The Continental, Preston

After a decent walk from the station I got to this pub which overlooks the railway bridge and the River Ribble. Lots of different areas to sit including a conservatory and beer garden. 9 beers and ciders on on 6 visible handpulls. A good pub despite it being a bit of an arse to get to.

10-15 mins walk from town but a pleasant enough stroll through a more upmarket area of Preston. The pub lies adjacent to the railway viaduct over the river Ribble. A large place that has been given an upmarket sheen and is pitched at the Preston pashmina pudding brigade, though they still happily serve topers and didn’t bat an eyelid when 20 of us piled in en masse. Safe and upmarket decor but with a touch of class; light and airy interior with the highlights being the jumbo rear conservatory and lovely garden with large pink blossom trees in full flower. Live music advertised, which I wasn’t expecting. GBG ’22 listed and there were seven cask on over nine pumps plus a cider, which worried me a bit given the location, however my Vocation Bread & Butter was in great shape (NBSS 4) served-up by a friendly barman. I was rather taken with this place, they seemed to know exactly what their aim was without losing the air of inclusiveness. The walk back into town through Avenham Park is also rather nice. 8.5

As mentioned a bit of a trek from the main town, but a pleasant one. The pub itself comes across as a bit foodie but this is more than made up for with a pretty good beer range. Wort a look for the beers but there is little else that would attract me back.

It's a fair old schlep to reach this pub, especially if you go back up the steep hill in Avenham Park. It looks a bit strange standing on its own under the railway viaduct, but there's a good choice of beer for most people, but Rochdale pubs always have Vocation and Pictish on, so not as good for me. My pint was in good nick though. It's not really my type of place as it's mainly set up for diners.

A very surprising and rather good pub, tucked away in a backstreet backwater between the river and the park, which seems to be a conglomeration of several buildings joined together with modern extensions. Notable things are the large garden area, the live music list but especially the beer range, as described below. The Naughty & Nice stout was indeed dangerously drinkable. For those who don't fancy the walk, the 119 bus stops just down the road.

One of our party described the Continental as a food pub that happens to do good beer, and I would concur with that observation. The main modern decor bar area with the bar to the right and a seating area to the left. is bright and airy. Then there is further seating in the large conservatory section at the back and beyond that is a really impressive outside garden space which I can imagine is a great outside space for an alfresco pint in summer. Despite the space in front of the bar that is conducive to vertical drinking all of the inside spaces have a restaurant vibe with the exception of the lounge room to the right as you enter. This is very easy to miss, as I did and didn’t spot it until leaving. This room is apparently the original pub before all the modern bits got added on. The bar has six hand pumps but two of theses were double clipped providing a choice of seven ales plus a Sussex cider. These were Marble Beers Pint, Lacon's Legacy Pale Ale ,Farm Yard Ales Chaff session IPA, Handsome Blonde, Pictish Alchemist Ale, and two from Vocation, Vocation Bread & Butter pale ale and Naughty & Nice chocolate Stout. I went for the chocolate stout and it was really good. Not really a traditional pub experience ( with the exception of perhaps the small side room) but with the ale range available this is a fine pub to visit for a pint in the garden if and when walking the nearby river valley.