please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Still 8 ales available. Food also very good. Only downside is that it gets uncomfortably crowded in the evening. Well worth a visit though.
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8 ales available today, tremendous!
I had Hopback 'Crop Circle' which was well kept.
Keep up the good work.
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Called in tonight whilst taking the dog for a long walk. Just realised that I had a pint of the same ale as my last post a year ago! Four or five other ales available. Pleasant staff. Not many customers this evening but that suited me. Sat outside in the beer garden and enjoyed the sunshine and the ale. Only downside was that the Sunchaser was �3 a pint.
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A lovely little country pub. Good selection of beers for strokey-beard real ale Camra bores to prattle on about. Be aware that a lot of dog walkers can use this in the summer so you might find yourself tripping over dogs hiding under tables or being whipped up by stray dog leads.
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Fairly pleasant country pub with a cosy atmosphere (real fire) inside and reasonably busy for a Tuesday afternoon. 7 ales were on - Robinsons, Unicorn, Arkells 3B, Caledonia 80/-, Old Mill Traditional Bitter, Adnams Explorer, Greene King Abbot Ale & Wells Bombardier. Worth a visit.
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I called in here this evening while taking the dog for a long walk. The pub was busy inside and out which was nice to see. Five ales were available. I had Everards 'Sunchaser', a blonde 4% summer beer which was very nice.
It would seem that the Spanish fiasco of a couple of years ago is long forgotten and this is a real pub again.
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Excellent pub in the heart of Wirral. Very well run by an experienced (the landlord used to work for Youngs) and enthusistic team, this is gaining an excellent reputation for imaginative real ales and freshly made, locally sourced food (note the suppliers of their meat, 'Muffs'. No sniggering at the back). A building of some note, it is in the red sandstone of the area and note particularly the tiny stained glass window set in the enormous stones. Essentially four small areas that run into each other inside, there is a 'snug' type area containing a wood-burning stove which is by the car park entrance; two 'drinking' areas either side of the split bar, which are by the roadside entrance, and then a room at the back mainly used by diners, but by no means exclusively so. There are tables outside, next to the road and in a very pleasant (unenclosed, save for a small wall) sloping garden. A few tables are also by the entrance from the car park. There are, mercifully, no slot machines. There is a TV, but it has never been on during one of my visits, and I suspect that it only does come on for a major event - something like the Open Golf no doubt, in these parts.
It's the beer that merits comment here and the pub is a deserved recent CAMRA pub-of-the-season winner. There are up to 6 ales on offer and the range is broad, both in sourcing as well as strength. Highlights for me were seeing the Palmers range on over a couple of weeks the other month. This old, established Dorset independant is a rare sight in these parts. Other beers recently sourced included less well-known brews from Adnams and Everards, as well as Moorhouses and Hook Norton. It seems that generally there is a Welsh ale on too.
I cannot praise this pub highly enough, and it shows just what can be done in today's difficult times for the licensed trade. Trade seems brisk every time we are in (sometimes it has been exceptionally brisk) and the punters are an excellent mix of Wirral residents rubbing along together nicely. Top marks to the team here.
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Having been a regular visitor to the Irby Mill prior to, and since, it's latest refurbishment, I can confirm that it was well worth it. The good old country pub is back with its wooden benches, real fire, great atmosphere and friendly, knowledgeable bar staff. On my last visit, which happened to be yesterday, there were 8 real ales on tap (yes, that's 8!!) - a real ale drinkers paradise. I am reliably informed that this will be the norm from now on. They have 3 regular beers (Bombardier, Hooky and Abbot Ale) plus 5 others which are changed on a regular basis. There's a quirky chalk board next to the bar informing the customers how many beers the pub has had since the takeover in November 2009 - more than 50 already!!
The new landlord, Andy, must be commended on the job he and the team have done in turning the pub into what it is now. He's even arranged for the pub to have it's own website which is well worth a visit as it has lots of information about Andy (a local lad) and the history of the pub itself.
I must also comment on the food, which is excellent - the chips are worth a visit alone!! On our visit yesterday, my girlfriend and I had the sausage platter to share which was superb - 2 x 3 varieties of sausage, chips, baguette, gravy and tomato sauce - all for �9.95.
