Snippets - Nottingham CAMRA

In Praise of PUBlic TransportPublic Transport to visit out-of-the-way pubsd find seven pubs and some unusual alespolished wood. Each stall has a table seating four people, and its own individualframed print at the rear. A shame, then, that in total contrast the ceiling isdominated by ugly “minimalist” ventilation pipes - bring back suspended ceilings- all is forgiven! This is a very popular pub, with a decent atmosphere, servingthe usual good value food. Three national beers were on tap when we called,accompanied by two excellent micro beers- one from Titanic, the other a LocAlefrom Langton brewery.The Red Cow (4) is directly opposite - despite this we still got soaked goingto it in a torrential thunderstorm! It is a Greene King house and sells their IPA,Old Speckled Hen, Abbot and St. Edmunds. I was told that they do sometimeshave guest beers from outside the group - but not this time. This is very mucha locals’ pub, friendly with a great atmosphere. The front bar has light polishedfloorboards, white painted walls and anaglypta ceiling, a few nice old prints anda dart board. A small separate room at the rear has just a couple of tables, and asecond dart board.The Three Swans Hotel (5) is a Best Western, but what you’ll find here kicksmost hotel bars into touch. The delightful old building has two totally separaterooms with original beamed ceilings - painted cream in the front room, blackin the other. The front one is carpeted with upholstered settles, stools andarmchairs, and the bar, doors and fireplace are wood panelled. Attractive printsall around depict the town in yesteryear. The back bar is equally comfortable butwith an original flagstoned floor. the beers were Tetley Cask Bitter (superb - canMarstons make it this good when Leeds closes) and another beer from the localLangton Brewery which, sadly, was not quite ready yet.The Admiral Nelson (6) is very much a back street local - and little gem inmy book! It is an original Charles Wells tied house - their most northerly in theUK. I am always pleased to find one of their houses as I am a great fan of theirEagle IPA - sadly we only ever seem to find their Bombardier around Nottingham.And I was certainly not disappointed when the landlady pulled me a perfect pintof it! Also on sale were Bombardier, and a guest - Titanic White Star. There is areal public bar withdarts and pool; whilstthe lounge is partlycarpeted and has aplasma screen forsports. The atmospherehere was tremendous- what a friendly pub!We were soon chattingto the landlady aboutbeer, pubs, and theworld in general!Arriving at our finalstop, the AngelHotel (7), we sawa smart but pleasanthotel lounge bar anddid not hold out highhopes of finding anyinteresting beers.How wrong could wehave been - uponreaching the bar wefound Hoggley’s Bitterand IPA! These arebrewed just across theborder in Litchborough,Northamptonshire.The bar is carpetedwith various seatingoptions, and there arecream-painted beams,and walls in a similarcream above and apleasant green colourbelow. The large woodsurroundfireplace wasfull of logs, but it wasmidsummer, so I don’tknow if it is used. Oh,and there’s a plasmascreen.The Red CowThe Three Swans HotelThe Angel Hotelwww.nottinghamcamra.org Issue 100, October / November 201027