The Market Inn, Faversham

This Shepherd Neame pub is located a short walk out eastwards from the town centre but feels very much a community local. It is set on a corner but is surprisingly spacious inside, and also retains a multi-room interior with a semi-traditional look. The main bar can be found along the main frontage, with a quieter but more comfortable lounge adjoining the side street. A trio of handpumps can be found in each, although only Master Brew (£4.00) was available on my visit. Another small room with a narrow pumpless counter can be found around the other side of the central servery, together with a slightly raised side room which features regular live music.

The interior of this pub is unchanged since the previous reviewer's visit, except that the pool tables were pushed to one side and covered, and the restaurant area didn't seem to be in operation. But we visited on the Saturday of this year's hop festival, and it didn't seem that anything in Faversham was normal. The Saturday afternoon when I visited was hot and sunny, and the very large garden area was very busy - several hundred customers in there - enjoying the live music from the Konks (obviously a Kinks tribute band), and another outfit belting out rock and blues numbers from the 50s and 60s. On this occasion there was an outside bar with Shepherd Neame ales on stillage, and an outside burger bar, which was absolutely necessary as the inside bar would not have been able to cope with the numbers. So, I've no idea what it is like on a normal day, but it is a large pub, does decent ales (Shepherd Neame like most places in Faversham as this is obviously the home of the brewery) so I would expect it to be well patronised. It looked pretty good to me.

A large Victorian town pub overlooking the park, which was formerly the cattle market from which the pub took its name. it’s close to the main high street area and is currently operated by Shepherd and Neame. It has a large garden with seating but little by way of parking. There is a large bar area formed by opening out the wall between the saloon and public bars, and there is a raised extension at one end which serves as a restaurant area, but is also used for live music acts and open mic nights. There is WiFi, two pool tables and a dartboard, bat and trap is played in the garden, and the pub is dog-friendly. The jukebox was pleasant, the staff were friendly and the pub dog was most welcoming. There is a lively community life surrounding the pub, which includes a social club with regular outings and other events. Two ales on – I had a pint of Goldings, which was in excellent condition. Well worth dropping in for a pint an I would include in a crawl.