Lamb & Fountain, Frome

A fairly pleasant pub but sadly lacking in ale choice, with just London Pride available I also swerved it and had a half of hand drawn Riches Cider. A better beer choice would up the rating.

I liked the atmosphere in here on a Saturday afternoon as it was beginning to warm up. Our pub research trip was at its jolliest, and I stirred up a bit of controversy when I swerved the Fullers London Pride - there was a cider on the second hand pump - and went for the Worthington Creamflow on keg. Weren't we meant to be doing beer scores? I'd momentarily forgotten, overwhelmed by my determination not to have yet another ordinary Pride. The Worthies was pretty decent, served at about 12 degrees and not gassy, with a decent enough flavour. My CAMRA crowd were gobsmacked - one even thought I was joking, but it was in fact a keg beer and it was in fact not bad at all. I have to own up to not having paid much attention to the National Inventory features, though I did clock that this was a nice looking pub with a traditional layout and some good features. If by chance I do ever return to Frome, I'd be happy to call in here again.

A CAMRA ** NI multi roomer a few minutes up the hill from town. Much as described by Blackthorn below - two basic rooms either side of the servery via a side corridor which also contains an off-sales hatch. The rear room is the more spacious and has a large rear window with a fair view over the way, though the yellow and grey colour scheme is a bit ick. Amusement value provided by the local old soak who tried to queue jump ahead of us and then complained when we stood out ground; “oh ignore him, he’s a just a miserable cnut!” said another local sat next to the bar. We found it amusing but it would certainly scare-off plenty of others less seasoned in the pubbing game. There was a single cask, a so-so London Pride (NBSS 2), plus a selection of filled rolls which always gets an extra half point. Apparently there are also ciders though I didn’t make note of any. If you’re new to Frome then I’d say it’s unspoilt enough to be worth the 10 minute hike to sample it. Whether you’d be inclined to repeat the experience is another matter.