Littleton Arms, Stafford

Large pub / hotel close to the train station. As it is run by Davenports we enjoyed a couple of their beers. Also a couple of guests on. Well worth a visit.

Glad we called in here on the way back to the train station, as there was an interesting line up of ales along the front bar. Six handpumps with Jaipur, Salopian Golden Thread, Purity Bunn Hop, HPA, AJ's Ales Dukey's Deligh & Cloudwater Coming Home. All their beers were priced at £4.50 per pint, so if you're going for Cloudwater, it's a bonus as their beers are so expensive. Defo worth a look in to or from the station.

A large and well reviewed former coaching inn in a prominent position on the main road in Penkridge. Accommodation, food and drink in all forms are offered here but our focus was on beer. The cask selection on our visit consisted of: Sarah Hughes Surprise, Wye Valley Hopfather and HPA, Burton Bridge Stairway to Heaven, Thwaites Wainwright and Purple Moose Elderflower Ale. Perhaps not in the premiership but with a fair representation from local breweries and, in the Sarah Hughes Surprise, one superb ale. It would seem, from looking at previous reviews, that the beers are ever changing with perhaps a regular from Wye Valley. There are also keg taps on the back wall of the bar as well a wide selection of bottles with the whole range shown on a scrolling tv screen in the bar. As the Littleton Arms provided my best beer of the evening in Penkridge, I'd always poke my head in to see what's on.

Substantial old inn on a corner that could be a real landmark structure if the exterior was less plainly painted, and one still offering upmarket hotel accommodation. With the entrance now across a patio area from the side car park rather than the original doors on both main façades, you get directed to left or right inside depending on whether you wish to eat, drink or sleep. The bar is fairly compact, but the various dining areas around the multi-counter central servery are much more extensive, with all parts refurbished in a tasteful mix of traditional and modern. What did come as a pleasant surprise was to find a decent choice of six real ales on handpump: Jennings Cumberland, Three Tuns Cleric's Cure, Wye Valley HPA, Furnace Cascade (£3.90), Brakspear Oxford Gold and Speyside Tropical Forres (with the current choice presented on a small menu if you are eating).