The Leopard, Doncaster

The pub consists of a bar, lounge and a live music venue upstairs. The pub has a pool table and is handy for the train station

This used to be a bit on the rough side, though the ale quality was always good. Now a lot smarter, and with a choice of Theakstons Lightfoot and Caledonian Coffee Porter on the bar. A strange selection, but my porter was OK. Some music was playing at a reasonable volume, but when The Jam came on someone turned the sound up to ear-splitting, and we felt forced to leave. I commented on the volume of the music to the landlord on my way out, but he just grinned at me. Perhaps he couldn't hear what I'd said?

Occupying a prominent street corner position close to the station is The Leopard, a large two bar pub. Externally impressive, with a fine glazed green tiled exterior bearing the lettering of Warwick and Richardson Limited Newark Ales and Stout, the interior is a fairly traditional 2 bar interior with a slightly worn and old fashioned feel to it. The public bar on the left as you go in via the central doors has a pool table, juke box and several TV’s dotted around. The lounge bar is carpeted and comfortable, if a bit tired looking in places. A high shelf round the room contains a collection of brewery memorabilia – bar top dispensers, brewery jugs etc – of which a round Watneys Red Barrel keg dispenser particularly caught my eye. This is very much a music pub with an upstairs room where live bands feature at weekends. 3 real ales were on on my recent mid – afternoon visit – John Smiths Cask, Shardlow Ireland and Sparkler from the local Glentworth Brewery, the latter being a fine pint ( £ 2.70p ). There’s a few reasonable pubs close to the station and you could do worse than call in here if you’ve time to kill before your train arrives