The Black Rock, Wakefield

The wonderful tiled archway and etched glass windows of this pub's frontage effectively set the place up for a fall, as the hopes raised by such a fine exterior were unlikely to be matched by whatever was on offer inside. The pub has a simple L-shaped layout, with a good deal of banquette and low stool seating throughout and the odd drinking shelf here and there as well. The floor is a mix of carpet and some nice old tiles, mainly skirting the perimeter, but putting this aside, there wasn't all that much in the way of interesting features, presumably the result of one too many refurbs over the years. Music played fairly unobtrusively throughout our visit and there are a couple of large screen TV's towards the rear of the room. There were four ales on the pumps - Tetley's Cask, Partners Aunt Agatha, Bateman's Rosey Nosey and North Cotswold Winter Solstice, the latter being close to undrinkable, whilst the Aunt Agatha was better, if not exactly earth shattering. The reviews below and the pub's entry in the 2012 GBG suggest that the bad beer may have been a one off, although equally it could be seen as a sign that standards are slipping. This is a decent enough place to stop off for a drink, but I can't imagine wanting to spend a long time in here and would probably drop it from any future crawl of Wakefield in favour of spending more time in some of the town's more reliable pubs.

Decent pub situated in a prime position in the City centre,that has on offer quite a few guest beers at reasonable prices,with Sharp's Doom Bar being the pick of the bunch on my Tuesday morning visit.If anyone has ever attended an Abseiling course you will find the experience invaluable when attempting the climb down to the toilets.

A traditional styled pub amid the tawdry bars of Westgate, modernised but retaining a reasonably intact old interior. The walls are partly a shade of mustard partly plain white decorated with the pictures and pub list mentioned below, it has traditional brown wainscotting and the floor is part nice tiles part carpet. Five handpumps, two with Tetleys Cask the others with guests including a nicely kept Pale Rider. I lingered over that pint savouring its flavour and enjoying the quiet atmosphere. Not too busy on a Saturday lunchtime when I called in, a few old lads playing dom's and some regulars enjoying a drink and watching the sport, perhaps the lull before the storm of the “Westgate Run”. A sign warns of death trap stairs down to the Gents.

Old fashioned but neat town bar, appears to have had a refurb not too long ago & the soft bench seating looked new. 3 real ales, and the quality was superb. A nice, traditional place worth stopping for a pint.