The Town Brewery, Emsworth

An attractive looking pub from the outside with a gabled roof, leaded windows and plenty of black timberwork, it is in fact a little disappointing inside being of a quite basic appearance with little in the way of any character. It consists of a single room to the left with the bar counter, although I think there may also have been another room off to the right. It seems quite dated and hasn’t changed much for decades, I would imagine. The ceiling is stained yellow with nicotine, whilst there is some nondescript carpet on the floor, vinyl bench seating and tables covered in Formica. The walls were liberally plastered with photographs of punters from the pub, although these weren’t all the usual party antics - some of them looked distinctly grumpy! There was however some dark wood panelling and what looked like an old Guinness branded jukebox – although a sign on it says that it wasn’t working and wasn’t for sale! There was also a brick fire-place at one end. It was very quiet on a recent Saturday evening visit with only four or five old boys sat up at the bar. Beers on tap were Greene King IPA and Abbott Ale, whilst ciders were Thatcher’s Gold and Blackthorn. There was nothing really wrong with this pub, and I suppose it offers a welcome respite from some of the raucousness in other nearby establishments, but it didn’t really do it for me I’m afraid.