Risley Park, Derby

The Risley Park is a large roadhouse pub that looks like it was built in the 30s,the pub is situated on the western edge of the Nottingham conurbation go any further west and you hit the green belt between Nottingham and Derby. The pub was originally called the Blue Ball and most older people in the area still call it that. Once inside the pub now has one single room at the front,the bar is facing and there are still two distinct drinking areas which used to be the two seperate rooms,the right side is carpeted and has comfortable bench seating in small bays there are also normal tables and chairs in the middle these are of the comfy type there are also a few tall tables and chairs on the back wall,the left side has got bare boards and leather bench seating in bays. There is also a seperate dining room to the rear right and a large function room to the rear left. The pub does food and on my visit most people were dining,the pub seems to attract business types but it still welcomes drinkers like myself and surprisingly it lets dogs in the main pub area. There were three real ales on the bar and i had a drink of Castle Rock Harvest Pale which was a very nice drink but a bit expensive at £3.26 a pint,the other beers were Pedigree and Directors bitter. This is a pleasant enough pub to sit and relax over a few pints even though it gets a mainly upmarket type customer. Pub visited 17/2/2012