The Castle, Bradford

I'm afraid today has to be written off as a bad night. This is number 3 on a list of pubs in a crawl from this site. There are two other punters. One of those is a bin man in his work clothes. He has just been headbutted by a foreigner (his words, not mine). To be fair, the pint of Cumberland was OK, but once the headbutted bin man had gone, I felt like I was sitting in someone's front room. I have been to many cities and taken part in random pub crawls but I dont think I have been as scared and disappointed as I have in Bradford.

Edge of town, slightly down at heel boozer, probably quite grand at one time, now a beer haven drinking den. There is an electric organ tucked away in one corner threatening light entertainment evenings around the wulitzer. 6 real ales, kept ok & a good choice.

Large imposing stone building with crenellations, it proudly proclaims its record of CAMRA awards for the last 10 years. A comfortable but unexciting interior, basically a L shaped counter in an uneven U shaped open plan room. There are screens and machines and yes there was racing on the TV. It's a nice friendly pub and the beers are well kept and a good mix of the ordinary from Marstons and the more unusual on the eight pulls, although only six were in use. I don't know why the pub's sign has the Allen coat of arms rather than a picture of some castle or other. It's probably as close to a don't miss as central Bradford is going to get.