Robert Raikes's House, Gloucester

Very impressive building, beautifully restored by Sam Smiths with quite a bit of money being donated by the National Trust. It's a bit like wandering through a museum and it was just as quiet. We called in on a Thursday evening around 8 and it was dead as a post. I had a pint of the bitter and it was well over £2, that makes it the most expensive pint of Sam Smiths I've ever had. Admittedly it's still very cheap for central Gloucester. We sat down in the front room and watched the world go by, they certainly went by rather than stopped off though. We finished our drinks and went across the road to Cafe Rene which was packed and where the beer is over £3 a pint. I don't know what that proves, but a pub needs some atmosphere to get the punters in and this place just didn't have any.

More than adequately described by Soup Dragon and Old Boots below, so I'll just confine myself to the beer. It's disappointing that there's no real ale available here, but the Sam Smiths range of keg beers is better than tolerable. The landlord kindly pointed out that my half of Dark MILD was only £1, to which I could only reply that the last such drink I'd had in a Sam Smiths pub had set me back all of 67p. He correctly surmised that I must be from Yorkshire. I wouldn't mind a pub like this on my doorstep in Sheffield - it's like being in a museum or picture gallery, and worth every penny of the extra 33p.