Record Breakers

[Strongers]

I thought I'd start a thread for legendry pubs as there are many pubs that claim to be certain things, but are not, so I thought we could put our collective minds together to put a claim in for the:

Highest?
Lowest?
Most northerly, easterly, southerly, westerly?
Oldest?
Biggest?
Smallest?
Busiest?
Most idyllic?
Remotest?
Most walkers friendly?
With the friendliest locals?
Most attentive staff?
Best sport?
Best dining?
Best bar snacks?
Best free bar snacks?
Best sea food vendor?
Best for beer? (I purposely put this near the bottom as most threads are about beer)
Best views?
Best jukebox?
Best live music?
Best for pub games?
Best quiz?
Best for local curry/Chinese/kebab?
Most dog friendly?
Most cat friendly?
Most car friendly?
Most child friendly?
Best beer garden?
best children's play facilities?
Best toilet?
Best BBQ?
Best smoking facilities?

Some of these are fact, others are debatable and most are perceived, but I thought a positive thread would be good, feel free to add more categories as I've missed many.

[Millay]

I think there are a few claims to the oldest. Ye Olde Fighting Cocks In St Albans is one of them plus, I think, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham.

One of the smallest must be the Circus Tavern in Manchester, certainly one of the shortest bars.

For views I like The Mariner in Folkestone and the Liverpool Arms in Conwy which both look out over their respective harbours.

I'll have to think about the rest.

[ETA]

Cheapest (Colpitts in Durham?)
Most motorcyle/bicycle/horse friendly (Admiral Drake in Portsmouth/Lamb in Nomansland (irony)/Cartwheel in Whitsbury?)
Snootiest (Boot and Flogger in London?)
Weirdest feature (Coopers Arms in Rochester once had an embalmed monk?)
Most boat friendly (Shipwrights Arms in Oare Creek, Faversham?)
Most haunted (George in Newington, now sadly closed?)

[oldboots]

Highest in England is easy - Tan Hill Inn but is it the highest in Britain?
The remotest will be the one in Scotland only accessible by boat, somewhere near Applecross I think, it might be the most idyllic as well.
The smallest is claimed by a couple, one in Suffolk and the other in Cerne Abbas, Dorset, one is the Beehive the other the Nutshell I think. Likewise the oldest has many claimants, one going back to about 900AD. I'll have to think about this and look some up.

[ETA]

the oldest has many claimants, one going back to about 900AD. I'll have to think about this and look some up.

Surely this is the oldest: http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-%26-technology/archeologists-uncover-ancient-responsible-drinking-posters-201102183557/

[RogerB]

Crikey – not asking for much here are we!!!

The factual answers as far as I can tell are…

Highest – The Legendary Tan Hill Tavern near Keld in North Yorkshire, home to Everest double glazing adverts and the maddest landlady in the world. Been there, seen it, done it, drunk the Ewe Juice and have the t-shirt.

Lowest Admiral Wells in Holme, near Peterborough - 6ft below sea level.

Most northerly, easterly, southerly, westerly? I remember doing a lot of research on the other side for this. Assuming we are talking about mainland Britain, I think the answers are…
North - John O’Groats House Hotel although last time I looked it was closed for refurbishment – I would expect it to now be open
South - The Witch Ball at Lizard which recently opened usurping the nearby Top House from its notoriety.
East – The Royal Falcon, Lowestoft.
West – A bit tricky but possibly the Salen Hotel, Argyll. Not sure if this is a residents bar only but I’m sure they wouldn’t turn you away for a drink!

Oldest – Many spurious claims but Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem in Nottingham is widely regarded as the oldest.

Biggest - I believe its now the Regal, a new Wetherspoons in Cambridge.

Smallest - The Nutshell in Bury St Edmunds.

Remotest – Old Forge – Konydart, Loch Nevis. I did once try and get there when I was staying in Fort William but the journey defeated me.

As for the personal opinion answers, I'll have to have some thinking time.

[Dave M]

Smallest - The Nutshell in Bury St Edmunds.

This is certainly what I'd always thought, and have seen many a claim of it being the case. However I was watching something on TV a few months back, Coast I think, which claimed that the Signal Box in Cleethorpes (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/63577/) is officially the smallest.

[RogerB]

The smallest pub has always been open to debate. The Nutshell has an upstairs "function" room (about big enough for a dozen people at best if they all huddle together) although you wouldn't really classify it as part of the pub in the spirit of things.

[rpadam]

This is certainly what I'd always thought, and have seen many a claim of it being the case. However I was watching something on TV a few months back, Coast I think, which claimed that the Signal Box in Cleethorpes (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/63577/) is officially the smallest.
This one also claims to be the smallest...

www.micropub.co.uk

www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/64090/

[RogerB]

This one also claims to be the smallest...

www.micropub.co.uk

www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/64090/

The blurb says smallest "Free House". The Nutshell isn't a freehouse (it's a Greene King tie). I've never managed to get to the Butchers Arms so can't compare the interiors to make an honest opinion.

