ReviewThis is a large 1930’s hotel built on a large site to the west of the town centre, very close to Scunthorpe United’s Glanford Park stadium. The pub, which opened in 1940, is now run by Sam Smith’s which thankfully means that it has undergone very little change over the years and retains a lot of period features. The main entrance takes you into a sizeable lobby area, with a dining room in front of you and the lounge bar to the left. The lounge is nicely carpeted with banquette seating and some lovely art deco low stools around a number of tables in this spacious rectangular room. The doors, windows and large tiled fireplace with circular mirror above all fit in nicely with the overall feel of the place and give it a hint of fading grandeur. The dining room has its own servery area and some nice panelling around the walls as well as ample seating which was fully occupied during my pre-match visit. From here you can access the maple floored ballroom and there is also a public bar which I didn’t have time to explore, but which can be reached via a separate door on the left hand side of the building.
Only the Sam Smith’s range was available at the bar, but this was more extensive than I’ve seen in some of their other pubs and included their Stout, Mild and Porter on keg and Old Brewery Bitter on handpull. The OBB was pretty good and a full £1.10 cheaper than in some of their London outlets, clocking in at just £1.80 a pint. The bar area was, as you would expect just before kick-off time, very busy and the staff weren’t the most efficient at handling the crowd.
I really liked the feel of this pub, although I suspect it would be very different when it is quieter given the sheer size of the place. The next time I’m back in Scunthorpe I’ll definitely pop back here and I’ll make sure I give myself a bit more time so that I can explore it fully.
