The Old Buttermarket, Canterbury

I'm not a great fan of Nicholson's, mostly because their cask beer offering is repetitive and pedestrian. They've surprised me here, with the usual line up augmented by what I finally determined is People's Captain Clubhouse, the former being a brewing company in Hove, and the latter being their latest contribution to mental health. This is Clubhouse, a 4% pale ale with the strap line on the pump clip seemingly encouraging men engaged in rugby union to talk about stuff. It's a decent beer, if a little generic, and in very good condition (NBSS 3.5, and a stonking £3.10 for a half). This pub would not be on my revisit list for a hypothetical next time in Canterbury. It's OK for what it does, but it doesn't float my boat.

This is a deceptively large Wetherspoons pub with an ideal location opposite the main entrance to Canterbury Cathedral. Upon entering, you might be fooled into thinking the pub is as small as its frontage suggests, as you find yourself in a small, square front bar with bare boards and limited seating. The servery is to the left and has a tidy dark wood counter and a rather typical Nicholson’s style bar back. There is a nice stained-glass window at the back of the room, but otherwise, it’s all a bit plain and cramped, so you’d be better off moving through to the much larger rear bar, which ironically has a considerably smaller bar counter to the front left, but ample seating options, mainly in the form of tables and chairs arranged across a split-level space. The walls have been decorated with an effective contrasting light/dark colour scheme, broken only by some paintings of various characters from The Canterbury Tales. Lots of mirrors and small partitioning screens can be found throughout this space, whilst to the rear, some steps lead up to a carpeted overspill space with more tables and chairs in a fairly dark space which eventually brightens as you near the back of the room, where some windows can be found. Padded button backed banquettes enhance the seating options here and there’s a load more Chaucer stuff on display, along with an unused TV screen, which made way for a dreadful pop soundtrack that played relentlessly in the background. A few seats on in the pleasant, cobbled square to the front of the pub allow for good people watching, but are permanently cast into the shade by the pub. The five handpulls on the bar offered a choice of Nicholson’s pale Ale, Fullers London Pride, Taylor’s landlord and Wye Valley Butty Bach, with the final pull left unclipped. I tried the Butty Bach, which was in decent enough condition and served to me by a moderately interested barman. I expected this place to be an uninspiring tourist trap and, whilst the place is hardly pushing for any ‘Best Pub in Town’ awards, it is nevertheless doing a competent enough job and serving up some reasonable ale in decent pub environment. I’d be more likely to use this place again just because of the convenience of its location than anything else, but as tourist pubs go, it’s not all that bad. Date of visit – 1st May 2023

Not wishing to end our tour of Kent's pubs in such a poor pub as the nearby City Arms, we moved on to this Nicholson's pub in the shadow of Canterbury's impressive (albeit scaffolded at present) cathedral. We sat in the dark and atmospheric front bar of the pub. There were undoubtedly further spaces to the rear that we didn't explore. On the beer front, Nicholson's outlets appear to have really gone downhill in recent years. I finally used the opportunity to sample my first St Austell Nicholson's Pale Ale, as neither London Pride nor Doom Bar appealed. It was better than I'd expected. But I won't be rushing to seek out another.

A small Nicholson's pub right in the heart of the tourist area, with the main draw being outdoor tables in the market square. Inside is a smallish bar with flock wallpaper and brass fittings, with a larger dining room behind. On handpump were London Pride, Summer Lightning, Doom Bar and Old Rosie, plus the house brew from St Austell.

Nicholson's pub with the name = the address, located in a prime position by the cathedral entrance. As traditional in appearance as you would expect, both outside and within, with a smallish bar at the front and a split-level arrangement of various dining areas further back with a separate servery. A (duplicated) bank of five handpumps can be found on each counter, dispensing the 'house' NPA, Doom Bar, Pride, Windsor & Eton Knight of the Garter and the seasonal Thornbridge Wild Holly (£4.35).