Royal, Lancaster

Bar in a small hotel, which seemed to have been several rooms knocked through creating a long space. I didn't think much of the recycled timber cladding round the walls but it was generally pleasant enough and there is a nice patio beer garden to the rear. Not the largest selection of ales but my Lune Valley Trionda did not disappoint.

Much more pub-like now, with good quality floor boards exposed, wood panelling on the walls painted in olive drab and multi-coloured stained but unfinished wood on the ceiling and bar counter. Seating mostly in booths plus a few high tables. Two hand pumps partly hidden by a pillar, with beers fromlocal Gan Yam and the rather more distant Front Row (Stoke on Trent). My half of the latter's Try was pretty good, a mid-brown bitter (NBSS 3.5) with a subtle finish. Some pretty decent background music was playing, so this was a pleasant revisit to a pub that I used to call into after work two or three times a week in the early 80s.

Official site of Royal - www.theroyalhotelandbar.co.uk