The Bishop Blaize, Richmond

Unusual in retaining its original layout despite the awkward placing of the bar in a narrow part of the building between front room and back, this pub has a very old fashioned feel to it. Handily placed for the bus stop (I was catching a bus to Darlington after my brief stop in Richmond), it's one of more than half a dozen pubs on the large central market square. The small front room has barely enough space for a couple of tables, though there's a larger room to the left of the central corridor and another small room to the rear with a pool table. The back door near the toilets had been left open and I caught a glimpse of a sign in the alley pointing towards it which said this was the oldest bar in Richmond - something that I would have thought worth proclaiming at the front of the pub. On the bar were three hand pumps: York Terrier and Timothy Taylor Landlord plus a new one for me - Truefitt's North Riding Bitter, brewed in Middlesbrough. It would be good to have more time to explore Richmond's pubs, and this one certainly merits a second visit.

A slightly dowdy traditional exterior belies an eclectic interior, the room layout is probably as built with a central corridor serving rooms off to the side. To the left is a dinning room while the bar to the right is remodelled in a very modern style with the counter stretching back through an increasingly narrow space. The landlord is a keen ale man and this shows in the quality of the beers and a couple of CAMRA awards behind the bar. Definitely GBG material this pub isn't in the 2012 edition but I would expect a 2013 entry. Choice of beers is limited, Taylors Landlord as a regular is backed up with two changing guests from across the UK but mainly from regional or larger micros, beers from Wells & Young and Hook Norton being available on this visit which won't be my last.

This pub has now re-opened and is now called The Blaize (april 2010)