The Old Buttercross, Barleythorpe, Oakham

The Old Buttercross is a large L-shaped out-of-town Marstons pub, so it is aimed at families. To the left of the entrance is a pool table which is faced by a strip of seating, but the rest of the pub is set-up for dining. The central L-shaped bar counter supports two banks of four hand pumps that were duplicated with Pedigree, 2x Hobgoblin and an unused hand pump. Premium keg was also available alongside Carling and Beavertown’s Neck Oil. To the left of the bar counter is a pizza oven with serving station. There was some generic background music playing and a television was rolling muted news. The service was polite, but this place certainly isn’t worth the walk from town to visit just for a beer.

Nothing old about this place! It is a large new-build Marstons eatery situated just off the A606 Oakham bypass. L-shaped inside with some broken-up areas. Four ales on, Hobgoblin, Pedigree, Wainwright and Oakham JHB, the latter of which was faintly turning and Desmond reported a very poor quality lemonade too. We retreated to the outside garden and we either helped or hindered the stunted summer grass by pouring the Oakham onto it. Boring, poor bar skills and just a general waste of time.

Official site of The Old Buttercross - www.oldbuttercrosspuboakham.co.uk

Official site of The Old Buttercross - www.oldbuttercrosspuboakham.co.uk