The Snickleway Inn, York

Parts of this old, traditional pub date back to the 15th century, although it wasn’t always a pub, having reputedly been, among other things, a brothel at one point. As with a lot of old, atmospheric pubs of this nature, it has a reputation for being haunted with no less an authority than Derek Acorah declaring it one of the 100 scariest places in Britain to visit. It didn’t seem very scary when I visited (in fact, I’d go so far as to say it was a very friendly and welcoming place), but then again, I didn’t apply the kind of rigorous scientific tests that Mr Acorah no doubt went through, so what do I know. If you can pluck up the courage to enter, you’ll find yourself in a carpeted main bar area with the servery opposite and some banquette and low stool seating under the front windows. There is plenty of dark wood to give the place the traditional feel you would expect and the décor is fairly eclectic, with old lanterns, tools, pith helmets, beer adverts and even a gasoline pump in evidence. There are a couple of additional seating areas to pick from if the front bar is too busy. To the left is a narrow side room on a slightly lower level which has padded bench and low stool seating and walls decorated with framed beer mats and pump clips. Beyond the bar there is a rear room with more low stool seating and a lit fireplace which had drawn quite a crowd into what is actually a fairly small space. Some music played in the background, but conversation seems to predominate here and the chatter generally drowned out the music. There is a good range of cask ales here and on my visit I found Treboom Kettle Drum, John Smith’s Cask, Jennings Sneck Lifter, Brains Rev James, Salamander Bommy Knocker and Moorhouse Blonde Witch. A very cheerful landlady served up a pint of the Bommy Knocker and gave me an unprompted top up as well. I liked the feel of this place and thought it had retained a good traditional atmosphere befitting its evocative old name. The good beer range means that this is a must visit for the pub traditionalist and bogeyman hunter alike and worthy of addition to a city centre crawl.

Always worth a call when in York had a good pint of timmy taylors landlord

This was my sixth pub in about an hour on Goodramgate, so my notes are not as detailed or as legible as the others. There were five hand pumps serving Roosters Yankee, Jennings Sneck Lifter, Timothy Taylors Landlord and two from Copper Dragon. There's a genuine old feel to the place, though doubtless there's been some artifice involved in achieving that, or am I being too cynical? Anyway, I felt comfortable here and would be more than happy to return. Though I hope they're not still playing that Doors CD next time.