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Submitted on Wednesday, 18^th February 2026
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The Castle, Bedford

17 Newnham Street
Bedford
MK40 3JR

Phone: 01234353295

Correct details

Served areas

Bedford Central

Reviews of The Castle (Average Rating: 6 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Ian Mapp left this review about The Castle

A lot of love for this Charles Wells tied house on Google Maps. But I couldn't warm to it. A 3pm opener on a Monday. I dont think the punters had got the memo. Or the staff. Completely empty - I walked around the central bar to find no one to serve me. Used the facilities and the hand dryer announced my arrival.

Sat in an empty pub for 30 mins nursing an aptly named Ghost Ship at a shocking (to me) £5.80. One other punter came in - had the same experience of not finding anyone to serve him and promptly walked back out. Only the golden retriever looked disappointed.

Obviously Monday afternoon is not the time to appreciate its virtues.

On 18^th February 2026 - rating: 4
[User has posted 1772 recommendations about 1745 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Pub SignMan left this review about The Castle

This is quite a pleasant, modernised town centre pub with a nice two room layout and a mix of traditional and contemporary styles. You enter into the compact main bar with a flagstone floor and a squat L-shaped servery to the rear left. The bar has a modern wood panel counter front and mirrored bar back, running through to the left-hand side room. There’s a nice comfy banquette under the front window, with some good quality chairs in support, screened by a shelving unit which acts as a partition from the left-hand room. High tables and stools run down the right-hand wall in the space opposite the bar, eventually giving way to a carpeted rear area with some padded bench and chair seating options. There are lots of dark wood beams and pillars throughout, and the walls have been decorated with a lot of old paintings and black and white photos, which helps the room retain a traditional pub feel in contrast to the modern furniture, unused TV screen and dreadful bird-themed wallpaper to the rear that’s really best not to dwell on. The side room has a smaller, but similar layout, with an unusual wall covering to the left and the bar down the right-hand side, as well as plenty of additional seating. A passage to the rear leads out to a well appointed patio garden with plenty of typical garden furniture, whilst back inside, a pop soundtrack played in the background, easily lost under the chatter of a surprisingly busy mid-week crowd.
Five ales were available on this occasion, albeit a fairly uninspiring mainstream selection of Wells Origin and Legacy, Courage Directors, Black Sheep Bitter and Youngs Ordinary. Against my better judgement, I went for the Origin (£2.10), which was well-kept but nothing to write home about. The bar staff seemed very friendly and welcoming to a new face and there was a remarkable churn of customers coming and going during the course of my relatively brief visit.
This is another decent Bedford backstreet pub, with a nice modernised interior that will appeal to a wider range of customers, and a sizeable ale range, albeit a little too focussed on mainstream bitters that can be found in numerous other pubs around town. A decent enough place to add to a crawl, but not somewhere I’d fancy stopping in for a longer session.

On 23^rd February 2022 - rating: 6
[User has posted 3387 recommendations about 3387 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Danny O'Revey left this review about The Castle

open pub, stone floor, nice

On 27^th January 2019 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1590 recommendations about 1567 pubs]

View more reviews of The Castle (7)

External web links for The Castle

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Official site of the Castle Inn, contains menu and event details - www.thecastlepubbedford.co.uk
Official page of the Castle at the Charles Wells site, contain real ale details - www.charleswells.co.uk