The Jailor's Barrel, Lancaster

A shop conversion with very attractive curved windows aside the entrance door,the interior is open plan with high tables in the window spaces ,lots of exposed brick ,steep staircase to the first floor loos and overflow room with a darts board and home to The Comedy Barrel..Further back on the ground floor is more seating.Students are offered cheap lager and cider,there are quiz nights,open mic,a blues club so a good community feel. Ales on my trip Lancaster Blonde doubled up,Settle Ribblehead Bitter and Cambrian Loweswater Gold (NBSS Acceptable).Maybe not quite enough to qualify for a must visit on a real ale crawl but students may appreciate £3.75 for lager and cider.

Long and narrow shop conversion with the bar on the right causing a pinch point. The front area is pleasant, but table sharing may be necessary. Six hand pumps with two beers "perfecting" in the cellar. Mine was ok, but could have been better (NBSS 2.5) - a beer called Clockwork from a new brewery for me called Little Tales.

Located a short walk down the road from the station, this is a small pub set out in a pleasant, contemporary fashion. Large shop style windows to the front allow plenty of light in to the decent front seating area, where high tables and stools run down both sides, along with a lone regular table with chairs, next to a small, lit fireplace. Three quarter height wood panelling can be found down the left side, with plain uppers, whilst the rest of the room is dominated by a series of exposed stone walls. The servery appears part-way down the right-hand wall and has a nice dark wood counter with a curved end, which has an unusual glass fronted display case built into it, full of old bottles. The bar back is matching and has some high, blocky shelving units. Beyond the bar, seating comes mostly in the form of lounge style furniture, including some fancy looking wing back chairs in front of a large stone fireplace on the back wall. The room has been decorated with lots of old paintings and photos, with beer boards on both sides, an unused TV screen to the front and a plain mirror above the rear fireplace. Stairs opposite the bar lead to the toilets and possibly a second seating area, which I failed to explore. There were just two handpulls in operation on my visit, dispensing Cumbrian Loweswater Gold and Cross Bay The IPA, whilst two more had been left unclipped and one had a 'coming soon' sign on it. The Loweswater Gold was in reasonable condition and served to me by a cheery barman. I found this quite a pleasant, comfortable pub with tasteful, modern decor, friendly service and a couple of well-kept, local beers to try. It felt like the sort of pub that might appeal to people who don't generally enjoy pub visits, but had enough to work for a more traditional pub-going audience too. Date of visit - 14th January 2024

A very quick visit but one which impressed me. There were quite few people in the pub but service was very quick, and I easily found somewhere to sit and enjoy my excellent pint of Lunebrew LB202. On reflection, I should have had a second rather than rushing off to investigate the Tite & Locke at the station.