The Three Crowns, Oldham

A good pub right by the bus station and magistrates court. 3 real ales on. If your lad has been sent down for being a t**t then you can commiserate yourself on your failure here.

Pub is as described by PSM. The three handpumps were dispensing Cumberland, Brakspear Bitter & Wychwood Jester Jack. The Jester Jack was in good nick, but this was only a flying visit as we had a bus to catch across the road. I really like this pub, but it seems to have trouble attracting custom, despite its proximity to the bus station. We had a chat to the friendly landlady who told us that they have 15 months left on the lease but will probably give the pub up at the end of the lease unless trade improves. I wish them well and hope they're still here next time we call.

This is a sizeable Marston’s pub close to the shopping centre and bus station. You enter through a front porch with stained glass into a large single room which is carpeted throughout. To the left of the entrance, a raised seating area is positioned around a decorative fireplace. It’s a smart space, with button backed banquettes and standard seating as well as various pictures of royalty hanging on the walls. The bar area is to the right of the front door and the servery is quite attractive with a backlit stained glass canopy. Opposite, behind a large pillar, there is a small stage in a corner of the room and a TV here was showing rolling news coverage. The room extends some way to the rear right where back to back banquettes form seating booths along the back wall. At the far end there is a pool table and some comfy seating with some metalwork filigree providing a pleasant decorative touch. There were three hand pumps in operation on my visit, dispensing Marston’s Burton Bitter, Jennings Cumberland Ale and Brakspear Bitter (£2.40). The latter was in good shape and tellingly didn’t stay in the glass for very long. The barmaid was friendly and gave me a warm welcome when I first arrived. This is quite a pleasant space to explore and I found it a nice spot to relax in before making the walk out to Boundary Park. Although the beer range isn’t anything you won’t have seen before, there was enough here to convince me that my visit was not wasted.

Clean and tidy town centre pub, in close proximity to the bus station.There was a couple of cask ales on tap,with Hobgoblin being on top form. I was quite impressed with the decrotive stained glass in particular around the bar area.Worth a visit.