The Holland Inn, Holyhead

I made two visits here one before 11:00 on a Tuesday morning and a second on a Friday evening. It's a fairly basic boozer consisting of a long, narrow, split level room with pool and darts at the front and the bar area at the rear. The walls are adorned with a collection of scarves and there is a menacing photo of Johnny Rotten at the end of the bar area. They have a jukebox which is quite loud and seems to be playing something permanently including a very raucous 1970s punk rock song by the Electric Chairs. On my morning visit I was surprised to find a good crowd in. It might be that these were all night workers but they made the average JDW daytime brigade look like a right bunch of lightweights. The solitary hand pump does Lees Moonraker for £3.00 which was in good nick on my second visit. The Lees Bitter on keg (£2.90) was much better than I expected. Although it was cold, it wasn't that gassy and tasted much the same as I recalled from the cask version. It runs rings around all the smooth or creamflow crap that I had to endure on the Friday night. This one may not be for the faint hearted but I found it to be the best pub visited in Holyhead.

Old-fashioned end-of-terrace JW Lees local near the railway station; unusually with a pool / darts room at the front and the bar up a couple of steps further back. Furniture and decor in a plain, traditional style. Friendly landlord. One handpump on the counter, with the potent 6.5% Moonraker (normally £3.10, but on offer at a bargain £2.30 when I visited) as the permanent fixture.

Official site of The Holland Inn - www.jwlees.co.uk

Official site of The Holland Inn - www.jwlees.co.uk