BITE user comments - Greywolf
Comments by Greywolf
I was unenthusiastic a couple of years ago, but must radically revise my opinion, except for the prices. Presentation of the beers is now much more calm and measured, and top ups of excessive heads seem to be given now as a matter of course. The brightness and flavour of the beers remains a treat and the variety is frankly astonishing.The bar staff are genuinely excellent, the clientele friendly and the surroundings clean and unpretentious. It does what it says on the tin - a place to serve alcohol, a few brief lunch time meals, cleanliness, good service and muzak kept (now) to a discreet minimum. It's a first rate pub and doesn't try to be anything more, because in that defined role it's by far the best for miles around.
20 Nov 2013 20:52
Food, beer and service were all first-class. My discerning friends liked it all very much. Will certainly go again.
20 Apr 2010 21:45
I quite like this place, especially as it doesn't serve food. The always changing beers are generally good if a bit pricey, but are spoiled in presentation by the sparkler and by over-enthusiastic (and technically poor) drawing. Good but not that good. Atmosphere is lacking. Unmemorable.
3 Jun 2009 22:24
Well, I finally found it open. Went in. Saw the beer on offer. Came out (RAN out). Never went back.
3 Jun 2009 22:21
The Hare and Hounds, Lothersdale
Pleasant. Bland. Unremarkable. And this despite having just become a free house.
Still exactly the same as countless other featureless pubs across England and Wales. Don't expect to return.
Pleasant staff. Reasonable beer. Acceptable food.
Just don't expect anything other than a slow death from visual boredom. Take a book. Even a bad one.
3 Jun 2009 22:16
Wadworth's beer - unexceptional. Wanted to buy a sandwich but killed that idea when I was told that a minimum of �10 was necessary if I wanted to pay by card. Given that I was the only customer in there midweek, I just wonder why they felt it necessary to insist on this and thus lose my trade. And they wonder why pubs are closing faster than boiled asparagus...
They also have a very inbred barmaid...
3 Jun 2009 21:39
The Sir Richard Steele, Belsize Park
I lived opposite this place in 1969/70. Ronald Fraser and other luvvies used to drink there, and the beer was good and cheap, the decor theatrical in all senses, the atmosphere noisy and generally good humoured.
I hope so much that the place is still the wonderful watering hole it was then. Good luck to all who visit her!!
16 Feb 2009 19:26
The Newhampton Inn, Whitmore Reans
I love this pub - coal fires in winter, a good range of usually well-presented ales. BUT I went in there yesterday - the glasses smelt of bleach and the fish and chips I had was frankly disgusting.
I hope this was just an off day...
2 Dec 2008 08:44
A most agreeable pub where the landlord clearly puts great emphasis on serving an excellent pint. We went on Sunday so my mate got the �1.65 ale, while I had the Timmy's. Newspapers and books, and I don't recall loud music.
Excellent
8 Jul 2008 23:43
I've been here twice. The licensee and his missis are young and friendly and I so want them to do well.
BUT, on each occasion I've been the beer has been cloudy, and SERVED to me cloudy. The last time I looked at it - it was opaque it was that bad - and looked at him, and he had the nerve to hold it up to the light!! No fuss about changing it, but it should never have been served (it was so by his missis).
Oh, and any pub I walk into where the landlord's on MY side of the bar reading the paper automatically loses points for sheer unprofessionalism.
3 Jan 2008 21:36
The little Stratton Arms (just inside the Bucks border) is a total delight. Here newspapers, dictionaries and a warm fire and quiet conversation are always available. This is a thinking, drinking man�s pub! There are too many excellent ales to list! A vast garden with a large play area. All this plus the Ouse close to hand. Astonishingly I can't find this gem in the GBG!
11 Dec 2007 23:11
The Prince Of Wales, Steeple Claydon
It's okay. Nothing to go overboard about, but friendly and serving good ale.
29 Nov 2007 18:47
A little cracker. Excellent beer from a range of about eight, a comfy chair and the Sunday papers. Bliss.
29 Nov 2007 18:46
I for one am sorry. It's very many years since I last drank there, but the beer was always top notch and the place was full of "characters" whom you interacted with or ignored. It was a rare example of spit and sawdust, but friendly, lively and always a rewarding visit at a time when Luton pubs were sh**e. I hope it reopens and is true to its old roots if it does.
