Coach & Horses, Wellingborough

The Coach & Horses is an inviting looking pub from the road, and the interior is interesting, if maybe a little busy. The walls are plastered in beer paraphernalia and old pump clips, that latter of which also run along all of the wooden ceiling beams. Twelve hand pumps I counted on the bar, nine of which were in use drawing ale. I went for a pint of St Austell’s Proper Job which went down well. Seven real ciders are also available, their clips lining the bar in front of the hand pumps. To the left and right are premium and craft keg options. There are also a couple of tall fridges with shelves packed with craft cans for those who like to spend top dollar. Food is available during the day and the left rear of this L-shaped pub looked to be geared more towards dining. The burgers are priced at £13.95 and Pieminister pies are available. I’ve had one of these pies at the Pieminister restaurant in Leeds, top scran! There’s also a heated pork crackling display case on the bar. Some background music was playing during a recent Tuesday evening visit. I left at 20:00, leaving the pub empty apart from the friendly barmaid. I can see why they close at 21:00 during the week. This is a decent pub well worth a visit, but I was disappointed not to see a porter or stout amongst the cask. I suppose you can’t please everyone!

The Coach & Horses clearly has a reputation for serving decent real ales and ciders and is the go-to pub in town. I was looking forward to my visit here, but was perhaps a little disappointed. The pub was quiet, with one other couple inside on my arrival. They soon left, but others appeared. There did however appear to be a few more outdoors at the rear. The main bar area is L-shaped and there is much to admire around the walls. Service was friendly. The real ale range was good, without being exceptional. It would have been nice to have had a dark beer, or at least some beers from Northamptonshire and the East Midlands on. Nevertheless, the range was Black Sheep Best Bitter, St Austell Tribute, Big Smoke Distant Lands, Five Points Pale, Signature Roadie, Salopian Lemon Dream, Darwin's Origin & Lost In Translation, Adnams Ghost Ship & Abbeydale Moonshine & Alchemy. There is a good craft beer range and there are further adventurous bottled and canned options in the fridges. Real ciders were Cotswold Cider Company Yellow Hammer & Lilley's Crazy Goat, Merry Monkey, Pickled Parrot, Bee Sting, Pineapple Cider, Collider & Somerset Scrumpy. This is certainly not a pub you should miss if you are ever in Wellingborough. But it didn't quite hit the high expectations I had. Nevertheless, it's a solid 8/10 from me and I look forward to giving it another go some day when hopefully the current virus has been eliminated.

The must visit pub in Wellingborough for ale choice and it’s a comfy spot in which to enjoy it. The pub is a traditional boozer with a large central bar surrounded by various drinking areas and, on our visit, a marquee at the back for footy watching. We visited on a Saturday afternoon England World Cup game so there were tellys on throughout and the place was heaving. Despite that the crowd enjoyed the match in good humour and even though it was up to 3 deep at the bar the service was swift and efficient keeping the wait to a minimum. The ale range was superb: Oakham Scarlet Macaw and Red Rye, Merrimans MPG, Phipps Gold Star, Radcliffe’s Celebrated Stout, Thornbridge Puja, Dhillons Red IPA, Grainstore Rutland Beast and Hop Back Groovy Mover. All that and there still one unused pump. Many styles and strengths to go at there and a fair smattering of local breweries represented. Everything we had was excellent and in good shape. Wellingborough’s must visit ale emporium.

A modest frontage ,but a treat awaits within.This is a long standing CAMRA award winning ale house and a GBG regular.The front room houses the L shaped bar with it's 12 handpumps.There is a mix of furniture,some sofas and comfy chairs,bench seating,traditional wooden tables & chairs in a carpeted room.There is a rear room with much the same vibe with sports screens in both areas.There is a large beer garden out the back. Pumps clips cover the ceiling and the pub retains a boozer vibe,which also means bar blocking regulars on bar stools.A board listing the ale choice would be helpful,especially when the pub is busy and it took us a while to spot an excellent Hop Back Groovy Moover tucked away at the end of the line of handpumps.Other ales sampled by the crew were Oakham Scarlet Macaw,Phipps Gold Star and Thornbridge Puga all in great nick. A must visit in Wellingborough,I will be back.

This is a detached main road pub a short walk West out of Wellingborough. Inside it is a single open room with a wooden floor and a central bar. Pump clips seemed to be almost everywhere. It was fairly quiet on my Friday lunchtime visit with a music track that included Jefferson Airplane, Radiohead and Led Zeppelin. Posters advertising a quiz and live music were around the place. As I entered I had noticed a sign that said there were twelve ales and twelve ciders available. I didn't delve into the cider but there were certainly twelve hand pumps all clipped. They included three Kelham Island Beers, two Elgoods, Summer Lightning, Doom Bore, Hoggley's Mild, Great Oakley Wagtail, a Castle Rock beer and Dark Star Original. I tried the Hoggley's Mild and the Great Oakley Wagtail and both were in excellent condition at £3.40 reduced to £3.30 with the 10p CAMRA discount. i noticed a board from where I was sitting that said that they had sold 2205 beers from 409 breweries since 1st September 2008. This pub has won a few CAMRA awards and is a regular GBG entry. Given the ale and cider selection it's not surprising. I give it a strong 9.

The Coach and Horses is a really nice looking pub that is situated just off the town centre. Once inside there was a decent sized L shaped room the bar was facing,the seating was a mix of normal tables and chairs and banquette seats,the floor was bare boarded,the ceiling is beamed and had hundreds of pump clips fixed to it. There was a very good choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Nene Valley OZP which was a very nice well kept beer,there were too many beers to note but i did note a few,Nene Valley DXS,Taylor Landlord and Phipps Gold Star. When i orderd my drink i asked for a half the landlady started pulling a pint,i asked for a half which she did,but the beer geeks who were hogging the bar sneered at me for doing this,why do some real ale drinkers think they are better than normal drinkers like me?,this really pissed me off. This is a very pleasant pub with decent beer on the bar. Pub visited 21/6/2014