Posts Tagged ‘Sam Smiths’

Trafalgar Bay

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

The Trafalgar Bay is, apparently, the only pub that bears this name in Britain, which we think is quite nifty.

The inquisitive fellow who might think about how this boozer got such a unique name would probably link it to Nelson’s famous victory over the Spanish and French fleets off the Cape of Trafalgar in 1805. It would be a fair assumption, and one thepubsofyork.com made until having a look at Hugh Murray’s excellent ‘Directory of York Pubs’.

In it, Murray suggests that at about the time the pub started trading, it was customary for alehouses to prefix or suffix a famous or popular racehorse’s names with their colour. Pleasingly for fans of this theory, a horse named ‘Trafalgar’ finished 2nd in the Derby in 1806 and won two extremely valuable prizes at the Knavesmire, just a mile or so down the road the following year, with this in mind it’s perfectly reasonable that this unique name has equine connections.

Anyway, whichever theory you prefer, you could do a lot worse than mull it over in this Nunnery Lane hostelry which is not only a Sam Smiths house, but is rather nice too, unless you want to sit outside.

The beer garden wouldn’t look out of place behind a Bucharest police station, but thankfully you have the choice of three pleasant and comfortable internal rooms to sup in; a pool room which unsurprisingly boasts a pool table and two front rooms which are situated either side of the entrance.

The main room, where you will find the bar, has ample space for you to park your posterior and has a warm and cosy atmosphere which we put down to the traditional decor and real fires.

Whilst the the clientele always seem to be of the more mature variety and the locals a bit, er, local, it shouldn’t put you off visiting this place, not least for the famously cheap bar prices.

And if you get a bit bored of discussing the Horse v Battle pub name debate, then try to find the copy of the Reader’s Digest Road Atlas that is generally located in the bar area. Between the covers you will discover over 100 pages of colourful cartograhic enjoyment, with fancy folding out pages and accompanying geographical trivia. Smashing.


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Rating: 3.0/5 (1 vote cast)

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Posted in Bar Games, Food Available, Location, Nunnery Lane area, Sam Smiths, Within the ring road | No Comments »

York Arms

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

This pub is managed by Sam Smiths and subsequently serves up the very affordable and tasty offerings from the Tadcaster based brewery. York’s most up-to-date pub review website quite likes Sam Smiths pubs, but like the Hansom Cab, one of it’s fellow city centre siblings, the York Arms has a bit of a seedy feel to it.

Rumour has it that this place is a gay bar, and the wholly male crowd that filled the small front bar room during thepubsofyork.com’s previous visits would certainly back this up (so to speak).

There’s nothing massively awful about the pub, but the mainly brown decor feels more tired than rustic, and the crowd always seems a little rough around the edges – but like Wetherspoons, it suffers from the fact it serves cheap beer and is subsequently more likely to be frequented by those patrons who make up grade ‘E’ in the NRS social grade definitions.

It is also always hard to ignore the nagging feeling that there are many superior pubs a tiny toddle away. The Three Legged Mare and Ye Olde Starre Inne are both within a two minute walk and offer, as far as thepubsofyork.com is concerned, a more enticing ambience, a better range of beverages and an altogether superior pub experience.

One thing that the York Arms does have going for it is an extraordinary view to the left upon exiting. It sits in the shadows of York Minster, which along with Cologne Cathedral is one of the largest gothic cathedrals in Northern Europe (cheers Wikipedia) and this is one of the most stunning sights thepubsofyork.com have ever seen upon leaving a pub.

However, if your favourite part of a pub is the view it affords upon leaving then its probably not worth entering in the first place, that’d be like a football team getting itself relegated just so it can experience the euphoria of promotion.


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Rating: 2.0/5 (2 votes cast)

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Posted in Food Available, Gay Friendly, Real Ale, Sam Smiths, Within the city walls, Within the ring road | No Comments »

Kings Arms

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

thepubsofyork.com once read somewhere that the Kings Arms is one of the most photographed pubs in the UK, on account of it seemingly flooding every time there is a cloud burst or sleet shower. You must have seen it on the news? Water up to the windowsills, a forlorn man bucketing flood water out of the door?

However, despite all this publicity, there are better alternatives to spending the night in the Kings Arms. (Similarily, whilst Jordan is one of the most photographed females in the UK, you may not want to necessarily spend the night in her either)

Sure, it’s a Sam Smiths pub meaning that you’re (almost) guaranteed cheap, good beer and a wholesome approach to inn keeping, but this unfortunately doesn’t hide the motorway service station ambience caused by the almost continuous stream of tourists who pop in for a swift half to see the high-flood marks notched onto a board on the wall (if you’re wondering, the floods of 2000 reached over 6ft from floor level).