29 Nov 2007 18:39
Good service, generally (not always) acceptable beer / full pints. Agreeable little garden and decent sandwiches. It's friendly enough, but there's just *something* about the place that grates. I've been twice, and turned down chances to go again. But you may well think different!
29 Nov 2007 18:05
Far from inexpensive drinks, and the interior was as dead as my pint and as soulless as a zombie. Avoid. I do.
29 Nov 2007 18:01
All the atmosphere of a tomb.
Never more, as the Raven quoth.
29 Nov 2007 17:58
Do you know, I've driven by this place countless times, always when the other pubs in Silsden are open for business. This place is like the little house of horrors - it's NEVER open!! I mean, come on, 6.55 pm midweek and I'm gasping for a beer...Do they WANT custom? Has anyone ever seen inside this place of dark mystery? Cap'n, art tha sleepin' thur below?
29 Nov 2007 17:55
I came. I had a pint of indifferent beer. I left.
I have not been back.
29 Nov 2007 17:51
The service and food are almost always good. Hence my great disappointment to be served a frankly iffy Sunday lunch,and an ignored letter of polite complaint. AND the beer is always top of the price range.
29 Nov 2007 17:50
I think it's ok as a pub. I been in three times for a pint of Black Gold, and the service, without being over-friendly, was at least efficient. One of my pints was end-of-barrel tainted, and was changed with an apology and no fuss. I don't know about the food. But I do like the inerior of the place. Certainly worth a visit after walking.
29 Nov 2007 17:38
The Fox and Hounds, Starbotton
I stopped once early on this year. The beer was cloudy and the place lacked any atmosphere. I haven't bothered to go again. The "Buck" up the road or the pubs in Kettlewell offer far more congenial surroundings and their ales are always well presented.
29 Nov 2007 17:31
I've only ever drunk here, after walking the local paths. The Copper Dragon has always been excellent and the surroundings, inside and out, very pleasant. A top place from which to descend to the L&L Canal for a stroll - before or after the beer!
29 Nov 2007 17:28
Dull, bland, anonymous. Could be a pub anywhere. Acceptable beer and food. But not worth a detour. The Cross Keys at E Marton just up the road is far better value for money and time.
29 Nov 2007 17:26
Is there an "easy" way to climb the Pike??
All pubs should be like this. I agree with all the preceding comments.
29 Nov 2007 17:23
I enjoyed my visit. My beer was good, it was warm and comfortable in November, and the landlord (from London and retired) was pleasantly chatty. Recommended, though not the cheapest pub in the pack!!
29 Nov 2007 17:21
Sorry John, I disagree. You have to visit this little gem of a place. As boozers go it's distinctly old-fashioned - almost spit and sawdust. But the beer is ALWAYS excellent in presentation and taste, the staff know their ales and are most friendly, and I've heard that the mid-week music scene is very good too. Add to this their "Upstairs/Downstairs" beer festival (always brilliant) and you've a pub in a million.
AND NO FOOD!!! GREEEAT!!!
29 Nov 2007 17:16
A little gem, this is the unofficial brewerey tap for TT. Always outstandingly presented beer, first-class service, warmth from coal fires and friendliness from the usually middle-aged locals. And no bloody food to soil the atmosphere or stop me sitting at a table and doing the crossword while I sup a leisurely pint.
All pubs should be like this.
29 Nov 2007 17:11
We visited mid-week at 8.30 to be told that there was no more cooking (stopped at 8pm). We had a good pint of Daleside (I think - local brew, anyway), then left. I wish the pleasant new managers luck - but up the road the Craven Arms were still serving good food and ale in front of warm log fires. Draw your own conclusions as to where we went!
29 Nov 2007 17:07
What can I say. We turned up late last night and STILL got a good meal cooked for us. The beer is always excellent as are the service and the view from the tables and benches out front. If you go, do wander through to the cruck barn extension at the back. An astonishing sight!!
29 Nov 2007 17:04
A good selction of well-presented real ales in an unremarkable pub. I'm told the food is good. Worth a visit.
29 Nov 2007 17:02
A pleasant place though the TT isn't always up to the standards of the surroundings.
29 Nov 2007 17:00
The Royal Shepherd Inn, Skipton
A pleasant unremarkable pub, serving well-presented Copper Dragon though NOT Black gold - and it's almost December and freezing!! Interesting photos on walls. Worth a pint in.
