The Royal George, Salisbury

A nautical themed pub a long way from the sea, originally a 15th Century structure but named after HMS Victory's sister ship some time in the 19th Century. One of the beams in the current structure (there are a few of these on display) is reputed to come from that eponymous ship but that may just be local legend. It's a city pub that feels like a really good local. It has been recently re-carpeted and re-decorated and feels pleasant and well looked after. The single long bar offers decent beer and home cooked food at reasonable prices. There are far too many brass nick-nacks dotted around for my liking, and the quiz machine in the corner is irritating. Staff are friendly and the local CAMRA regularly uses the pub for meetings. Three ales on - I had a pint of GFB which really was on top form. A great venue for eating or drinking, and a worthy addition to any city crawl

A detached cream rendered town centre pub, with beer garden at the rear. In the GBG 2010. The interior has one main open plan area though there is a small dining room and a pool room at the back. The decor is cream and ceiling beams, with, as OB's picture shows, lots of brass ephemera and plates, as well as naval and sailing ship prints and pictures. The service i found fine, but there were not many in during our daytime visit. There was a TV, but it wasn't on and the music was supplied via the radio, but was at a decent level. There was also a dart board and the place had clearly just been cleaned as i remember it was glowing. Beer; tap stuff with an excellent Sharpe's Doombar and Ringwood Bitter. I didn't try the Hopback GFB. I enjoyed my visit here - perhaps as i had just been to the Salisbury Arms watching the Valley of the Gwangi. I would definately return.

The Royal George was certainly one of the most ordinary pubs of our recent day trip. It does tick many of the boxes that make it a decent enough place but it all feels a bit like a pub by numbers creation and very contrived. The standard pub décor and colour schemes are enhanced slightly by the copius brasses hanging on every beam and pillar and the 3D model of the pub catches the attention but the decor is equally let down by some pretty cheap looking pictures on the walls including 2 next to each other that are exactly the same (eagle eyed Mrs B spotted that one!). All the usual pub trimmings are present; Plasma TV, dart board, unobtrusive pool room at the rear and the pleasant beer garden that has clearly had a recent makeover. 3 handpumps operational on my visit – Hop Back GFB, Doom Bar and Ringwood Best with a further pump unused. Something was hugely overpriced as a pint of GFB (hardly premium stuff at 3.5%) + a soda and lime racked up an astoundoing £4.30 on the till. There is certainly nothing untoward about the place (apart from the prices) to make one steer clear of it but when it comes to revising my chosen pubs for future any Salisbury pub crawls, I think the Royal George will slip into Division 2 below many that have that extra bit of appeal.

The bar ceiling in here is literally dripping with brass artifacts; spoons, jugs, horse brasses, you name it, they're dangling there. A half timbered interior with many drinking areas. The friendly and attentive landlord keeps his Ringwood, Sharps and Hopback beers pretty well and pricing is about average for Salisbury. Pool table in one of the rooms at the back. The background music is a bit naff even for middle aged brass-things lovers.