The Lord Nelson Inn, Brighton

Another Harvey’s pub in Brighton, although this one is probably the most popular given its close proximity to the train station. The pub is divided into two rooms – the main bar on the right which extends quite a long way back and a smaller room to the left. The main bar is carpeted and offers a mix of banquette and bench seating. There is a lot of interesting stuff on the walls including cigarette card collections and old black and white photos of Brighton and Hove Albion players. The front windows retain some pleasant etched glass but some panes have unfortunately been replaced. The room extends to a smaller area towards the rear before reaching a conservatory style space at the back of the pub. The left hand room has more of a traditional feel to it with wooden flooring, standard tables and chairs, a small fireplace and framed advertisements from yesteryear adorning the walls. A couple of TV screens were on showing the football to a small but keen audience. Five Harvey’s ales made up the beer selection – Best, Mild, Olympia, Armada and Hadlow Bitter. I tried the Olympia which was well kept although not my favourite Harvey’s beer. The staff were very pleasant and quickly made me feel welcome. This is a nice pub that is a little out of sync with the rest of Brighton’s pub scene, but in a good way. I like the traditional feel of the interior and that it feels like a local’s boozer when in fact it probably gets plenty of transient custom. One of several good pubs around the station/North Laine area and worth inclusion on any Brighton pub crawl.

Well-known Brighton pub with an attractive exterior, the blue tiling and hanging baskets making it look welcoming. The interior is quite rambling, with the front room split into public and lounge bar. The lounge bar has a conservatory area leading off it and beyond that lies a garden area. The inside feels quite shabby and could do with a spruce-up. The music and theatre posters that decorate the walls make for a pleasant diversion. Eight handpumps serve the full range of Harveys ales alongside a cider and the odd guest. Prices are a little higher than one might expect from a Harveys tied outlet. I’ve never felt overly enamoured with the place and this was exacerbated on my latest visit when there was trouble with a particularly obnoxious/intimidating football fan who should have been asked to leave but instead got worse and worse and drove punters away. Whilst this horror show was unfolding the staff and (most despicably) management sat there like startled rabbits caught in the headlights. Very poor. Personally I don’t really rate the place beyond a quick snifter of a rarer Harveys brew before heading to the station. The nearby Evening Star and Basketmakers Arms are much better bets in my opinion.

Nice to see a pub offering more than one from the Harveys range. In fact, you get a choice of half-a-dozen or so in this excellent tied house. Slightly scruffy, but with great staff, we enjoyed our recent visit, with absolutely no complaint about any of the ales sampled. Food was important to us at the late hour we entered, so we were delighted to find that a local pizza house has a delivery arrangement outside of the advertised kitchen hours. Handily placed not only for the station but also for the North Laine area and it's trendy shops and top-quality pubs. Well worth a visit when in the area.

Occupying a position close to the underpass outside Brighton Station is The Lord Nelson Inn, a small traditional Harveys pub. A semi circular bar counter serves 2 adjoining bars with the old public / saloon bar distinction still intact. The saloon bar on the right hand side has been extended to the rear to a much larger seating area – Nelsons Room – which in turn leads to a smallish garden. The walls are decorated with old theatrical prints and posters and some Brighton F C memorabilia – including a small montage of the last ever game at the Goldstone Ground in April 1997, when they beat Doncaster 1-0 and went on to manage to avoid dropping out of the Football League into the Conference. Coincidentally, on my early Saturday evening visit, a good of well behaved, good humoured Brighton fans were present, having just returned from the first ever game at their new Amex Stadium. The pub offers a good range of Harveys beers, including several beers that I can’t recollect seeing before – Dark Mild and Thomas Paine Bitter amongst them, the latter being a seasonal, strong ale with an ABV of 5.5%. The Dark Mild is a tasty delicious mild, well worth sampling, but perhaps slightly pricey at £ 3.10p for a beer with an ABV of only 3%. The pub has been a CAMRA Good Beer Guide Regular for a number of years now. This is another pub that you should try and do when in Brighton