The Victoria, Hitchin

Official site of The Victoria - www.thevictoriahitchin.com

Official site of The Victoria - www.thevictoriahitchin.com

Located across the road from Bancroft Park and only a ten-minute walk from the town’s station, this is a decent sized, two-room pub with a good guest ale policy. Upon arriving, signs directed me around the left side of the pub into the beer garden, where I was met by a waitress who took all the necessary track and trace details and led me to a table in the garden. This was a very busy and lively spot on a Thursday evening, as punters enjoyed the residual heat of the day as the sun began to set. It’s an asphalt and paved space with a remarkable amount of seating – considerably more than is available inside. Low wooden benches and longer canteen style benches were supplemented by a few low ‘stools’ and extended through the entire space which included at least three large covered areas. Two of these had brick wall perimeters, one of which had been painted with the Greene King logo, whilst the third contained the Dirty Dough pizza kitchen which appeared to be doing a brisk trade. Large planters and shrubs have been used to partition the garden and create a few distinctive areas, whilst also adding some much needed colour. Heading into the pub, you immediately notice a clear two room set-up, with the bar in the front room and a pleasant lounge to the rear. The bar has a nice L-shaped counter that dominates the left-hand side of the room, whilst seating has mainly been provided to the front, with a few more dotted around the perimeter where space permits. There are exposed floorboards throughout, and the walls have been adorned with a few old pictures, which offset the modern furnishings to create a smart, if slightly corporate feeling, room. The rear room is much shallower and has some fine looking button backed banquettes which look incredibly comfortable, although hardly anyone had chosen to sit in this part of the pub and I wondered if it might normally be used as a dining room. Table service meant I couldn’t recall all of the beers available, but I do remember being offered three beers from the Tring Brewery as well as St Austell Tribute and two or three others from smaller breweries. I plumped for a pint of the Tring Citra, which was in excellent condition and didn’t stay in the glass for too long on this balmy evening. The staff all seemed really friendly and there was a great atmosphere out in the lively beer garden – I’m glad I don’t live next door! I didn’t really have much by way of expectations for this place, but it turned out to be a real highlight of my short crawl around Hitchin. The pub has two smart rooms that look like they’d be very comfortable to settle down in and an excellent beer garden for warmer days. They have been able to source a range of interesting guest ales that are kept in great condition and served by a friendly bar team, so I’d definitely mark this down as a ‘must-visit’ pub for anyone checking out the local pub scene.

The Victoria is a decent looking pub that is situated away from the middle of Hitchin on the junction of a few roads. Once inside the bar faces in a single room that is divided by a wall,the floor is mainly carpeted,there is bench seating and normal tables and chairs for seating. The pub is a Greene King tied house,but there were some guest beers on the bar,i had a drink of Trumans Runner,which went down well,the other guest beer was Hop Back Summer Lightening. A BBC radio station was playing some crap music. I thought this was a decent enough pub to have a drink in and it was fairly busy on my late Saturday afternoon visit. Pub visited 17/6/2017

A GK pub but serving guest ales in the rugby themed Skinner's Splendid Tackle and Brain's Bread of Heaven on Saturday lunchtime. Busy with a mixed crowd of drinkers, people eating and football fans, being the nearest pub to Hitchin Town FC. The main bar is cosy with a part boarded and part carpeted floor, chequer tiled by the bar, white painted beamed ceiling, floral papered fireplaces and lots of bits and bobs giving a chintzy feel. A semi-separated area beyond the twin fireplaces looked to be the favoured eating spot, there were framed prints of plants and leaves in here. Outside there is a fairly large drinking area with some cover and a separate outbuilding used for functions. A couple of old bus, maybe train signs for "Hitchin" hang on a main bar wall, beer jugs hang on hooks on a beam over the bar, TVs were showing the 6 Nations rugby. A pleasant if not desperately exciting pub, certainly worthy of inclusion on a jaunt around Hitchin.

Closed when I arrived at 14:57 yesterday.