staithe which is a popular little mooring arrangement for boats on the Norfolk Broads.
Michael and I went for a quick walk to get some photos of the sunset. Ivan wasn’t entirely surprised and delighted by our photography skills and reminded us that we were one minute late getting back. He’s a man of precision is Ivan. Some people organise coach trips, but Ivan appears to run them with the quiet authority of a railway timetable, albeit one that has developed opinions.
Anyway, this is very much what these coach trips are designed for, allowing an exploration of county pubs that would otherwise be hard to get to but which offer something interesting and different. It certainly seemed to me to be a deserving entrant into the Good Beer Guide, and another reminder that Norfolk remains full of excellent pubs tucked away in places that are awkward enough to make a coach trip feel not just useful, but frankly necessary.
The pre-party completed (I might have made that sound more exotic than it was), it was time to board the coach to be transported to our first mystery pub location.
Safely boarded and ready to go. I had discovered that the first stop wasn’t the Ber Strete Gates and it would be about 25 minutes on the coach, that was the limit of my knowledge of where we were going.
And we arrived at our first stop and I was pleased with this one as it’s been around a decade since I’ve been here. This has been a community run pub since 2012 and although they’ve had some minor financial issues in recent years, they’ve bounced back and all that. There are frequent events held here, beer festivals, musical performances, morris dancers and the like, along with food being served throughout the week.
The venue has been a licensed premises since the late eighteenth century and it was owned by the Coltishall Brewery in the early nineteenth century before they sold it in 1841 and later on it was taken over by Bullards. It then passed into the hands of Watney Mann and then Brent Walker before the community took it on.
A coach load of customers did surprise the venue, but the team members were all friendly and welcoming. I had deliberately taken cash in case that was preferred in these rural areas, but everyone seemed to be paying by card.
The choice of real ales and I liked this selection, a range of beer styles and there are some options there that I haven’t had before.
Some of the events.
We went to sit in the rather nice beer garden and as there were children on the bouncy castle, we thought we’d better not try it out. It was moderately busy in the beer garden and busier inside mostly with diners, but the atmosphere all felt informal and well managed.
I went for the Yellow Tail from Wantsum Brewery from Kent alongside some Mini Cheddars. The beer was clean, hoppy and well-kept, a decent light start to the evening.
This was going around the table and I thought that it was a strange thing to do at CAMRA events but assumed that it was some kind of ritual that they do.
It kept Ivan amused though who was very good indeed at colouring in and it transpired that this isn’t a standard CAMRA activity, it was a one-off.
One of the advantages of visiting here is that that’s another ticked off in my vague attempt to visit every Good Beer Guide pub in the country. A very good first selection by Ivan and after thirty minutes here, we boarded the coach to discover where he was taking us next.
Apologies for the slightly sub-optimal image quality here, but this is the Moon Under Water in Colindale, which is also listed in the Good Beer Guide. Using the venue’s own history:
“Several Wetherspoon pubs have ‘moon’ in their name, linking them with the ideal pub described in detail by George Orwell. The highly regarded author named his fictional pub ‘Moon Under Water’. This one was purpose built as a branch of the Woolworths chain. It opened in early summer of 1939, serving a fast-growing suburb. Woolworths traded here at Varley Parade for 45 years, closing in 1984.”
This is the rear area of the pub, which feels more like the dining area. The service was friendly and timely, with the venue having a laid-back and comfortable feel to it.
This venue is on the cheapest price band which made this meal and drink under £6, which feels very reasonable to me. Although goodness knows what they did to the eggs. A perfectly decent arrangement with the non alcohol Guinness.
My now obligatory carpet photo.
This is the more lively front bar and as I was in the venue for quite a time and they had a special offer on the curry, I accidentally ordered one of those as well. Anyway, this was hot and tasted as expected, alongside my non alcoholic Erdinger.
I like looking at the reviews of JD Wetherspoon venues and I was once again tempted by that here. The venue is rated towards the higher end of the scale nationally and I must admit, I rather liked it here and didn’t rush to leave. But that’s evident as I had two meals.
“After driving 4 hours from Belgium with my 17-year-old son, we came here for a proper meal. I ordered a beer for myself and gave him a tiny sip with his meal — perfectly legal under UK law. The manager (pictured) didn’t even approach us himself — instead, he sent a waiter to tell us we had to leave. When I asked him directly why, he offered vague excuses and no real explanation. Our meals were shoved into cartons, and we were shown the door with no respect or courtesy.”
This reviewer has decided to post photos of the team member which seems entirely out of order to me. And he gave alcohol to an underage person which is against the policies of JD Wetherspoon and he wondered why he got thrown out?
