Past & Present, Gillingham

Side-street micro-pub but close by the High Street. Being converted from a narrow unit, the rear bar counter (located up a few steps) feels more separated from the front seating area than it really is. There are no handpumps here, with three real ales - Oakham JHB, Piddle's Cocky Dorset IPA (£3.50) and Old Man & The Sea stout from Mighty Oak - being dispensed on gravity from the cool room at the back.

(Pre-lockdown review) Medway's first micropub is housed in a former shop in the middle of the High Street area. The single small front room is carpeted and has a couple of high tables and a few comfy chairs. A quarter of the room is taken up by the glassed 'cellar' where the casks can be seen. The staff are very welcoming and chatty, as you would expect, while the clientele are a complete mix - football fans, locals and CAMRA types are the core clientele, while there are one or two visitors and a couple of people waiting hopefully for a new Wetherspoons in which to cash their giros. Six ales and a cider on cask today, most with a seasonal theme. I had a pint of Rockin Redbest from the nearby Rockin Robin microbrewery. An essential visit when in Gillingham and definitely a must for a town crawl.