The Bear at Marlborough, Marlborough

My digs for the night. When I am travelling alone, I don't have to worry about no en-suites. The best looking of the Marlborough Pubs - an impressive building, opposite the church and town hall. But words that should put the fear into every good beer drinker - Arkells. In a world full of change, its great to see something so consistently bland. This time, I tried their Belt Driver IPA, thinking it must have gone somewhere near a hop. The pubs is a decent locals pub - with a raised upper area (band playing, forgiven as I could hear Nick Cave covers from my third floor bed at midnight) and a sunken area. Locals keen to engage in conversation. One worryingly so. A separate cafe did a reasonable breakfast in the morning.

Popped in here while in Marlborough for a brief time. Arkells house with 3B and Wiltshire Gold on. I chose the Wiltshire Gold but was not impressed with it at all.

Attractive, imposing corner building. An Arkells house with three of theirs on, my Wiltshire Gold was warm and rather poor all-round. Two levels within; the upper (a weirdly large and open-plan room but with few tables) had just been decorated by someone who likes loud things (silver fern wallpaper and an epileptic striped carpet). The bar area further down was a bit more traditional. All furnishings were wobbly, “an earthquake simulator” quipped a companion who almost fell off his chair. Overall, pretty poor – I think Arkells really need to get a grip on some parts of their estate, having been let down by a few of their pubs in recent months.