The Rock Tavern, Mexborough

We came upon this pub unexpectedly, having arrived too soon at the Ship Inn (opens at 4.30 weekdays) and decided to make our way to the Sportsman instead. The Rock Tavern is a good looking pub, with a fresh coat of paint outside and smart refurbishment inside. The glass in the windows declares it to have belonged to the Tennant Brothers brewery, long since absorbed into the amorphous Whitbread empire. There's the promise of real ale in the exterior signs, but the absence of a pump clip on the solitary hand pump told its own story, reinforced by the bar person's uninterested reply to our enquiry, "not at the moment". We went for the Stones keg bitter as the lesser of several bad option (the alternatives being John Smiths Smooth Crap or lager). Possibly, as with some other pubs in this area, the real ale is only on at the busier end of the week (we were here on a Tuesday), but we didn't confirm this. It was quite pleasant here, with a small group of lager drinkers around the bar enjoying a cheerful conversation, and we would have enjoyed our visit more if there had been a real ale available, or if the person serving had been more interested in her job.