The Britannia, Darlington

A basic locals' pub with a good range of beers, but not the most comfortable of places. One bar, liberally decorated with pump clips, with a second room not in use. Beers at time of visit included Bass, Yorkshire Rhubar Beer, Dark Side of the Moon, Camerons Sanctuary and Strongarm, and John Smiths.

Smallish place with 4 real ales and the usual keg stuff. Not too bad - had a real fire next to my seat although it wasn't that cold.

As I made my way into the bar, the server stood up from behind a table where, to my casual glance, she had been working at a lap top computer. A more careful subsequent look informed me that she'd been sitting before a halogen heater - and it wasn't even a cold day! The choice of real ales was disappointing for a " local CAMRA award-winning " pub - just Black Sheep Best and John Smiths Cask. Though I have to admit that the half of Black Sheep was my best beer of the day, the rest of my experience here, from the bar person's indifference to the formulaic pop music from the local radio station was totally depressing. Surely, after more than eight years of the smoking ban, the bar area should not still be smelling of stale cigarette smoke? I had been looking forward to coming here, after reading reviews on this site and WhatPub, but I have to say that it's only the beer quality that drags its rating up to my 4 points. Date of visit: 25th November 2015