The Ball, Rotherham

A traditional 20th century village or estate pub, with a hint of Brewers Tudor about it. Inside it's looking a little run down, but some scaffolding boards have been cheerfully repurposed to remake the front of the bar counter and some of the walls, especially around the pool table. Unfortunately, despite four hand pumps standing on four different parts of the bar, there was no real ale on. I had a half of John Smiths Smooth, which was not too bad. I'm old enough to remember when pubs used to be busy all day on Saturdays, but this one had reached a mid-afternoon slump, or perhaps that would be an all-day slump. When entering an almost dead pub, it's nice to get a smile and a cheery welcome from the young lass behind the counter, so I left the Ball in hope of finding such a welcome elsewhere instead.