Eagle & Child Hotel, Kendal

Pub SignMan left this review about Eagle & Child Hotel

This is a characterful alehouse with a charming riverside location (it's more of a stream to be honest, but you get the idea) and easily reached from the station. You enter through a porch with a large branded eagle window, into a pleasant bar area which occupies the left side of the building and has a stone floor with some floorboards around the servery on the back wall. The bar has a nice wood panelled counter front and a slightly mad bar back full of random items, including what looks like a model of the pub, plus old cameras, pulleys, hooks, tools and a fair few pump clips. There is a nice seating area opposite, with a mix of pews and comfy chairs, including two very low slung armchairs next to a plaque denoting the space as 'Old Farts Corner'. Moving through to the right, you find a slightly more formal seating area where most people seemed to be eating and a few of the tables were reserved. The pub is eclectically decorated, with fairy lights everywhere you look creating a nice, low level lighting ambiance, lots of old brewery mirrors, beer trays and adverts, pictures of the local area, a diagram of a coal mine and loads of random bits such as a stuffed crocodile, musical instruments, lamps, flags and much more. I also noticed a high shelf full of jugs, bottles, plates and tankards, a rack with the day's papers and a bookshelf full of old Good Beer Guides, board games and other bits. Music was playing very quietly in the background and certainly didnt intrude on the very pleasant early afternoon atmosphere created by a near full house. A sign noted the availability of a function room and some accommodation upstairs.
The pub is a Good Beer Guide favouite and there was a worthy ale range when I visited, with the options amounting to Barngate Brathy Gold, Hawkshead Mosaic, Cumbria Vanilla Oatmeal Stout and Bo'ness Swan Blonde. With a train to catch, I only had time for a quick half of the latter (£2.25), but it was in good shape and served to me by a friendly lone barman who coped admirably with the ever growing crowd.
I really like quirky pubs like this and I found this to be the sort of place you could come back to multiple times and still discover something new with each visit. It's a shame I couldn't have spent a bit longer here, but the infrequent train service forced my arm - there's a great double header to be had in Staveley, with the Hawkshead taproom just up the road, so I'm sure I'll be back again one day to discover more of this interesting pub.

Date of visit - 14th January 2024

On 22^nd March 2024 - rating: 8
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