Cattle Market, Leek

Their website and the CAMRA website both claim that this pub opens at 12 on Wednesday and Thursday. It doesn't. Not good enough.

Official site of Cattle Market - www.cattlemarketpubleek.co.uk

Official site of Cattle Market - www.cattlemarketpubleek.co.uk

Cattle Market has a central bar that serves the public bar to the right where a pool table takes centre stage and an L-shaped lounge to the left where ten or so locals had assembled on a recent Tuesday afternoon. The lounge seemed more inviting, so I stayed in there even though Tipping Point was being blasted out of the televisions either end of the bar, nobody was watching it. The L-shaped counter supports standard keg and three hand pumps, two of which were in use drawing Hobgoblin and Wainwright Gold. I sat on the banquette that runs under the left-hand windows and noted a tiled fireplace on the front wall and a dartboard on the stage at the rear. The service was friendly and the locals seemed harmless enough, but there are better pubs the other end of the high street.