please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Perfectly pleasant pub, and very welcoming. Has an edge of town community feel. Definitely above average.
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Spent the weekend in Durham at the Travel lodge exploring Durham we arrived from kent meeting friends travelling down from Glasgow. We used this pub local to hotel ,the welcome in the pub is very friendly lovely beer garden and the food was very nice , highly recommend a visit
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New managers, part of a chain of about 50 managed pubs. 3 beers available Jennings Cumberland, Black sheep, Bah Humbug from Wychwood. Great condition and at what a price - ONLY 2.30 a pint. Out of the main drag of town, but only 10 minutes walk up Gilesgate and well worth it. Extra bonus is that they open until 11:30 on a Sunday night, Durham landlords take note, that is a real plus!
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Pleasant pub but perhaps not exceptional. I can imagine the beer garden really would be a stand-out attraction - grassy, fairly large, and probably a great place to sit on a sunny day. Inside, the pub is pleasant enough, good service, great landlord, decent beer. Worth travelling up the hill from town.
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I first visited the Woodman in 2007 when it was excellent. I read on BITE of its decline but I can confidently report that on my next trip to Durham, during the weekend of the 9-12 August this year, it was a very nice place to be in; in fact it was our favourite pub of the nine we sampled.
Of the two ales that were on offer, the Jennings Cumberland was in excellent nick; where as the Butcombe Bitter suffered from being dragged through a swan-neck (in my humble opinion). A couple of days later the Butcombe was replaced by Greene King IPA but the Cumberland was so good that we didn't even try the IPA.
This is a good "all-rounders" pub, not just a real-ale pub, and its true that if you want a quiet local this might not be for you with the TV screens, jukebox and pool table. But you can safely take non-real ale drinking friends and family there safe in the knowledge that there will be something on offer that they will enjoy.
The £3.10 we paid for the Cumberland was also the cheapest pint we found in Durham, although our search was not exhaustive.
Give it a go, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
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Rather an unpleasant experience I regret to report. Just two ales on, one of which was on the turn, although to be honest this didn't register with me until I was nearly three quarters of the way through my pint of Thwaites Best. Heavy set guys sitting round the bar, regarding me with stiff suspicion, and their conversations consisted of "fookin' this an' fookin that" in front of the two or three children that were in attendance. Perhaps I seemed like the stiff and surly one, I try hard not to appear as such, but I sat sidelined near the door waiting to judge the right moment to leave. I'm obviously at odds with the recent previous posters so it may have been the pub, or it may have been me. Don't feel inclined to return to sort it out.
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really nice pub ,first pub we went in as only 2min from travellodge.had couple of ales on and both were great.we sat out in the garde in the sunshine perfect.
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This is a really good pub with excellent Jennigns beers - although it is full of hooray Henry students there is a nice atmosphere beteeen then and the locals. A great pub that I would recommend to any visitir to the city
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Just had the best pint i have had for years deuchars ipa.great pub .excellant staff.you must visit this pub..
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Landlord Peter has departed, and Paula (his ex) has now returned. Great news, except Scottish and Newcastle won't let her use microbreweries any more. So Durham Brewery's brewery tap is no more. A tragedy. I am sure Paula will do a great job nonetheless, and will serve the real ales she can buy beautifully. A very friendly and excellent local.
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This was the best pub of the day for scooping different ales for me, and I enjoyed 3 different Durham beers. The Houston beer was off, but it was replaced. Got into a conversation with one of the friendly locals, and enjoyed my time here.
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Brilliant pub!! Loads of great ale, nice dartboart, decent and cheap pool, good varied jukebox, some basic food that complements a pint, nice friendly staff, good quiz and the occasional event such as the awesome German beer festival. If you're in Durham, go to this pub.
