The Lifeboat, Folkestone

The Lifeboat is a small and comfortable pub off the beaten track that doesn’t open until 13:00 during the week and midday at the weekend. There are extended opening hours until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, but on Sundays and Mondays the pub closes at 21:00. My visit was at 16:00 on Monday last week when there were two other customers. There was some sporadic music playing off the jukebox at an unobtrusive level and the plasma screen was off with no signs of live sport, which didn’t surprise as this doesn’t seem the sort of place that would show football. A standard draught range along with Amstel is available from the bar that is found on the right hand wall. I counted seven hand pumps, but three of these were unused and the Ruddles was off leaving Deuchars, Morland Original and Young’s Ordinary as the ale options. The woman behind the bar, who I took to be the landlady, was in the process of putting a guest pump clip on one of the unused hand pumps so the limited selection of ale was probably just down to my time of visit. I liked it in here and would have no problem returning.