Gamston Lock, Nottingham

Large food place with rooms to left and right, bar in the middle. Four hand pumps - nothing of any strength. Full of noisy children.

The Gamston Lock is a large new build on the site of a former pub demolished by Fire. The turnaround for construction of this new place after the fire was so sudden I still know people who have not realised it is a different pub as the turnaround was truly remarkable. The pub is well described below as a large family friendly pub with Childrens paly area outside and lots of car parking spaces as this is more of a commuter’s pub for meals than a local boozer. It is very modern and open plan with lots of tables and chairs for dining around a centrally located bar. There is also a nice outside seating area with many tables and chairs and a undercover area for smokers when it’s raining. There were four hand pulls on the front facing bar and a further four on the right hand side bar but both displayed the same beers (Pedigree x2) Banks’s Sunbeam and Ringwood Brewery Red Boar. The Pedigree and Sunbeam were both sampled at a pretty decent £3 especially considering this is in one of the nicer area of the outer city and both were kept in decent nick. Overall a pleasant pub to visit for a nice pint of cask ale but definitely more of a eating pub and not the sort of place to go on a session. That said it acted as a perfect refreshment stop sat out in the sun after a long walk and would come back if ever in the area to sample another well priced pint.

I thought this large family orientated Marstons roadside pub restaurant on the Nottingham Ring Road looked all new and shiny and a smarter version of a lot of the chain I have used over the years, and now I know why when looking at the review below. Apparently this one was put up within 12 months of the previous one being pulled down and they certainly have taken advantage of having a blank canvas to build a food orientated restaurant for road users situated on a busy city ring road. It’s a large building with a modern internal décor common of these places, e.g. bright clean lines with lots of exposed brickwork, light oak flooring and furniture and pastel shades throughout with several distinct seating sections, most orientated towards dining, around a central serving area. Then outside there are several external seating areas stretching right round the pub with a couple being very nice decking extensions from the main building with wicker seating underneath large wooden canopies. And it benefits from having a massive multi sectioned car park. It’s the standard Marstons food menu with all the usual suspects, Marston’s beer battered fish & Chips, British Beef & Pedigree Ale Pie along with Ribs, Steaks , Burgers, and the odd salad. However what this one also has that was a bit unusual is a chicken rotisserie, which actually confronts you as you walk through the front door, thus confirming the primary function of this place if you were in any doubt. On the beer front the bar has three handpumps with three of the usual Marston stable beers and Pedigree Hobgoblin and Hobgoblin Gold were on. If you are on the road and cant be bothered to do the research to find more traditional pub options then you can do a lot worse than this place for a decent reasonable priced food and beer stop.

Official site of Gamston Lock - www.marstonstaverns.co.uk

Official site of Gamston Lock - www.marstonstaverns.co.uk

A pub in Gamston, Nottingham has been severely damaged by a fire and is likely to be demolished. The fire broke out in The Bridge pub on December 7th at 14:45 GMT, and eight fire engines were called out to the scene, according to the Nottingham Post. Firefighters worked throughout the night to dampen the building and put an end to the blaze. The cause of the fire is going to be investigated today (December 9th), but it is thought that it broke out towards the back of the building on the ground floor, and then spread upstairs and into the roof. Lester White, watch manager at West Bridgford fire station, said that the building is out of bounds due to it being declared unsafe. “It’s suffered extensive and serious structural damage so the likelihood is it will have to be pulled down,” he added.