The New Inn, Gloucester

Four handpumps on the bar, with only one in use serving Bristol Beer Factory Independence. Luckily for us it was fresh on and tasted terrific. I found the pub to be quite dated and the two seater settee in the rear pool table room looked as though it was ready for a skip. Another downside was the large wall mounted TV showing daytime crap and the gents toilets across the courtyard needed a good revamp. I think this place has lost its soul, it lacked atmosphere and customers.

Although accessed through a nondescript entranceway off of Gloucester’s rather uninspiring pedestrianised shopping street, the courtyard within is really quite impressive, dating from the 15th century and said to be one of the finest galleried inns in the country, which I can well believe. The pub buildings entirely surround the courtyard, and although it looks as though these days much of it consists of a hotel, there are still many original signs for the businesses that were there such as Grey’s Coffee House, The Tap & Barrel and the Pilgrim’s Brewery. It was then something of a disappointment when I poked my head in the door of the brewery only to find some extremely smelly toilets. The main part of the pub seems to be off to the right of the courtyard and the main bar was an attractive old room with thick black beams on the ceiling and black wooden boards around the perimeter of the room, although the central part was carpeted. A fireplace with an ornately carved wooden surround was off to one side, although this appeared to be no longer in use and the TV screen showing a music channel that had been mounted on the wall next to it detracted from the effect somewhat. To the rear was a slightly smaller room, and this too was quite attractive with more black timberwork and white plaster. Whether they had some problem with their beer supply I’m not sure, but none of the seven hand pumps appeared to be in use, with five of them unclipped and the other two for Doom Bar and Sharp’s Atlantic having reversed clips. I have seen it closed previously when walking past, so perhaps they have had a change of management and have yet to get their supplies sorted. What they did have was You’ve Got Pale and Session IPA from the local Gloucester Brewery in boxes on the bar counter. The other fonts all appeared to be similarly out of use, although more boxes for Rosie’s Pig cider and Weston’s Still Country Perry were also on the bar top. This is a tricky one to mark as it’s certainly a lovely old building, but doesn’t seem to be fulfilling it’s potential at the moment with the odd beer arrangement and the lack of any atmosphere, perhaps because there were only two other punters in on my visit. One to watch though.