The Bank / The Vault, Grimsby

Official site of The Bank / The Vault - thebankpub.co.uk

Official site of The Bank / The Vault - thebankpub.co.uk

Another of the sports bar-type drinking caverns that seem to cluster within a stone's throw of Grimsby Town - the railway station, not the football team. I just had time for a swift drink before my train, and in the inevitable absence of any cask beer here I didn't fancy my chances of sinking a supercold drink like John Smiths or Guinness before it was time to be off, so I made do with a Bell's whisky. For a pub called the Bank, it's the least like a former financial premises that I think I have seen. There's a rather attractive spiral staircase leading to the upper floor (see photo), but I didn't see a similar one going down to the connected late night venue, the Vault (bank vault: geddit?). I don't intend to come back to find out.

The Bank is a thin pub with a long bar that runs up the right-hand wall. Curved booth seating is found under the windows along the left-hand wall and more seating is housed in the front of the pub. At the rear is more seating and a spiral staircase that leads up to the Vault, which I believe is a late-night venue. Karaoke is advertised for Friday nights and there is live music on Saturdays. A function room is advertised as available for hire, probably the Vault. I had a pint from the standard keg selection during a recent Wednesday afternoon visit. When I passed later that evening, at around 21:00, the pub was closed and the ‘salt-of-the-Earth’ locals who I met earlier had dispersed. This is not a bar I will be rushing back to.