Durham Pub Crawl

Sunday morning: a dramatic change in the weather promised the first real blue sky pictures on the blog for 2023 (I've only had to wait until April!) 
Full of enthusiasm and a Premier Inn breakfast I headed to Darlington station to catch the LNER train for the 17 minute trip to Durham.
A good early arrival gave me plenty of time to explore, pop into the cathedral, stroll along the banks of the River Wear, and visit the historic Cosin's library. 

How long would it be before I expanded the sightseeing itinerary to include a pub?
That'd be 11:27.

The Half Moon Inn (86 New Elvet, Durham, DH1 3AQ - web)
The Half Moon is an early opener with big glass windows allowing the casual by-passer to peer in and spot the Bass pump clip.
It's a fine, spacious, traditional pub, with polished dark wood surfaces and red leather bench running the length of the front window.  The crescent shaped room to the rear gets a mention in the heritage pub guide, but I figured it best to sit with my fellow early drinkers in the brighter front section.
Anyone wanting a cask beer that isn't Bass had the alternative choice of Landlord, Doom Bar and Wainwright.

To be honest, I think it was a pretty average pint of Bass, probably the first of day looking at the fizzy bubbles in Carling glasses on neighbouring tables.  But I enjoyed it, sat quietly with the sunshine beaming in the windows and the tail end of an early F1 race on the TV.

Just a few minutes walk along Old Elvet is the great-looking Dun Cow Inn, where I headed next.  This is a Grade II listed building with parts dating back to the 15th century and stories of several resident ghosts.

Dun Cow (37 Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HN)
A passageway leads along the side of the pub, with a sliding door providing entry to the snug at the front, an entry to the lounge further along and a small patio and outdoor WCs at the end.
I slid open the door to the snug and joined the other 4 customers in the small room, grabbing myself the cushioned bench seating in the window alcove.  
Castle Eden 'Blonde' or 'Best', plus a Timothy Taylor 'Landlord' were the options on cask, so I parted with £4.20 for a pint of the best.

I figured the Castle Eden was quite an interesting find - harking back to 1826 they were once a large NE brewer, eventually brought out by Whitbread in the sixties.  The original brewery was shut in 2002 and production of the beers moved to Camerons until they decided to cease brewing the ales in 2013.  Castle Eden has since been resurrected in 2015 as a microbrwery in the town of Seaham.
I'm  a sucker for the revival of old beers, so won't spoil it by mentioning that the beer was very average.
That chap in the corner seems to have an interesting dress sense.
Let's follow him up the road to the Victoria and get a closer look at those trousers...

Don't look too closely - they're very rude and give a clear message to 
wierdo pub bloggers taking surreptitious pictures behind your back! 

The Victoria Inn (86 Hallgarth Street, Durham, DH1 3AS)
Featuring on the National Pub Heritage list, the Victoria was built in 1899.  It's been run by the same family for over 40 years who've managed to retain its original historic design.
The crowd of punters is gathered in the narrow front bar where slices of pie, chunks of cheese and a bowl of crisps are sitting on the counter for all to help themselves.

Five cask ales were on offer, two from Newcastle's Big Lamp Brewery, Harviestoun 'Bitter & Twisted', Durham 'Artemis' pale ale, and - my pick - Blockyard's very tasty 'Space Oddity' stout.

There are two more rooms in the pub - both with marvelous fireplaces, lots of pictures, porcelain ornaments, and proper pub furniture.
An intriguing feature is the Family Department, a small wooden screen partitioned section which can be seen at the end of the bar.  This harks back to the days when women and children would fetch the families ale supplies and would do so from this off-sales counter without having to see or be seen by drinkers in the rest of the pub.

If only there weren't so many pubs that looked worth visiting in Durham, I could quite happily have settled in the Victoria for the rest of the afternoon.  A wonderful pub.
Instead, I trekked over the river twice, through the centre, and uphill on the west side of the city.  I made a fleeting visit for a half of Consett 'Red Dust' in the Old Elm Tree (12 Crossgate, Durham, DH1 4PS), currently Durham CAMRA 2023 city pub of the year.

Then I headed across the road and a few steps down the hill to a new GBG entry which was doing a roaring Sunday afternoon trade...

The Holy GrALE (57 Crossgate, Durham, DH1 4PR)
Previously a board-games cafe called Dark Matter, the Holy GrALE has been dishing outj craft beers since 2019 when it was opened by a former landlord of the Old Elm Tree pub.
It's a simple rectangular room, stairs leading down to a basement, bar and fridges dominating the back of the room.

What a difference a crowd of people make.  There was a buzz about the place with almost all the tables taken and a hubbub of conversation from a wide variety of Durham locals and their four legged companions.

Just the one, very reasonably priced, cask ale was available when I visited, alongside an impressive keg list offering everything from your Dortmunder Union to Vault City sours.
And a 'Huay Chivo' 11.3% chocolate and chilli imperial porter by Tartarus - yep, that'll do nicely!  

I arrived feeling pretty famished by this point and the buffet laid out on a long, high central table saved the day.

The final pubs on my list were handily close to the train station (and there's a pub on the platform just in case there's a long wait for the next train).
Firstly, the Bridge Hotel...

The Bridge Hotel (40 North Road, Durham, DH1 4SE - web)
The building which houses the current hotel was constructed in the 1850's as lodgings for workers constructing the 100ft high granite railway viaduct which it sits in the shadow of.  In 1864 it was established as a pub and named after the bridge that the original residents had helped build.
It's obviously had a fairly recent refurb: smartly painted, with chequered carpet and matching tub chairs.  On the bar was a choice of two cask ales - Ossett 'Yorkshire Blonde' or Greene King 'Future Brewers Spring Break'.

Sunday lunch service had just passed it's peak, with the odd gravy boat still being delivered to a table, whilst West Ham and Southampton battled it out on the TV to see who could keep Forest company near the bottom of the Premier League.

Drinking up at the end of the first half I headed across the road to the Station House, looking very photogenic with the bridge and blue sky behind it...

The Station House (Bridge Road, Durham, DH1 4SE - web)
This pub recently made it to the last four in the voting for CAMRA's 2022 Pub of the Year (won by the Tamworth Tap, which I really must visit soon, whilst other runners up were the Horse and Jockey in Stapleford and the King's Head in Norwich).

The Station House consists of one small room with long high benches, a table by the window, and a little extra seating tucked away down a couple of steps to one side.  There's no bar - just a hatch through which to order, with the beer barrels on view behind a glass screen.
Pump clips were stuck to the sides of the hatch: 3 beers, 3 ciders, 4 craft kegs.
A Verdant 'Burnt Porter' for me, served on top form and thoroughly enjoyable.

No TV screen, no music, no distractions, unless you count the four chaps sitting basked in light by the window and singing an impromptu rendition of 'Here Comes the Sun'.

This had been my first visit to Durham since my parents brought me here as a youngster (and didn't send me into the family department of the Victoria for ale supplies, to the best of my recollection).
It struck me as one of those cities where every pub looks to be worth poking your head into, so I must make it back sometime soon and do just that.