Golden Ball, York

The Golden Ball is a Victorian era backstreet pub that underwent an inter-war remodelling thanks to the John Smith's brewery, leaving it with arguably the most interesting internal layout of any pub in the city. A terrazzo floored corridor leads you past a series of doorways before finally depositing you in the rear right main bar - a bare boarded room with a small but highly attractive servery on the front wall with a cream tiled counter upon which a selection of bakery products had been provocatively positioned at one end. Basic seating is supplied throughout this room, including numerous benches around the perimeter and there is some unusual map image wallpaper on the back wall, a brick fireplace to one side and a dartboard. To one side of the bar there is a highly unusual snug type space, with terrazzo flooring and space for just two tables and some bench and low stool seating. A small hatch here allows customers access to the bar and the space is opened out to the corridor, making it a feature that is quite possibly unique to this pub. To the rear there is a comfy lounge, or smoke room if you prefer, with curved banquettes and low stools arranged around a tiled fireplace. Bell pushes still survive above the banquettes and a large bay window looks out to the smartly presented rear garden. Local art lines the walls and many items appeared to be available to purchase. There is one final room to the left of the entrance - a newer addition converted from private quarters in the 1990's, where you will find a bar billiards table, smart tile fireplace and additional seating in a smart carpeted space. The ales available on this visit comprised Black Sheep Golden Sheep, Taylors Golden Best, Moorhouse Black Cat, Treboom Yorkshire Sparkle, Adnams Southwold Bitter and Little Brew Porter. This struck me as a pretty decent selection and my Yorkshire Sparkle was better than I'd initially anticipated. This is a really interesting pub that was good to explore and learn about. It seems very popular, with many of us confined to the corridor and garden due to the lack of available seating, and rightly so. Another excellent central York pub and one more for the revisit list.

I visited the Golden Ball on a recent Friday evening when the pub was fairly busy even before the large group I was with arrived. This is a multi-roomed pub with a bar to the right that supports seven hand pumps and a limited standard selection. There was no background music during my visit and I didn’t see any televisions, but there is a bar billiards table in a seating area to the left of the entrance. Blues is advertised for the first Thursday of each month. This is a good pub and is worth a visit.

This corner local has a historic interior on Camra's national inventory, dating from a 1920's refurbishment by John Smiths (whose name can still be seen on the exterior tiling). The unusual four-room layout includes a rare tiled front to the main counter and a very unusual snug in a hallway beside the bar. Seven real ales on handpump, including Everard's Tiger from the side hatch and Little Brew Porter as one of six in the main bar. Now thriving as a community co-operative and well worth seeking out.

A good sized pub consisting of four different rooms in a square formation, with the bar counter serving two of them and a small corridor linking them together. Food appeared to be limited to a basket on the end of the bar contacting a selection of breads and pizza slices. The largest room was probably the one at the rear of the bar counter, and this had red tiling, green banquette seating and a large map covering the rear wall. The map had even been used to cover the light fittings so that they blended seamlessly in with the wall. A section of old wallpaper from 1900 was also displayed that had apparently been uncovered during a refurbishment. A snug at the front had smaller access to the bar counter, and this was quite a cosy room with maroon paintwork and a number of black and white photos on the wall. A further snug to the left was carpeted and housed a bar billiards game as well as a fire-place and a wood-burning stove, although this was not in use on our visit. There were also a pile of board games and a selection of trophies and shields. The final room had views out in to the garden, and some artwork for sale on the walls. Good choice of beers on tap with Timothy Taylor Golden Best, Moorehouse Black Cat, Golden Sheep, Yorkshire Sparkling, Adnams Southwold and Little Brew. Ciders were Thatcher’s Gold and Aspall’s Suffolk.

Called in on a busy Friday night,a multi roomed traditional pub, it seemed that only one person was working behind the bar and struggling to keep up,after a two minute wait and no nearer being served we had to sadly leave without a drink as train departure time was approaching and still another pub to do.Hope to try again someday.