Town Hall Tavern, Leeds

A Timothy Taylor owned pub, housed in a non-too-attractive building opposite the more resplendent town hall, this place has a cosy refitted interior with a hint of 1970’s plushness – red carpeting and veneered pine wood panelling. There ere also a number of interesting framed photos of old Leeds on display as well as some old collections of cigarette cards. Four Timothy Taylor ales available, plus Tetley Bitter and a real cider in Old Rosie. My TT Golden Best and Ram Tam were a wallet-happy £2.40 a pint, though condition was decent rather than tip-top. A TV in the corner showed the cricket, which most of the punters were also keeping an eye on. Fabulous-sounding pies served though sadly at lunchtime only and I had just missed my chance. A good solid pub I’d be happy to visit again, hopefully in time for a pie.

Situated a shortish walk away from Mr Foley's ( on which I have just posted ) along The Headrow into Westgate and in the heart of the city's legal and financial district is The Town Hall Tavern. It's closeness to the inner ring road, only a hundred or so yards away, helps give it a bit of an out-of-town feel, however, compared with pubs further in the centre. The green and gold painted exterior tells us that this is a rare Timothy Taylors tied house. It's a comfortable, carpeted, well appointed pub with much light pine wood panelling and, despite an open plan layout, a number of different areas. The walls are decorated with pictures of old Leeds and, reflecting its location, a number of framed legal cartoons and caricatures. Note also the Leeds United memorabilia, particularly the photo of the League winning side of 1965 ( Mick Jones, Allan Clarke etc ). I gather that the pub gets busy with the office crowd at lunchtime when good value hot food is served. Remarkably, on my recent June evening visit, despite being festooned with flags of the 32 World Cup teams and a live game being in progress at the time, the two pub TV's were not showing the game, nor even the one day cricket international, but a Rugby League game - Sheffield Eagles v Barrow Raiders. This game was being watched keenly by one customer ( the duty manager ?) , but, apart from that, the pub was virtually empty. 4 Timmy's beers were on - Landlord, Best, Golden Best and Ram Tam. The Best - £ 2.55p - was reasonable. The pub is listed in CAMRA's 2010 Good Beer Guide. Probably as a reflection of its location, it's not open on Sundays. This is a pleasant enough pub, but it's not near the top of my list of Leeds pubs for a revisit

As the name implies, this Timothy Taylor pub stands opposite the Town Hall in the heart of Leeds City Centre albeit slightly away from the main shopping areas. The building appears to be quite modern and the interior even more so albeit in a traditional style with light wooden fittings giving the place a fresh feel but it does feel a bit plastic and leaves you longing for a bit of a rough edge. The pub is a regular Good Beer Guide entry and apart from the Timothy Taylor ales (Best, Landlord, Ram Tam and Golden Best on my vist), Westons Traditional Scrumpy and a good selection of global bottled beers and draught lagers were also available. There are displays of old cigarette cards and several shelves of assorted artifacts and oddments. To the left of the bar is a tucked away section dedicated to Leeds United with lots of of photos and memorabilia from the days when they were almost good. A brace of TVs are situated either side of the bar. The pub had a pleasant ambience but just lacked anything to make it stand out beyond what was for me, the rarity of finding Timothy Taylor ales beyong the ubiquitous Landlord.