“Shocked when I had to speak to this branch manager this evening. My 18 year old ordered on the app for a Manchester Moon under water – correctly selecting the Manchester location 0.3 miles from her. The app sent her order here??? 155 miles away Why no one knows?”
I think everyone knows, she ordered it to the wrong venue. The downside of JD Wetherspoon having about thirty pubs with this name.
“Awful experience, the assistant ‘manager’ who barely looked 21 took great pride in saying as two of our party did not have their IDs that they could not stay past 9pm. He then tried to say it’s the law, which it clearly is not and when asked to provide proof it was the law, he was unable too, then said it was the branch policy. Probably made his night being spiteful and nasty to customers. Thing about Wetherspoons, there is little point in complaining as they specialise in being cheap and could not give a monkeys about their customers.”
Challenge 21 is almost certainly in their licensing requirements, but might as well mock how old the team member looks.
“Need to retrain the chefs. Went in twice for tea as we was working away from home. Both times the food was terrible. Everything was over cooked. Even the fried eggs. If a chef cant cook an egg then its time to give up.”
I have some sympathy with the egg comment.
“Typical moons pub, grotty and full of Not trendy people, I only went because it was a works drink. Had one drink and had to leave.”
Hmmmm, those blasted non trendy people…
I was slightly disappointed to discover that there weren’t any negative reviews from customers who weren’t allowed to bring their dog in.
Anyway, I liked it here and it’s the first time that I’ve visited. There were six real ales available as well as a number of craft beers, all enough to justify their place in the Good Beer Guide.
After the vibrant excitement of the JD Wetherspoon pub in the town, Richard and I meandered to a rather calmer micropub. This one also has the advantage of being in the Good Beer Guide, so that’s another one ticked off.
The bar set-up, with the beer list being displayed on the screen and also on Untappd. There was a friendly and immediate welcome, with the staff member trying to find a beer that Richard would like.
The beer fridge had more delights.
The Patrons Project from Northern Monk, a very hoppy, grape flavoured, hazy delight. Quite a punchy little arrangement.
The Raspberry Ripple from Fierce Beer, this has nice chocolate flavours, it was a bit boozy and was like a decadent chocolate liqueur.
The Le Bleu from Fierce & Noble, a quite tart beer with lots of blueberry and lingering smooth flavours.
The surroundings were clean, comfortable and welcoming. It all had an on-trend feel, but with a traditional air to it as well.
I always like a bit of Titanic.
Richard decided we had to stand right outside the shop before calling an Uber rather than sit on the other side of the window. We always have to wait a while as his Uber score is so low there aren’t many drivers that will pick him up. But I didn’t say anything.
Anyway, this was a delightful pub, a friendly welcome, decent choice of cask and keg, along with some bottles to add to the mix. The pricing was reasonable, the surroundings were comfortable and it very much deserves to be in the Good Beer Guide in my humble view.
I can’t say that I was entirely confident that this would be a great pub when looking at the exterior, but I’m pleased to note that not only is it listed in the Good Beer Guide, it’s a really decent venue.
Some of the reason for it not looking perhaps as decadent as it might is that it’s not the original pub from the late eighteenth century. The pub had a little issue when it burnt down in the late 1930s and so it was rebuilt between 1938 and 1939. It went from the Bullards brewery set-up to Watney Mann and then it found itself lumbered up as part of the Pubmaster estate before they were able to make a bid for freedom and it became a freehouse.
Someone thought it was a good idea to name it as McTaggarts between 2011 and 2020, but, fortunately, wiser heads prevailed and it went back to its old name. Matters have clearly improved since it reopened in 2021 as CAMRA have awarded it a series of accolades and awards over the last few years.
There were five real ales available which is quite something for a country pub. There was a range of styles and local and more further afield breweries, so it all felt well curated.
I went for the Dirty Diesel from Steam Shed brewery, a small outfit from Swaffham who brew some very decent beers, as I hadn’t had that one before. This was a very acceptable beer with chocolate and coffee flavours. As an aside, although they might look premium, I’m not a huge advocate of Salty Dog crisps, I find them a bit bland in taste.
It might not have been a very suitable option for a cold Saturday in January, but the pub does have a nice little beer garden.
Overall, this venue certainly did surprise and delight with an excellent selection of real ale for a country pub, a friendly service and a clean and comfortable environment. A very justified entry into the Good Beer Guide.
The next pub on the Jen, Roy and Julian expedition was to the Kings Arms in Watton. This is a wet-led pub which is listed in the Good Beer Guide, so that’s another one to tick off for me.
