The Open Arms, Swinley, Wigan

New-fangled café / bar, with very modern and light furniture and decor. Two of three real handpumps in use, dispensing Adnams Mosaic and the local Hophurst Twisted Vine (£2.60). Quiet later on a Thursday evening, but perhaps I missed the rush?

One of four micro pubs to have opened in and around Wigan in the last six months, this small, single room bar feels more like a café than a traditional pub. The bar is located at the top end of town, in an area with a few other decent pubs, making it easy to incorporate if you’re planning a crawl of the area. The place is pretty basic, with a square shaped room served by a small bar area in the rear right corner. The counter has a black formica top and bar back and the room has laminate flooring and modern high backed padded chairs around small café style tables, all of which combines to lend the place a feeling of showroom-newness that hopefully will bed in a bit over time. A huge floor-to-ceiling image of Venice covers most of the left hand wall, although I’m not too sure what the link to the bar might be, whilst the right hand side is mostly bare, except for a single, long mirror. A table near the servery had a stack of CAMRA magazines and the day’s papers on it and there was a relaxing swing music soundtrack playing – unconventional for a micro pub, but not really out of place. I arrived early on a Saturday evening and found the place pretty quiet, making it ideal for a relaxing pint away from some of the busier spots around town. There are three handpulls on the bar which were dispensing beers from local brewers – Martland Mill Lancashire Loom, Prospect Silver Tally and Hophurst Flaxen, with the latter costing £2.60 a pint and served in pretty good shape. Three keg taps (also unusual for a micro pub and perhaps part of the reason the pub isn’t mentioned on the Micro Pub Association’s website) offered mainstream lagers and Tetley Smooth. A few bottled continental beers were available in the fridges, there was an extensive coffee menu plus snacks in the shape of sandwiches and soups. I found this to be an interesting take on the micro pub model – one that perhaps appeals to a wider section of the community than just ale drinkers. I could certainly envisage daytime visitors meeting here over a coffee and sandwich, but imagine the place comes more into its own in the evening. A good addition to the local pub scene.