The Globe, Luton

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Facebook page of The Globe - www.facebook.com

Very busy here just before Luton Town's last game of the Premier League season. The bar staff were working really well and I was served much quicker than I would have thought possible. Two cask beers on, with one hand pump not in use. My pint of Twickenham Naked Ladies was very good - and poured so much more easily without the sparkler I'm used to up north. Excellent beer in very good condition (NBSS 3.5) - the other option was Oakham Bishop's Farewell, but mostly it was lager, cider, Guinness and John Smith's being served while I was here.

An excellent pub, and a real local. Often busy (which is no bad thing) with sport on a couple of large TVs, positioned so that they can be seen from most areas of the pub. There is also a garden at the back which is quite pleasant in summer, and provides for a smoking area. At least one real ale on offer, usually two and occasionally three, and for me the appeal is that it is impossible to predict what they will be - beers from Fullers, Brains and Timothy Taylor may be interspersed with brewers such as Bristol Beer Factory, Wantsum, Little Critters and Anarchy. Pricing is currently at £4.20 a pint for real ales.

street corner local, a little unfriendly at least to start and localised. Beers ok, good to see pubs like this still in use but not over welcoming feel

This traditional back street boozer is only a short walk from Luton’s main shopping area, but despite this, it is hidden away well enough that only those in the know are likely to find their way out here. I arrived on a midweek evening to find the front door locked and was starting to think the place had closed up early, when the landlady appeared, unlocked the door, let me in and locked it again behind me. Amazingly, the pub was pretty much as full as it could be under the Covid restrictions in place at the time, with plenty of old boys occupying all but one of the tables. The pub has a bare boarded, U-shape interior, with the servery directly opposite upon entering and seating around the perimeter. This mostly came in the form of long, button backed banquettes serving quite large tales with heavy duty tops and a few low stools in support. The walls are half panelled, the windows are almost all latticed and the décor majors on pub staples such as mirrors and old paintings, all coming together to give the place a traditional feel and an ambiguous sense of time – it could have as easily been 1991 as 2021 as I sat in here checking the place out. The bar has a tongue and groove panelled counter front under a nice chunky canopy, from which the rather ugly, and hopefully temporary, Covid screens had been suspended, and a simple mirrored bar back. There were at least two TV screens mounted on the walls around the room, one of which was showing a live Euro 2020 fixture with the commentary very much audible. Tucked away in the rear left corner, hidden a little by the end of the servery, there is a dartboard and opposite this there are some pretty unattractive looking slot machines. There was just the one cask ale on handpull when I arrived, although in a bizarre twist, the landlady couldn’t tell me what it was, as someone had changed the barrel without making a note or telling anyone else what they had put on! One of the old boys assured me he’d been enjoying it all evening, so I took the plunge and was served up a mystery pint of bitter that was in good nick but a little lacking in flavour. Putting this somewhat farcical situation aside, I really liked this place, which seemed like a nice spot to come and unwind over a pint or two of indeterminate ale. Definitely more of a place for the traditionalist than those seeking something more contemporary, it’s nice to see a back street boozer like this doing a good trade and I’d consider a return visit the next time I’m in town.