The Black Boy, Retford

The Black Boy has an L-shaped serving counter on the left-hand wall that faces seating in the front left window and a long table up the right-hand wall. There’s a large round table in the front right corner and, on a recent late afternoon visit, a few locals were assembled in a rear seating area. There was some background music playing and the televisions were switched off. Standard and premium keg was available, and two of the three hand pumps were in use drawing Shipstones Brewery’s Gold Star and Hop Back’s Dragonfly. I thought it was OK in here, the locals were very chatty, in fact the governor spent the entirety of my visit chatting with them through the bar hatch at the rear. Worth a look if passing.

Slightly out of town 18th or 19th century pub on a busy junction, white painted and with an arch to the side. Fairly modernised inside with a front and rear area but retaining some charm, there is banquette seating and britannia tables. A little decoration with black and white drawings. Screens and piped music are present. The longer face of the L shaped counter has two horseshoes of nothing too interesting and the short side houses three hand pumps, Mad Goose, Black Sheep Blonde and Welbeck Abbey Red Feather, none to my taste but well enough kept, it is GBG 2025 listed. Coming from the pricey bit of Yorkshire I was glad to pay only £3.60 for a 3.9% beer.