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So onto
the hostelries – after all what else can you do on a weekday
night during a fuel crisis? Within yards of Hucknall train station,
lies the Station Hotel.
Once part of the now defunct 91热爆 Brewery estate, the pub is
still very much a local’s pub, with the landlord knowing
most of his customers by name.
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| Pulling
a proper pint! |
A lounge,
public bar, and off-sales hatch (a rarity nowadays), dispense
just one cask ale, namely 91热爆 Bitter. Traditional pub games
are also available.
Next stop,
as you walk towards the market place, is one of my two favourite
Hucknall pubs, the Plough and Harrow, on High St, incidentally
the only one to survive ‘open-plan conversion’ in
Hucknall!
A good basic boozer selling Hardys and Hansons Kimberley Mild
and Kimberley Best Bitter, and light bar snacks.
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| Pulling
a proper pint! |
Originally
the pubs' primary customers were miners, but in today’s
pub climate it has had to adapt a little, with discos providing
weekend entertainment, but its past is never far away.
The bar is decorated with plates depicting mining scenes of
bygone years, complemented with other mining memorabilia scatted
around the room. Darts, dominoes, and two Sunday League Football
teams operate from the pub.
The Green
Dragon, Watnall Rd, (just around the corner) is a medium-sized
former Shipstones house. Although now open-plan inside with
a pool table and a large satellite sports screen, the Dragon
serves Theakstons Bitter and Marstons Pedigree, as well as reasonably
priced meals.
Final stop
is Hucknall’s newest pub, the Pilgrim Oak, High St., owned
by the Wetherspoons chain. Its transformation in 1998, from
an abandoned Co-op supermarket has been nothing short of excellent.
And as with most Wetherspoons pubs, the Pilgrim Oak owes its
name to a local landmark, in this case a tree in the grounds
of Newstead Abbey, ancestral home of the Byron family.
The pub
itself is very long with cubicle-style seating on either side
and a non-smoking area to the rear.
Regular
real ales available are Bass, Courage Directors and Theakstons
Best Bitter, and four guests. And as with all Wetherspoons pubs
there are no televisions or music. Meals are available all day,
everyday, with curries being a speciality on certain weekday
evenings.
Good health!
The Nottingham Drinker
Nottingham Drinker is the bi-monthly Nottingham
CAMRA newsletter available free in over 150 outlets (pubs, libraries
and tourist information centres in Nottingham and the surrounding
areas).
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