The Wig & Pen, Northampton

The Wig and Pen has long been my favourite of Northampton's town centre pubs and it remains so in its current ownership. The pub itself has a narrow frontage and is quite easy to miss. Inside it's long and narrow in an inverted L shape with a large covered smoking area at the back. We visited on a Saturday afternoon when the England - South Africa rugby international was being shown on the various screens around the pub, including in the outside area. Consequently it was very busy and is likely to be so whenever there are internationals or Saints matches being shown. Nonetheless, we managed to get a seat and something of a view and the service, despite the number of people, was quick, friendly and efficient and the atmosphere generally was very light hearted and jovial. In spite of the result. The food menu looked good and all the meals we saw being served were very tempting. There was a card on the bar offering a bucket of warm seafood, including lobster, crab claws and cockles for £19.95 or £29.95 for two. Not cheap but very tempting and it smelt extremely good. A wide selection of beer was listed on the blackboard behind the bar: Old Speckled Hen, GK IPA and London Pride as the national selections with the rest being: Thwaites Nutty Black, Hoggleys Northamptonshire Gold, Abbeydale Big Amy, Daily Bread and L'Age d'Or, Franklins Grumpy Guvnor and Elgoods Black Eagle. Everything we tried was in good shape and that's a fair range to have a go at. The Wig and Pen has always been a comfortable and friendly pub and with its current policy of providing a wide ale range it's especially appealing.

The pub reopened in 2010 , its got 12 handpumps , 3 of which are draught ciders, also maels are excellent , it has its own facebook page. Live music, wall to wall TV