Bath

[Conrad]

It is probably somewhere over a mile from the station. One thing I would say is it is one of the dullest walks you will ever find in Bath, off the top of my head can't think of many pubs that would be along it.

Something to look for though is it is right on top of Oldfield Park station, so there may be some nicely timed link trains between Bath Spa and it.

[PaulOfHorsham]

there may be some nicely timed link trains between Bath Spa and it

..... there isn't on the way back (first thing I looked at!). If I don't leave enough time, I won't notice the dull surroundings as I rush back.

Got to work out that natty quoting of yours though.

[PaulOfHorsham]

Got to work out that natty quoting of yours though.

Right - think I've cracked that now.

[PaulOfHorsham]

I daresay you all want to know how I fared on my trip to Bath. If you're not interested, best not read further.

After an unexpectedly frenetic cross-London trip, I got to Bath a couple of minutes early. The weather was fine - I had 2 1/2 hours or so to dash around with a camera (mainly tourist photos, rather than pubs, although I'll be uploading a few in due course). I enjoyed the back streets of the centre and thought the Royal Crescent was very impressive.

Anyway, once the sun had disappeared and I got bored of strolling the streets, I tracked down The Raven - obviously it was more difficult to find once I'd started looking for it - I'd stumbled across it earlier more than once. Not a bad place - not large and I wouldn't want to spend an entire evening on a small, low stool, but I could easily have stayed for more than the one pint.

I'd taken the precaution of marking the likeliest pubs on a Multimap screen print, so I headed straight for the New Inn - a Wadworth's house and probably my favourite of the 4 I sampled. The landlord kindly told me that, despite the novel dispense (electric pump through fake barrels), the beer was all "real ale" - must get a fair few damn tourists in there!

Next up - a 10-minute slog out to The Hop Pole. Bath Ale in here, but it didn't really excite, unfortunately. Chips were good as were the bar staff, but the beer I chose (Barnstormer?) was brown & boring.

Then off to The Royal Oak - with 10 ales on, I was hoping for a treat. Didn't get one, unfortunately: Art Brew Hip Hop didn't slip down as easily as I'd hoped. More background music in here - pleased to hear plenty of Fleet Foxes. Disappointed Pubs Galore didn't pay a surprise visit!

Reviews will follow - one already posted and the rest will trickle through, to ensure a constant Paul presence on the front page for a day or two!

Next up - Brighton. And with friends this time! Probably only visiting one pub, though, but it is a good one.

[oldboots]

Thanks for telling us all about it, doesn't sound like the best pub crawl , but not a complete disaster. I haven't seen electric pumps in any form for years, that brought back memories.

Maybe Soupy or me will do one after our forthcoming assault on Derby

[Soup Dragon]

Indded, we will

I am a big fan of electronic pumps, see a lot of Banks's MILD (Original for hoppy) on them in the mids - great head and nice taste

[Conrad]

Thanks for reporting back, we did contemplate popping across to Bath, but we are remarkably antisocial people

I like your staggered review strategy, I really want to come up with some way of recognising people for a little longer on the site rather than the 5 minutes of fame provided by the front page.

[PaulOfHorsham]

Thanks for reporting back, we did contemplate popping across to Bath, but we are remarkably antisocial people

Very pleased to hear it. I would expect no less. Pity you didn't visit - we could have sat in opposite corners, refusing to communicate and, questioned later, simply say "couldn't be bothered".