The Park Tavern, Sittingbourne

The Park Tavern is an L-shaped back street boozer with an old school governor that was chatting with the other two customers at the small L-shaped bar counter that runs along the rear. This counter extends into the saloon bar at the rear that I didn’t visit on this occasion. Along the right wall are some sofas and to the left is a pool table. The jukebox remained silent whilst a farming program played on the television. Maybe not so surprising that the pub was almost empty. This is a Shepherd Neame pub with three hand pumps, alas only Masterbrew was available. To be fair it was in good nick, and I’m not a huge fan of SN beers. That said, I doubt I’ll ever find myself in here again.

The Park Tavern was bought by Shepherd and Neame in 1866, but it had probably already been an ale house for some time before that. It's a pleasant traditional back-street pub on a corner of a main road through a Victorian residential area. Two bars, floorboarded with etched glass comprise the ground floor, with a tv and two pool tables in the public bar (formed from 2 of the original three bars knocked together), and a larger screen for sports events in the saloon. Mainly used by locals, it is football-friendly and has a lively golf fraternity, of whose achievements it is proud. Only one ale on, Spitfire, which was decent enough but not first class. It's worth dropping in for a pint if in the town, and I would include in a town crawl.