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Venue for Spring 2025 PuG crawl. with Bucking Fastard
on the Pub Forum

Image posted by Just a quick pint, then I'm off
Submitted on Thursday, 2nd January 2020
With picture contributions to 10675 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (23 more images)
Detail Pages
The Magnet, Colchester
Colchester
CO1 1UZ
Served areas
Reviews of The Magnet (Average Rating: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Magnet
Looks like it’s half an old pub and indeed that seems to be the case, previously being the Norfolk, with CAMRA describing the Magnet as a newly-opened micropub! Which looks to occupy 50% of the footprint of the old pub. Anyway, the inside is rather sterile for my tastes. Three cask were on the go, I didn't recognise any so a hi-viz local picked for me, Celestial Alleyway by Turning Point Brew Co. Couldn't argue as he was on it too and was a fair drop (NBSS 3). I see it is now GBG-listed in the 2024 edition. Hopefully this one will bed-in over time but it really needs an injection of character. 6.5
On 1st February 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5509 recommendations about 5490 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Norfolk
This Greene King pub has a prominent location on a busy intersection close to Colchester North train station. Essentially a single room pub, this is a bright, spacious affair that’s been given a full make over by the brewery. You enter through the front door to the main bar area, with scrubbed floorboards, broad upholstered bar stools, tub chairs, and leather sofas. The servery is directly opposite the front door and if you move round to the left, some steps lead up to a small, semi-partitioned seating area, with white wood panelled walls and a mix of standard and tub chair seating. Moving to the right of the bar, a series of arches and former doorways hint at previous partitioning and create a divide for a separate area with some high tables and stools and a juke box. Beyond this there is a space set aside for a pool table and as you reach the rear, a door leads out to a garden and car park with ample seating and a smoking shelter. Several TV screens throughout the pub were showing various sports channels and a mix of home and away fans peacefully comingled prior to a match at Colchester United’s stadium.
Just three ales were available alongside the usual keg offerings. Two Greene King Beers – IPA and St Edmunds – were being dispensed along with St Austell Trelawny (£3.10). Not a bad line up for a Greene King pub and my pint of Trelawny was in good nick and very drinkable. The staff coped well with the crowds, ensuring punters didn’t get held up at the bar.
I didn’t have any real hopes for this place and only called in due to it’s proximity to the Victoria, but this turned out to be a half decent spot for a pint. The interior design may have robbed the pub of any charm, but I found the place welcoming with a good convivial atmosphere and certainly worth a quick look if you’re passing by.
On 1st May 2013
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3306 recommendations about 3306 pubs]
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- Official site of The Magnet - www.themagnetpub.co.uk
- Facebook page of The Magnet - www.facebook.com
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Magnet - whatpub.com
Colchester Town, 1.11 miles, 21 min walk (show)
Hythe (Essex), 2.01 miles, 38 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.
- Accommodation : No last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Car Park : Yes last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : No last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Karaoke : No last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Live Music : No last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Micropub : Yes last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _
- WiFi : Yes last updated 01 February 2024 by Quinno _