29 Nov 2007 16:58
This can be a good place to go. 17C interior, usually well presented wide selction of Real Ales. BUT the beer is very expensive (�2.50 for my pint of Wharfedale 4.5% today) and one or two of the staff have a tendency to give less than a full pint, even allowing for the northern preference (so called) for a head. As pub it's pleasantly old-fashioned, two coal fires in winter, usually friendly staff. Worth a visit, not a stay, I think.
29 Nov 2007 16:55
Oh bliss! Oh joy!! Oh poop poop!! Oh my oh my!!!
Brilliantly served ales - eight. Outstandingly friendly and helpful staff. An atmosphere of peace and tranquility - no music, no gobby kids. Newspapers. A true drinker's paradise. If I could give more than full marks I would.
Astonishing.
30 Aug 2007 17:06
The Old White Bear, Crosshills
Scafell - I can guess why you prefer this place ot Cowling's "Bay Horse". It's like comparing a jewel to a cockroach..
OWB remains a brilliant place. Despite the departure of the Naylors, (who have now set up their brewery in Skipton, and for whose beers the pub remains the brewerey tap for three years), the beer is still superbly produced at daft prices - �1.75 for a pint of really excellent bitter or dark mild. The food is very very good, varied, plentiful and not over priced. The service is usually quick and friendly. It's a warm and comfy place which is even better now the smokers have gone. And they're doing something out back - enlarging either the car park or the "garden". In fact problems with the small car park are my only complaint. Hence 9/10 - and keep it up, lads.
30 Aug 2007 16:50
How I look back to the late 90s and the era of Clive and Trisha. They turned this place from a dump into a palace, with excellent food, drink, atmosphere and service. And they made the canal frontage into a riot of colour with flowers in spring and summer. They had a mad goose called Cantona who would attack passing cars.It was second to none, the best pub for miles, including Leighton, Dunstable and MK. I drank there every night for over two years.
Then Clive got bored - there was nothing more he could do with the place, it wasn't a challenge. He started getting a bit "funny", short-tempered with customers, a screaming fit with a couple. He was rude to me - I didn't return. Whether the pub was taken over or whether he just quit I don't know, but leave he did.
And downhill it's gone. I came back once - mediocre service, expensive dull beer, and all the old charged good time atmosphere have vanished.
o tempora! o mores!
30 Aug 2007 16:40
I've not yet been, but from what I hear this place is a real oasis in the middle of an arid and unattractive town, with only the Vic offering any competition. Good luck to them.
30 Aug 2007 16:30
Oh dear. I remember when the place opened, how hopeful we all were.
Now it's tatty at the edges, smelling too often of chip fat, overloud muzak, poor gents' loo, with Pride now �2.85, ffs!!
Staff are pleasant and the "old" regulars too, but the "new" ones who came in and stayed after the "Cross Keys" fire are frankly pretty degenerate - loudmouthed, offensive in their language, always giving off violent vibes.
I gave up, and drove further to Long Marston - a trek but worth it to get decent ale at a decent price. I gather Paul is thinking of moving on (still). It's clear his heart is no longer in this place. I hear he may be selling it to Martin. That'll turn the place into an undertaker's...
30 Aug 2007 16:27
Ooerr. The landlord and landlady are the most anally retentive couple you could find. I tried asking for a whisky seconds after the "time" call, to be met with negative and chilly looks. The beer is adequate, the place is comfortable but bland, there's slushy muzak constantly, the food is acceptable.
Go elsewhere.
30 Aug 2007 16:17
The Three Horseshoes, Cheddington
I've always lked this place. Big car park and garden and now a comfortable patio with seating and tables. Two bars - public on the right and lounge on the left. The clientele tend to overlap. It used to be full of smokers, and is thus even better now they've gone. The surroundings are clean and comfortable, the beer always spot on thanks to Richie the Cellarman. Presently serving GK IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Hobgoblin. The food is first class, even the Saturday rolls which, at �1 a time, are great value for money. And in winter there are log fires...
Perfick.
30 Aug 2007 15:59
The New Inn, Denholme
I've visited only once - last night - so can't really give 10 stars based on just one pint. Given the few customers that were in I found the full car park a puzzle. But the surroundings, blazing fire and service were very good, the beer was an amazing one from Acorn (5.8%) and at £2.30 I really thought Paradise had descended on me. I hope the new owner / manager / whatever, Mr Garvey, can maintain this excellent venue as it was last night. Whether he can maintain the prices (£2 for a pint of draught Tetley's) remains to be seen. I'd advise you to get in quick!!
5 Dec 2013 13:04