Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Tris39
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
Crystal Fountain, Cannock
Cannock
WS11 0AL
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5 of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about Crystal Fountain
We made a special effort to schlep out to this *** CAMRA Inventory pub which is 15 mins away from the town centre. It’s an inter-war pub that looks like it was built to serve a main road that never arrived. The main bar has some old fittings (the bar back and doors, mainly) and two old U shape banquettes which were in need of repair, as was the gent’s toilet which had the seat detached and perched against the wall. The other room was empty. The interior décor is pretty bland otherwise. Very local, with a few of the younger crowd from the nearby estate in watching the football. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s a dive but it certainly isn’t in the rudest of health – if BCA couldn’t make a go of it, that gives you an idea. No cask, so a keg M&B Mild to tide me over. Unless you go big on the style, I wouldn’t recommend shortening your drinking time at the Newhall to do the 30 minute round trip.
On 13th March 2024
- rating: 4
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about Crystal Fountain
I was surprised to find the Crystal Fountain open and also surprised to find out it used to be a decent pub.
It is now an absolute dive, with no real ale or cider. Covid rules are out of the window here, with not one single customer seated.
Keg options I could see were Carling, Carling Black Fruit, M & B Mild, Thatcher's Gold, Coors Light, Stella Artois, Guinness & Worthington's.
Poor and not worth the trip out of town.
On 20th April 2021
- rating: 2
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Delboy 20 left this review about Crystal Fountain
I have to say I was disappointed with this pub. I don't see it being part of the Black Country Ales chain much longer as they didn't even have the usual 3 BCA beers on. Only Doom Bar and Thistly Cross cider alongside the usual lagers. There are still BCA posters up around the place but the freehold is for sale. There were only 2 other customers. The service was friendly enough but a real ale pub with no ale is a bit like a broken pencil - pointless!
I don't know what the future holds for it but I don't expect to call again.
On 20th September 2018
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 1656 recommendations about 1556 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Soup Dragon left this review about Crystal Fountain
Update: The building is still the same of course (and it is worth going for those that are interested in such) but the pub has been going downhill beer-wise for some while - returning to its more locals pub nature as the real ales dry-up. Shame.
***************
UPDATE: Jun 2013: As Danny says, now part of the BCA chain and worth a fresh review - and famed for once being ran by swingers! This has to be one of the best examples (along with the Royal Oak in Brownhills) of 30s architectural style. The exterior, symmetrical, is in undressed brick with entrances at either end. There is a beer garden. The interior has two rooms, a lounge/function room at the back, which was in darkness, and a combined bar and snug. The snug has red perimeter seating, the main bar is in gold patterend wallpaper, with a white ceiling and it has perimeter seating. It has a nice art-deco wood bar and doorways. There is a TV, with a music channel on and there are the usual BCA posters and some old photos on the walls and plates in a cabinet. The light fittings also look 30s. There is a dart board. The service is fine and a few locals are always in, when i visit. Beer; usual BCA choice, with an excellent Pig MILD, with hanpulls of Cetl Golden, Tunnel's East Indian Pale Ale and Downton's Eldergood. The place has improved enormously, i have visited on several occasions.
********************************************************************************
(Aug 2009) A symmetrical 1930s style brick build, detached, with entrances at each end. The interior has two rooms, a bar and a small room in which there was a bar football game. The walls were plain white, with little on the walls, giving a bland look. The furniture was gren Chesterfield leather benching around the perimeter of the room (red in the smaller room) which looked quite neat until you got closer and saw the patches in it. There is a central brick fireplace with a dartboard and a couple of Sky TVs. The service was friendly, as were the small clientele (2 people). Beer; usual tap tosh with Banks’s MILD on smooth, which was OK. I wouldn’t go out my way, but have been in worse.
On 13th June 2018
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3067 recommendations about 3062 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Crystal Fountain
Rather austere brick building that could be mistaken from a distance as something like a 1930s telephone exchange, but which proves to be a little more interesting than that... The multi-room interior hasn't been changed too much since it was built, which - whilst unspectacular - makes it of sufficient interest to feature on Camra's national inventory. Only the public bar and central snug were open when I visited, with the lounge going back from the other entrance just visible across the counter and apparently a function room and beer garden beyond. On the other hand, the beer selection is disappointing for a Black Country Ales house, with BFG (£3.10) and Fireside supplemented by Banks's Mild, Doom Bar and two ciders.
On 3rd June 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about Crystal Fountain
This is a typical brick built inter war pub. I got here around 12:30 on a Saturday and went in the front bar to find it empty. It's a rectangular carpeted room with a dart board at one end and further space on the other side of the bar that I didn't investigate. A radio was tuned to the bland Smooth Radio.
I saw six hand pumps which had BCA Fireside and BFG plus a cider. The guest ales however were a double whammy of dross consisting of Doom Bore and M&B Brew XI. Seeing Brew XI again made a nightmare from the distant past come back to haunt me again. Apparently it's now brewed by Brains in Cardiff, a brewery that is a master of the production of dull pedestrian beers. Banks's Mild was on the blackboard but I didn't see a clip.
I went for the BFG (£3.20) which wasn't clear and tasted no more than reasonable.
I wonder if this place has gone downhill since the previous reviews. It's not listed on the 2018 BCA real ale trail and probably just as well.
Despite any CAMRA inventory merits I thought it was poor.
On 25th February 2018
- rating: 4
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about Crystal Fountain
11/10/2009: Good review from Archivist below, however the beer here is not brilliant, its ok but don't make a special trip looking for real ale.
13/07/2012: Revisit - now part of the Black Country Ales chain, which means better choice of beer, a bit of care & attention, but still a very traditional, possibly old fashioned feel. The lounge has now been opened up for use, making 3 rooms. The lounge is fairly large open plan with, as above, an old fashioned kind of feel, though its comfortable enough with the patterned padded benches following the walls and its small servery in one corner. The lounges were empty on my visit but the bar already full in the early evening.
The beer range has now improved greatly - there are the usual 3 BCA beers, plus 3 guests and a real cider, the range of beer covering most tastes. The quality was superb.
I find the BCA pubs do range in quality in terms of pubs, but their beers remain top notch. This pub I found very pleasant with good service and excellent beer. Its not a family friendly eatery type of place, not for everyone, but I like this one. Was a 6 out of ten, but personally for the beer quality and choice this is now up to an 8 for me.
On 14th July 2012
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]