The Half Moon Inn, Durham

The Half moon is a decent looking pub that is situated close to a busy road junction. Once inside there is an L shaped room to the front with the bar facing,the room is bare boarded,the seating is comfy bench type and small stools,there are TVs either side of the room one showing Rugby and the other showing Cricket,there is a lounge room to the rear which is down a few steps,this room is carpeted and has comfy bench seating. There were four real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Durham White Gold which went down very well,the other beers were Bass,Taylor Landlord and GK IPA. A very pleasant pub to have a drink in. Pub visited 19/3/2016

Attractive façade with some nice wall tiling. Inside on entering is a fairly basic L shaped boozer, with a dark wood curved bar, maroon and gold painted bar back upper, wooden flooring and a nice row of red leather banquette seating. Two TVs, one tuned to 24 hour news, the other Sky Sports News. Down a couple of steps to a traditional lounge area; darker in here with a large curved leather banquette and lovely old stained glass windows. A door leads to an alleyway beer courtyard with river and bridge views. Already fairly busy just before midday with a mature clientèle. Five pumps drawing GK IPA, Bass, Tim Taylor x2 and Durham White Gold. My half of the Durham was in good shape. Enjoyable place.

Bit of a basic pub and the young service is not as thorough as could be, but its ok Beer quality needs a little improvement

A split level town pub with the bar and rooms stepping down as the ground dips to the river bank. Generally regular traditional seating at banquettes and stools but also with a few curious looking small tables along wall, the boarded floor is stained dark brown. The ornate bar gantry has a gilded raised pattern that frankly does look a bit naff, the cream, possibly once white, ceiling is timber boarded. The lower room, towards the river, had red banquettes and a couple of Bass mirrors. Beyond here is a riverside courtyard which would be nice if the weather was. Four on, Draught Bass, Woodforde's Norfolk Champion, Dunham Brewery White Gold (lovely) and Landlord. A few clips behind the bar suggest some rotation. Not sure if food is served, it was about 5pm when I was in, a TV had some tennis on, another the test cricket, thankfully the tennis was muted. Another one of those friendly type of pubs where as you sit down you are included. I finished up chatting to a few blokes about football and beer, thoroughly enjoyable.

Update – September 2013 The pub is as described below on my original visit in September 2008. 5 beers were on – Greene King IPA, York Brewery’s Yorkshire Terrier, Bass, Durham White Gold ( these 4 appear to be regular beers ) plus Adnams Lighthouse as a guest. The Durham beer ( £2.95p ) was an enjoyable pint. This visit was noteworthy for my first sighting of a pub sporting a CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2014 sticker. This is a pleasant, if rather unremarkable, pub. It’s worth calling in, if only to sample a beer from the local Durham Brewery, whose beers do not appear to be easily found in Durham pubs, for some inexplicable reason. Original review – September 2008 Well known traditional Durham pub at the end of Elvet Bridge with an outside drinking area at the back looking out on to the river. My initial impression of this pub on a Sunday afternoon visit was not good - the bar at the front was busy and dominated by the loudish football screens, but I quickly found a much quieter part at the back down a few steps. A subsequent visit the next day gave a more favourable impression. The traditional atmosphere is enhanced by a number of old black and white photos of Miners Marches ( 1958, 1983) taken from the pub and several Bass mirrors and a curved mahogany bar in the lower bar. Its a Mitchell and Butlers pub and 3-4 real ales were on - Bass, Timmy Taylor, London Pride and Bees Knees from the local Durham Brewery. The pub is Cask Marque accredited and clearly takes real ale seriously. This is one of the pubs that people tell you to visit if you're in Durham and I'm not about to tell you differently

Traditional 'U'-shaped main bar with quite restricted space for seating. Attractive lower lounge with a curved counter. Worth looking about, both inside and out, as there is some fine decorative tiling beside front doors / windows and around the fireplaces. Newspapers available to read. Rear patio area. Six beers available on handpump, including EPA, Yorkshire Terrier and a fine piunt of Durham White Gold (£2.90). Well worth seeking out.