Three Horseshoes, Ilkeston

Uninspiring deco building with a rough cast coating, the interior is modernised with an odd wood and slate floor, light grey tongue and groove, and by the counter some chunky high furniture. To the left is a split level seating area with lower tables and chairs. There’s a bar to the right which was closed off or perhaps just deserted during a late Friday afternoon visit. A beer garden is available at the back. The counter is double dog legged with a horseshoe of eight, a triple stack Thatchers cider dispenser, a lovely display of 330ml bottles of Peroni, a small right angled pipe of 5 Molson Coors stuff, a solo of ABK , oh and at the end four pulls, two unclipped and a Welbeck Abbey stout and a poor Castle Rock on the ones in use. Boxes of Lilley’s cider are lurking in the corner like the uncle we don’t mention.

I have been in the Three Horseshoes lots of times over the years when it was a Kimberley tied house,but had not been in since it had a refurb. Once inside there is now a decent sized oblong shaped room with a bar room to the left,the bar is on the right side,there is a wood floor,there is comfy bench seating and small stools on the left side which is carpeted,there is a darts board to the left. There is a separate lounge to the right which is smaller and oblong shaped and runs to the rear,it is carpeted,there is bench seating with chairs and small stools. There were four real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Titanic Plum Porter,which went down very well,the other real ales were Dancing Duck Ay Up,Sharps Atlantic and a beer from Oakham brewery. I think they have done a good job on making the pub look a lot smarter. The bar room where i had a drink was very busy on my Saturday afternoon visit. Pub first visited 1980 Old photo taken 23/6/1988 Recent visit 22/7/2017

Only just outside the town centre, this pub has a different feel from the likes of the Spanish Bar or the Prince of Wales even: in fact it would not be out of place as an estate pub. Obviously a lot of money has been spent on doing it up inside, but a little more time spent on making it tasteful would have been better. Presumably there are people who like 1970s wallpaper based on a repetitive clock design, inlaid wooden floor tiles and beer-related aphorisms calligraphied onto the white painted walls, but I'm afraid these delights were wasted on us. The beer selection likewise failed to tickle our fancy (there's no pleasing some, is there), with predictable options like Jennings Cocker Hoop, Sharps Doom Bar, Oakham Bishops Finger and Castle Rock Harvest Pale leading to yawns all round. The beer was in reasonable nick, but you have to wonder how much of it they have to throw away come Tuesday, as we didn't see anyone else drink anything but lager while we were here on Sunday.