It’s a shame really as there’s some quite nice aspects to this 17th century, grade II listed pub – the stone floors, low ceilings and the two compact, cosy rooms could have otherwise given this pub a real traditional and welcoming feel but the sheer amount of punter turnover detracts from this somewhat.

Externally, the riverside picnic tables form one of the cities most popular, and indeed, most picturesque beer gardens. Unsurprisingly, this area (along with the pub itself on weekends, especially summer ones) gets extremely busy on any days with the merest hint of a shining sun. But, if you can snare a seat or bit of concrete on the river edge then you could probably spend many an hour drinking cheap beer and waving/making rude gestures at the passing boats.

It’s probably accurate to say that the Kings Arms is more for tourists than locals but, to be completely fair, if you’re a tourist or resident, there are far, far worse pubs in York that you could visit, and it isn’t always that busy. It does make for a lovely weeknight drink (or anytime when the sun isn’t out) when you can appreciate your surroundings a bit more and enjoy your pint. You may even get a glimpse of the high flood marks on the wall.


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Rating: 4.0/5 (4 votes cast)

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Hansom Cab

Friday, September 4th, 2009

The Hansom Cab is named after the architect and inventor of the Hansom cab, a Mr Joseph Aloysius Hansom (great name!) who was born in 1803 in, coincidentally, Micklegate and what is now Brigantes pub.

thepubsofyork.com wonders what Mr Hansom would make of the drinking hole that bears the name of one of his most well known projects.

The floor to ceiling wooden panelling, large mirrors, fancy light fixtures and leather seating wouldn’t be too far removed from what Mr Hansom and his contempories would be used to taking a pint in, but it the clientele may be a bit of a shock to the system.

The Hansom Cab is a Sam Smith’s house, which, as locals will know, is a double edged sword, mainly because it offers delicious, cheap beer (£1.57 at the time of writing). This cheap beer unfortunately then attracts the mentally deranged and men who are likely to have ‘ALDI’ and ‘LIDL’ tatooed on their knuckles.

The last time thepubsofyork.com enjoyed a pint in here, they spied a middle aged couple enjoying two pints of Old Brewery. The woman was carrying off the classic look of tracksuit and shoes look whilst her partner/friend was sporting a very smart blazer, tie and trouser look. With a baseball cap. They were also playing some sort of game whereby they would both take a sup of their pint and then after swallowing, immediatley bang there glasses back on the table, before moving them next to each other and seeing who had drunk the most. The person who had less in their glass would then take a sip to level back up the pints and a after a couple of minutes of incoherent chitter chatter, would start again.

The above is typical of this place and it makes it a fantastic place to people watch. Just don’t let the bald men see you looking at them.


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Rating: 4.3/5 (4 votes cast)

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Brown Cow

Friday, July 31st, 2009

When entering the Brown Cow for the very first time, thepubsofyork.com had a decision to make with regard to the Brown Cow that with hindsight, was as important to our lives as Russian linesman Tofik Bakhramov deciding that the ball went over the line in 1966.

For back on that cold December evening, thepubsofyork.com ventured into the Brown Cow for the first time and as we stood in the small entrance vestibule, there were two choices that could have changed our lives forever – do we go through the left door into the bar, or through the right one into the lounge.

Some sort of divine intervention must have occurred and we went right, into the lounge and ultimately, to our probable safety.

We still received a small amount of ridicule from across the counter (which connects the bar with the lounge) and locals discussed whether or not we were undercover Policemen.

On this particular occasion, York’s premier pub review website enjoyed the company of a very good friend who despite having entered and enjoyed a beer in ramshackle, backstreet bars in Cape Town, Lima and Haxby, stated he had never felt so uncomfortable in a pub as he did on that cold Winter evening.

Thepubsofyork.com has ventured back into the Brown Cow on a couple of occasions since, and admittedly these have been slightly better experiences which can probably be put down to a very friendly barman and a quieter pub, but you simply cannot hide form the fact that the Brown Cow obviously suffers from the fact it is situated near Walmgate which is one of the less prosperous areas of inner York.

It’s a shame really as the (cheap) Sam Smiths beer is good, the building itself is a great example of a traditional pub from yesteryear and could quite easily be incorporated into a pub crawl that takes in the excellent pubs nearby, namely the Rook and Gaskill and the Phoenix.

A few months ago the Brown Cow hit the (local) headlines as the then landlords were sacked and evicted from the flat upstairs for lighting up a cigarette inside the pub after hours. They now run the Mount on the, er, Mount, and thepubsofyork.com suggest they are better off away from this place.

Whilst the Brown Cow surely can’t be as bad as the experiences thepubsofyork.com has encountered suggest, however, with this in mind it couldn’t possibly recommend this pub to man nor beast.

If however you’re feeling adventurous and fancy a pint of Sam’s then good luck to you, and whilst your there, give the fella who was asleep on the sofa when we were last in a nudge.


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Rating: 1.8/5 (6 votes cast)

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