No. 13 Bonny Street, Blackpool

A pub tucked away just off the middle pier. 5 real ales on plus 4 ciders. A stone floored place with various plod memorabilia stuff on the walls. Its not too bad.

Hidden away just off the promenade, behind Madame Tussauds, the Pump and Truncheon is a pleasant, traditional style pub which feels like an oasis of calm from the chaos of the Golden Mile. A single room set up sees you enter into the centre of the pub with the bar running in a curved L shape around the rear left corner. The pub has rough bare floorboards, bare brick walls and dark wood beams and servery, all of which creates a very pubby feel in marked contrast to the many modern bars hereabouts. The left side is dominated by the bar and has space for just a few small tables and a compact darts area. To the right, a flagstone floored space with a nice brick fireplace on the end wall offers banquette and standard seating around the perimeter, whilst a pool table takes centre stage. There is what appears to be a fake pub sign above the fireplace, alongside a whisky bottle and box collection, whilst the walls display all kinds of police themed paintings, photos and badges. Three screens were showing muted Spanish football to no one in particular, allowing a decent indie soundtrack to play over the top. Some shelves on one wall were filled with a collection of books for customer's perusal and there were menus dotted around the place detailing the typical pub grub food options. The pub has featured in recent editions of the Good Beer Guide and I was pleased to find an interesting ale selection on the handpulls. The options on this visit were Lincoln Green Marion and Sherwood's, Piddle Bursting Out, Clarks Heroes and Arundel Castle. Several bag in a box ciders were also lined up on the end of the bar and the beams around the servery pay testament to the pub's ale policy by displaying lots of previous pump clips. I tried the Marion, which was excellent, and the Bursting Out, which was a real disappointment. The staff were really friendly and the barman made the effort to go round to every customer and check that they didn't want another drink before he rang for time. I thought this was a real find and an unexpected retreat from the bright lights that surround it. If I'd had two good pints, I would've scored this an 8, but the inconsistent beer quality is a concern, so I'll go with a 7 instead. But having said that, you'll still do very well to find anything as good as this so close to the Promenade.

cold January night when we called in but this place was nice and warm not changed much for years will call back

Dark & moody inside with the slight feel of a pirate ship, it being Blackpool. All done ok & there are 4 real ales, though the quality isn't brilliant.