Tut 'n' Shive, Doncaster

I popped into the Tut ‘N’ Shive on a recent Saturday afternoon when the pub was heaving with a crowd who were intently watching a Premier League football match on the four plasma screens that are located around the pub. The interior of this fairly small pub is L shaped and consists of seating along the left hand wall and more seating to the right where the bar that faces the front windows is located. There is a lot of standing room and I can imagine it feeling a little sparse in here when there is no football on. The bar is stocked with standard draught and I counted six hand pumps, but it was too busy to get a good look to note what they were drawing. I did spot the tell-tale shape of a Greene King IPA clip, but the old clips that adorn the beams of the pub led me to believe that the other hand pumps were probably drawing something a little more interesting. Food is available daily until 20:00, but I didn’t spot any menus. There is a jukebox which was obviously switched off and there is a classic rock night and quiz from 20:00 until midnight every Sunday. I didn’t think that this was the cosiest pub in the world, but the service was friendly. I think that there are better pubs in the area so I would probably give this place a miss next time I’m in town.

Just a couple of minutes from Doncaster train station and transport interchange, the Tut n Shive is a decent sized L-shaped town centre boozer. The spacious front section of the pub has a quarry stone floor and limited seating options underneath the front windows including one rather attractive bench which has a cart wheel attached to one end. The ceiling is well worth a look, having been constructed from old wooden shutters, whilst beams cross the room and are covered with a collection of pump clips. Two TV screens on the right hand wall were showing different football matches simultaneously – one from Sky and the other from BT Sport – to a fairly large crowd who seemed to be rooting for local rivals Leeds United. Some amusing beer adverts have been hung on the wall near to the stained glass entrance porch, but most of the other decor seems to be posters for upcoming events. A large structural pillar partially obscures the left side of the pub which extends further to the rear and houses a mix of standard and high stool seating, a few interesting hand painted signs and another TV screen on the back wall. This is a Greene King pub, but the row on handpulls barely betrayed this fact, with Greene King IPA and Abbot Ale available alongside Black Sheep Bitter, Elland Eden and Phoenix Arizona plus one real cider. This seemed like a pretty good line up to me and I had a very drinkable pint of the Eden whilst watching the last few minutes of the football. I thought this was a decent town centre boozer with very few pretentions. It seems to serve a wide customer base, with football fans mixing with ale drinkers and glammed up girls rubbing shoulders with elderly couples. I had a bit of a flying visit but saw enough to encourage me to make a return visit the next time I’m in town.

As Roger states, this is a large, grungey outlet that is a bit scruffy round the edges. Apparently a Greene King pub but there were a decent selection of five ales on from six pumps and my Maid Marian was in good form. Aimed at a younger, noisier, clientèle than the Plough next door, there is plenty of opportunity to watch sport on the plethora of screens and there is a bit of a whiff about the place. The interior is a little low on natural light which enhances (or exacerbates) the primitive feel of the basic furnishings, dark wood fittings and flagstone flooring. Piped music was a bit more adventurous than most of the other pubs on my crawl, with a good smattering of rock classics (with the odd ‘??’ one thrown in for good measure). Overall it’s a fairly basic pub experience, worth a look in for a swift one but I couldn’t envisage settling in for a session unless there was a gig or sporting event.

There's a slightly rough feel about this place, the sort of pub that Hells Angels might use if they wanted to take their grannies out for a meal. There are six hand pumps, on my visit these were serving Greene King IPA and Abbot, Abbeydale Moonshine, Black Sheep Bitter, Nottingham Legend and Wolf Straw Dog. I've been here before, meeting friends before a football match, and although it's OK for a swift beer and move on, I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time here.

Central location a short walk from the train station and the town centre. 6 real ales and food served. Quite a dark interior with flagstone flooring.