Old No 7, Barnsley

Pub seems to have closed down

This is by no means my first visit to the Old No.7, though I've never really warmed to it, but wasn't sure why when discussing it on the train from Sheffield. Once through the door, I started to get that feeling that some town centre pubs give me, that it's just not going to be my cup of tea. As we approached the bar, me trying to see what beers were on while my two companions were blocking my view, I could hear the lass behind the bar saying something like, "come on then, give us a smile then". I thought, this is not the way customer service works - you're supposed to give us a smile. She apologised for the missing pump clip on the Ossett White Rat, but I was quite happy with its stable companion, Silver King. Others were from Abbeydale (Deception), Thornbridge (Jaipur) and just two from Acorn - their version of Barnsley Bitter plus Old Moor Porter. That's a pretty good line-up, actually, so maybe I should suppress my prejudice and come back for a few more on another occasion. The Silver King was NBSS 3, but trending towards 2.5, which doesn't encourage me. But if I practice smiling for a couple of hours beforehand, maybe it'll be ok.