Staff of Life, Fishpool, Bury

An old, slightly shabby boozer, bigger than it looks at first sight. You enter into the very small front room, but there's a much larger room to the rear, both served from an (almost) island bar. There's a pool table up a few steps at the back of the pub. You have to walk down a corridor and over the barrel drop to get to the gents, very unusual. No real ale sadly and a half of fizz was £1.50. Now I've been I don't need to call back.

A rather plain but welcomingly old fashioned 2 bar pub close to Bury’s Gigg Lane football ground and as such, popular with match day fans. In many ways, this is a good representation of how I always depict a typical northern local’s pub with no thrills or fancies to be found, just a down to earth, no pretences, functional but welcoming boozer (I was here prior to an FC United of Manchester game and despite clearly being not from the area, the good natured football crowd was very friendly and chatty towards us). Both bars have similar décor and furnishings with built in seating, lots of horsey pictures, basic TV’s and it must be said a bit of a tatty feel but probably all the better for it in its own way. There is a dart board in one bar and a separate pool table section in an adjoining room running off the other. The only ale was Lees Bitter which isn’t the best pint in the world but it was cheap and served at a perfectly drinkable standard. Regular glass droppers will be pleased to learn that they use pint glasses with a finger and thumb indents for a better grip. It isn’t a place that non-locals would stretch their efforts to visit and the only outsiders found here would tend to be away supporters but for what it is, I found it perfectly adequate for a pre-match couple of pints.