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Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Tuesday, 22nd March 2011
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Detail Pages
The Engineers Arms, Henlow
Henlow
SG16 6AA
Served areas
Reviews of The Engineers Arms (Average Rating: 8½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about The Engineers Arms
Love this pub that features in the 2019 Good Beer Guide and deserves to be. We were a coach party of 19 arriving yesterday and were made very welcome by locals and staff. With a massve selection of beers we were pleased to have the tray of 6 x thirds so that we could enjoy so many brewery beers that we do not often see. Blackpit, 2 from Northdown, Nethergate, New River and Potton were our choice. The people of Henlow are very lucky indeed.
On 7th July 2019
- rating: 9
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Engineers Arms
Quite correctly the winner of numerous CAMRA awards,this is a destination pub if you are looking for a range of well kept real ale,normally featuring a variety of beer styles.
You enter to the side of the pub into a wooden floor section with one side of the bar counter,the area is surrounded by high tables and bar stools.Three handpumps operate from this side,and on a side wall is the ale menu listing up to 10 ales with a useful note of whether the brew is light,dark or brown to help decision making.
To the left of the entrance is the front lounge occupying the 1930's extension to the original building.This room is carpeted and has leather bound seating and modern wooden tables ;the section of the bar serving this area contains a further five handpumps.Towards the rear of the pub,up a small step is another carpeted lounge with two Sky flat screens,wooden tables and chairs and lots of Derby County memoribilia,many featuring the landlord with various players.This room in turn leads the the neatly paved rear garden with bench seating and a table skittles.
Aside from the DCFC material and a table dedicated to CAMRA publications there is little of interest in the interior,although there are table signs advertising the pub's speciality pies which certainly sounded good.
There is live music and occasional quiz nights and the feel of the pub is of a community local.The ale selection usually features beers from Nethergate,Oakham and Buntingford as regulars supplemented by guests ales from further afield.I have to say that my Oakham The Gentleman (£3) was in outstanding condition ,sadly I couldn't stay to sample the guests from Salamander and Colchester brewery.It is worth looking at the website to see what is on prior to your visit.
A must visit for any beer tourist,I would recommend an extended stay as this is one of the very best ale houses in the South East.
On 15th August 2012
- rating: 9
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about The Engineers Arms
Occupying a position on the High Street of the quietish Bedfordshire village of Henlow is The Engineers Arms, an enterprising, award winning real ale orientated free house.
An L shaped bar serves several drinking areas, including a public bar style drinking area with a tiled floor which, based on my recent Saturday visit, is the haunt of the friendly and welcoming village locals. A doorway here leads to the front bar which is a more comfortable and carpeted room, traditionally decorated and furnished. In this room we see several old pictures of the pub in days long gone and we realise that the unusual curved frontage of the pub – which doesn’t look desperately attractive in my view – is in fact a later addition to the original building. It’s a former Charles Wells House and we see several framed invoices relating to beer deliveries in those days. Throughout the pub, beer related memorabilia, mirrors, posters etc abound, together with a bottled beer collection, reflecting the real ale emphasis.
A separate area towards the rear of the pub is decorated with numerous signed framed pictures of Derby County players – eg, Roy McFarland, Peter Shilton, Nigel Clough – many accompanied by the landlord, Kevin, who is obviously a keen and enthusiastic supporter. We also see several enamel signs from the former Baseball Ground ( eg – Block B, Seats 23-34 ) and signed shirts, reflecting the fact that the pub has, in the past, sponsored team players. A picture of George Best reveals that he is ( or was ?) the president of the Engineers Arms Football Club. Unusually, on the other side of the room, under a smallish TV, are signed photos of former Hartlepool and Sheffield Wednesday teams. There’s also a few boxing photos, including a photo of the well known occasion when Henry Cooper floored Mohammed Ali, and some England cricket team photos.
On the real ale front, there’s 10 pumps spread over the two bars, which, on my recent visit, were serving beers from Buntingford, Burton Bridge, Kelham Island and Newby Wyke, inter alia. All 5 beers tasted by me were in good condition, especially the Buntingford Highwayman IPA - £ 2.80p, although I was a bit disappointed by the Kelham Island 45 RPM.
The pub offers what it refers to as “Six Appeal” – a tray of 6 different real ales in 1/3 pint measures for only £5. Numerous posters advertise forthcoming beer festivals – including the 15th Henlow Beer Festival, which is to be held at the pub between 20-24 October 2010. Over 100 traditional real ales, ciders and perries are advertised as being available over the period. The pub is a CAMRA Good Beer Guide regular and displays numerous CAMRA branch awards.
Disappointingly, dotted around the pub are notices ( I counted three in total ) inviting me to post a review and leave a rating on a certain neglected and discredited beer/pub related website, which hardly needs naming here. You will be pleased to hear that I won’t be doing so.
Live entertainment is offered at weekends and, on the day of my visit, I was unfortunate ( or perhaps fortunate ?) to have to leave before “Geordie Elvis” put in an appearance.
There’s a covered beer garden at the back and several seats outside at the front on the pavement.
As the afternoon wore on and the pub started to fill up, it became evident what a fine community orientated local this is, yet one that still reserves a warm welcome for the passing visitor. Notably, even the pub dog was quiet and subdued and failed to irritate me at all.
How do you get here, I hear you ask ? Well, it’s approx a 20 minute walk from Arlesey Station ( on the Kings Cross – Peterborough line ) across the fields. It also seems to be on a bus route with a stop opposite the pub.
The pub is well worth making a real effort to get to.
On 15th October 2010
- rating: 9
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
View more reviews of The Engineers Arms (8)
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- Official site of the Engineers Arms, contains real ale details - www.engineersarms.co.uk
- Facebook - Engineers Arms
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Engineers Arms - whatpub.com
Biggleswade, 4.49 miles, 1 hr 26 min walk (show)
Letchworth, 5.91 miles, 1 hr 54 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Beer Festivals : Yes - October - last updated 07 July 2019 by Gill Smith
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 15 August 2012 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 07 July 2019 by Gill Smith
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 07 July 2019 by Gill Smith
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 06 August 2013 by Quinno _
- Live Music : Yes last updated 15 August 2012 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : Yes last updated 07 July 2019 by Gill Smith
- Quiz Night : Yes last updated 15 August 2012 by Quinno _
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 29 July 2013 by Dave McNally
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 06 August 2013 by Quinno _
- WiFi : Yes last updated 07 July 2019 by Gill Smith
