The Grape Vaults, Leominster

Small unspoilt pub in town centre, 2 main bar areas and small servery, beers from Ludlow. A bit of a locals pub but still friendly service

This is a small grade two listed pub that that is unspoiled, friendly and a down to earth local and i can see why it is regarded by most as Leominster's best real ale pub.There was 4 cask beers on when i visited and i also liked the furnishings and the old bare floor boards.

I came here one afternoon on my birthday around 1973 and remember a landlord with a spade beard who presided over a small pub with quite a traditional interior and lots of knick-knacks with a bar to the left wall. What I do recall were a pair of ship's port and starboard lanterns mounted on a shelf above the bar - we debated their relative position, in that they were correctly positioned with regard to the barman looking ahead but were wrong from the perspective of the customer. That's about all I remember, but from the outside at least, this appears to be one of the more attractive options in the town.

Looks like the best of the pubs in Leominster, from the on-line reviews I looked at. It didn't disappoint. Two 1650s building knocked into one. All wooden furniture and creaky floorboards. Four real ales on - my Ludlow Gold was perfect. Very good home cooked food. Decent pub. Photos at my blog - http://mappiman.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/100916-grape-vaults-leominster.html

The only Leominster pub I had visited previously, before I started reviewing pubs, so I was keen to renew acquaintance. Unfortunately it was closing time when I arrived, with the landlord chatting to a last customer and most of the furniture upended to facilitate cleaning. I willingly was served a quick half of Ludlow Best Bitter and took a seat by the roaring coal fire. The notice outside the door describes this as an "unspoilt Victorian pub", and indeed it does look as though it has had nothing done to it for a good long time, other than the replacement of the occasional pane of glass. The bench seating has what looks to be original wood panelling and the fireplace seems to have hand painted tiles, depicting fairly crudely drawn grapes. The small bar to the left on entering has five hand pumps, with two beers from Ludlow brewery and one each from Woods (Shropshire Lad) and Mayfields (Priory Pale). As with the majority of the pubs I visited on this brief excursion into Herefordshire, I left reluctantly, vowing to return.