Stanley Arms Hotel, Seascale

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Will Larter left this review about Stanley Arms Hotel

Standing beside the eponymous bridge, where the A595 crosses the River Calder, this traditional-looking Cumberland hotel is painted white with windows picked out in black. I must have cycled or driven past about 20 times and never found it open. On this occasion it was 3:05pm as I drove through the village and saw the front door of the pub was open (at 15:00 apparently). In my haste I drove into the wrong car park and had to back out again pronto. Luckily I was still sober.

I was greeted by one member of the couple who run the hotel from behind the reception desk, and by the other from behind the bar counter as I entered the room to the left. I was surprised to see four hand pumps and two customers. I made my selection from the four beers (two national staples and two local beers from Tractor Shed near Workington and the even nearer Ennerdale at Rowrah - see photo) and was warned by both husband and wife that it had a bit of a haze, though it tasted all right. They had complained to the brewery, Ennerdale - just up the road - but until they confirm that they will refund or replace the barrel they have no alternative but to continue selling the beer while warning people. As the man said, it makes them look like they don't know what they're doing. The beer was ok, but not brilliant, but it's hard to know if I was influenced in my tasting by the obvious lack of clarity or by my previous experience with beers from this brewery, or if they are in fact just not very good beers. (The owner of the Bath Hotel in Sheffield has had the same problem with a previously reliable beer from Abbeydale Brewery, and has been told by someone he considers reliable that it is a fault in the process at the brewery.)

The bar and next door room (with pool table and view of the river) are very smartly done, and I wonder how much business they get from workers at the Sellafield plant, whose entrance is at the other end of the village; four beers seems like a lot if their trade is limited to just the villagers.

On 3^rd July 2022 - rating: 7
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