went in a few days ago had a speck hen to drink. a good pub with plenty of low seating was for mid week a few people in and the meals mention on the wall of the pub look good and at a good price would go againEverytime I walk through the doors I can never believe it's the same pub that I avoided only a couple of years ago. I've been in a few times now, you could say I'm a regular! I've just tried thier carvery on Sunday and it's THE best I've ever had in Sale by far! Great portions, great price and great tasting!
I'm really pleased for the owners because they have done such a fantastic job that even Camra have voted them the best seasonal pub in Trafford and Hulme! Now if that doesn't get you in nothing will!!
What a change from the old bull... Good beer, good food and no idiots. The management have done wonders with the old place, keep up the good work.

Fantastic - yes I agree with that comment. Plenty of ales in good condition and well placed boards advertising what is available. Enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the beers served by friendly staff. Got busy later and deserves to do well. Hope it makes the Good Beer Guide next year as it is the best in Chester,FATASTIC pub! Always about 8 ales on, including the homebrew. Great venue, but shame not a lot of seating. Best pub in Chester.I wish I could live in Chester so this place could be my local. I just thought everything about it was fantastic. Excellent beer gorgeous food and I felt the bar staff were very attentive.
I could see on a busy summers day maybe a wait, but I wish I could see it at Chirstmas I bet it is amazing.
I highly recommend

Visited this pub while down in Cheshire staying with friends. Really have little to add to what the earlier reviewers have said, this is a real ale fan's paradise. There were at least 10 ales on the blackboard, all from different breweries as well as a cask cider and more bottled beers available than I have ever seen. The two barstaff we spoke to knew exactly what each ale was like and were more than happy to let us taste them before making a decision. We ate there too and couldn't fault the food. Curry was excellent, home made and far better than you get in many an Indian restaurant.

Sitting by a real log fire, drinking good beer, on a freezing cold winter's evening in a pub like this is what makes England great. The only bad thing about this pub is that it is 150 miles from my house! There is not much I can add after the previous excellent review, but we came along for the November beer festival and were not disappointed with either their excellent ale choice or the food quality. Lovely friendly atmosphere and a traditional cosy pub. Beers we sampled on the Wednesday were from Allgates, Blue Monkey, Borough Arms, Liverpool Organic, Lymestone, Murfs Ales, St Georges, Saltaire.Superb.After reading reports on BITE I visited here today instead of the Dusty Miller.
I was very impressed! The barman was friendly and knowledgeable and when I asked for a light ale he recommended Coastal 'Second Fiddle' which was excellent. I also had a Hereford 21-day-aged beef, beefburger with chips, salad and coleslaw.
There must have been 7 or 8 ales on the chalkboard.
All in all a wonderful pub.

Went prior to game against Colchester - 16 Ales on the go and 1 Cider - had Stout, Porters, Milds, Light and Dark Ales - good quality, would certainly go again.Great pub with some great ale. Food was very dissapointing, but don't let that put you off Real ale utopia with sixteen handpumps offering a wide range of styles and strengths. I had Copper Dragon Golden Pippin, Allgates California, Oakham Porter and Outstanding Stout, all of which were served in perfect condition. Undoubtedly one of the premier real ale pubs in the country. A nice cosy boozer with a friendly atmosphere to boot.

Been to Crewe manys a time,especially when the Limelight was good for gigs and to be honest the town is a bit of an "Armitage Shanks". However the Borough lifts it out of the gutter and well on to the pavement!!! Always good ale served by nice barpeople. Got the end of a barrel on recentest visit but it was changed almost without me asking,as if they knew it was on the way out. And a dearer pint was the replacement without the pettiness sometimes found of asking for the 10p. Good pub.I was in here on Friday night and was most impressed by the range of beers on offer. The brews made on the premises were excellent. What a great pub, friendly customers and staff and only an hour and forty minutes from London. I'm sure I will be back!Great real ale pub but not much space to manouvre on a busy fri night, 7/10

I agree with Foggyd about the staffing, but I have noticed it only seems to happen on a Friday night. If you go in at other times it is a good pub, with friendly (sometimes too talkative) bar staff. On a Friday there is a change of atmosphere and a "work to rule" attitude. Still worth a visit though, the place is unique.agree with holbornboy 'The interior looks as if it hasn't been touched since about 1950'
Yeah it's mouldy, flakey, damp, rusty and stinks of pee.
however, the landlady (big piece mind!) is quite the opposite, I'd bet.