If anyone hasn't been back to this pub since it's refurb, then you're missing out - get down there!!
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Can confirm the refurbishment has been a great success. The 'Mill now looks like pubs used to look (before major breweries and their "design teams"). Variety of older furniture, proper fire and sympathetic decor. Selection of real ales which will be rotated regularly. The Abbot was excellent. Staff very friendly with spot-on service despite it being busy. Now the real bonus - the food! Simple menu of traditional pub grub (pick off blackboard) but with great execution....and the chips are fabulous (apparently they make their own rather than buy in pre-cut which is the norm these days). It is a credit to the new regime that the place is running so well such a short time after re-opening. A wholehearted recommendation.
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Thank god, the Irby Mill is back to a pub!! 6 real ales and a great atmosphere, the food menu looks good as well. Well worth a visit, the London pride was spot on
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Currently closed for a refurbishment. Apparently there is a new lease holder.
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Pleasant looking sandstone country pub which from the outside looks very inviting. However once inside it becomes apparent that this place is suffering an identity crisis. Despite the low beams & small barnhouse type windows, this place has been given a 21st century minimalist makeover. Large sofas, abstract paintings & whitewash walls mean this should feature on "Makeovers From Hell!" On the positive side there were 4 real ales on my visit which are rotated. It looks like this place is for sale & i would suggest any new owners pay a visit to The Wheatsheaf in Raby Mere to see how a country pub should look.
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'Lease For Sale' sign now nailed to outside.
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I was one of the first people through the door of this pub when it first opened in 1980. The pub used to be one of the pubs in the whole of Wirral with a tremendous selection of real ales. Always popular and always busy - and deservedly so. However, in the past few years it has steadily lost that reputation. Particularly since last year when it was taken over by the present licensee. The bar has lost its old "Lumsdens Cafe" sign (its name up until the 1950s) and now has hideous white tiles more reminiscent of a public toilet. The phrase "if it ain,t broke don't fix it" seems to have been overlooked. I f any future licensee reads this please restore this pub to its former glory
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There may be a light at the end of the tunnel!
I am reliably informed that the Iberian obsessed owner has gone bust and has buggered off. Two blokes are supposedly in the frame to take over.
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The Mill was a well known fine ales pub when I was growing up on the Wirral, so on a recent visit I decided to pop back, seeing as it was still listed in the 2007 Good Beer Guide. It has been comprehensively ruined. I was scouting out pubs for a day's cycling, so I might still include this just to lay a wreath in the beer garden. Sadly, once a pub like this has been turned into the type of bland, formulaic pub-staurant that the Mill is now it is nigh on impossible to set things right. Avoid.
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we live near Irby and for years the Irby Mill has been the best pub in the area and a firm favourite of many people. However, as you have alluded to, recently it was taken over and has been destroyed. the UV lights on the outside were a warning, as was the white kitchen tiles put up behind the bar and switch to spanish tapas food which is totally out of character and anyway is poor but expensive. then to cap it all they ripped out all the lovely wodden benches and packed the place with oversized leather sofas and a ton of small dining tables, ripped the heart out of it. The landlady justified this to the locals (who are probably not anymore) by saying she knows what shes doing as she has ran pubs in Ibiza, australia etc. well these aren�t a little country village like Irby. We never go back.
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Please get new owners in soon.The latest owners & re-launch is failing miserable. This pub used to be brilliant but has been naff for years.
Pub99 - 30 Apr 2009 08:34 |
Nice country pub, low ceilings, beams etc.
Good selection of beer including real ales.
Small beer garden.
Well worth a visit.
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Great country style pub. Very friendly staff, and still has a number 'characters' amongst its regulars.
Good choice of beers, cosy seating inside, and a number of wooden beer benches outside.
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Great local pub.
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Excellent, little, sandstone pub.
Very good beer.
Good value for money food.
This is a very popular pub with the older generation!!
Try the Farmer's Arms on a Wednesday night if you are looking for some "fun". Unoffiicial singles night - a "must do" lifetime event.
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One of the best real ale pubs on the Wirral. Huge selection of cask ales, served in friendly and cosy surroundings.
The Mill had arguably been going through a rough patch but it's under new management now and they seem to be doing a good job.
gjs34 - 31 Oct 2005 10:32 |
