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ONE PUB ONLY?
Corner Pin
CRAWLING FROM RAILWAY STATION TO THE GROUND?
Tut 'n Shive, Leopard, Corner pin and then taxi
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT?
Tut 'n Shive
Taxi Mick’s Minicabs 01302 820282
CHANGES FROM GUIDE
Closed - Boat
|  |  Corner Pin
145 St. Sepulchre Gate West, DN1 3AH 07824 397725T 01302 323159
Guv’nor: Lee Plant
SP TV BM P
O 12 to 12 Sun to Thu, 12 to 1 Fri and Sat
Parking: street, limited; public car park nearby
TV: no
Music: BM; alternate Tues – Irish folk
Pub games: Poker, chess, backgammon; no leagues
Disabled – single entrance with steps
A survivor in a redevelopment area near railway and bus stations and Frenchgate Shopping Centre, the Corner Pin is worth plenty of time for the four rotating beers, bearing in mind that the Leopard is nearby, as well as the Railway Inn. Inside this is a pleasant town centre local in pride of place on a corner, busy on Sundays and regularly used by a fishing club. You might meet anyone here. There are teams for darts, dominoes, football too, and entertainment on Thursdays, normally the Roachville Rockers. I met Lesley, married to half of them. Though no food is available (plenty a few minutes walk away) there are entertaining signs advertising smoking aids, from rolling tobacco to matches. These may be enjoyed easily in the yard, which also affords good disabled access through a gate abutting the front of the pub. The pub itself is divided into two areas, both easily seen on entry. Take your choice – quiet pint perhaps with a view of the pictures of aircraft on the wall, invigorating conversation or one of the games on offer. CAMRA Pub of the season for Spring 2006 says it all.
BWV 2.8.07: Kelham Island Easy Rider, Abbeydale Moonshine, Milestone Lion’s Pride, John Smith’s Bitter
BWV 12.5.06: Kelham Island Easy Rider, John Smith’s Cask Bitter, Wold Top Falling Stone, Mars Magic
BWV 16.3.05: Charles Wells Bombardier, Fuller’s London Pride, John Smiths Cask, Theakston’s Bitter
Mick Escott
This is the ultimate in street - corner pubs. I visited as the smell of repainting was still in the air and I quickly felt that I had found the true gem in the Doncaster scene. The room literally wraps itself around the bar, darts at one end, lounge at the other. The central section is intimate as the drinkers sit at benches with only a table and chair between them and the bar. Evidence of an even smaller past is found in the windows, the glass portraying the tap and smoke rooms. My lunchtime visit found visitors from a nearby training course, complete with name tags and liquid lunch. I was also able to compare notes of real ale pubs with “Moaning Steve”, his list being of railway related ale chasing; there were remarkable similarities and differences. This is my favourite in Donny. The place will maybe get even better as Moaning Steve says it “offers an excellent choice of well kept ales.”
BWV 14/3/10
Always: York Yorkshire terrier
Guest: Spire Good as Gold, Dark Side of the Moon, Wychwood Hobgoblin
Mick Escott | |  Leopard
1 West St DN1 3AA Telephone 01302 363054
Guv’nor: Chris Gill Parking: car park at back
TV: terrestrial/freeview
flat entrance
Open: 11 to 12 Mon to Thu, 11 to1 Fri and Sat, 12 -12.30 Sun
The local Glentworth Brewery provides regular ale here, in itself worth darkening the Leopard’s doors for. The pub has a lot of space and a strong musical presence. The juke box is appealingly diverse in its contents, as is the extensive provision of live music – consult the website. An upstairs room is used for this, including jam sessions, or you may witness impromptu acoustic entertainment downstairs as you raise your glass. It’s a down to earth tavern with a varied clientele, from youthful music enthusiasts, carrying their instruments, to chess players; from punk rockers to businessmen. The smoking area is through the furthest of several spaces on the edge of the car park, with umbrellas, which did not concern the handful of groups of indulgers on my visit. On match days the Leopard is busy. No one is turned away unless they have been barred – there’s a list of the unwelcome near the main entrance. One aspect of the good beer pubs near Doncaster’s stations is their variety. It should prove a boon for visitors to the Keepmoat Stadium, about 25 minutes away by foot and in a beer and atmosphere desert.
