Shakespeare's House, Leicester

Having never visited this place when it was the Shakespeare's Head, I tried to visit it on Sunday evening, only to find it still closed after lockdown. A massive pile of letters and leaflets in the front doorway suggests that nobody has even been inside. Although, social media suggests that they were at least serving takeaway food as recently as June. As such, it is not clear whether this place is still trading. With the nearby Criterion having closed and with the Blue Boar and Two-Tailed Lion also seemingly now closed on a Sunday, this area was pretty much a ghost town.

Something of a throwback to the '70s, almost expected electric pumps! Don't worry, the Barnsley Bitter & Old Tom Mild were on handpump and in good condition at amazing prices. I didn't plan it, honest, but it happened to be my round - 5 pints, £7.55, come on! Fits neatly between the Globe & Criterion if crawling the area.

Unusual three-storey 1960s building with a curved façade on one side. Inside, having passed the spooky eponymous busts in glass cases by the main doors, one finds an old-fashioned pub retaining separate lounge and public bars (the latter with the expected pool table and darts board). Whilst it has been refurbished at some stage, it has kept what one imagines must have been its original character. Mostly older clientele, but a source of friendly banter. Three Oakwell ales on handpump: Barnsley Bitter, Senior and Dark Mild (very keenly priced at £2.10). Worth a visit if in the area.

Built in the mid 1960’s for the Shipstone’s Brewery, the Shakespeare’s Head has remained pretty much untouched ever since. The building has an unusual wedge shape, and is thought to have been designed this way because there was supposed to be a roundabout built on the busy road that runs alongside it, although the council eventually opted for an underpass instead. The entrance is through a large glass doorway, past two dubious busts of Shakespeare that look like they were sculpted by the blind girl from that Lionel Ritchie video. You emerge into a lobby with a small serving hatch and the two main bars either side. To the right is the lounge, which is carpeted with banquette and low stool seating formed into semi partitioned bays with some rather nice copper topped tables. The public bar on the left side of the lobby has a linoleum floor and is dominated by a centrally positioned pool table, around which run a few banquettes, with a dartboard at the rear and a TV set which was turned off. Throughout the pub there is plenty of original panelling and most of the windows have etched glasswork. The time warp effect was clinched when the barman slipped some Pink Floyd onto the sound system, which sent most of the PuG crowd into a youthful reverie. Three ales were on at the bar, all from the Oakwell Brewery – Barnsley Bitter, Dark Mild and Senior, with the Mild turning out to be in pretty good nick. Some of the clientele looked like they’d been in situ since the mid 1960’s as well, but they seemed like a friendly bunch and the barman was full of good natured banter. This was certainly an interesting pub to have a look around and is well worth a stop-off if you’re interested in well preserved post-war pub architecture. The pub is just over the road from the Criterion, and it would be a shame to do one without the other.