A classic, quirky, old fashioned ale house packed with a variety of railway memorabilia. The narrow layout can soon make it feel rather cramped, but being on a station platform it won't be long before seats and tables become available if you're staying for a bit longer.

The eight real ales are uniformly well kept. However, I feel the range tends to place a bit too much emphasis on offering obscure, rarely seen brews which can often be mediorcre, rather than old favourites.

Excellent pub. Friendly feel, reasonable prices, and the ale was in good condition.GREAT PUB!!!!, excellent range of drinks, usually 12 Real ales, Scrumpy , ciders & perrys, Belgium beers, Wines and spirits, lagers and even tea & coffee.

Good pub for anytime of the day, music on Friday, Saturday and Sundays. Excellent quiz on a Wednesday (delicious half time food), although acoustic Thursday needs a few more songs we think!!
Not a huge fan of the football but big enough pub to sit elsewhere and not here it.

Staff are always welcoming and friendly, and in the years since I started frequenting I’ve NEVER seen any trouble.

If you’re in Alty this pub is a must!!
In terms of atmosphere and number of beers this oub can't be beaten in Altrincham. I don't drink here on a Saturday night, but have never had any problems with a long wait to get served.

The Landlord is a top bloke will always chat to you about beers and the staff are friendly and welcoming.

My only real gripe is that even though there are eleven beers on, they are usually a bit samey. It seems a shame that with that much choice there is often little difference int he flavour of the beers.

have been in twice in the last couple of months with some mates and we all agree that the ale was a little disappointing. I hope this isn't a trend but it seems that now they have 15 pumps, they have gone for quantity and not quality. Used to be the 2nd best pub in Stockport (behind Crown), now The Magnet has taken over and I fear people will go there and Crown instead.

Please prove me wrong!Walked past last night and counted 16 hand pumps! Have they got a festival on or are these now permanent?Excellent no-frills pub opposite the retail park. Former outlet for David Porter's excellent beers, now brewed by Rossendale. 10-12 handpumps with a great range of Rossendale beers complemented by imaginative guests. Beers are kept in excellent condition, the staff are friendly and knowledgeable and there's a nice relaxed atmosphere. Top range of continental beers, too.

The beer here is always spot on. Sometimes call by during the afternoon and if you're lucky you can get a seat by the log fire - very nice.

One gripe - they don't welcome people who call by on new year as it's ticket only which is a shame. Why charge people to come into a pub?

Food is good value and the staff are very friendly and helpful.We visited on a Saturday afternoon, the pub was busy, the Wales - Scotland rugby match was on the TV. We had no trouble finding a table however, the dining room upstairs looks very nice. I had a pint of Thin Ice which was nice. We had the fish and chips and the gammon, both about £10 each. The food was very good and plenty of it. The fish came with a lot of chips, and it was a shame that neither of us could manage to eat them all. The staff were very good. It may be a pub for eating in rather than just drinking but I will be going back to try some more real ale. It must be one of the best pubs in the city. I called in here as the Albion was closed. It was very quiet for a Friday afternoon. Only had time for one beer, Okell's Bitter, which was OK.

I was only in this pub briefly but its clearly a top-notch place. loads of hand pumps and a great range of ales. i tried the 'railway sleeper' which was excellent and under 2 quid! wetherspoons prices. very helpful bar staff, everything you could want in a pub i reckon.The Sportsman Is the best Pub In Hyde, The Beers and Drinks are really cheap and very good quality too! The food is delicious, bar staff very friendly and welcoming....you must visit this Pub!Good selection of well kept ales from the Pennine (formerly Porters) brewery range and up to two guests. Real Cider also available. Good prices, clean & friendly taditional boozer. Free wi-fi and interesting bar snack menu (Cuban tapas).

