Duke of York, Telford

As the Fighting Cocks was closed until "next" Friday, I decided to call in the Duke to try to complete an alternate "Golden Triangle". This place failed to even get a Bronze. Although it was very popular (full at 6pm Saturday) and sold three cask ales (Banks's Bitter, Doom Bar and London Pride), it had a different atmosphere to the two open "Golden" pubs. Most customers eyes were glued to the 3 or 4 TV screens watching the nearby "derby" match, Aston Villa v Wolves. My half of London Pride was by far the worst drink of the day. I quickly moved next door to The Station for my 2nd visit of the day to stand next to a great "stranger" named Oggwyn!

This is a detached pub, on a completely different alignment to its neighbours, with patio area at the front (covered if need be). Hidden from view by the tent, various signage and the Norweigian Christmas tree umbrella is in fact a nice Victorian pub that is in cream with black lintels and has a dog-tooth cornice. The pub has two entrances, that on the left takes you to the bar, the right, to the lounge. On my first visit i went into the lounge, which is an open room part partitioned to make two areas, each with its own TV showing different matches, while a third had Sky Sports News. Some sporty pictures were on the walls. They do food here, but i didn't eat. The bar is in a coffee and greeny wood panel colour. There is a stage area, pool table, punchbag machine and a dart board. Again, a few sport pictures are on the walls and some trophies show the pubs former sporting glories. The service was fine and the clientele matched the sporty nature of the pub - and it was busy. Beer; usual tap stuff with M&B MILD on keg. London Pride and Hobgoblin were on handpull. Last time we were here they advertised Banks's MILD on the handpull and it was M&B MILD keg that we got - anyhow, it was OK. All-in-all, not a place i would both with, considering the other places locally, but it serves to a different clientele and good on it for doing so.

A two room pub which I think is a free house, there is a small lounge on the right and a small public bar on the left that has a large open area at the back with a stage for live music. The lounge is normally used for dining and has a small bar counter on the left as you enter with a large flat screen TV opposite and two smaller flat screens at the back of the room, there are also signed photos of various sporting heroes on the walls. The public bar has a small bar counter with a single large screen TV, leather seats, a pool table and more sporting photos and memorabilia on the walls, there is also a shelf near to the pool table which has around two dozen trophies crammed on it. The décor of the pub is generally modern with lots of pastel colours. Regular ales are Banks’s Mild and Bitter (although this is not a Bank’s or Marston’s owned pub) with two changing guest beers from all over the country. This is a decent pub that is unfortunately overshadowed by some of its excellent neighbours. I sometimes pop in to have a half and get something to eat in between visiting some of the other good pubs in the immediate area which do not do food, they do a great all day breakfast for just £2.99.

This pub is next door to The Station pub and across the road from The Crown, both of which are renowned for their cask ale, so it's got quite a bit of competition. Has a paved “garden” style area at the front with large umbrellas for the smokers. The left hand room is painted green and has a pool table, it's usually quieter in here. The right hand room is a red painted lounge, effectively split into two by a dividing wall with a large screen TV at the bottom end of each side. It also has a quiz machine in this room. Four ales on when I called last night, Banks' Original and Bitter, Bombardier and London Pride. I'm always a little wary of having anything but the Banks's in here as I've been served a couple of ropey pints in the past. Decided to have a Bombardier anyway and it was pretty good this time. It's OK in here, but I only ever have one as the microbrews next door start calling to me.