The Swan, Whitchurch

Will Larter left this review about The Swan

A posh dining pub in a village whose name was surely borrowed for the character Lord John Marbury in the West Wing, the posh and annoying British ambassador to Washington. Full of posh people - the type that gets dressed up to go out to eat at the pub - in posh surroundings with posh furnishings. Interesting that they have to put up with crappy, irritating modern pop music just like the rest of us.

The bar counter has been installed with its back to the front door, with a screen behind, presumably in the expectation that most people will enter the pub from the car park via the beer garden. The lass behind the counter asked me how I was and I showed her my hands, filthy from replacing the inner tube on my bike on the A49; she very kindly directed me to the toilet. Now presentable, I perused the beer offering, the pump clips being barely visible through the bodies of two members of the Conservative party sitting on bar stools. They were most amused that I took photos of the beers with an actual camera. I went for a pint of Stonehouse Station Bitter - I normally restrict myself to a half when cycling, but a) I'd earnt it and b) it's a beer that I'm familiar with and like. But this one was a bit odd, being a little hazy and having some strange flavours, a bit sweetish rather than bitter. (After drinking a further half in a different pub later the same day I concluded that this one had possibly been put on the bar with its secondary fermentation incomplete.) At £4.40 a pint this was the most expensive beer in my two days spent in the Whitchurch area, but to be fair I've paid more in the Lake District this year.

I didn't see any more real ale being poured while I was sitting nearby. I'm increasingly coming to the view that pubs like this probably only have four hand pumps on the bar because it makes them look like a pub; they don't really expect to sell enough of it to avoid having to throw some out when it goes off, so they're not at all bothered with finding out whether it's a pleasant drink or not. It's the price they pay for being open, like toilet paper and air freshener.

On 14^th August 2023 - rating: 5
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