Chester:
This is an actual hotel, but the bar is very pubby indeed. A historic building, with some very old paintwork above the fireplace, and allegedly the oldest coaching inn in Chester, as well as the hotel there’s a brewery producing some great beer. Friendly staff too.
Rugeley, Staffs:
A positively lovely, traditional, multi-room pub just on the edge of Rugeley town centre. A brewery onsite creates the house beer (which was great). There’s food- including specials nights (Greek, Carribean), and friendly staff.
Inside is very traditional: quarry-tiled floors, lots of rooms- it’s a bit of a warren. There’s outside space as well.
Kilmore, Drumnadrochit:
Drumnadrochit is Nessie central, but our target was just outside town away from all that. The Benleva is a hotel, but as is so often the case, the bar is the local pub. There’s also a brewery in the grounds (sorry, facebook link), with their excellent beer behind the bar. Great food, and a friendly barman too.
Bury St Edmunds:
We’d been recommended this as one of the very few non-Green King pubs in town. It was a few minutes walk north of the centre, in a quiet residential street, and we were expecting to like it a lot: something other than GK beer, microbrewery on site.
In the event, it didn’t hit the spot: staff were friendly enough, but the microbrewery seemed like a gimmick, with the bright, chromed vessels in the bar area seeming like mere decoration, and a lot of tables reserved for food. The bar snacks were a bit hipstery too. The beer we had was in fine condition, but didn’t inspire, but we may have chosen badly- but the lack of any notes explaining on the pump clips made choosing more difficult.