The Castle Inn, Kendal

One of the regular pubs I visit when I'm working in Kendal as I stay at the Riverside Hotel just up the road. Multiple rooms including one with pool and darts and a pleasant lounge. Always a couple of well kept cask ales on the bar. I'm told there are more on at weekends, but I'm never here then. :-)) Always a friendly welcome and a good chat with both staff and locals.

This is a good friendly locals pub. As its off the main town centre drag it didn't have usual passing tourist trade. There was what amounts to 2 rooms either side of the bar. I think I counted 5 handpumps, I may be wrong, and all were serving reasonably local ales. A few benches out front to sit on made a pleasant experience.

A convivial backstreet local with a friendly atmosphere, the building has been opened out like many of its kind from the original two-roomed layout. There are four hand pumps in what would have been the lounge, with one of them duplicated in the "public". At the time of my visit the beers on offer were Timothy Taylor Landlord, Hawkshead Bitter, Loweswater Gold and Fullers London Pride. I must admit I would like to see more local beers on show; I don't see any reason for bringing beers like London Pride all the way up to Kendal when there are dozens of local breweries which could supply something different. Having said that, they seemed to be doing a roaring trade, and it was hard to find a seat when I was here, so they must be doing something right. Date of visit: 29th May 2016