The Post Office Vaults, Stoke-On-Trent

Initially I wasn't fussed with the beer choice on our visit, which was Sharps lager, Abbott Ale and Titanic Plum Porter, until I saw the Coach House Blueberry Bitter at 5%, which was fab. The barmaid was friendly and chatty and the prices in here were also very reasonable. So well worth a look in, for an interesting guest beer.

As noted below this is a tiny carpeted single room pub. A few steps lead up to a corridor where the toilets are located and eventually to a small patio. On my early Thursday afternoon visit it was all older male folk in. The five hand pumps had one unused, a cider, GK Abbot, Oakham Bishops Farewell and Wye Valley Butty Bach. I went for the Bishops Farewell which was in reasonably good nick. I thought this was a pleasant enough place but doesn't have the beer choice of other Burslem pubs visited. Given the size of the place it's not that surprising.

An almost micropub. A bit more upmarket than the usual spit-and-sawdust offering this is a single room, carpeted and fairly cosy with the inevitable Post Office ephemera (including an actual post box frontage on one of the pillars) as well as an original clocking-in machine. Populated almost exclusively by clubbable old boys on our Saturday night visit, who presumably use this as their garrison to keep out of the way of the revellers elsewhere. There is a heated and lit smoking area to the rear with its own TV, which we admired. Five pumps featuring Oakham Bishop's Farewell, GK Abbot, Wye Valley Butty (decent nick), Salopian Oracle and Westons Old Rosie cider. An enjoyable stop and should be near the top of the list if you’re visiting this pub-rich area. 8.5

Located in the centre of Burslem, the Post Office Vaults is a pleasant little single room pub. The room has some rather ‘retro’ carpeting throughout and a dark wood servery down the right hand wall. The bar back is part white tiled and part mirrored and has an old Vale Park sign on show alongside a series of amusing beer themed pictures. A row of bar stools makes up the only seating options on this side of the pub, but the left hand side manages to accommodate some decent banquettes and loads of low stools. The walls have been decorated with a variety of items including a huge pub mirror and a Heritage Pubs of Staffordshire poster, on which I’m fairly sure I could see this pub. There are also a lot of certificates on display, mainly around the bar area, including some CAMRA awards, all of which looked very impressive. There was a slot machine to the rear of the room and nearby there is a pillar with an old postbox embedded into it – one of a number of post office themed items on display around the room, including what looked like an old punch card clocking-in machine. A couple of TV screens around the room were showing muted coverage of a darts tournament whilst a selection of classic Motown tunes played to a reasonably busy Saturday evening crowd. A passage to the rear leads out to a compact beer garden with a good deal of picnic bench seating. A nice little ale range was available at the bar, with the options on this occasion amounting to Greene King Abbot Ale, Salopian Lemon Dream, Oakham Bishops Farewell and Wye Valley Butty Bach, with Weston’s Old Rosie cider on the final handpull. I was served by a very friendly barmaid and enjoyed a lovely pint of the Butty Bach whilst waiting for my bus back to Hanley. I thought this was a lovely little pub and a great way to round out a mini-crawl around Burslem. There was a nice laid-back atmosphere in here which meant it was easy to settle down over a good pint and while away some time. Another fine pub in the local area and certainly worthy of inclusion on any crawl around town.