Fellows Morton & Clayton, Nottingham

There's a surprisingly large ale selection in this pub, with eight on - Doom Bar, London Pride, Landlord, Black Sheep Bitter and Tribute from the regularly seen beers (by London standards anyway) and which were supplementd by Lincoln Green Brewery Hood Bitter, Nottingham Brewery Pale Ale and Magpie Raven Stout during my recent visit. The Hood seemed like a decent ale to my companion and I, and at a very wallet friendly £2.80 a pint. But a word of caution is need for any visiting drinkers from the South - all beers here dispensed through sparklers. It opens at 10.00 AM on a Saturday (11.00 AM other days), which came as pleasant surprise as my chum and I were in need of an early snifter. The layout and description is unchanged from Pubsignman's visit a few days ago. It looks as if some of the rear of the pub is converted tackle sheds. Although I didn't spot any explanation within the pub as to where the unusual pub name comes from, the pub sign seems to indicate a connection with canal boat operators. We liked this pub (the ale selection being a big plus factor here) and expect to pay a return visit on a future visit to Nottingham.

Named after one of Britain’s largest canal transportation companies, this is a grand looking Victorian pub with a pleasant canal side location. The pub is split level, with the raised bar area at the front and a lower lounge type space towards the canal at the rear. The bar area is wooden floored and has fairly limited seating options around the servery, although this is supplemented by a small raised space in the front corner, which has been carpeted and provides some comfy seats. There are a couple of TV screens on this level and at least one was showing muted Sky Sports News with some music playing in the background. The lower half of the pub includes a conservatory style space which looks across to the neighboring Canalhouse. There are standard table and chair arrangements down here, plus some padded banquettes on the left hand side, which made it popular with those who were here to eat. The menu looked pretty good and a specials board listed mains at around the £7.00 mark. I also noticed a couple of dartboards down towards the back of the pub and if you take the stairs at the far back, you can view the old brew room from the pub’s former days as a brew pub. There’s no home brew nowadays, but a good selection is still available at the bar, with options on my visit consisting of Black Sheep Bitter, St Austell Tribute, Fullers London Pride, Nottingham EPA, Lincoln Green Hood Bitter, Taylor Landlord, Sharps Doom Bar and Two Trees Perry, with Titanic Vanilla and Chocolate Stout having just gone off. With the stout no longer available, I thought the remaining beers were all a bit of a similar style and the staff really struggled to advise a customer who asked for a pint of their darkest ale. The pub is close to the train station and has some outdoor seating for the summer months, all of which makes it a likely return destination. I wasn’t quite as won over as some previous reviewers, but I still enjoyed my visit and would happily give it another go.