Royal Oak Inn, Bongate, Appleby-In-Westmorland

There are several rooms for drinking & dining at the Royal Oak and I positioned myself in one which was considerably more hotel bar than pub: carpeted and comfortably upholstered throughout the bar area. It seemed to be the focal point, with the bar staffed and arranging overnight check-ins. That bar itself isn't so large and supports just a couple of handpumps offering Landlord or Hawkshead Gold (perfectly fine), 6 run of the mill keg taps and 2 somewhat more prominent fonts for Cruzcampo and Heineken Zero. Further seating is available out the front facing the road, though it was more of an indoor kind of day. This pub is a few minutes walk from the bright lights of Appleby's Market Square, but worth a look-in if you have the time.

The front of this classic roadside pub, on the now bypassed A66, has been spoilt somewhat by the roof added to the sitting out area, presumably prompted by the Covid regulations. Inside it was strange to see a table plonked exactly in front of the bar (another Covid thing?), but it soon became apparent that this is the dining room and the main drinking area is the Tap Room at the far left of the building. There are three hand pumps here, with two beers on: Black Sheep Blonde and Hawkshead Bitter. (The same beers were on display in the other room, but poured from in here.) The Bitter was in excellent condition, an easy NBSS 4, and I complimented the bar manager on my way out. I wish I could have also complimented her on the background music, but the only adjective I could find for it at the time was "annoying" - I'm still too traumatised to be more specific.