The Old Bull Inn, Royston

A big old coaching inn which is an example of how not to treat history. There are various ancient features, including some splendid leaded windows, but they haven't been handled at all well, with a couple of big blow-up photos being the main nod to the past. The building itself rambles off into the hotel and restaurant area, while the large yard at the back seems to be mostly car park. Just GK beers on, with Abbot, IPA and one of their Future Brewers series. Could be so much better.

A hotel and former coaching inn with a functioning bar located on the right if you enter from the Market Place through the lovely courtyard (there's a smaller bar to the left as well). The main bar is a long, thin room with some Olde Worlde features, including a super, thick brick fireplace stack opposite the bar with open fire grate and some exposed timbers. Being a GK charge, the ale four ale selection was disappointing with GK IPA, London Glory, Abbot Ale and a lacklustre Belhaven Bridge to Nowhere (£2.30 for a half). Busy enough on my Sunday arvo visit and the smell of Sunday roasts was tempting, but try as I could, I just couldn't drum up "Real Ale"'s enthusiasm for the place in the review below.