The Cheese Rollers, Cheltenham

Named after the world famous cheese rolling event at nearby Cooper’s Hill, this is a traditional looking pub on the main road through this village just outside Cheltenham, and includes a pleasant beer garden at the back as well as a car park. Internally it came as something as a shock, as the style was very contemporary and not at all in keeping with the outside of the pub. It’s all one open plan room, although divided in to a couple of different areas in an L-shape configuration, with a raised seating area in the corner. There were some attractive flagstone style tiles on the floor, but other than that everything was very monotone with grey wood panelling on the lower part of the walls and either grey or white paintwork elsewhere. There was little else of any note other than some artistic metal models of bicycles and motorbikes on the walls. A TV screen was at the far end showing a nature documentary. Seating was a mixture of stools at the bar counter, upright leather style chairs at the back and in the raised seating area, with regular tables and chairs elsewhere. A quick glance at the menu showed a decent enough selection of pub grub dishes such as fish & chips, sausage & mash, hunter’s chicken, ham egg & chips and so on, as well as a number of burgers and steaks. These were mostly priced around the £9 - £10 mark, and there was also a small specials board behind the bar. Beers on tap were Ubu Purity, Doom Bar and Otter Ale. Ciders on tap were Stowford Press and Thatcher’s Haze, although they also had several more in boxes behind the bar and these included Old Rosie, Rosie’s Pig, Celtic Tiger, Cheddar Valley and Stan’s Big Apple. Overall this was a decent enough pub and there was certainly a friendly welcome, but I really felt that the contemporary styling jarred somewhat and felt it was a shame that they had removed whatever character the pub must have had previously.

A food-oriented pub about a third of a mile up from The Bell. Looks good from the outside - the back garden gives a glimpsed view of the Leckhampton hills. Inside a little too bright and clinical - flagstone floor and Farrow & Ball shades of white, light blue and blue which give a semi-Chef & Brewer look to the decor. Sharp's Doom Bar, Otter Ale and Butcombe Bitter on with a fourth stump unclipped (the Butcombe was £1.95 for a half and OK). Potential to be a bit better, but being a roadside pub, they've gone down the food road and the result is a little soulless. Varied hit-and-miss 80s muzak during my stay.

Official site of The Cheese Rollers - www.thecheeserollerscheltenham.co.uk

Official site of The Cheese Rollers - www.thecheeserollerscheltenham.co.uk