The Roaring Meg, Newark

We visited this Springhead Bewery pub as one of the last legs of a January crawl around Newark. It was pitch black outside but not yet 5pm, so the pub was fairly quiet. Being outside the town centre means that it's got more of an estate pub flavour to it, whereas those nearer the centre cater more for casual visitors and shoppers. It's been very smartly done up and there are six hand pumps on the bar, all but one of them serving Springhead beers, as might be expected. The guest was from Tring brewery, one of my favourites, so I went for that, though a longer visit would have seen me try a few of the Springheads - perhaps another time. Prices were considerably lower than we had become used to paying in the town centre - more than £1 a pint less than the Prince Rupert, for example.

Another pub not originally on our list for a crawl round Newark but added after it was established that the Castle and Falcon shuts at 3pm on a Saturday. Large open bar with a pool table taking pride of place. Beer selection was limited to the Springhead collection but it was all in excellent shape. We played a couple of games aof pool, chatted with the friendly locals and left agreeing that the Vine was a worthwhile addition to the day.