Major Tom's Social, Harrogate

Basically a first floor second hand shop with a real ale/craft bar inside. All the assorted lamps & pots & heaters etc in the centre area of the bar are all for sale and have price tickets on them. There's an eclectic mix of tables, chairs, benches, posters, paintings, cabinets etc all spread about the place. 4 handpumps on the bar with a good selection of ales. Pizza'a are the main food staple although a couple of other choices were available. Live music was due to feature later in the evening on our visit. They also have quiz nights & there was a stand up advertised. The enthusiastic and friendly staff are a definite bonus. A great addition to the Harrogate real ale scene.

Eclectic & very individual upsatirs cafe bar. Full of bric-a-brac, non specific decoration & variety of seating choices. Certainly different, if a little tatty. 4 real ales

Opened in early 2014, hot on the heels of the more traditional Harrogate Tap, this interesting first floor bar forms Harrogate's contribution to the 'craft beer' scene. Set in a former antiques shop, you climb up to the first floor, passing a strange plastic spaceman on the way (the titular Major Tom perhaps?), before emerging into a square shaped room with chipboard flooring and a part-chipboard, part-tile servery on the rear wall. The bar area has been decorated with a large Brooklyn Brewery flag and some particularly impressive large music posters, plus a pillar next to the bar is covered with old vinyl records, all of which suitably enhance the bar's hip credentials. There is a crazy mix of seating throughout, covering all bases from retro tub chairs, to rickety benches via well worn sofas, serving an equally varied range of tables. There is a strange space to the front of the room, which is seemingly fenced off by shelves displaying retro electronic equipment, large ewers and other random bits and bobs. The walls here also have some fine movie posters on show, but I couldn't figure out why this area was left unused. Elsewhere, the décor is as eclectic as you might have by now come to expect, including a large blackboard detailing the brewing process, funky modern art prints, gig posters and a shelving rack holding back issues of Mojo magazine. The windows all display the Major Tom spacemen logo and I would say roughly a quarter of the tables in the pub were hosting groups playing board games, which must be a first on a Saturday evening. Live music is pretty big here and a suitably trendy soundtrack was playing at a loud, but acceptable volume. The bar supports four handpulls which were dispensing Brass Castle Snow Eater and Bad Kitty, Empire Colony 13 and Little Valley Cragg Vale Bitter. The friendly barman recommended an excellent pint of Snow Eater and chatted with great enthusiasm about the beers, live music and the pub in general. Some decent keg options were also available and the fridges were packed with all sorts of interesting bottles and cans. I thought this was an excellent addition to Harrogate's drinking scene, offering something very different and doing so with a real sense of passion and fun. There is so much going on here that it practically demands repeat visits to take it all in and I would certainly be happy to oblige.

Hipsters hit Harrogate. This is a recently-opened trendy boho bar that isn’t immediately obvious from the street - you need to go up a flight of stairs at the base of an antiques/oddities shop, then past a second-hand record stall before entering the pub proper. The mix of punters was actually fairly good, though of course the arty and alt types are in the majority. Décor consists of old film posters and various flyers, plus an eclectic mix of furnishings from Freegle. Live music is a big thing here, with various speakers and amps scattered round the place. Food is offered - the pizzas were surprisingly cheap and sounded delicious, next time I will try one. Four ales on and a fine choice; Marble, 2xRoosters and Brass Castle. My BC Bad Kitty was in impressive nick and slipped down a treat. Also a decent range of craft keg and foreign bottles available. Offbeat and enjoyable, give this one a go.

Interesting place, located at first-floor level and with what appears to be an open-plan shop in one corner (although not seeming open as such when we visited briefly). Eclectic mix of furniture and decor, and very much aimed at the young professional market. Well chosen selection from four handpumps, including Cragg Vale Bitter (£1.65, half) and two from Brass Castle. Worth a longer stop next time.