Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, Nottingham

More tourist venue than traditional pub (but not going to bemoan that as I qualified as one on the day), and another of those places that purports to be the oldest Inn in England. Well I suppose one of them has to be. But in saying that, this is a must do pub venue when visiting Nottingham and I’m thoroughly glad I’ve ticked this one off. The pub has been well described by previous reviewers so I won’t repeat any of that, except to say the Nottingham ales saves this from just being a dreary GK outlet, and the Rock Mild was very good. And once you’ve finished having a good look round it best to find somewhere to park your bum, as the layout of the pub means wherever you stand , you will be in the way of someone.

A great looking irregular shaped building that extends into the caves behind. The pub is white painted brick, with black window frames and doorway, which look early Georgian to me. The pub claims to be the oldest in the universe – I assume it goes by the date of the rock, but as others claim to be the oldest in Nottingham alone, one takes it with a pinch of salt. Indeed, the pub was once called the Pilgrim, but with the fondness we have incorrectly using ‘Ye’ for ‘the’ and adding the extra ‘e’ in words to give some sort of pedigree, the old became olde – funny, why didn’t they didn’t stick an ‘e’ on the end of Trip? There are patio areas at the front and the rear. The interior has a plethora of rooms over a couple of floors. Upstairs, there is the a lounge bar, with its own serving bar. It is in white and wood panel, with rock ceiling and wood floor, as well as a little brick fireplace. It is adorned with interesting ephemera and there is a shop here as well. A passage connects this with another room which I didn’t see. The ground floor encompasses the serving bar. The first room on entry is rock hewn, and has a stone flag floor, with red leather seats and stools. The most prominent feature here is the black painted brick fireplace, but it has the ring the bull game – which you clearly can’t play if anyone is sitting here! There is a small drinking area at the foot of the steps, where we sat at one visit. Moving around the bar you enter the lounge, which is a rectangular room in white and wood panel, tile floor, with a fireplace at one end. The roof is supported by a post and again, the seating is red leather covered. Lots of photos and pictures are on the walls and a suit of armour watches on – which also doesn’t date to 1189. Up a few stairs at the back there is a small ante-room, which feels like a front room, with red seating, tiled fireplace and interesting clock. They do food but I have never eaten here so can’t comment on that. There is no TV and there was no background music. The service was fine and the clientele consisted of busy mixed crowd- many tourists I am sure. Beer; the usual tap stuff with GK IPA, Abbot, Old Trip, Spekky Hen, Notts Brewery’s Legend, EPA and a decent enough Centurion MILD on handpull Greene King beer it may be, but Notts Brewery stuff is better and the pub itself is really worth a visit despite playing to the tourist market. I go every time I am in Nottingham – but for half!

Really liked this place, quirky with lots to see inside. Well worth the visit when in Nottingham. I went for the Nottingham Brewery A Knight's Tale and Notts Brewery Rock Mild, both of which were excellent. Will defo return.