The Bowling Green, Swinley, Wigan

a fully blown live entertainment venue now, think resident DJs and karaoke. The heritage was ripped out a few years ago in favour of possibly the most sterile interior I have ever seen in a pub, a garish colour scheme and virtually no decor besides the disco lights and sound system. Bouncers usually on the door and raucous clientele, a pleasant place for a pint it sure ain’t.

Popped in to see if there was something that we might like that would cleanse the palate after an underwhelming visit to Blundell's just down the road, but didn't feel I could recommend Timothy Taylor Landlord or Moorhouse's White Witch to my drinking companions. With apologies to the previous landlord/reviewer, this pub felt a little tired and a little rough. This is a shame, as it looks like an interesting building and retains an internal layout of separate areas which could make for a pleasant venue. I can understand that a pub in an area like this, just outside the town centre, could struggle to attract sufficient drinkers to support a decent roster of real ales, but this one looks like it has just given up.

Pub SignMan's review of The Bowling Green is a fair one in my opinion,for the time and date he said.I am the Landlord of this pub and in Jan/Feb early Saturday evenings are fairly quiet.but as the weather gets warmer the pub starts to get a lot busier.It's a shame you came in on the date you did as I was on holiday from the 13th Jan -27th Jan.I normally choose and tap vent and look after the real ales.But whilst on holiday its out of my hands.As for sparse seating,this is only true for Saturday nights and Soul Sundays (1st Sunday of every month)due to the sheer volume of people that come into the pub.I agree with the beer choice of which you stated was poor,i don't understand why Timmy Taylors Landlord was not on as it's our resident real ale and has been for years.But like I said if I am on holiday my hands are tied, the real ale was ordered by my barman who is a lager drinker.Its a mixed aged pub and that part of your review was way off the mark,its really is not a student pub.I respect your views but do hope you come in again soon and give it another go.

This is a spacious two room pub on the busy Wigan Lane, just a short walk from the town centre. The right hand bar is quite a sparse affair, with bare floorboards, a small curved bar counter and two seating areas opposite, separated by a low wall with a large open archway above. There is some banquette and low stool seating shared out over these two sections of the room and the rear half had a TV screen showing the day’s late football fixture. The daily papers were available on an old barrel in the middle of the room. The end wall has two fireplaces, one serving each section, both with high mantelpieces and stone hearths. A corridor at the rear leads you round to the left hand bar, which also looks fairly sparse and seemed to have fewer seating options. There is a games room at the back of the pub with a pool table and dartboard, but it was empty, as was the vast majority of the pub on my Saturday evening visit. There is a decent sized beer garden at the back, although I didn’t bother to explore in the dark. The place has a bit of a student vibe, with a DJ booth prominent and karaoke and poker nights advertised. The pub’s website proclaims it is ‘Wigan’s Premier Cask Ale Pub’ and a collection of pump clips behind the bar gave me hope that this might be the case. However, I was disappointed to find just three ales available – Wells Bombardier and Marston’s Pedigree and Double Dark (£2.80). The Double Dark was a bit of a letdown and seemed past its best. The barman was friendly and chatted to the few customers who were in, but I was surprised at the lack of punters given how busy other nearby pubs seemed to be. I had heard good things about this place and put this near the top of my ‘to do’ list whilst in Wigan, but it probably ended up being the biggest disappointment of the day. I may have caught it at a bad time but I think this is one I would cut from future crawls given the poor beer choice and lack of atmosphere.