Rockingham Arms, Rotherham

Fine old village inn near to the Wentworth Woodhouse estate, and as traditional inside as you would expect. Comfortable bar with seating areas at the end with the welcome coal fire, on the opposite side of the entrance and then through to another room with modern high tables plus another small snug. The Fitz dining room is located at a lower lever at the back. Has a beer garden on one side (although it was hardly the weather for that, with a dusting of snow on the ground) and hotel rooms on the other. Total of four real ales - Greene King IPA, Black Sheep, Ossett Willow (£3.35) and Old Peculier - and two ciders - Old Rosie and Lilley's Mango - on handpump.

Official site of Rockingham Arms - rockingham-arms-pub.co.uk

Official site of Rockingham Arms - rockingham-arms-pub.co.uk

Called into this 2016 Good Beer Guide bar on a CAMRA coach trip, and enjoyed a meal along with some good beer. Choice from 2 Wentworth ales, Belhaven, and Black Sheep. Busy inside with an overflow outside where they have a bowling green. There are 3 rooms and a function room, plus a barn where they hold live entertainment.

This stone built village pub dates back to 1746 when it was established as an ale house. The main part of the pub is now one big room, with a bar running most of the length of the back wall. There's a fireplace at each end, one a later brick addition, with bare stone walls everywhere else. On the busy Sunday afternoon I was here there was not an empty seat in the house, apparently. However, to the left is a smaller and much plainer room and further round, behind the bar, is an even smaller one which has its own fireplace and also the exit from the kitchen. We managed to find seats in here, though we had to be careful to leave a passage for the waiting staff carrying large portions out to the day trippers in the front room. The back room seemed to be mostly locals, so I awarded myself temporary local status because I liked it in here. There are six hand pumps on the bar, in three groups of two: Acorn Amber, Theakstons Old Peculier, Black Sheep Bitter and Copper Dragon Golden Pippin were on four, with WPA (Wentworth Woppa) on the other two. There was a notice behind the bar saying that they will be closed for refurbishment from 18th to 28th February. I'd like to return in March to see how they've got on, because while it was clear to see that some work needed doing (wiring and plumbing having obviously been improvised at different times over many decades, for example), there are some interesting features that are well worth preserving, like the cupboards and shelves set into the walls in the small back room.