The Dewdrop Inn, Ilkeston

An excellent, traditional Victorian boozer with a friendly welcome. There are very few relatively untouched pubs around like this one and for that alone it's well worth a visit. Beers were Oakham Bishops Farewell, Castle Rock Harvest Pale, Nottingham Rock Mild and Rock Bitter, Thornbridge Kipling and Blue Monkey Something Blue. A well balanced selection with all that we tried in excellent condition. The real ale venue in Ilkeston.

An absolute gem,a fine Victorian building with a wonderful traditional interior.To the left of the entrance is the public bar with a pool table ,a lot of lager fonts and a single handpump.To the right is the Family Room with it's own fireplace and comfortable furniture while around the corridor is another small seating area with bar access from what looks like an off sale counter.This leads on to The Lounge,out of bounds to children ,and the home of a bank of handpumps and the committed ale drinkers.Another traditional fireplace with fitted seating around the walls,a piano and low stools and small tables in the centre of the room. The ale selection and quality was very high with Thornbridge,Blue Monkey and Nottingham Brewery offering seeming to be regulars.The friendly landlord told us the Blue Monkey brewer is often in and particularly likes the Oakham Bishops Farewell,a compliment that I would expect to be returned if the Oakham boys were in town. We departed on a crawl around town ,but our first stop in here turned out to be the best on the tour.This is a wonderful pub and my next visit will be to fill my boots with their tip top ale in this GBG regular.