BWV 2.8.07: Glentworth Oasis, Titanic Sundeck, John Smith’s Bitter
UPDATE
There have been many times over the last year when I have been contacted by friends, stranded at Doncaster Station on their way home from a game, who have said the Leopard is a great pub. I visited this year and found this to be so true. It offered an ale that I have never seen before, an atmosphere that is fast being lost to trendy plasticisation, and to top it all, a list of gigs to attract the now - aging music fan.
The pub has two large rooms, both with high ceilings and no concessions to modern décor. The bar has a pool table, while the lounge is split into two areas, one of which is non - smoking. The room upstairs holds 200 or so when Wilko Johnson or Bad Manners call in to play. This pub is famous as a launch pad for up and coming artists, Keane and Travis have made recent appearances. The reassuring statement re music is that Karaoke will never be part of the scene, it is talent, and loads of it, even in the Sunday afternoon jam sessions. The regulars are very mixed in both age and attitude. The students are likely to mix well with the good old boys who have drunk here all their life. There are plans to make the West Street area into the Bohemian Quarter. Alan has seen the pub and the area change since 1992. The pub gets better and the local area will doubtless benefit from some gentrification, but Bohemian? Will it be poetry workshops next?Mick Escott
Facebook page | |  Masons’ Arms
22 Market Place Doncaster DN1 1ND Tel 01302 556691 themasons.arms@hotmail.com
Guv’nor Pete and Liam Hayes
Food: sandwiches – aim to provide something at all times
Open 10- 11 Mon to Thurs, 10-12 Fri to Sun
TV: Sky but not sports channel
Above all serving the busy Doncaster market, the centuries-old Masons’ has been restored to a welcoming two-bar pub under Pete and Liam, a father and son team. The whole area is well-established and suggests traditional custom and practice of market trade. Look across from the front bar to the impressive Corn Exchange. I spoke to Alex, a helpful barman, who was keen to serve the flow of locals and engage in discussion with me in equal measure. Quite possible in view of the open bar which divides the two drinking spaces. The market sources the food provided, and produces a regular clientele of patrons of all ages, keeping it open for what elsewhere would be unsocial hours. They do have occasional events, like the fancy dress Hallowe’en party. They’ve also been able to raise funds for the Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice for which a Certificate of Appreciation is displayed. The front bar faces the market and the lounge is split in two comfortable sections, a regulation-inspired structural improvement. This is a Punch Taverns house and the beer and ambience are good, to be recommended on the way to the Keepmoat, for which there is a bus service outside. In the other direction it’s just ten minutes’ walk from the station and nearby pubs. The Masons’ has won the accolade of ‘Great Pub Guarantee’, one of five in Yorkshire. It oozes an atmosphere of modest lived-in comfort, and is notable for the constant traffic of refreshment seekers. Bring your own pub games! The rear yard now houses a beer tent. Down the road is a better than average JD Wetherspoon Tavern, the Red Lion. Try that, too.
