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The Old Barge, Hertford

The Folly
Hertford
SG14 1QD
Phone: 01992581871

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Graham Coombs left this review about The Old Barge

Hidden in a backwater (literally) this is a rather nice old pub with a couple of rooms at the front for drinkers and a restaurant area at the rear for diners. Overhead beams and comfortable seating give a cosy feel and there are some patio tables at the front. On handpump were a very tasty and well-kept Hadham Ciara, Banks Sunbeam and Marstons 61 Deep, as well as a couple of interesting ciders. A nice relaxed sort of pub.

On 21st October 2021 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3322 recommendations about 3259 pubs]


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Bucking Fastard left this review about The Old Barge

ORIGINAL REVIEW July 2010
Situated on the towpath of the Lee Navigation in a quiet corner of town,there is a pleasing traditional interior to the pub.There are several seperate seating areas with a wood burner in one of the front rooms, a long bar with further seating area beyond with windows looking out over the towpath.This is a good pub in which to sit and chat,friendly and not as laddish as many of the bars that have cropped up nearby.Food is served until 9pm and there are regular events including jazz and film club nights.Sadly the focus on real ale has diminished,although there are a lot of handpumps,several were unused and on the remainder was Tring's Colley's Dog,Black Sheep Bitter,Wadworth's Henry's IPA,Sharp's Doom Bar and St Austall Tribute,the latter two running out during the session and not replaced.The quality of a few pints was a little suspect although the Doom Bar was good,but the ale selection seems drawn from a distrbutors list and features a lot of widely available beers with little justification for premium pricing ;several pints were priced at £3.30.There is a draught cider available on handpump.With more care on ale selection and condition,The Old Barge could regains it's mantle as a good ale house,but sadly there has been some slippage recently.

UPDATE April 2012
Glad to report that there has been a large improvement in ale quality and the GBG 2012 and Cask Marque listings now fully justified.On my recent trip there was Doom Bar,St Austell Tribute,Tring Colley Dog and Mansion Mild ,Darkstar Hop Head,a real handpumped cider and two handpulls unused.Still a little pricey at £3.40 for the 3.8% Hophead but all pints sampled by the crew were on top form justifying an upgrade in rating.Should be included on any real ale tour of Hertford.

MARCH 2018
There has been a marked reduction in real ale options,several handpumps have been removed and on a busy Thursday evening before the long Easter weekend there were only 3 choices namely Marstons 61 Deep,Summerskills Westward Ho ! and Charles Wells (Marstons) Directors,a pretty dull bunch although quality was good.A fourth handpump laid unused and even the cider selection is now down to 2.Still a decent interior but now much less interesting for the real ale fan.Down to 7.

UPDATE
The ale selection now seems drawn exclusively from the Marston's portfolio of breweries but this did yield a very fine cask Owd Rodger so maybe worth including on an ale tour of town.

On 24th December 2019 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]


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Rex Rattus left this review about The Old Barge

There were four ales on in here - 61 Deep, Banks Mild (£2 a half), Adnam's Broadside, and Thwaite's Wainwright. They were obviously doing food when I was in on Saturday afternoon, as a large room down at the end beyond the bar on the right was clearly reserved for diners, complete with a "wait to be seated" sign guarding the entrance to the room. You enter the pub into a small lobby with a room on the left containing sofas and having a large brick built fireplace; there's a smallish drinking area on the right with the bar counter on the left a little further down and with a sofa and armchair opposite it.

There's a fair bit of outside seating at the front and to the left of the pub. It has an enviable position right by the river, with a footpath passing right by the pub. On a fairly warm and sunny day the outside area was busy with drinkers and diners. I thought the beer selection was OK (the appearance of a mild a special treat) although nothing very special. This pub looks incredibly enticing when you are on the bridge and see it in sunlight a few yards away, forcing you to hasten your pace to get there as soon as possible, and with an attractive external appearance that positively demands that you go in and enjoy a pint. A compulsion that few of us would fight against. I liked this pub.

On 16th September 2018 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]


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Danny O'Revey left this review about The Old Barge

Nice, large pub tucked down back streets and right on the river.

Wooden floor, beams, seats in the bay windows, a relaxed feel with the long bar leading down to the more foody, light area. Lots o stools in front of the bar.

4 real ales and 3 ciders

On 2nd August 2017 - rating: 8
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]


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Ian Mapp left this review about The Old Barge

GBG Entry, and right on the River - where I had walked from Cheshunt 13 miles ago.

Two roomed - little snug to left and long bar, dining extension to the right.

Busy and staff struggling to cope.

Decent beer - and a rarely seen Otter Dark was enjoyed. In a doom bar glass.

Its the attention to detail that gets the marks.

Visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2kfV3VM

On 29th January 2017 - rating: 6
[User has posted 277 recommendations about 276 pubs]


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Aqualung . left this review about The Old Barge

This was originally an Ind Coope house that is set just over a narrow bridge off the town centre by the canal where there were lots of geese and ducks that could have made ideal Xmas dinners.
Inside it's open plan with wooden floorboards and a smallish area to the left as you enter with some sort of couch in front of a fireplace. As you go right the bar stretches down a long narrow room with an area at the end that looks like it is set up for dining. There were three ciders available and six beers which were Castle Rock Harvest Pale, Cross Bay Nightfall, Elgood's Cambridge Bitter, Theakston's Xmas Ale, Doom Bore and St Austell Tribute. To me this was a fairly mainstream beer selection for a pub that proclaims to be an Ale House on the sign outside. The price of the Cross Bay Nightfall (£3.75) which is a 3.8% ABV beer was a bit steep for my liking. Having said that it was in very good nick and it seemed a pleasant enough place.
It's GBG 2015 listed and probably deserves it based on my brief visit.

On 28th December 2014 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]


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Steve of N21 left this review about The Old Barge

Also pleased to report that on my recent visit, the Old Barge was back to ‘rude health’ on the beer front with all ten pumps in operation. Granted, there were 8 ales and ciders available with the St Austell’s Tribute and Sharps Doombar being doubled up on the two sets of pumps, but these were complemented by a good offering of other regional brewery beers meaning the Old Barge remains one of the best places for beer choice in Hertford.
These included Dark Star Hop Head, Hook Norton First Light and Oxfordshire Triple B and all the ones we tried were in good condition.
A decent food menu is also available, which we tried for the first time and cannot fault the two mains we had for quality and quantity.
As previously mentioned The Old barge is a little walk from the Town centre, but is well worth searching out and is especially useful as a base for walking the Lee navigation.

On 1st May 2012 - rating: 8
[User has posted 2094 recommendations about 1985 pubs]


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Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Old Barge

Slightly hidden away from the town centre, but in a good location adjacent to the Lee Navigation and some outside seating which offers a pleasant place to sit if the weather allows. Ten handpumps, with two duplicates, giving a decent choice of eight real ales from near and afar. My pint of their 'OB Session' beer (£3.19) was fine and I would happily have stayed to try some of the others had I more time. Rather good.

On 10th April 2010 - rating: 8
[User has posted 8066 recommendations about 8066 pubs]


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Steve C left this review about The Old Barge

This is one of the few pubs in Hertford that ale other than McMullens can be found and all of the seven available were from different breweries. There was also an interesting range of premium lagers available alongside Old Rosie cider and a standard draught selection.

This is a nice pub by the river although the outside seating all seemed to be on the opposite side to the water and most was located by the car park which is unfortunate.

I thought that the barmaid was very friendly and the locals seemed like a decent bunch meaning that I would return if in the area again.

On 28th October 2009 - rating: 7
[User has posted 5179 recommendations about 5148 pubs]