Micawbers Tavern, Norwich

This is a welcoming traditional pub, dating back to the 1770's, in the pleasant narrow streets in the city centre. The pub is split over two levels, with the corner entrance taking you into the lower level half where scuffed floorboards can be found throughout and pew and standard chairs serve small tables. There is an unusual triangular shaped chimney breast to the right, probably signifying the position of a previous partitioning wall. There are lots of dark wood beams as you would expect in such an old building, whilst the walls are predominantly painted white. The bar has a bare brick counter and surprisingly bland bar back, despite efforts to liven it up by sticking barrel ends on the wall. The bar runs in an L shape towards the higher left hand side of the pub. Limited seating is available opposite, but there is a separate seating area behind some partitioning walls at the far left hand end of the room. Several TV screens throughout the pub were showing live football and the clientele were split roughly 50-50 between those closely following the match and those preferring to sit down for a chat or to read their papers. I believe the pub is a freehouse, but it was Woodfordes' beers that dominated the hand pumps, with Wherry, Bure Gold, Sundew and Nelson's Revenge available alongside Adnams Ghost Ship. A friendly and seemingly overworked landlady served up a good pint of the Sundew which I enjoyed supping whilst watching the remainder of the big match. This is a nice traditional local's pub that feels warm and welcoming and, judging by the number of people in here early on a Saturday evening, has a pretty solid and diverse customer base. This is a good city centre option that offers enough to merit inclusion on a crawl around town.