Plume of Feathers, Northampton

An Everards pub in a pretty village. Rocked up on Saturday for opening time but apart from chef who was sat outside smoking, there was nobody else around and the place was locked up until quarter past (to be fair to chef, she did go and try and rouse the landlady, who was completely unapologetic about making us wait). It’s an unexpectedly large place inside, an L shaped bar area with a plush and newly-decorated carpeted rear room. Whilst it’s obviously modernised inside there’s still a fair bit of rustica (some exposed brick and stone walls, real fire) and we liked the wall decal of a map of old Weedon. I didn’t see Northamptonshire skittles, as mentioned elsewhere. It was notably clean and tidy. To the rear is a nice grassed garden with kids play area and a few trees. Just two Everards ales at the bar - Beacon and Tiger – which both drank well. It’s a decent place that does some things very well but I didn’t leave as satisfied as I expected.

There hasn't been a pub serving good beer in Weedon for a long time so discovering that everards have taken on The Plume of Feathers was a pleasant surprise. It's an old, crooked, painted building with exposed brick and beam walls inside. I'd guess that it's only recently been taken over as only the bar area was really lit with a large room to the left full of tables but in the dark and no sign of food. My guess is though that this will soon change and it may well become popular. Beer was all Everards - Tiger, Old Original and Beacon of which the Tiger was excellent. There's a large garden outside complete with a good sized climbing frame adorned in Northampton Saints colours so this place gets my vote.