Halls Arms, Preston

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A nice stone build in the main square, with dormer windows, front beer patio and rear beer garden. The interior has a restaurant, which i didn't visit and a pub, which of course, i did. The pub part is one room, with a small bar in the corner. The decor is white, with beamed ceiling and supports, wood panel, along with a stone fireplace at one end and a marble-effect? one at the other. The decoration is a mixture of paintings, caricature/cartoon and the lamented but stunning Audrey Hepburn - oh, and a guitar. There were a collection of wine bottles and an array of real ale beer mats/pump clips. There was a big screen TV, not on. The service was excellent, the clientele mixed and sadly for a miserable person like me, the place was full both at lunch and evening when i popped back. It seems popular with the locals as a couple of the book sellers were in, that i had chatted to, when i returned. I didn't eat here, but i wish i had. No idea of the quality, but the portions looked decent and nothing can be worse than the Hay Cafe, where i paid £11 for a couple of lamb burgers that were burnt and no thicker than one of the beer mats on the wall here. Beer; usual tap things, with an excellent Butty Bach,a decent Arkells Moonlight and Brecon Brewery's Kilvert's Gold and an untried Bass on handpull. I cant really pick much fault in the place, other than its too small for a misery like me - and i probably never bothered before as it is a hotel, rather than pub. I returned to this pub for my last of the trip simply as it was the best - if this place did a MILD, it would be hard to beat.

The Halls Arms has been closed for a few years and very unlikely to open again as a pub. [Edit: marked as closed 2/10/09]