St Georges Vaults, Cheltenham

Made a return visit to this one and found it largely unchanged from when I visited ten years ago. Still a one room comfortable traditional pub. I don’t remember the full size Elvis from before and could have done without that. Still 3 ale pumps on the bar but only two on the go with Old Speckled Hen and St Austell Proper job. Very much a locals boozer this one.

Not that it bothers me as there are always nearby pubs with better customer service happy to take your money, this one advertises in the local Camra mag as “One of the last traditional town centre pubs”. Well not town centre but edge of, and if you put your opening hours in an advert as noon-11pm don’t say “sorry mate just called last orders” when it’s 10:35pm. Shame, looked like a decent pub.

L shaped interior with horse racing and Laurel and Hardy memorabilia on the walls. 3 real ales.

A pleasant enough pub located just enough off the beaten track that it’s not as busy as many places, it struck me as much more of a local’s pub and most of the punters in there were clustered around the bar chatting on my recent mid-week lunchtime visit. Presumably it was a couple of different rooms at one time, but has now been opened out in to a single L-shape configuration. Décor wise it’s quite traditional with a low beamed ceiling and a mixture of carpet and black boards that have been warn smooth over the years on the floor. A small TV was mounted up on the wall at the front of the pub, and although it was not in use on my visit, a notice did advertise the forthcoming Six Nations matches. At the rear was a darts board and adjacent trophy cabinet, whilst a number of photographs of pub events adorned the walls, as well as some old china plates on a shelf. A life size model of Elvis complete with a guitar was an unusual feature, and it looks as though music nights do feature occasionally going on some of the photographs. Beers on tap were Old Speckled Hen and Proper Job, whilst a third pump for Tribute appeared to have run out. Ciders meanwhile were Stowford Press, Thatcher’s Gold and Strongbow and I also saw a sign promoting Severn Valley cider, although I did not spot a pump for this on the bar. Overall, whilst it’s probably not worth making a special effort to get to, it seems a solid enough local boozer and I’d happily pop in again if passing.