The Village Inn, Cromer

Set a little way back from the main road through the village, thanks to its large front beer garden, this is an appealing rural pub that’s also well positioned for West Runton station. You enter via the garden, which can apparently seat up to 200 people – quite remarkable for what felt like a fairly sleepy village pub – with loads of picnic benches and garden furniture dotted around the lawn. You enter into the left-hand side of the pub which seemed to be more of a dining space on our mid-week evening visit, whilst the servery is over to the rear right where a public bar space could also be found further to the right. The bar and dining room area are both carpeted and boast some very pleasant leaded windows with colourful inserts along the front wall, as well as in the porch structure. The bar has a dark wood counter under matching beams and a nice traditional bar back. A fireplace to one side suggests this could be a cosy Winter spot and there is some limited seating opposite the bar which allows you to take advantage of it. The dining area is furnished with plush chairs which serve sturdy tables, with another nice brick fireplace on the end wall and a few typical traditional paintings and other such pictures dotted around for decoration. Some small, snug-like seating areas through former doorways to the rear have similar seating and décor, plus a very unusual pew-style seat, but this section felt a bit detached from the otherwise pleasant ambiance within the pub, so no-one was sat there. The public bar seemed to be a much smaller space with whitewashed walls, parquet flooring and basic seating, ideal for drinkers who don’t want to sit amongst the diners. The pub used to have a pavilion to the rear, which in the 1970’s and ‘80’s was a popular music venue, hosting a long list of household names who would trek to this remote location often to road test new material before embarking on nationwide tours. Bands to have passed through include T-Rex, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Iron Maiden, Chuck Berry, King Crimson, XTC and The Cure, but the pavilion was closed by 1983 and demolished to make way for flats in 1986, with just a blue plaque on the side of the pub to remind us of this unusual venue’s existence. There were four handpulls in operation on our visit, with a choice from Moon Gazer Norfolk IPA, Adnams Ghost Ship, Lacons Legacy and a house beer called West Runton Pavilion Pale. The Norfolk IPA was in excellent shape and the food we tried here was excellent as well, with a good pub grub menu complimented by an interesting specials board. The staff were very friendly and made sure we got our order in before the kitchen closed. This is a really pleasant pub that merits a visit in its own right, whether that be for the good beer, sizable beer garden, quality food or friendly service. The fact that it has played a fairly unique role in the history of British music only adds to its allure and I was very pleased that we had the chance to spend an evening here.