The Roebuck Inn, Blackburn

An old building which seems to have been shamefully treated to a characterless open plan makeover inside. There'd been an awful lot rain prior to our visit and the explanation given for the lack of real ale was a flooded cellar. Perfectly plausible but the reversed pump clips were showing GK IPA and Pedigree so there isn't necessarily a huge draw even with an operational cellar. We settled for Guiness. The Roebuck may be the best bet for a beer in Rishton but the To Let sign outside suggests that it's future hangs in the balance.

Clearly an old building,with a stone displaying 1757,fine weathered stone steps up to the entrances and an ornamental portico above the main door this looked promising from the outside.Sadly the internal makeover leaves the impression of a 'spoons despite the liberal use of wood partitioning and a low ceiling.There is a raised pool section,a table football machine,and an open plan area to the left of the front door,but no signs of any original features apart from some leaded light windows. There had been a cellar flood,so no real ale but the two handpumps had reversed clips for Pedigree and GK IPA ,so no great loss there. The lease is available ,but for now a manager has been installed.To say this was the best pub we visited in Rishton,is more of an indictment of the pub up the road.No revisit is planned.