The Galway Arms, Retford

I popped into the Galway for a last beer while my kebab was being cooked at a take-away a few doors along, what an athlete! Two of the three hand pumps were in use drawing Farmer’s Belgian Blue and Black Sheep’s Respire. The service from the young girl behind the counter was very friendly and I noted a dartboard before stumbling out to collect my food. Opens late in the week, so being the closest pub to my hotel, it ended up being the last port of call after a decent crawl of the town.

A solid victorian brick built pub a little away from the centre of town over the river Idle. It’s a multi space kind of place with a long room on the right, counter and bar in the middle and more snug seating to the left in a separate room. The middle section has no less than three dart boards even a stool topped with a dart board and a screen on sport as well as banquette seating. There’s a few trophies and a collection of pump clips, there’s a selection of books possibly to answer pub arguments The counter supports two quad T-Bars if usual suspects plus John Smiths Smooth, a few latin lagers on solos and three pulls. London Pride on one which was weird, a distinctly average Robbo’s Dizzy Blonde and a reversed clip on number three, possibly the JW Lees version of Boddingtons. Definitely a locals pub, the dart playing type. A further space with a keg only counter lurks at the back. It is apparently grade II listed although I saw little evidence of why. Apart from the beer its the kind of pub I like.

Official site of The Galway Arms - galwayarmsretfordpub.co.uk

Official site of The Galway Arms - galwayarmsretfordpub.co.uk

This was the very last pub of a very long day in Gainsborough and Retford. It was my last tick from the 2017 GBG and by the time I arrived I was shattered and slightly drunk so this review is short due to my hazy memory. A couple of ales on but I went for the safe option which was Black Sheep best, it was decent and enjoyed in pleasant surroundings. The pub from memory was fairly quiet (7.45pm on a Saturday) save for the band warming up in the back area. Carpeted throughout with friendly bar staff and doorman who had nothing to do during this short visit. Nice enough pub and good ale, maybe I should of come here earlier to fully experience it.