The Fox, Bury St. Edmunds

A large corner pub with rooms, being on a corner the interior is L shaped. Quite an old building with old blackened ceiling beams although there’s a lot of refurbishment happened over time. The fussy interior is traditionally furnished mainly with tables and chairs but there is some banquette seating. Four pulls at one end of the counter with an odd selection of GK IPA, London Glory and Old Speckled Hen with an unexpectedly drinkable Landlord. London Glory and OSH were coming soon so it was the only option. Three quad T-bars have the usual lager led choice of national brands. Very much an hotel bar atmosphere about the place.

The Fox is a long pub with a central tile floored bar where the serving counter across the rear wall faces a mix of high and standard furniture to the front. The seating to the left of the bar feels like it’s geared towards dining, especially with menus and cutlery on all the tables. The seating to the right of the bar on laminate flooring encircled by wood panelled walls is regarded as bar seating, so I found a spot on the high banquette that runs across the front window while I noted a busy midweek afterwork crowd. Premium keg was available alongside Fosters and the four hand pumps were drawing TT Landlord and Greene King’s IPA, Old Speckled Hen and a decent drop of Old Golden Hen. There was some niche background music playing loud enough that it could be heard over the chatter. I thought it was ok in here, but I probably won’t walk this far out of town to visit again.

Official site of The Fox - www.greeneking.co.uk

Official site of The Fox - www.greeneking.co.uk

A traditional looking pub dating from the 15th century on the outskirts of Bury town centre just opposite the abbey gardens, I initially thought it looked a bit chain like from the outside, but it was actually quite a pleasant pub with many “olde worlde” features intact. Internally, the main bar is an L-shape room with a wonky beamed ceiling, black wood panelling on the lower part of the walls with cream plasterwork above, and elsewhere some exposed brickwork along with a carpeted floor. A very small fireplace was off to one side, little more than a hole in the wall, and there were a number of old black and white photographs of the Greene King Brewery on the walls as well as some colourful artwork depicting foxes. A snug at the rear had dark wood panelling on the walls making it somewhat reminiscent of a hotel drawing room and a fireplace with an unusual steeped chimney breast. Beers on tap were Bath Ales Gem, Greene King IPA, Timothy Taylor Landlord and their own Crafty Fox which is apparently brewed by Hardy & Hensons, although these days that is of course also Greene King. The solitary cider was Aspall’s Suffolk. The barman was very helpful and spent some time explaining the different gin options to Mrs B.