Everything lezford said is spot on but just to add the pork pies are great too.The best of a not very good choice of real ale pubs in Wigan! Friendly staff, good choice of ales, very handy for both stations. Worth a visit.Excellent new addition to the Wigan real ale scene. Underneath some arches under the railway line. The inside has seats like old railway carriages and a screen that gives you the next train at both wigan wallgate and central. The beers are mostly local with prospect being the main ones. A must visit.

Nice enough pub, good range of ales, [£2.35p a pint], good smoking area at rear.
Pub number 2 and I'm back in town to tick this highly regarded pub with a good reputation.

This Hydes pub has 10 hand pump's, 7 of them with ales on. My pints of Allgates Nellie Melba were both very good and obviously tasted even better at £2.50 a pint!

Busy with mainly blokes, I assume due to the reputation of the pub coupled with football on the television. The decoration is fairly stark with plenty of brewery memorabilia on the walls but not much else.

Beer garden to the rear was mainly taken by smokers.

The Anvil is a cracking pub for a few good value ales with a friendly clientele. Out of the 4 pubs I visited in the town on 1 afternoon this was the best pub with the Central running it a close 2nd.
A busy pub opposite the bus station with large outdoor smoking and seating area at the back. Decent selection of cask ales.

Modern cavernous 'spoons situated in a prominant location on the junction of Friargate and the A59.

It’s 10.30pm when I enter and it's pretty empty, though to be honest the pub is huge. On the bar are 10 hand pumps, not a great choice with most of them being the ‘spoons national brands, though I do spot Acorn’s Old Moor Porter @ 4.4%, I use my camra voucher and this of course make the ale taste much better.

Another pub with older punters, quick and friendly service and has a nice atmosphere.

It’s worth a tick but it's a regular 'spoons so don’t be disappointed.Very busy early evening on St. Patrick's day - the Wetherspoon beer festival had started and I enjoyed a pint of Bateman's Lincolnshire Red; at £1.70 after the 50P voucher deduction it was a real bargain as well if not particularly distinguished..Remains one of the best value pubs in Preston. An ever changing range of guest ales and deals on wines, spirits and cocktails. A good range of excellent food including early breakfasts. Sometimes difficult to get served (ironically at quiet times) due to lack of staff. Watch out for beer and cider festivals when you can sample three different brews for the price of a pint. Use this place as a jumping off point for the many great pubs on Friargate and you may well end up returning or even staying!

A popular micropub with some character and I did like the custom-made glazed wooden cabinet in which the cask stillages are housed. The Townhouse Barney's Stout was in very good condition yesterday. Still a convivial little bar - hopefully the march of the vast drinking barns will be arrested and proper little 'micropubs' like this will flourish.Small bar on the now unused Southbound mainline platform with decent brews and none of the frivolities of your modern pub offerings. Friendly and down to earth (not one for your Trevor Howards and Celia Johnsons.

An unscheduled stop for me as I was disappointed in the ale quality at the Dog & Partridge and wanted a decent pint before I got back to pub ticking in the Friargate area.

After checking the location I made my way here briskly, I’d only read about the pub in a magazine the day before. This used to be a pub (the name escapes me) and is in the same building as The Ferret pub but is completely unconnected and from what I saw is very different.

10 hand pumps offering a cracking selection. I had ales from Rat Brewery in Huddersfield and Fernandes in Wakefield, there were also 2 additional ales on keg.

10pm Saturday night when I visited & it was half full but there was still plenty of good humoured Northern banter.

Neural decoration there’s wallpaper on the ceiling & old fashioned carpet on the floor. The back room where the pool table is located has a couple of comfy leather sofa’s and a television.

Superb place that is well worth the walk from town. An interesting little place that can easily be missed, as it seems to be in the same building as the much larger Ferret pub.

This was the place where I finally managed to find a dark beer available. There were 6 or 7 real ales available, but 4 were from the Rat brewery, as apparently they had just had a “meet the brewer” evening. Small sample jars showed the colour of the ales, and thus I was able to have Queen Rat. This was said to be a stout, but didn’t taste much like one to me.

They were also doing tastings of malt and hops. Very interesting, but I made the mistake of having the latter first !

This place is big on music, with many gigs advertised, and pictures of musicians on the walls. [ Having said that, I can’t remember if piped music was actually being played – probably not. Likewise I don’t think food was available.

7/10 – I will be back – if I ever visit Preston again.
Now named Ale Emporium. Now 8 real ales and extended opening times.

Still well worth the effort.

Made another visit last month. Of the three pumps, two were on. I went for Tackler's Gold 3.8% at £2.79 for the pint. The other ale was MPA, which was also available on my previous visit.

Service much more efficient on my latest visit, I am pleased to say!Have been eyeing up this pub for a while now and managed to pay a visit earlier this week, later afternoon.

At the bar's three hand pumps had a JW Lees ale - John Willy's 4.5%, MPA (Manchester Pale Ale) 3.7% and Victory 4.5%.

I was at the bar a few minutes before being served. Two members of staff passed through the entire length of the bar without acknowledging waiting punters, making their way to the private function in the other half of the pub. Another member of staff later came out and to be fair apologised for the delay and got another member of staff out to server another chap who was waiting.

I went for a pint of the Victory, £2.79 for the pint, settled dark and tasted somewhat heavy but in good condition. A substantial solid pint.

Would be happy to pay another visit, apparently some of the ales rotate so should be able to get some variety.Large pub on busy roadway, but nice atmosphere and caring staff.
Had a bite to eat, which was served promptly, good service and acceptable food.
Three Lee's beers on draught, but only tried the one (Christmas Plum), very nice.
Good experience all round.