The Junction, Castleford

Now that the majority of the renovation work is complete it's the closest thing you'll find to a Sam's Smith's pub but fortunately without Mr Humphrey. The kegs, most spirits, bottled beers and snacks are sourced from Sam Smith's, an exception is a keg from Stancil. Still the home of beers from the wood and a must visit in Castleford, there's precious little else.

Neil has been busy with many more details being renovated or brought into the 21st century. Nine pulls in operation (1 was poorly) although midweek only three will be in action, that’s proper cellar management that many multi tap pubs should emulate. Still the home of beer from the wood and still outstanding quality, being Cas it’s less pricy than Leeds or York but then only the Junction is worth a visit if you find your way to Castleford.

An interesting and traditional Victorian street corner boozer with blue tiled walls. It's a large affair inside with a traditional interior featuring plenty of wood, an open plan bar and a smaller room to the right. It has something of a feeling of either not being finished or part used as storeroom with various bits and bobs stacked around the place. Having heard that beers were served from the wood I'd half expected a row of barrels on stillage which I wasn't especially enthusiastic about during a warm spell of weather. In fact the governor has invested in 100 wooden barrels and all the beers served are from those barrels. Beers on were: Kirkstall 3 Swords and Drop Hammer, Wishbone Bruce, Cloudy with a Chance of Hops and Medjool, Stancil South Pacific and Elland Rudimentary. A fair range with strengths going from 4% to 10%. The South Pacific was in good shape and refreshing on a warm evening but the temptation of the first Woodfest being held in the boozer next door was too great to explore the range further. The governor has also invested in a tower brewery behind the next door building which is virtually complete so will hopefully be operational soon. A very good boozer, doing things differently and benefitting from chunks of investment. I wish them every success and look forward to visiting again as things develop.

I did'nt know anything about this pub prior to visiting it,so when i took a photo i thought this would be another keg only pub,yet again i was wrong. Once inside i went into an L shaped room with the bar facing,the floor was wood,the seating pew type and small stools. I was very surprised to see some real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Ridgeside SIB which went down very well,the other beer i noted was Stancill Blonde. Background music was playing. The pub was busy enough on my late Saturday afternoon visit. I found this to be a decent pub,a pleasant surprise. Pub visited 29/7/2015