The Rose & Crown, Bury St. Edmunds

A very traditional boozer with two bars, old fashioned fittings, board floors, dart board and friendly landlord. Plain white walls adorned by a map, whisky mirror and some photos and drawings, brown tongue and groove below. Clear your tubes smell in the gents. Perfect. Three hand pulls on the front counter with four more tucked away almost out of sight in a cubby hole in the servery. The hidden beers are shown on a board by the front pumps. The full range tonight was Oakham Green Devil, a Trawler Boys beer, my Wolf Golden Jackal (very good), and hidden beers of Greene King Abbot and IPA plus Landlord and Nethergate Mild. A low T-bar of five has national favourites, including two Aspall ciders, Guinness, Madri and Carlsberg, with Poretti on a solo. The back room is a little bigger and is seating only with a big screen, no pumps on the counter. There is also a small rear smoking area. Only gripe was the piped music although it was classic hits. Also don't believe Camra’s opening hours - they’re wrong.

The Rose & Crown has a wooden floored front bar with a central U-shaped serving counter that supports standard and premium keg alongside three hand pumps that were drawing Green Jack Brewing’s Nightingale and Mahseer alongside a very nice Oakham & Hook Norton Brewery Hooked Up. To the left and right of the counter is some seating, not much though because this isn’t the biggest pub, but they have managed to shoehorn in a dartboard. There’s also a rear bar with more seating where a folk singer was getting ready for some action. Four more hand pumps in here were drawing GK Abbot and IPA alongside TT Landlord and Nethergate’s Melford Mile. This is a proper boozer with a very friendly old school governor, loved it and will return when next in town.

Facebook page of The Rose & Crown - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Rose & Crown - www.facebook.com

Very traditional backstreet pub with a heritage interior featuring two separate bars: the rectangular front one being slightly larger and the square one off to the side being plainer but almost timeless apart from the post-coronavirus notices. Six real ales available on handpump, three on the front and another trio in the passageway between the two bars; mostly Greene King and other nationals, but I went for the Nethergate Melford Mild (£3.10) with Greenjack's Mahseer IPA also available.