Hole in the Wall, Darlington

As the name suggests a narrow pub however it’s on the Market Place rather than hidden up an alley. Decorated in semi ale house style with bare bricks, board floors but no pump clip collection. Not all cliche however as the table bottoms are cast iron and the counter is a nice panel and tile job. Decent bar back and some odd bits of nice woodwork and anaglypta. A bit dark inside as noted but it’s illuminated by designer lighting. Seven pulls of mainly national cask beers although Black Sheep and S43 were also present. Kegs likewise with Camden Hells and Beavertown Neck Oil being the less common. GBG2020 listed.

Smallish pub overlooking the marketplace with rather tedious dark green décor, but pleasant enough. A nice room upstairs is perhaps more of a dining room. A good range of beers is on offer, including brews from Camerons, Tyne Bank, Wadworths, S43 and Otter at time of visit and condition good. One of the better town centre pubs.

As noted below this is an old Market Place pub. Inside it's an open plan room with a wooden floor and a small rear area with just low seating and tables. There are seven hand pumps now which had one unused, Exmoor Ale, Robinson's Dark Vader, Otter Bitter, Woodforde's Reedlighter, Three Brothers Black Forest Porter and Butcombe Haka. I went for the Black Forest Porter (£3.30) which was excellent. I had my doubts about trying this one as I thought it would be expensive and have a poor beer choice but was wrong on both counts. Another plus point is that I didn't notice any TV screens.

A stunning looking Victorian tiled façade pub, with a choice of five well kept ales. This was our last pub to visit before heading to the Train Station and it was certainly a good pub to finish on. We went for Mordue Northumbrian Blonde and Wylam Red Kite, both were top class. The barman was friendly and chatty and with the beer quality here, we would have liked to have stayed a little longer.