The Pheasant Inn, Stone

Pleasantly traditional and unspoilt pub located a short distance away from the town centre. Retains four semi-separate rooms: a popular (if gloomy) public bar, a larger, lighter lounge extending back into another seating area and a darts room off to the side of that. The four handpumps can be found on the counter in the former, with Doom Bar, Pedigree, Wainwright and Bass (£3.40) on offer when I stopped by.

A much larger than expected street corner local that we visited as part of a tour of most of Stone's pubs (i.e. those that weren't closed or Wetherspoons). It's a pleasant pub with beer in good condition, but I must admit that the beer range did not excite, being mostly nationally available brands: Greene King Abbot, Purity Gold, Sharps Doom Bar and Marstons Pedigree. I would be happy to find this pub on the corner of my street if I lived in Stone, but I'd be more than tempted by the delights of the Royal Exchange and the Swan Inn, where much more adventurous beer ranges are on offer.

This is a friendly and cosy street corner, two-bar local’s pub to the North of the town centre. The porch gives you the option of heading right into the front public bar or straight on for the rear bar and lounge area. The public bar has some nice red tile flooring and a beautiful curved dark wood counter down one side of the room. A dartboard is tucked into a small space in the front corner of the room and there are some plush padded banquettes at the far end, broken only by a small fireplace with a lit stove which was a welcome sight on a cold winter’s evening. Above the fireplace is a display cabinet which details the ‘Burton Union System’ – a brewing process popular in this part of the world – with a TV screen above this tuned to Absolute Radio. The fireplace is flanked by several shelves packed full of darts trophies plus various mirrors advertising the likes of Bass, Marstons, Coca Cola and Georgian House Snuff. The rear bar has a small, handpull free stretch of servery and a decent lounge seating area opposite with smart fixed bench seating around the perimeter. Another room can be found in the space between the two bars, although it was pretty much empty with no furniture of note and no lighting. The corridor to the toilets had a Heritage Pubs of Staffordshire poster on the wall alongside a few other interesting bits and there is a small patio beer garden out through the back door. There were four handpulls in operation when I arrived, offering a choice of Marstons Pedigree, Draught Bass, Sharps Doom Bar and Purity Pure Gold. Perhaps not the most adventurous selection but obviously plenty enough for the sizable bunch of cheery locals congregated around both bars. I fancied a pint of Pedigree and the barmaid poured me a fantastic pint that served as a reminder of what a lovely beer this can be in the right hands. I thought this was an excellent traditional local’s boozer with a great atmosphere created by its friendly band of loyal regulars. The ale range may not be as exciting as that found in other local pubs, but when it’s kept as well as this, I can’t see that being a problem. A great place that is ideal for anyone looking for a good old-fashioned, down to earth boozer.

As noted below this is very much a locals pub on the North side of Stone. As you enter the public bar is on the right and the saloon on the left. I went in the public bar which had a red tiled floor, a dart board as you enter and a TV screen at the other end which thankfully was turned off. I could hear that there was a TV screen in the other bar. The bar has four hand pumps which had a typically uninspiring selection from the standard Enterprise guest list. These were Pedigree, Doom Bore, Bass and Purity Gold. I went for the Purity Gold (£3.40) which was not just the most expensive pint in the five Stone pubs visited but also the dullest. Having said that it was in excellent condition. It's GBG 2016 listed and is an attractive local pub but I wouldn't return unless the beer range improved.