Tag: Newcastle-under-Lyme

Continuing our trail down the Hartshill Mile, this is another pub that’s listed in the Good Beer Guide. There appears to be a way in that doesn’t require walking through customers smoking, but it seemed to be closed when we arrived. I’m also conscious that I’m listing this pub in Newcastle-under-Lyme, but it’s actually just over the border in Stoke-on-Trent.

I found this board just a little confusing to be honest, but that might just be me as it often is.

I’m not sure that the beer they gave me was the one that I ordered, although they seemed confident that it was even though it didn’t resemble the colour that it should be. It’s the first time this has happened to me, but perhaps given that beer is always slightly different in its brewing that all was in order, it just wasn’t what I expected.

The service was pleasant, but I can’t say that I felt particularly comfortable here, it was the sort of inviting atmosphere that we’d just left at the formidable Greyhound. It was all a bit loud and vibrant shall we say, even though it wasn’t overly busy. These things are transient, it’s likely that if we had arrived thirty minutes before or after that I might have found the environment different.

Some information about the bar and how it has evolved in recent years. In short, it opened in June 2018 and they mention that the bar area was once the workshop and rehearsal stage for a Victorian theatre. That’s some interesting heritage to have.

There’s a cosy room at the rear of the pub, decorated very differently from the rest of the venue. The pub was just a little grimy in places when we visited and the toilets weren’t in a great state, but the bar area seemed clean and tidy.

The pub is very well reviewed on-line and seems to be surprising and delighting its customers in a positive sense, so that’s all marvellous. They appear from reviews to be popular for their live music and they do have several real ales available alongside a wide variety of other drinks, so considerable efforts are clearly being made. Nothing really wrong here, but I think I’d say that I just felt a bit more at ease in some of the other venues that we visited.

The Sanctuary Ale House is a Good Beer Guide listed pub on Hartshill Road in Newcastle-under-Lyme, not to be confused with the pub the Sanctuary which was located in the centre of the town and has now closed.

The beer options, a variety of cask and keg were available.

The bar arrangement looked modern and the service was efficient and friendly.

I hadn’t initially noticed the keg options when ordering, although Liam was more observant, I went for the stout from Nightjar which was well kept although unexceptional.

We were left standing as the relatively small pub was full, so they’re obviously doing something right to have plenty of customers. The atmosphere in the pub felt inviting and the decoration was quirky and interesting. We were standing looking at some slightly odd animals which were placed on top of a filing cabinet, it was all a little different. The pub is located on the Hartshill Mile and CAMRA note that it was converted from a former cafe in late 2016. I didn’t notice that there are apparently a couple of car seats for customers to sit on, it all felt innovative and if there had been more seating available when we visited I think we would have lingered here for a little longer. All rather lovely.

I’ve wanted to start ticking Titanic pubs off my list for some time, as it’s my favourite UK brewery and it was something that I had planned to do during the relaxed period after total lockdown. This weekend meant that I could start to visit a few of these fabled venues and the Greyhound in Newcastle-under-Lyme was where we started. That’s also appropriate, as I went to the nearby Keele University and remember it with very fond memories, although am moderately annoyed that it was somehow a quarter of a century ago. Anyway, I digress. Unfortunately, Titanic don’t seem to provide much information on the history of their venues, so I can’t add much on this one.

How very lovely. Titanic is known for its Plum Porter, but I rate its Cherry Porter even higher and so that’s what I went for. Not that it’ll interest very many people, but Ross went for a lager and Liam for the Anytime Session IPA. There’s certainly no shortage of choice here and the helpful staff seemed knowledgeable and keen to engage about the beer options.

The beer list and the Greyhound is keg and cask. I’m also delighted to note that it’s listed in the Good Beer Guide. The environment in the pub was laid-back but wasn’t particularly busy even though we were there on a Friday evening.

And the drink. The Cherry Porter was well-kept, at the appropriate temperature and had a sufficient amount of cherry flavouring running through it.

I’m assuming that the bar is designed to look like a ship and very noble and sleek it is. The on-line reviews for the pub are positive, just a couple of outliers including someone who was furious they had to wear a mask during the period after lockdown. The bane of publicans, I’m glad that those times are hopefully over….

The quirky looking clock. Not that we were taking part on it in its entirety, but The Greyhound is one of the pubs which is located on the Hartshill Mile pub crawl.

The bottled selection. I had a plan that I would purchase anything I hadn’t tried before during the brewery tour, which transpired to be a good plan.

A model of the Titanic and I’ll explain why the brewery has this name when I get to the brewery tour post. What a treat….

Anyway, this was a marvellous way to start the weekend and the pub was clean and had an inviting atmosphere. Quite rightly in the Good Beer Guide, the service was friendly and it’s always a delight to have the Cherry Porter.