The Railway, Morpeth

This was the nearest pub to our holiday accommodation and I found it the strangest of the four pubs in Rothbury. Firstly you enter through a side door through a set of beads reminiscent of what you used to hang on your kitchen door in the 70’s to keep the flies out in summer. This leads into a public bar set up with a pool table and dart board to the front and then the bar beyond. There was a smaller lounge section visible on the other side of the bar but I never saw anyone in here, presumably because you have to enter it from a door on the other side of the pub which is now primarily used to access the curry house above this pub. The bar has two handpumps but the Deuchars IPA was reverse clipped for the whole week I was there (and I kept looking in to check) and the other was dispensing a brew from the local Coquetdale microbrewery, which tasted alright but gave us dodgy stomachs the following day. Not sure if that was the beer but more probably the way it was kept as I got the distinct impression that they don’t move a lot of ale and it is very second to lager, shots and alcopops in this place. Never really felt comfortable in here and if it hadn’t had the excellent hidden secluded garden at the rear I probably wouldn’t have used it at all..