The John Leslie

Now this is what a pub should be like!

Situated out of the town centre you might be forgiven for thinking this is a bit of an old mans pub. Well in many ways I think it is but that plays a large part in what made this place so endearing.

A slightly grubby exterior gives way to a wonderfully preserved Edwardian interior which is a riot of wood panelling, high moulded ceilings and coloured glass.

Usually these sort of places get taken over by some brewery chain, have all their original fixtures ripped out and replaced by modern reproduction of 'traditional'. Not this place though - pretty much everything seemed to be as it was when it at the start of the last century (barring some seat upholstery and the addition of a TV.)

The pub is built along a long, wide bar well stocked with a range of beers and lagers. This neatly splits the place into two halves which once would have been the tap room and the saloon bar (ie one for the working classes and one for the gentry). The main bar is in the tap room but it also has a series of serving hatches in the saloon side where you could purchase drinks from. Odder still there was also a small snug which was completely partitioned off from the rest of the pub making an odd little private room!

We visited on a Saturday afternoon and it was reasonably quiet but was filling up nicely by early evening. Everyone seemed happy enough to leave you to your own devices and they even cooked up a huge plate of sausage rolls which were provided free of charge to all the drinkers.

I came away really wishing this was my local and will definitely be visiting again next time I'm in the area.