The Bobbin, Lancaster

i still like this pub, but as I was sat here today I realised this is my first ever visit in daylight and without live music! five or six tables with Wetherspoons-like all day customers but it was probably busier outside. Few ales on, sports on the TV and heavy metal from the jukebox . odd mixture but it’s a bit different from the usual and I like it for that.

This large pub is a fairly decent pub without being great. A large single room with some raised parts inside. You can enter from two roads and once in you will notice a number of TV screens. It was very bright on my afternoon visit due to the many windows letting the sun in. 7 or 8 handpulls (I forgot to count) though there were only 5 working. A fairly pedestrian choice of beers with Wainwright, York Guzzler, Rudgate Mild and a Grand National themed beer which I've forgotten. It apparently likes its music but this being a midweek afternoon visit it was just piped music.

Closed due to flooding (Temporary)

This is a fairly large old pub that has been knocked into a single room although I did see a games room poster. There are a couple of raised areas one of which looked like it would be cleared to make a stage. There was a pool table a darts board, TV screens and a jukebox that I didn't look at. It was fairly quiet on my mid evening Friday visit. The bar has eight hand pumps of which one was unused and two had ciders one of which was an interesting looking Mango one. The five beers were Thornbridge Kipling, Coniston XB, Dark Star Carafa Jade, York Guzzler and Anarchy Smoke Bomb. I went for the Kipling which was £3.30 before the 30p CAMRA discount which was clearly advertised. It was in good condition. I quite liked this place but there was no live music or sport showing on my visit.

One of the few Lancaster pubs that I didn't frequent when I lived here in the 70s and 80s - then known as the Priory, it had a rather forbidding look about it. On a recent visit to the old town I thought I'd give it a try and was pleasantly surprised. The former multi-room layout can be imagined, and the open plan is broken up somewhat as described below. A big surprise to see as many as eight hand pumps on the bar, with two real ciders and four beers available. The breweries represented at the time of my visit were Dark Star (Sussex), 4Ts (Cheshire), Coniston (Cumbria) and Wickwar (Gloucestershire) - a huge geographical spread. I had Dark Star's Partridge, which was fairly understated for this brewery, but a pleasant drink. There's a 30p per pint discount for Camra members, which is very welcome and makes this one of the less expensive pubs in Lancaster city centre. Date of visit: 13th December 2014