The Lord Nelson Inn, Ipswich

Set on what seemed to be to be a busy and dangerous traffic junction, this pub features in the current Good Beer Guide. It looks quite large from the outside, but the interior is much more manageable. A single room is separated by several pillars with a fairly small outdoor courtyard at the rear. Real ales are dispensed from old casks behind the bar. Adnams Southwold Bitter & Ghost Ship are the regular beers. Broadside was a third of theirs. Two guests were Green Jack Little Green Men & Colchester No. 88. The cider was unsurprisingly Aspall's. Tables were reserved for lunchtime when we arrived and our large group got scolded for removing the chairs so we could all sit around one table. However, we weren't staying for long. So, they soon had the furniture re-positioned. I was expecting a little more from this place.

A large old Adnams pub which looks attractive with a half-timbered and dormer-windowed exterior but has the misfortune to sit opposite a horrific junction with traffic rumbling past feet away from the place. Previous openings-out have robbed it of the character the building exterior merits, however wood beams and fittings and some chunky wood furniture manage to salvage it a bit. An odd layout as you enter to a duck egg coloured room with no sign of the bar; this is tucked away round a corner. Five wooden looking casks inset behind the bar (were they simply fascias? I fancy I got tannic notes on my Broadside) with three Adnams on via gravity; Ghost Ship, Southwold Bitter (NBSS 3.5) and Broadside (3). Sausage rolls available and we tried the veggie option which was really rather good. Maybe a bit mimsy as a pub but it was good beer and I warmed to the place as time went past. Visited early August.

First pub of the day & slight panic as no handpumps were evident, but 5 barrels on stillage behind the bar came to the rescue. Four were on offer from the wood (& they were wooden, but possibly fascias) – Adnams Bitter, Broadside, Old, & Explorer. Low beamed pub with three open sections winding around the bar, open fire in central bar area. Solid rustic tables most of which carried cruet sets, so presumably popular for food. Commercial radio blaring from the kitchen – ok tunes but didn't need an excited on-air winner of £120 and 5mins of ads.

This was the only pub visited in Ipswich that I had been to before. In the early 90s there was no Dove, Fat Cat or the like and no JDWs so Adnam's tied houses were by far the best option in the area. I can't say I really recognised it as it looked much cleaner and brighter than I remembered and was almost empty on a Thursday early afternoon. There is what looks like a new carpet with bare wood tables and old chairs. The gravity dispense works here simply because the beer is stored at cellar temperature. I didn't note the five beers but from memory they were Old, Mosaic, Bitter, Ghost Ship and Broadside. I went for the Ghost Ship which was in excellent condition but the price is where this place starts to fall apart. It was £3.70 which made it the most expensive pint of the day. If Adnam's can sell their beers to JDW at a price that allows them to sell it at the standard guest ale price (£2.15 in my case after two recent price increases) why do they need to charge London prices in a pub on the edge of Ipswich town centre? At that price for Ghost Ship I'm not surprised it was empty. I still have a lot of faith in Adnam's brewery but wouldn't return here given the better and cheaper options nearby.