The Peacock, Nottingham

A Grade II listed building, this pub is on CAMRA's Regional Inventory of pubs with historic interiors. In many ways it's a typical Victorian pub, entering into a small vestibule with doors on the left and right bringing you into the public and lounge bars respectively. The public bar on the left is the less interesting of the two, being the result of a relatively recent fitting, although it does have the pub's only bar counter, on which resides a couple of turntables, plus a shelf in the bar back with loads of vinyl records on it. The lounge on the right has some very nice inter-war fittings, including some purpose built banquettes with high quality wooden fittings and panelling above them, plus an integral glazed showcase containing ceramics such as Toby jugs and the like. There are loads of other bits of decor around the room, such as stuffed fish in glass frames, a bust of Napoleon, a fancy ormelu clock, a stuffed and mounted fox head, etc, etc. But the most fascinating thing about this room are the bell pushes sited all over the room, which are still operational and can be used to summon table service for drinks (but not on Friday and Saturday when it gets too busy) for a small charge. The beer choice was pretty good as well, with five ales on. The best options looked to be either the Old Peculiar or the Caledonian Autumn Red. I didn't see any sign of food when we visited on Friday evening. This has very swiftly become one of my favourite Nottingham pubs. It's certainly worth the fairly short walk from the Friday mayhem in the centre of town to visit this little oasis of pub quality and tranquility. I expect to visit agin when I re-visit Nottingham.

The Peacock Hotel is a two room Victorian era pub at the southern end of Mansfield Road and is thought to date back to around the 1850’s. A board outside gives quite a lot of detail about the pub’s history and mentions that former regulars include DH Lawrence and John Harvey whose Resnick novels were based in the city. Entering into a small lobby area which may once have been the off-sales space, you move left into the public bar which was formerly two rooms and can still achieve this effect by use of a partitioning curtain. The room is carpeted with some well upholstered banquettes and a compact dark wood servery with an adjoining office at the far end. The décor is very traditional, with lots of old paintings and mounted animal heads on the walls as well as some fancy chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The rear part of the room has button backed leather seating and seemed like a cosy spot to relax over a few pints. There are a few more modern concessions, including a fish tank behind the bar and a rather incongruous mixing desk on the bar counter. The etched windows are a real highlight with their intricate peacock design and can be best appreciated from inside during daylight hours. The lounge is on the right hand side of the front lobby and has some fine carved banquettes from which you can use the bell-pushes to order table service from the bar (or at least that’s what a sign in the serving hatch said, but no-one seemed to be using this system). There’s a decent fireplace towards the rear with a fancy looking clock on the mantelpiece and a large stuffed fish in a case above. The walls have been papered with a modern looking floral print, which is a bit of a distraction, but overall I felt the pub still retained a nice historic feel. Happily, there were six ales on at the bar with a choice of Theakston Old Peculiar and Best Bitter, Thwaites Crafty Devil, Brains Jack Black, Caledonian Flying Scotsman and Deuchars IPA. The Brains was a well kept pint that slipped down very easily. Boards at the bar were promoting a regular event called the Sausage Social, which sounded a bit ambiguous to me. I nearly didn’t bother with this place as I didn’t know a great deal about it, but I’m really glad I made the effort as I thought it was an excellent pub with much to admire and the bonus of a good ale range as well. I’d be very happy to return and make use of the table service the next time I’m in town.