Lancaster Pub Explorations

I arrived by train in Lancaster just before midday, greeted by some unexpected blue skies that wouldn't last.
But the weather did tempt me into a diversion to the castle, looking good in the sunshine with autumnal trees in front of it.  I completed a bit of minimalist tourism wandering around the courtyard and reading the placards in the small exhibition about the Pendle Witches.  It would have been ideally followed up by a pint of Moorhouse 'Pendle Witches Brew', but I failed to find that on my travels throughout the day.

The first place those travels took me was just north of the centre on the way to the River Lune.

The Three Mariners (Bridge Lane, Lancaster, LA1 1EE)
Old wooden beams, dim lighting, excessive cushions, super-quiet music.
Claiming to be the oldest pub in town, this is very much the modernised historic inn, politely refurbished to appeal to the gastro crowd.

It would have once been part of a run of similar buildings lining a cobbled street to the port, but now stands back from the road with the cobbles housing picnic benches for those braving the chill.

Beers available were Robbinsons 'Unicorn' or Dizzy Blonde, Oakham 'Citra', Mobberley Brew House 'Chinook, Hawkshead 'Bitter' and three more around the corner that I didn't spot when standing at the bar.

The Mariners was surprisingly busy for just after midday, leaving me with the last small table in the corner on which to sip a respectable pint of 'Unicorn'.

Back in the bustling shopping streets, down an alleyway near the market square, is Jimmy's tap house where I made the young staff member jump by somehow sneaking in silently whilst she was concentrated on artistically updating the blackboards.

Jimmy's Tap House (10 Slip Inn Lane, Lancaster, LA1 1JT)
This small craft bar opened in December '21 in a former gym premises.
The tap list is displayed at a neck-craning angle on the underside of the staircase to an additional first floor seating area.  Five keg beers, several ciders, and two cask hand pumps hidden in the furthest reaches of the bar.

From the casks (Cross Bay 'Zenith' and Lord's 'Phat Tony') I picked the one I hadn't heard of - Lord's Brewing Co being from Huddersfield.
Then spent the rest of my visit trying to work out if the beer was in dubious condition or was supposed to taste like this.  I needed a beer sommelier with me.

Decent soundtrack of Cage the Elephant and the Arctic Monkeys though, in a place that's probably a lot more fun with a crowd of folk in of an evening time. 

A walk south took me to the Lancaster Canal and the impressively located Water Witch.
Note the blue sky replaced by ominous clouds.

The Water Witch (Tow Path, Aldcliffe Lane, Lancaster, LA1 1SU) 
The chill in the air and rapidly disappearing sunshine left the waterside benches empty at the Water Witch, which was doing a reasonable lunchtime trade inside.
It's long and narrow with several distinct areas, obviously a popular spot for eating.  
A fair few canine visitors as well, the greyhound not looking overly convinced that it wants to be in the pub blog picture...  

'He was first' said the nice lady waiting at the food order point when the barman reappeared.
Ah, don't worry, says I, instantly regretting it when she launched into a super-complicated order.
At least it gave me plenty of time to pick from the four cask ales - I went with a very enjoyable Kirkby Lonsdale 'Devil's Bridge IPA'.

I sat near the bar, big picture-window to my left providing views of the canal and narrowboat outside, whilst a horribly bland playlist streamed out the speakers.
My quick Shazam to see what this horror was revealed Carl Anderson's 'Ocean'.  Who? 

Music aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the Water Witch, its business increasing when a posse of muddy booted ramblers made their way in.  But there was more to explore in Lancaster, which required me to trek back into the central thoroughfares.

Cornerhouse (15 New Street, Lancaster, LA1 1EG)
I confess that I stepped inside here on the way to the Three Mariners, took one look at the empty bar, and moved on to double-check I'd got the right place.
It didn't look much like a Good Beer Guide entry.

The clock had ticked on into mid-afternoon territory by the time I returned but it was still quiet.
A few folk in the restaurant section and several taking their pints of lager onto the outdoor seating in the archways of the undeniably impressive building.

It's an old department store, transformed into a bar, with their latest refurbishment being back in 2018.
They certainly didn't go for the 'proper pub' blueprint, as evidenced by the lighting and enormo-chair in the pictures below...

 

Three cask ales on offer came from local brewers: Bowland, Cross Bay and Kirkby Lonsdale.  I opted for the Bowland 'Hen Harrier' golden ale.  Was it such amazing quality that the listing of this bar in the beer guide suddenly made perfect sense.  Um, no, not really.

My next destination wasn't in the beer guide - I'd passed the Stonewell Tap a little early in the day before it opened and figured it was worth popping my head in.

Stonewell Tap (8 Lower Church Street, Lancaster, LA1 1NP)
This bar oddly stretches across two distinctly different buildings, one of which was a 19th century pub called the White Horse.  More recently it's been the Stonewell Tavern with a much more traditional frontage, prior to being re-branded a tap as craft ale crept into Lancaster whilst no-one was looking.

And so it was that I skipped the hand pumps and set about the tricky task of picking from the list of 16 beer lines, plumping for a Northern Monk 'Mango Lassi/Heathen 2023 IPA'.

The afternoon was quickly racing past and I needed to start heading back towards the station.
Handily en-route is this place...

Jailor's Barrel (64 Market Street, Lancaster, LA1 1HP)
This was converted from a shop in 2007, the bar previously being called the Robert Gillow to confuse pub tickers.  It's a smart place, with lots of brown leather cushioned high stools, sections of old stone wall, and a mustard coloured ceiling.

Real ale came from Lancaster Brewery and Cumbrian Ales with the other hand pumps 'Awaiting Perfection'.  I picked a fine Lancaster 'Hay-Maker'.

Just five more minutes down the road to the train station - it was one of those occasions on which I rather hoped the trains wouldn't be running to schedule.

Of course they weren't - so into Tite & Locke on platform 1 it is then.

Tite & Locke (Lancaster Railway Station, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, LA1 5NW)
This station pub is run by Lancaster Brewery, whose taproom I would have ventured out to if only I'd had more time.
The Tite & Locke is named after the architect of Lancaster station (Tite) and the engineer who oversaw the building of the Lancashire to Carlisle railway (that'll be Locke).

There are three rooms alongside the bar - named 1st, 2nd and 3rd class waiting rooms - and decorated by the mandatory railway station pub memorabilia of old posters, signs and maps.

They had a nice way of advertising the beers on offer..

I just needed to pick something sensible before catching the train.
Uh-oh, one of those A4 bits of paper featured Kirkstall 'Double Drophammer', a 12% imperial stout which was shouting out at me.

It was a lovely decadent impy stout. Just a pity that the train wasn't delayed a little bit longer and I had to neck it faster than was strictly sensible.