The Hen & Chickens, Bolton

Still a very cosy traditional pub with two sides. Five handpumps in total, I went straight for the Belgian Blue which was in excellent nick despite initially coming out looking like cherryade! It was a very tranquil half an hour, but it’s a bit worrying that just me and a few old gents were sat in the place at 2pm on a Saturday. It deserves better. Although the gents really do need a good clean.

The Hen & Chickens has a central U-shaped bar counter that faces rearwards from its position between the left and right entrances. There’s a strip of seating up the left wall and more to the right. Raised seating can be found at the rear where there’s also a pool table. There is a jukebox that was playing some decent 80s tunes, which may have been put on by one of the friendly locals who was very chatty on the topic of music. One of the hand pumps was unused and Lilley’s Bee Sting Cider was off, so the available cask was Black Sheep alongside Bootleg Brewing’s Fool’s Gold and Chorlton Pale. Standard keg was also available. This is a decent enough place in an area that has very little going for it pub wise.

Large, opened up town centre pub. Rather classic traditional pub in design there are areas on both sides of the bar. Stately, comfortable pub and the beer quality was excellent.