The Cross Keys, Nottingham

This is a lovely building in a delightful setting under some roadside trees, and once inside the large windows give it a light, airy feel, even though it was quite busy at the time of our Saturday evening visit. We made our way to the bar where we had spotted three hand pumps, though I think there may have been others in the scrum to our left. The only beers we saw were all from Navigation, but there may have been guests elsewhere. I wouldn't mind coming here again when it's less busy for a more relaxed visit.

The Cross keys is now part of the Nottingham Navigation Brewery chain of pubs. It has been sympathetically renovated and is much improved over its previous incarnations. There is a decent outdoor seating area that catches the afternoon sun and is nice to sit in as long as there are not too many smokers. There were a full range of Navigation brews on the bar when I popped in yesterday, including Traditional, IPA, Pale, Golden and Stout. I had a decent pint of Traditional, followed by a pint of Last Knight, a seasonal bitter that was very good. the pub has a couple of pumps dedicated to guests, one of which was the re-invented Shipstones Bitter, a real blast from the Nottingham past. Toilets were nice and clean and the wine was up to scratch according to the wife. All in all, a decent pub just outside the city centre, right on the tram route, well worth a visit.