New Inn, Wakefield

Official site of New Inn - www.thenewinnwalton.co.uk

Official site of New Inn - www.thenewinnwalton.co.uk

The New Inn is a friendly, traditional, village pub, serving the whole community. As is often the case, when trying to be all things to all people, it’s a bit of a ‘curate’s egg’. The pub itself is cosily low ceilinged, loosely divided into two drinking areas, with a third dining space behind the partitions. Fixtures and fittings are pretty much what you’d expect, but note the pithy Yorkshire sayings stencilled above the bar. Outside, there are tables immediately in front of the pub and a decent grassed beer garden to the side, along with a small play area for younger children. The present landlord has worked hard to improve the quality of the beer and was awarded a first entry into the 2007 Good Beer Guide for his efforts (maintained in 2010). There are three regular real ales: Timothy Taylor’s ‘Landlord’, Leeds Brewery ‘Pale’ and Theakston’s Best Bitter. There is also an ever changing ‘guest ale’, usually from a Yorkshire micro. Quality of the regular beers is good but variable, no doubt owing to the uneasy relationship between choice and turnover. The guest ales, dispensed from nine gallon firkins, don’t usually have that problem. One small niggle is that the serving temperature of the beers does tend to be on the cool side. There are also Leffe, Beck’s Vier, and Stella on tap. Plus, Guinness, Strongbow, Carling and Tetley Extra Cold and John Smith’s Smooth. Food hovers between standard pub fare and ‘gastro-pub’ cuisine. The landlord is gradually trying to move things up-market. However, local opinion has it that the quality, although recently improved, is still a little inconsistent and sometimes disappointing. A recent innovation has been the introduction of ‘Steak Night ‘on Thursdays. Currently, there is no food available on Tuesday evenings. There are quizzes on Sunday and Monday evenings, but if you’re not a fan they are noisily intrusive. Live bands are featured on Tuesday evenings, with Wednesdays as ‘Folk Night.’ A large flat screen TV is situated in the stone flagged area. An annual beer festival has been held for the last two summers and they have proved a great success. One real bonus is the pub’s proximity to the Trans-Pennine Trail. The path, along the old Barnsley Canal, is virtually opposite. It soon opens out into farmland and wooded areas. It is possible to walk to the fellow CAMRA listed pub ‘The Anglers Retreat’ at Wintersett through the countryside. Pleasant walks around the reclaimed Walton Colliery site are also close by. Staff are friendly and efficient and you are virtually guaranteed a warm welcome. The pub is also very tolerant of children, if they are well supervised.