The Turnpike, Doncaster

I had my hopes raised about this pub from reading that it has been in the Good Beer Guide for over 20 years, with the same landlord in all that time, but it was a real let down. There's an odd smell, which may have been the aftermath of someone's lunch, and the décor is fairly grungy, once you ignore the Christmas tat, which I did my best to do. On the bar are seven hand pumps, but two of the beers are doubled and the choice is pretty mundane: Wells Bombardier, John Smiths Cask, Ruddles Best and Castle Rock Snow White, with one pump vacant. I went for the Castle Rock, as their beers are generally pretty good, and I wasn't disappointed. But do the people of Bawtry really go for boring, bland beers? Bombardier when it's really well kept is OK, but I don't think I've ever had a decent drink of JS Cask or Ruddles. In the absence of the Castle Rock, though, that would have been the choice - in a GBG regular. Overall, then, the experience was pretty depressing, not helped by the low, dark varnished wood-panelled ceiling, the Christmas music and the artificial snow drifts and plastic trees on the window sills. Perhaps it's better in summer.

Real Ale available