The Bridge Inn, Rotherham

Decent pub near to Rotherham's bus and train stations that has a focus on live music during more normal times. Parking is fairly difficult here. Although there is a car park just along the road where payments go to charity. The pub has a long, thin bar, with a small amount of seating. There is a second floor with function rooms. Gents toilets are in a basement and are surprisingly spacious. All real ales are from Old Mill. Their Traditional Bitter is the regular ale. Guests on this occasion were Azacca IPA, Styrian Wolf & Blonde Bombshell. After a number of disappointing pubs, this was finally a pub that restored my faith in pubs and put me in a much better mood for the remainder of the evening. With no football being shown, bar staff were much more relaxed than in other pubs we visited, which made the atmosphere all the more relaxing.

Fine old riverside pub now run by Old Mill Brewery. Elongated bar with a number of seating / dining areas, although when I visited the customers were congregated near the front end. Mix of traditional furniture but the decor was much lighter than expected (with displays of pump clips and football scarves being the main features). Various other spaces either closed off or in darkness. Makes a point about holding an 'all year poppy appeal', so I guess that the landlord is ex-forces (an impression reinforced by the slightly gruff, if friendly, welcome). Four real ales - the regular Bitter and 1884 Frickley (£3.00) plus Bombardier and Robinson's Dizzy Blonde as guests - from the various handpumps.

The Bridge Inn is just about the first thing you're likely to notice upon exiting Rotherham train station, and such a fine stone building certainly helps make a favourable initial impression. Entering through a smart lobby area, you can move through to the main bar on your left or a small lounge to the right. The lounge looked a little spartan and presumably is used for hosting live music, as there was some sort of performance area visible to the rear. The bare boarded front right area is set up mostly for vertical drinking and was pretty busy with folk waiting for a train home following a day out at the football. Drinking ledges are the main option here, although there are also a couple of seating booths with attractive frosted glass partitioning screens to take advantage of. The tongue and groove counter runs quite some way back and is broken up half way down by what appears to have once been the old jug and bottle servery, with a sash window hatch still visible. The bar back has been adorned with the usual pump clip collection, but also boasts a pleasing section with lots of small drawers, a collection of mugs and various other curios. Reaching the end of the room, you find yourself in a carpeted space with standard tables and chairs, a TV screen showing the day's late football fixture, a mix of traditional and modern art prints, a cabinet displaying beer bottles and an old pub sign. The whole pub was decked out with countless football scarves suspended from the ceiling beams, which created a surprisingly nice effect. The pub is owned by the Old Mill brewery and normally offers a range of their beers plus several guests. I seem to have arrived at a bad time, as the beers had clearly taken a big hit from thirsty football fans, with just five of the ten handpulls in action, offering Old Mill Bullion, Bitter and Curiosity, Moorhouse White Witch and Taylors Boltmaker. I had a very quick pint of the latter before dashing for a train home and was pleased to find it was very drinkable. Despite seemingly getting a bit unlucky with the ale range, I still thought this was a pretty decent pub that appeared to be versatile and able to cater for a range of tastes without alienating people. It's proximity to the station makes it a great start and/or end point for a crawl, but it merits a visit regardless and is clearly one of the town's top ale houses.