The Whalebone, Hull

A bit of a walk from the city centre in a slightly rundown neighbourhood with historic ties to the whaling industry, this is a wonderful ale house that is well worth making the walk out to. The pub has a long U-shaped interior with the servery running down the right hand side of the left hand section. The bar has a simple tongue and groove counter and canopy, making use of the same panelling as used on the wall opposite. There is only enough space for a drinking ledge along the left hand wall but the space opens out to the rear where some decent bench seating can be found arranged around a rather homely lit stove. The front part of the pub has a carpeted seating area comprising a couple of long fixed benches with dated upholstery and a few sturdy, iron-base tables. The room then runs behind the servery down the right side of the building into a space that is also carpeted and offers standard tables and chairs in front of a brick fireplace with a signed and framed rugby shirt above. The whole pub is an absolute mine of memorabilia, the highlight of which, for me, was the many wonderful black and white photos of old Hull pubs, many no doubt long since gone, most of which have a handwritten note detailing the pub's name and location. A high shelf runs around much of the pub and bar canopy and is packed with old beer and cider bottles which partly obscured the various old adverts, beer trays and bits of sporting equipment behind them. There are a lot of other sporting items dotted around as well, including many photos of various local teams, lots of Hull FC paraphernalia and a rather off-putting ugly life-size poster of Dean Windass which greets you in the entrance porch on arrival. Elsewhere, there are pump clips, many photos of oil rigs and other bits of local industrial history, a great many CAMRA certificates, brewery mirrors, old pub price lists and a local road sign. Several TV screens were showing Premier League football and one day international cricket with the commentary from the latter audible and I also noted a stack of the day's papers on the bar. I was the first customer in on a Sunday afternoon, but the place soon started to fill up a little and the local's all seemed very pleasant and happy to chat, with the excellent beer range being a common topic for discussion. The options on this visit were Rudgate Viking and Vanilla Mild, Great Newsome Frothingham Best, Fernandes Schnapphy Blonde, Phoenix Porter, Abbeydale Moonshine and Half Moon Super Moon. Five ciders and a perry option rounded out one of the city's widest selections and after a fair bit of deliberation I settled on the Vanilla Mild which was absolutely spot on. This is a great pub that has a lot of character and plenty within to keep you interested over multiple visits. The ale range and quality was as good as anything else I found in the city and the staff and locals seemed like a welcoming bunch. I can't really fault this place based on this visit and felt it was the best of the thirteen pubs I frequented whilst in Hull.

Located in a very unpromising quarter some distance north from the city centre, and housed in a what initially appears to be rather run-down premises, so the attractive and well-maintained interior comes as a very pleasant surprise. Traditionally furnished, but what particularly interested me was the extensive display of old pub photographs all around the walls. Had a decent range of real ales and ciders on too, and justifiably busy on a Friday evening with a proper community feel. This one is certainly well worth making the effort to find.

This pub is quite a walk from the more established real ale outlets in the old town centre, but well worth the effort. I approached via the pub's apparently forbidding frontage on Lincoln Street, but in fact the pub has a more conventional appearance from Wincomlee. Once inside it feels very comfortable and welcoming, with five hand pumps on the bar offering an interesting selection of ales. There were a couple of TV screens, one showing World Cup T20 cricket, and the other the Cheltenham Festival, which suited me well. My beer was in very good condition and I would happily have stayed for longer. This is one I would definitely make a point of visiting on any future visit to Hull. Date of visit: 18th March 2016