The George Hotel

I was polite and respectful, but it felt like the older black-haired woman behind the bar didn’t appreciate my northern accent. As soon as she started serving me, my drinks cost 20p more. She didn’t say anything to explain or stop it. Then she put my Moretti in a Kronenbourg glass, even though I could see clean Moretti glasses. I got the hint and won’t spend my money here again. Nobody else seemed to be treated like a mug.

I had a lovely London Pride here a few days ago. It’s a traditional town pub with lots of screens for watching sport, and the prices are great too. Just to be clear, this isn’t a hotel!

Drinks are reasonably priced, and it’s a nice pub in the town centre that often has local bands. They show Sky Sports and BT Sport too. They didn’t take card payments when I went, though I’m not sure whether that’s temporary or permanent.

The beer is still kept well, and London Pride remains in tip-top condition. That’s one thing they’ve got right. There’s only London Pride as the real ale now, alongside the cold fizzy stuff for younger drinkers. Staff are run off their feet. I still come in daily early for two pints of Pride and a glass of Tempranillo, and I’m not giving up on a pub I’ve been drinking in since 1961. I stopped coming later in the day, though. There are no local live bands anymore, which is a shame. Not much has changed for the better. The Northern owners still seem to miss the local touch and show little awareness of the community. They should have done a market survey when they took over. It still feels like a corporate northern-owned bar imposing what worked in the north, with total disregard for locals. The pub is very focused on football, horse racing and golf, and can get exceptionally noisy. There’s no quiet area with the screen visible but the sound low for people who are hard of hearing. There’s a fair range of red wines, some not bad, but they seem to price them for markup alone. If you like Echo Falls, you’ll be in heaven, though it’s cheaper in local shops, so drink at home. They also have the ubiquitous DoomBar for cheapskates. I won’t touch it, so can’t comment.