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Has Sky and Setanta, plus 6 real ales on draught
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Well worth trooping up Claypath (or take the Belmont Hopper as I�ve done on occasions!) for this beer scooper�s delight. CAMRA Pub of the Year in recent years, and home to an innovative (for Durham) German beer festival, a friendly welcome awaits you in this classically unchanged pub. Loyally patronised by its regulars, this is the City Centre of the Carrville Mags, and where the banter between Newcastle and Sunderland is always genuine and always friendly.
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Great pub and the best atmosphere are here Howay!
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I guess it was you lot who whacked the wing mirror on the landlord's car then? I can't really judge the lack of service, but I'd try and start a fight with you if you whacked my car, frankly!
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This is a nice place to spend an evening - great selection of ales, spacious, pool table and dart board, not too many disturbing characters in there. It's just a shame about the staff. I was refused service on the grounds that I was apparently "wasted" (I hadn't yet had anything to drink, I was merely limping due to a dislocated knee) and the evening was rounded off with the landlord, for reasons best known to himself, attempting to start a fight with one of our party in the street. We won't be going back there again, they don't deserve our custom after that, but it's such a shame because I really do like the place itself.
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Great pub, but it was better before it was extended. Used to be full of serious looking men with beards. Ah, how I miss it. Well kept beers and good staff. Not too many students of the Tim 'Nice but Dim' type that have colonised too many bars in the city; not too many local dimwits from the outlying villages and towns either, so there's less chance of getting caught up in a fight between a couple of morons trying to look hard for their wives and/or girlfriends who are inevitably spilling out of ill-fitting leopard-print otfits. Okay, rant over, but, sadly, that's an all-too likely experience in many a pub in Durham on a Saturday night - that or standing next to a loud student boasting about his parents' shares in Boots.
anonymous - 22 Oct 2006 13:03 |
(Probably) The best pub in the world. Excellent beer - 6 guest ales which get swapped for a new one as soon as they run out. Good range of bottled beer and whisky as well. Has a dart board (even if it could do with changing) and pool table, both of which are sadly lacking in many Durham pubs. Friendly atmosphere, good bar staff who are friendly but don't take any nonsense, and welcoming to regulars and newcomers, students and locals alike. Top Pub!
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Agree with everyone below. Excellent pub, friendly, good atmosphere, great beer...
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Would agree with all the previous comments, and add that I've never had a bad pint in the Woodman.
Its very friendly to both locals and students and you get the sense on both types of people, that once a person is hooked then they continue to visit! (I am definitely included in this!)
It's my favourite pub in Durham, and luckily is just around the corner from where I live.
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This was right down the street from our B&B and we stopped in at the end of the evening for a last pint before bed. I immediately regretted wasting time in some of the other, lesser pubs around town. Great ales (which apparently change regularly--we had two local ales and enjoyed them thoroughly), warm staff, and the elusive quality of a local that's still open to visitors coming in. This pub has a no-nonsense boozer quality that I really enjoyed. Definitely worth the trip up Claypath!
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Stunning pub. No fuss. No nonsense. No ponce. Great choice of beer and fine prices too. Sometimes some iffy choices on the jukebox though!
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Excellent pub with a mostly non smoking policy, really really good beer and a good atmosphere even when it is quiet. Well worth the (slight) diversion from the city centre even in a place as full of good pubs as Durham City
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A great pub in general. Lots of real ales on tap changed weekly. Lovely pickled eggs! Plenty of beermats for the avid collector (or tegestologist as they prefer to be known). All in all, a pleasant place for a pleasant pint.
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I visited this pub for the first time on friday gone. I only had a chance of getting one pint but... you know what? if you want a proper pub, with a good atmosphere and some decent beer.
GIVE IT A GO
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The pub is on the top of Claypath about 10 minutes walk up a steep hill from the city centre. It�s certainly worth the trek though. There is usually a choice of 6 regularly changing guest ales, mostly from the Durham brewery, and the staff are always friendly. Because it�s a bit out of the way you don�t get many students in and even the ones who do make it in there aren�t as annoying as the students you find elsewhere in the city. If ever I�m in Durham it is normally just a tedious excuse to have a few in the Woodman.
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