The Ship Inn, Retford

A random visit with half an hour to wait for my train to Sheffield, and I cycled past the busy-looking Brew Shed and the similar Idle Tap to get here and find it almost deserted at 2pm on a Friday. There were three Batemans beers on the bar and I asked for a pint of XB, then had to wait five minutes while the lass behind the bar tried to pull it through - she even went down into the cellar to make sure it had been connected properly - and the beer was only just NBSS 3 despite being a new barrel fresh on. The other beers were XXXB and Gold, and she also pulled the latter through while I was drinking my pint. Opening on a Friday lunchtime with at least two out of three beers not pulled through tells me something about this former very popular pub's change of fortunes, as it's either very sloppy or shows what the expectation of custom has become, or both. Of course I could be wrong - it's an old favourite, so I hope I am.

Large Batemans pub next to canal and the Idle Brewery Tap. Two bars, the one to the left looks unused, to the right is a roughly L shaped room leading back to a sitting area and large garden. The counter to the right has three Batemans beers on four pulls, the one to the left is has four unclipped pulls. It benefits from an idiosyncratic decor of animal portraits wall paper, framed pump clips which is more refined than the usual random collection stuck to walls and ceilings; there are shelves of old bottles and some interesting old brewery ads from Timothy Taylors and Bass.

Traditional Pub - Batemans Gold in good condition. My visit was marred by the place being run by just one member of staff on a Saturday afternoon. Merely inquiring to the the covid rules was met by a "I'll be with you in a minute!". Took an age to get served, as she had no idea of who was next in the garden. Too scared/bored to attempt to order a 2nd.

Although I haven't reviewed this pub in its previous guise as the Rum Runner, I've been here numerous times since my first visit in 2004 and noticed a bit of a tailing off in beer quality in recent years, so wasn't surprised to see the pub closed when I was last in Retford. There has been a thorough refurbishment by Batemans, a return to the original name and an enthusiastic young manager put in charge. The biggest change inside is that the bar has been opened so that it faces both rooms - previously the dining room had no bar access. There are four hand pumps on each side (see photos) with quite an impressive beer offering, though I was disappointed to see no Batemans XXXB. I went for their Salem Porter instead, and this was a very nice drink in tip top condition. A very welcome fire was in the large fireplace and I have to say it was great to be back. It must be time for a reprise of my old pub crawl: Lincoln-and-back by train. Date of visit: 24th November 2017