This has been a licensed premises since the late eighteenth century, initially owned by the Thetford Brewery before becoming part of the Youngs, Crawshay and Youngs pub estate and then Bullards, Watney Mann and Brent Walker, although it’s now a freehouse.
There was some excitement in 1866 when Charles Clements pinched a basket of eighty oranges owned by the dealer Thomas Newman and in court, he said that “it was just a joke”, with the newspaper noting that the court accepted that. I’m not entirely sure that the owner of the fruit thought that, but the miscreant had to reimburse him.
It was traditionally known as the Kings Arms Inn and so would have had accommodation and in 1989 they were advertising their four bedrooms and good food. The venue doesn’t seem to offer this accommodation now, but they do have a large function room for events.
It was a little challenging to see what real ales were available as it’s one of those venues which has customers sitting at the bar right in front of them. But there are three real ales, Greene King IPA, Eastern Gold from Barsham and the Golden Bicycle from Fixed Wheel Brewery.
I went for the Golden Bicycle from Fixed Wheel Brewery which was a well-kept and gentle beer with a fruity edge to it, paired beautifully with the Wotsits.
It’s a relatively large venue and there’s a pool table in the back room. The service at the bar was friendly, with the venue having a welcoming and inviting feel to it. I like that carpet and wooden flooring combination, it looks modern and warm, whilst also being functional.
There’s no food, but there is a shots menu.
Bottomless beer and chicken wings, what could possibly go wrong?
The nicely decorated ceiling and the male toilets had a similar design set-up.
This feels very much a community driven venue with darts and pool teams, as well as regular board games evenings. The venue is proud of their real ale selection and I liked their choice which had a couple of local beers alongside one which was from further away. All really rather lovely.
The expedition for the day on Saturday was with friends Roy and Jen to a number of country pubs. There is a logic for choosing these pubs that Roy has, but I’ll leave that to another post to explain. I was surprised and delighted at their proposed list as there were so many pubs that I hadn’t been to.
This is a hugely challenging time for country pubs, so it’s really good to make an effort to come and see different venues. This one also had the advantage that it’s listed in the Good Beer Guide, indeed for the ninth year running, so that’s another one ticked off for me.
This has been a licensed premises since at least the 1840s and it became a Steward & Patterson free house, before being taken over by Watney Mann and later it became part of Punch Taverns. Fortunately, it’s now free of Pubco interference and is free of tie.
In 1909, the landlord Frederick George Thompson had the indignity of finding himself in the Norwich Argus with the headline of “an unsuccessful publican” which feels a little harsh. He had found himself in financial difficulty and invested in a horse to cart his beer about. Anyway, that went wrong and in court his representative mentioned “it was a pony that was a very poor beast and took two hours to go a mile and a half” to which the newspaper reported that there was laughter….. He left the pub the following year.
There was a good choice of real ales, including Old Speckled Hen, Woodforde’s Wherry and Best Bitter from Black Sheep, although there are usually five different real ales. The keg options were a little Hawkstone heavy for me, but each to their own.
I’ll note now that I was on half pints at every pub during the day, Roy went for pints, but he’s always been tough like that. This is the Best Bitter from Black Sheep, it was well-kept although served very cold, although that’s hardly surprising given the outside temperature of our visit. It was bitter and inoffensive, it’s not the most exciting beer in my mind, but it’s a decent sessionable offering.
Their pie weekend sounds really quite decadent, they have a huge choice of pies during the weekend and it’s become something of a thing in the local community’s calendar.
We arrived shortly after opening and were the first in, but there was another customer who came in soon after us and it had a welcoming community feel. Down the other end of the pub is a games area with a pool table. Incidentally, I’m a fan of carpets in pubs and like that they give it an element of warmth.
They serve food and there’s an extensive dining room area. There is also a fire and I won’t mention in public about burningchildschristmascardgate…..
And another one of the pub’s achievements. On this note, I’d suggest that this is a great shout for being in the Good Beer Guide, there was a friendly welcome, clean environment and a choice of well kept real ales. The prices were moderate and it had a proper community feel.
The pub stop en route from Cardiff to Luton was the JD Wetherspoon operated The Bear in the fine town of Maidenhead. This was all rather appropriate because this is where Liam grew up, although he didn’t take up drinking until he became friends with me, I suspect I drove him to it. But, anyway, this pub is also listed in the Good Beer Guide so that’s another box ticked.
It’s quite a spacious arrangement and using the chain’s history notes about the pub name, which is one of the few that they haven’t named themselves.
