Russell Arms, Battledown, Cheltenham

As below, this is a run-down jade-coloured cube plonked on the corner of Hales Road and Upper Park Street, which necessitates a neon 'open' sign to reassure the public that the establishment is still a going concern. Access is to the left of the building under a covered smoking area, with the bar facing slightly towards the left of the entrance as one enters. The layout is a straightened lightning bolt shape internally, with the bar forming the central portion, a pool room (and access to toilets) forming one of the bolts to the left and a seated area the other, ahead to the right. The interior is lighted by blue-coloured fairy lights, and without any other real stand-out light, gives off a rather dim appearance internally. A fruit machine, quizzer, horse racing photos and large flat-screen TV complete the limited décor. There's no real ale on tap, Toby Bitter on keg and bottled Hobgoblin being the only concession to ale drinkers. I opted for a pint of Carlsberg which chimed in at a mere £2.50. This was a brief highlight of my stay along with the music channel ('Vintage TV') which played tunes by RHCP and The Smiths during my brief sojourn.

Square corner pub on the junction of Hales Road and Upper Park Street. Not very inviting initially as the main entrance was guarded by the smoking brigade, but once inside it seemed friendly enough and had a bit of a strange art deco interior going on. But didn't stay long enough to look at it properly because quickly established there was no real ale and standard draft offerings only , so made my apologies and left. So wont give a rating as I really didn't try it. For any real ale drinker the benefit of the Russel Arms is as a marker post where you need to turn down Upper Park Street to find the Cheltenham Motor Club.