[oldboots]

This one also claims to be the smallest...

so does this one

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/United_Kingdom/England/Dorset/Godmanstone/photo76067.htm

and this is a list of those claiming to be the oldest in 1930

Fighting Cocks St Albans 795
Fountain Canterbury 1029
Bell Findon 1042
Ostrich Colnbrook 1106
Angel Grantham 1213
Angel Blyth (Notts) 1270
George & Dragon Speldhurst 1270
Maid's Head Norwich 1287
Green Man Erdington 1306
George Salisbury 1320

Note the Olde Trip (1189) isn't on the list and neither is the Bingley Arms at Bardsey (953), supposedly Yorkshire's oldest. I guess we'll never know.

[RogerB]

The Fighting Cocks claim is again a bit spurious. There are apparently some tunnels in the cellar that lead (not sure if they still do) to the nearby Abbey that date from the 8th century but this is hardly sufficient in my book to call it the oldest pub in the country. The impression I got was that the 14th Century pigeon house that was amalgamated into the pubs interior in the 16th Century is pretty much the oldest part of the main structure and the rest consists of 19th Century add ons. I got all this from blurb in the pub itself and stuck it in my review!

[ETA]

Then you get all the argument about definitons of "oldest" - longest continuous use as a pub, earliest reference, oldest building (whether or not i was a hostelry), earliest licence, etc etc

[Farway]

Ref north / south etc, are we talking mainland Britain or British Isles? If latter then the pubs of Channel Islands, Orkneys, etc must be in there

The most remotest for me is the one you are trying to reach when busting for a pee

[ROBCamra]

The Lakeside Inn - Southport has a certificate from the Guiness Book Of Records stating that it was the smallest.

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/56477/

[RogerB]

Lakeside Inn 22ft X 16ft = 352sq ft.

Nutshell 15ft X 7ft = 105sq ft.

If you counted the upstairs room at the Nutshell I doubt it would surpass the Lakeside total. Also, the Nutshell doesn't have any outside seating!

[ROBCamra]

Lakeside Inn 22ft X 16ft = 352sq ft.

Nutshell 15ft X 7ft = 105sq ft.

If you counted the upstairs room at the Nutshell I doubt it would surpass the Lakeside total. Also, the Nutshell doesn't have any outside seating!

Or pehaps not anymore, see here.

http://www.whitebeertravels.co.uk/signal.html

Signal Box Inn = 64 sq ft

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/63577/

[RogerB]

I read somewher that the Rake in Borough is 13ft X 7ft (91sq ft) so that would be smaller than the Nutshell as long as the outside patio doesn't come into the equation. Not as small as the Signal Box though.

[Pubsignman]

I read somewher that the Rake in Borough is 13ft X 7ft (91sq ft) so that would be smaller than the Nutshell as long as the outside patio doesn't come into the equation. Not as small as the Signal Box though.

I have to say that those measurements for the Rake don't sound right to me (in fact, they sound more like the dimensions of the big fridges full of foreign beers at the back!!). I was in there on Saturday and for my feeling the pub is a lot bigger than the Nutshell.

[Paris_Hilton]

This is the most south-westerly (on the mainland)

http://www.firstandlastinn.co.uk/

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/63985/

And this is the only pub to which Her Majesty has made an official visit

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/7875/

it has been in the same family for over 111 years, celebrated with the brewing of a specially bottled beer named, er, 111, and very good it is too

[Paris_Hilton]

This is a candidate for the weirdest

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/60772/

and this one is quite remote

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/68759/

so remote it seems that no-one has left a review.

[Maldenman]

And this is the only pub to which Her Majesty has made an official visit



Her old mum got round a fair few Young's pubs though didn't she! ;)

[RogerB]

This is the most south-westerly (on the mainland)

http://www.firstandlastinn.co.uk/

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/63985/

I thought I had added some pics of this place - now sorted!

[Millay]

Roger, can I suggest you get out your tape measure and measure your shed. It might just qualify as the smallest ;):D

[Strongers]

Most dog friendly? (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/24432/)

[Paris_Hilton]

Best smoking facilities?

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/61905/

[Paris_Hilton]

Most dog friendly? (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/24432/)

or here

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/56558

don't make a special visit, its rubbish

[aleandhearty]

The oldest pub is always very contentious. This discussion is the best I've come across:

http://www.fatbadgers.co.uk/britain/old.htm

[RogerB]

Looks like we aren't the only ones discussing record breakers!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1360127/Britains-tiniest-pub-At-12ft-14ft-Hernes-big-success.html

[Brewguru]

Most dog friendly? (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/24432/)

I'd nominate this one (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/60617/)

Although not obvious from the review, their Twitter, Facebook and Web pages show they are welcoming to our 4 legged friends

[ETA]

This one http://www.hotel-wolf.de/ surely takes the [dog] biscuit?

Although not in Britain, it meets every other criterion for being a pub (sells beer to humans in its public bar).