“The name of this historic inn was perpetuated when it became a Wetherspoon pub in 2010. The Bear has been on this site since 1845. Previously, it was at the corner of Park Street and High Street. The Bear is recorded in 1489, when the landlord charged ‘an unlawful price for provisions’. In the early 19th century, it was one of the town’s main coaching inns, but was converted into a private house in 1845.”
The real ale selection and there’s a couple of interesting options there, as well as the Greene King IPA for those who want something to clean their shoes with or something.
My now obligatory carpet photo.
I was slightly surprised that this pub is on the cheapest price band for the chain, I thought being on the Elizabeth Line into London they might have gone for some premium pricing. There are our drinks on the screen and these were made promptly, but not served before the food arrived. As we were sitting by the counter I asked if we could possibly just take the drinks as the food arrived, with the team members helpfully facilitating that.
This might have been the third day in a row that I had this…. Well, actually, it was the third day in a row, but I like their steak pie and especially so when it’s just over £7 including a drink. The included drink is the Eye of the Tiger from Wilde Child, a very agreeable beer which had a taste of marshmallows and chocolate, certainly verging on decadent.
As it’s a JD Wetherspoon pub, I feel the need to look at the online reviews and this venue is rated around average for the chain.
“On the 8th Nov 2025 I attended the rememberance day in maidenhead as I am a veteran with 24 years service. My partner was away so I brought the dog with me. There where lots of veterans outside the weatherspoons so i decided to buy a pint there. I had my medals and could be clearly identified as a veteran. On buying a pint I was then approached by a staff member and told that I would not be served as my dog wasn’t a service dog. I wasn’t even allowed to stand outside with a drink which i offered to do. The staff where very polite. Mr Weatherspoon, if it wasn’t for veterans then your pub wouldn’t exist or you would now be serving German beer. Shameful, stupid rules Mr Weatherspoon. You should be ashamed.”
Just about every JD Wetherspoon pub is littered with reviews about why they should be exempted from their dog ban, including how well behaved it is, how quiet it is, how it wouldn’t cause any trouble. They’ve made it simple by just banning all non-assistance dogs, I’m not entirely sure why Tim Martin should be ashamed.
“I recently visited this pub and unfortunately had a poor experience. After ordering and paying for a drink, I was informed that dogs were not allowed on the premises due to pub regulations. While I understand and respect their policy, this information was not clearly displayed, leading to an unnecessary purchase and inconvenience. Furthermore, the pub’s cleanliness left much to be desired. I recommend they make their dog policy much more visible at the entrance to prevent similar situations for other customers.”
In fairness, there isn’t a sign out the front about this, or there wasn’t when we visited anyway.
“Ordered a Stella for £4.37, poured half and then left me for 5 minutes to change the barrel and then brought the warm half a pint back and proceeded to continue to fill. I asked for a fresh pint and he wasn’t pleased that a customer could do that!!! Cheap pub but don’t expect a great experience”
I suspect quite a few pubs would be surprised that a customer would ask for a keg beer to be changed in such circumstances. I’ve removed the unnecessary comment about the team member…..
“Ordered food and had it delivered @8.30 only to be told by the doorman that we needed to leave by 9pm because we had children. The manger was unsympathetic and said half an hour was ample to eat food! When asked if he had children he said no!! To which I replied how do you expect children to eat within half an hour especially those with additional needs! No compensation received”
It does sound ample 🙂
“Absolutely disgusting service from the male server and manager on shift this evening. I ordered food through the app – I asked if the server could provide me with allergen information regarding the side salad sauce (I have coeliac disease and this is not on the allergen menu) the server refused to help me in any way, saying that it’s “company policy” to not give out any allergen information. I then approached the bar where I heard him bad mouthing me to the manager who said “well I’m not going to give her any information either”. In the end I asked to see the sauce bottle and the manager acted as if this was a huge inconvenience rather than a simple task. Ridiculous.”
It’s not on the allergen information charts as it’s not an allergen, team members aren’t going to be easily able to give advice on this and that seems to me a very sensible and responsible company policy.
“Unfortunately its hard to give a good opinion on this pub as it’s damaged in reputation for losing its lively atmosphere and hosting a good night out.”
I suspect the chain quite liked losing its lively atmosphere to be fair.
“Slow service but the beer used to be good at this Wetherspoons pub. Tables never too clean, and always a bit sticky. Now that it lost its good beer guide place 2018 no point to bother. Go to Coppa Club, it is only up the road.”
At least it’s back in now 🙂
Anyway, I digress once again. I rather liked it here, it was busy, the team members were friendly, the service was efficient, the prices are firmly towards the lower end of the scale and the beer range was entirely acceptable. All quite lovely.
