Pubs Galore - the UK pub guide

On a recent midweek crawl of Chorlton, south of the A6010, the Beech Inn was the first, and one of the only, places that I found to be a proper down-to-earth pub rather than a pretentious bar or gastro pub. Out the front are three wooden tables with chairs and out the back is a large paved beer garden with a mix of garden furniture and an AstroTurf seating area.
The interior consists of a dog free seating area to the right of the entrance and another seating area to the left that is faced by the front of the bar. I counted six hand pumps that were drawing Sharp’s Doom Bar, Titanic Plum Porter, TT Landlord and Boltmaker, Mancunian Hoppy Blonde and Beech Inn Brew. There was also a premium keg range as well as Beavertown Neck Oil. In the rear is another seating area served by the back of the bar. Banquettes are found around the walls and there are a few small round tables with stools. A large televisions on the rear wall was airing football via BT Sport. Food is available in the form of pizza. I found the service to be very friendly and I would have no problem returning here.

This is a Victorian pub, which was originally known as the Swan Inn until the ‘80s and although I lived just two streets away from 1996 to 2000, the other day was my first visit.
The location isn’t great, but the pub is well presented externally, the name Charlie Wells advertising the brewer and where from the benches out front, you can see the Iffley Road Running Track, where on the 6th May 1954, Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile. There’s now a bare brick with tubular steel shelving for the bar back, with industrial metal shades over the metal topped bar. The floor’s modern boarded, with a tiled bar apron. The walls are rag washed, as is the ceiling, which looks like a prisoner’s dirty protest; not nice. Furniture is largely traditional, with banquettes upholstered with tartan cloth, rear seating laid for dining. Décor comprises some trendy framed prints and pot plants, some quite large. There’s also an in-house large lurcher, roaming around pestering me; who would want to eat a meal here with a large dog sniffing their food? As for customers, there were just two other locals, though my visit was made mid-afternoon on a Tuesday.
As Quinno mentions, there were two casks for stillage, but now they have cooling jackets, though no indication as to contents. There were two unused pumps, then just DNA and Origin at a very pricey £2.60 a half, but not bad. However, this is the Iffley Road Triangle, not central Oxford and this is the price – or a lot less – than I’d expect to pay in central London.
This pub’s ok, in fact it’s probably the best in the immediate vicinity being away from the prying eyes of students, but the pricing and enormous roaming hound are reasons why I won’t be returning.

Was supposed to open at 4 yesterday. No sign of life at 17:30. No idea if it's still open.

East of Arcadia has been bought by the renowned city-centre pub Whitelock's. They intend to keep the pub open for a couple of months, before closing in August for a refurb. When it reopens in September it will be under a new name.

With my tour of Staffordshire pubs by train and bus somehow having gone to plan, I'd left the option open for us to visit this town centre branch of Wetherspoon's. With just about enough time, we thought we'd give it a try.

The building certainly has the appearance of a lodge from the outside, but you can instantly recognise that you are in a Wetherspoon's once inside. There are lots of separate drinking areas inside, with almost all tables occupied in the warren of different rooms. It was noisy and messy, with a wide range of customers from marauding children raiding the condiments for their parents to the local Variety Club. On the subject of condiments, our table in common with others had a bottle of vinegar on it. Perhaps some of the regulars take swigs not realising it's not actually an ale?

Service at the bar was a little chaotic. Sharp's Doom Bar & Greene King Abbot were on as usual. Other beers were Greene King IPA, Banks's Bitter & Burton Bridge Golden Delicious. There was no real cider. I ordered a Burton Bridge Top Dog Stout, which was clipped on one handpull, only to be served Banks's Bitter instead. Despite it being my 10th pub of the day, I recognised that the half served was neither a stout nor a bottle of vinegar. The presence of the pumpclip had also clearly confused the barmaid and for once she actually removed it to avoid any further confusion (and wasted beer). Finally the practice of Wetherspoon's displaying pumpclips for beers that aren't actually on comes home to roost!

A busy and bustling 'spoon's that I noticed had never appeared in the Good Beer Guide. I can see why now. But as usual, if it's cheap and cheerful food and drink you're after, you'll find it here.