The Tannery, Hexham

An old pub that’s been a little modernised mostly in the decor as it retains a two bar layout and the rear services area seems untouched. The big clear windows, white tiled wall at one end and jazz sound track are modern additions notably in the right hand bar. I sat near some awful noisy middle class southerners which took the edge off the experience but otherwise OK. The left hand bar is similar to the main one but less messed about other than a multi coloured tiled wall. The larger right hand bar has the four pulls but a sad choice of Wainwright, Landlord and a house beer that name checks Laine. Fairly standard keg line up on a horseshoe, Blue Moon on a solo might be the most interesting, Madri, Guinness and Murpheys, Inchs cider, Moretti and Staropremen bring up the rear. Traditional old and probably original furnishings of banquettes at revamped Britannias, some have playing cards set into the stripped wood tops, otherwise a mix including an odd collection of bar stools in various materials and styles. Walls are covered in pump clips and beer mats but sadly none of those interesting beers were to be had. A black board promises bottles and cans from Allendale, First & Last and Anarchy. The Dutch gable tells us this was originally The Skinners Arms.

A basic, no frills boozer located slightly off the beaten track, meaning it’s inevitably more of a local’s pub than many of the busier establishments on the high street. That said, it seemed to be doing a good trade on our recent visit, with plenty of punters enjoying a drink, as well as something from the menu which consisted primarily of burgers and pizzas> We had been recommended the pizza, and it proved to be decent enough). It's split in to two different rooms internally, with a central bar counter serving both. The right-hand room was a good size with high ceilings, large windows on two sides, rough wooden boards on the floor and dark blue paintwork on the ceiling. A plethora of beer mats ran around the top of the walls hinting at an ever changing selection, whilst the seating was a mixture of padded banquette seating to the left with regular chairs and high stools elsewhere. From a quick glance, the room to the left looked a little cosier perhaps with Victorian style tiling on the walls, green paintwork around the fireplace and slate style tiling on the floor, along with a number of beer branded padded stools for seating. Perhaps surprisingly going on the number of beer mats, the only available options were Timothy Taylor Landlord and Anarchy Euro Star, although there were two further pumps that appeared unused, so perhaps on occasions there were more. The ciders meanwhile were Inch’s Medium Apple and Aspall’s.

A fine old building (look up and you can see the original name of Skinners Arms carved in stone in 1897). Inside is a jumbo high-ceiling interior over two rooms, public bar to left and lounge to right. Fairly well decorated though the dull dark green paint in the bar is a mis-step, the lounge is the preferable set-down. Cold, to the extent the barmaid had her coat on and neither of the fires were lit. Just the two cask and only clipped in the lounge (why??) with choices of TTL and First & Last Amarillo which was par (NBSS 3). A bit disappointing really, promised more than it delivered given it’s GBG listed.