The Lower Angel, Warrington

Well, I heard it has been spruced up a bit, but it’s certainly still a basic boozer. One side very spartan and spit and sawdust, perhaps intimidating. The other side carpeted and playing the Eagles, but still a bit ‘lively’. Every person in the place was a middle aged male. A proper throwback, if it’s not your cup of tea then at least the real ale selection should be, I didn’t even bother counting them all. My swift half of the Gunpowder Mild today was exceptional. Pound for pound, certainly my favourite in Warrington and one of my favourite pubs in the north.

This is a smart, tidy, no nonsense pub with an excellent town centre location in the middle of the main retail area. The pub has a classic, traditional two bar layout and entering into the left-hand side, you find yourself in a narrow room with plush carpet, some nice ‘Lower Angel’ etched glass window panes and a warm, two-tone upper/lower paint scheme on the walls. A simple servery to the right has an angular dark wood counter, minimalist bar back decorated with an angel sculpture and a large vase of lilies next to a partitioning screen at the end of the counter. The entrance porch has some old spirit dispensers and the like on top of it, which helps draw the eye to the fine stained-glass windows that form the upper section of the porch. There are some benches under the front window and again to the rear of the room with standard tables and chairs running in a row along the left-hand wall, opposite the bar. A strange dead-space in the rear left corner had temporarily been filled with a pretty impressive Halloween display that really caught the eye on entry. The right-hand bar, accessed by a passage behind the servery, is a narrower space with seating down the right-hand side under some large mirrors, with impressive stained-glass windows to the front and a juke box on one wall. In many ways, this room mirrors the left-hand bar, with the servery sharing the same features in both rooms. I had no idea this place would have an extensive ale range, so it was a real surprise to find a choice of Weetwood Bitter and Cheshire Plain Porter, Mobberley Sidekick, Wincle Full Fat, Empire Boycott Blonde, York Yorkshire Terrier and Front Row England’s Pride, with a Derwent beer going off just before I got served. The Boycott Blonde was a nice pint, served to me by an old-school landlord who gave the impression he wouldn’t tolerate much messing about in here. It’s always nice when you find a decent pub on a busy shopping street like this, as not only are they usually well-preserved traditional boozers, but they also act as excellent bolt-holes from the consumer-hell of the High Street. I really liked this place and would’ve liked to stay and try a few more of their beers – it would be high on my list for a revisit the next time I’m in town.

Visited yesterday afternoon; plenty of older gents in and a guy with his wife. The front bar was pretty quiet but there was Countdown on in the back room and a bit more conversation going on in there. Very much an old traditional pub, and still smells smoky. At the bar, four hand pumps. I had the Entire Stout by Hopback Brewery, at £1.50 for the half so pretty reasonable. I can't remember what the other three options were on cask but there was a pale ale that I had not seen before. Very much feels like a locals' pub especially in the afternoon, but was not unfriendly at all.

The highlight of a midweek mini-crawl in Warrington after the excellent Tavern on Church Street, this high-ceilinged, bar-sectioned (two) and nicely carpeted locals' boozer is well worth a visit if in the area. Four ales were available on my visit - Hobos Blonde, Dunscar Blissful Blonde, Weetwood Oregon Pale and Nugget Copper Dragon - the latter two very enjoyable indeed. The locals seemed to congregate in the left-hand of the two bars and the semi-frosted lower halves of the windows keep the stares of passers-by out from a pedestrianized street in Warrington's commercial centre.