Always in for the footie or for a quick pint but still not somewhere I'd go for a night.

My two main gripes would be the number of times the pub has run out of beer recently especially last time during the football when the pub was busy and should have been making a decent sum.

Secondly,cutting staff to save money is fine but try to cater more in the busier times such as footie or quiz night as otherwise people will go elsewhere or drink less but still take advantage of the free footie

It's my local but it's not offering anything more than the railway club at present which is now stocking locally brewed Dunham beersWent in yesterday and it was busy and the football was on

Adam and Yvette are making a good go of turning this pub around, they are doing really well.It was busy yesterday...............

Support your local or lose it!!!!Beer very much improved of late and a distinct absence of a "chav" element, very enjoyable couple of hours on Saturday afternoon, despite the football scores

I first posted comments about The Lower a while ago, since which time there has been a change of management, yet complete continuity in the atmosphere and beer quality in this classic town-centre pub.
Friendly staff and clientele, beer quality top-notch, always plenty of people in there nowadays, in contrast to a few years ago when closure was forced upon the place. Very good to see The Lower thriving in these difficult times.
Why aren't we more proud of our brewing and pub heritage? This is an example of what a pub ought to be!
When in Warrington, this goes on the "must visit" list.I've posted about this pub before but I went in recently and it was under new management and I'm really pleased to say the beer quality was as good as it's ever been (well, in the 25 years or so I've been going in). There were 3 real ales on on the side of the bar I was in and the two I had were both in superb nick. The new landlord/manager came over and introduced himself which was a nice touch, both he and his staff were friendly and courteous - there's a degree of continuity here as well as the man himself was previously one of the staff working for the previous landlord. Well done the Angel!Old-fashioned twin bar town local, thankfully surviving through the various redevelopments. Very quiet on a Monday night, and they were on the point of shutting early with many of the stools upturned on the benches. Still, the barman was happy enough to serve another customer whereas many places would just have said "we're closed." Decent selection of real ales in each bar, including a fine Theakstons Dark Mild.

One of the very best of Stockport's real pubs. Friendly staff, locals who talk to you, and a great pint of Hatters in a pleasant but unpretentious house.The first pub we visited as part of our Stockport crawl. Very friendly landlord and customers. If you want to hear about the travails of Stockport FC this is the place to come to.Do not allow the scruffy exterior to put you off. Inside is a little gem with one of those rare landlords who actually appears to like his customers and welcomes you whether you are a regular or not. The Robinsons is above average (I have never had a bad pint) and the food is cheap and excellent, albeit unlikely to get into Egon Ronay any time soon.

One of the best pubs in Stockport.

really good sam smiths boozer with a very good mix of punters! everyone gets on a has a good wind up with ages litterally ranging from 16+ to 90+! i agree that music of some sort would go down a treat, but then again when its busy you really dont realise theres nothing on, well worth a pint or two on a night out!Has Sam Smiths, what more do you need to know? Good pint that doesn’t break the bank. Atmosphere is generally good considering the hugely varied clientele. From the young to the old it’s good to see that everyone loves Samuel Smith!!
I agree with the previous comment about the landlord, not the friendliest, especially to the younger (and therefore future) of the clientele. Other bar staff have always been friendly and chatty.
A music night would go down great here, as would a jukebox.
Good to go for a couple but would move elsewhere on a night out.
It's a standard Sam Smith's pub which means good beer and low prices! You know you're going to get a very quaffable ale and own brand everything!

Landlord's not the friendliest, but still a good drinkers' pub.

Had some excellent mild in here. A nice place to spend some time.Dropped in here and wished we had stayed here a lovely charming place to while away in Chester. Extremely friendly staff and very helpful.
Excellent beer, we did not eat here but we will come back to stay and try out everything they have to offerAlmost at the end of the tourist run steet which make it much more enjoyable. Nice Tiger ale and another historic pub attached to the oldest inn in Chester. Good local feel to the place. Thx.