Swan, Ulverston

Will Larter left this review about Swan

A landmark hotel, sitting by the bridge which spans the rushing outflow from England's biggest lake, Windermere. I guess that the original building must be the one with a model of a swan above the door, but the public bar and dining room is to the left of this with the entrance in a corner where the empty bracket indicates that the inn sign still needs replacing. This is a rather low ceilinged room, with plenty of reassuringly sturdy beams and pillars. The bar is also substantial, filling much of the left hand side of the main room, while another room on the left of the entrance is clearly in the next building but joins the main room to make a space that would be good for a game of five-a-side football if the ceiling wasn't so low; and the tables and chairs would need to be moved as well. A traditional fireplace on the wall to the right has a collection of pewter plates attached to it in no particular pattern that I could make out.

There are two sets of four hand pumps on the bar, the first set having two Wainwright beers on, and the second set having local Cumbrian Ales, brewed not far away at Hawkshead, near Esthwaite Water. Their signature beer is Loweswater Gold, originally brewed near the lake of that name before Loweswater Brewery amalgamated with Cumbrian Legendary Ales; the other beer at the time of my visit was called Pacific Voyage. I went for the Gold, though when I have had this on other occasions in tourist pubs it's been rather pedestrian. Quite a surprise therefore to find it in very good nick, despite being a bit cold to start with; as it reached a proper temperature it developed a depth of flavour that included quite a decent bitter finish. At £5.30 a pint it needed to be a good beer, and I'm pleased to report that it was.

On 21^st October 2023 - rating: 6
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