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Detail Pages
The Wheeltapper, Loughborough
Loughborough
LE11 2TZ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Strongers . left this review about The Wheeltapper
I visited the Wheeltapper not long after the 16:00 weekday opening so I was the only customer sat in this L-shaped bar with a short counter on the rear wall that faces a couple of tables to the left of the front entrance. Across the front windows to the left of these tables are a couple of sofas and in the far left is a dartboard. Some high tables and bench seating run up the right-hand wall and there’s a railway and beer theme on the walls throughout. The back bar and supporting pillars around the counter are plastered with old pumps clips, quite a collection is being amassed. During my visit the five hand pumps were drawing a very good Elgood’s Black Dog Mild alongside Little Brewing’s Epiphany, Hollow Stone Brewery’s Sorbeto Mango IPA, Shiny Brewery’s 4wood and Attic Brew Co’s Centro. There are also ten craft keg fonts on the back bar. I found the owner to be polite and I enjoyed the 1970s background music that could have come off my Spotify account, however there’s no character and it feels a bit like drinking in an office block. I would pop back in if passing, but only for one.
On 3rd June 2025
- rating: 6
[User has posted 6134 recommendations about 6100 pubs]
Old Boots left this review about The Wheeltapper
As described before a bare modern room on the ground floor of a modern block, it does have a railway theme which relives the modernity. One wall is covered with 1950/60s BR posters and there are many other railway references. Fairly basic craft bar type furniture but there’s a pleasant atmosphere. An L shape with a central counter, home to five pulls with well kept local beers and the standard 10 keg taps on the back wall with a mix of non Camra approved ciders and craft kegs. Lots of pump clips decorate the walls inside the counter. There’s a rear garden with a second entrance off an adjacent alley. It has a dart board but I’m not sure that qualifies it for the CAMRA Traditional Pub of the Year 2023 (3rd place) award it displays. It does however well deserve its GBG 2025 place.
On 25th April 2025
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3648 recommendations about 3327 pubs]
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Wheeltapper
Although very much micro-pub in concept and furniture / decoration, this L-shaped bar is really too large to fit the description as generally understood. So, leaving that aside, it is quite a good stop for a pint with five cask ales on handpump and ten craft keg taps on the bar-back. From the former, my Nut Brown (one of a pair from the 'new' Shipstones , £4.30) was exemplary.
On 14th July 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8733 recommendations about 8733 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Wheeltapper
Decent sized modern bar with a spacious bare boarded interior occupying a wide but relatively shallow room. The bar covers much of the back wall and has a rather bland counter front and plain painted bar back almost entirely covered in pump clips. Hard bench seating occupies much of the right-hand side of the pub, extending a short way past the end of the servery before giving way to a large beer garden with loads of seats and a good deal of shelter. Metal chairs and plush sofas alternate along the front wall, opposite the bar. The walls have been decorated with old replica railway posters, strings of fairy lights and a dartboard in the far-left corner. A TV screen on the bar back was showing some promotional nonsense whilst a fun pop-punk soundtrack chugged away in the background. Unlike most other pubs visited around the town on a Thursday evening, this place was pretty much empty.
On the bar, five cask ales were available – Shipstone Mild and Little Hush, Kirtkstall Pale, Nene valley Bitter and Shiny Rocky. The TV on the bar back listed eight craft keg lines and numerous cider and perry options. The barman was very brusque and had no interest in engaging in any sort of beer-related chat, so I sloped off to a corner of the room and drank my pint in solitude.
This place ticks the boxes in terms of beer selection and quality but loses points for a total lack of atmosphere and an unfriendly welcome, neither of which made me want to stay here any longer than necessary. This could be a decent place to enjoy some interesting beer if caught at the right time but didn’t really work for me on this occasion.
On 31st May 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3361 recommendations about 3361 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Wheeltapper
Modern bar in a new build - too big to be a micro. Inverse L shaped interior, quite a clean and modern feel with cream walls and a burgundy lower third with some rail themed décor including some nice interwar posters. Dart board. Five pumps all dispensing, my Black Lodge Parade was a bit flabby but perfunctory (NBSS 2.5) much like the service. I got here not long after opening and the place felt a bit flat. I wasn’t really enamoured with Loughborough pubs and this place kind of summed things up – plenty of potential but not really firing on all cylinders.
On 19th November 2022
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5594 recommendations about 5575 pubs]