The Old Wine Vaults, Holywell

Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Old Wine Vaults

A fairly busy town centre pub which has now given up on cask ale. There was a decent after-work crowd in on my early Thursday evening visit. A few TVs were showing horse racing and there were also some games machines. Locals were busy placing bets on non-event Irish horse races. Music was playing. There is a pool table to the rear and an outdoor patio beyond that. Children and dogs are allowed in.

As I walked in (the entrance is still to the far left), I had seemingly become part of a little game being played by the barmaid and a local stood at the bar. The customer seemed really interested in what drink I would order and it turned out that they were trying to guess what each customer would order! With no cask ales, I fooled them both by ordering a soft drink, as I was driving. For the record, keg options were John Smiths, Somersby Blackberry, Worthington's Creamflow, Guinness, Wrexham Lager, Madri, Carlsberg, Strongbow, Carling, Shipyard & Coors.

Holywell seems to have few pubs for the size of the town. I can't see I was particularly impressed with this one but it seems well patronised.

On 2^nd November 2025 - rating: 4
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