Coach & Horses, Norwich

An odd melange of a pub, it’s the tap for Chalk Hill Brewery and most of the cask beer is theirs, I think only a Bristol Beer Factory one was a guest. There are four sets of three pulls spread round the semi circular counter with horseshoes in between, nothing to scare the punters on the horseshoes, other than a wild hazy sour Vault City beer. The single room follows the counter round in a semi circle, going from public bar style with dart board round through slightly differentiated areas to a more dining conservatory at the back. The floor is parquet or tile and the furniture very, very chunky. An interesting decor point is the group of maps showing the Thorpe Road area through time.

Set back from the passing road, the Coach & Horses has rows of covered picnic tables out the front, so it’s not the most attractive place to gaze upon. Inside, there is pew type seating in the front windows either side of the entrance and up the left are some high table and stools that run to an open plan seating area at the rear. On the left-hand wall is a dartboard and televisions are found throughout. Norwich were getting hammered by Boro so the atmosphere wasn’t exactly electric, but it was very busy. This is a Chalk Hill Brewery pub so six off there cask options were available, Tap, CHB, Gold, Ruby, Black Anna and Cask-Ade. Redemption Brewing’s Big Chief was the cask guest and craft keg was also available. I though it was OK in here, it was certainly very handy as my hotel was over the road. Worth popping into if making the walk east to the Fat Cat & Canary.

Visited by Steve ‘Strongers’ C and myself, due to the close proximity to the railway station and Premiere Inn. It’s a bit of a slog up the hill, a walk feeling all the longer due to the rain. Out front, the ugly tent is still in situ, but inside it’s a resolutely locals’ or students’ hangout, with TVs aplenty giving a sports bar feel, but with bar blockers aplenty, making viewing the clips almost impossible. Overall, it was quite noisy inside and no doubt would have been a lot nosier if the Canaries weren’t being given a 5 – 1 plucking by the Boro. Seemingly four ales on cask, my Chalk Hill Gold costing a pricey £2.25 a half and dull. Not a great pub; I wouldn’t bother returning.

Not far from the station ,so a good place to start or finish a crawl,this large pub has a sports bar feel with flatscreens dotted about including one in the vast awning before the front door .The interior has very heavy and solid furniture throughout and lots of bar stools of the same material so blockers could be a problem.However the staff are very efficient ,although this maybe tested when Norwich City are playing at home.It's the home to the Chalk Hill Brewery and you will need to drift around the bar to see the full range on offer,although many brews appear on more that one pump.On my visit the range was their CHB,Tap,Gold (NBSS 3),Ruby,Black Anna and Pale. There is a modern darts board to one side ,and several seating booths dotted about,it has a very blokey feeland was popular with the footie on the screens. This was a brief crawl visit and it would take a few visits to come to a decision on how good Chalk Hill ales actually are,but it's in the 2023 GBG and would be worth including on a crawl.