BWV 9/1/09: Always: Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Timothy Taylor Landlord, Greene King Old Speckled Hen, Black Sheep Best Bitter, Carlsberg UK Tetley’s Cask Bitter
Guest: Greene King Hardy & Hanson’s Rockin’Rudolph
Mick Escott | |  Salutation Hotel
14 South Parade, DN1 2DR Telephone 01302 340705
Guv’nor: Gayle Bee
F
Good quality traditional pub food 12 to 3, 6 to 9 Mon - Sat, 12 to 6 Sun
CP SK JB D
O 12 to 11, 12 to 10.30 Sun
No longer on the direct route to the ground now that Keepmoat Stadium is in business, the Sal is still worth a visit if you don’t mind tackling a somewhat circuitous route. It IS on the southern fringes of town, as is Lakeside, which boasts the ground. It continues to offer the things that footy fans require: a choice of real ales, food, including Sunday roasts for those rearranged televised games and a two for the price of one deal, and of course you can see the game on the tvs there. The outside area at the back is spacious and good for anyone wishing to take the air. Indeed the pub is well situated in a pleasant area, set back from the road and dates back it the eighteenth century, as a coaching inn. Inside there are three spaces to choose from, with an open plan. Decide when armed with your pint as occupancy varies. There are also quiz and music evenings – best to check as policy has varied. You can be sure of machines for your entertainment. On this route to the ground it is the last real pub before you reach the Lakeside desert, with the usual chain outlets, though the Rockingham, near the Salutation, does stock Sam Smiths.
BWV 14.10.07: Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Black Sheep Best Bitter, Cameron Strong Arm, Greene King Old Speckled Hen, Shepherd Neame Spitfire, Tetley’s Cask Bitter
Mick Escott
As if to fit the theme of change I managed to meet Jon at the Salutation just before it underwent a refurbishment. I will therefore, save the description to saying this is a large looking coach house. It has subdivided areas and features such as screens and a fire place. This is a town centre local in its true sense; popular with those who savour the choice of Yorkshire brewed guests. Working around Jon’s dry humour, I found that the pub has good connections with the Rovers despite his passion for all things Mackem. The pub is recommended to away fans by the club and in match programmes and websites. I would expect ale drinkers to prefer this to the expected restaurants and pool bars to be built near the ground next year. Finally, I note a curiosity, why do they have two quiz machines?
UPDATE: The refurbishment is complete and very comfortable it is. There were big screens, for watching Pieterson in action when I visited. The beer garden is likely to be changed next. They now have six guest ales.
BWV 16.3.05: Everards Original, North Yorkshire Best, Robinson’s Champion. Springhead The Leveller, Tetley’s Cask Bitter
BWV 12.5.06: Acorn White Oak, Cairngorm Sheepshagger, Greene King Abbot, North Yorkshire Dizzy Blonde, Flying Herbert, Shepherd Neame Kent’s Best, Tetley’s Cask Bitter
BWV 27/12/08:
Always: Greene King IPA, Theakston’s Old Peculier
Guest: Hydes Rockin’ Robin, Greene King Ruddles County, Hardy & Hanson’s Rocking Rudolph, Carlsberg UK Tetley’s Cask Bitter
Mick Escott | |  Tut n’ Shive
6 West Laithe Gate DN1 1SF Telephone 01302 360300
G Nick Coster
F Good value traditional pub food 12 to 6 Mon - Sat, 12 to 5 Sun
MP SK JB D
O 11 to 11 Mon - Thu, 11 to 12 Fri - Sat, 12 to 12 Sun
This pub is new to the Greene King stable and as such the beers here are likely to change but remain genuine real ales with guests. Being very close to the station, it gets very busy, as it is the obvious choice as you enter the shopping area. It is worthy of its popularity because the welcome is good and the clientele pretty relaxed. It is dark; dark walls, wooden ceilings and stone floors; in fact the bar stands out as illumination in the created and intentional gloom. It is in the style of so many ale houses in the 90’s looking slightly worn by design. You can practice traditional pub pastimes like spot the beer map on the walls, or name the tune on the rocking juke box. As it says “the ales are noted, are quoted, are voted the best.” The students in the day relish cheap grub, the townies in the evening live here for the youthful atmosphere. In all it is a really good town boozer with space to either chat or party.
UPDATE: The pub was as busy as ever and this is apparently always the norm here.
BWV 16.3.05: Black Sheep Bitter, Boddingtons Cask Bitter Everards Original, Greene King IPA, Abbot,, Springhead Roaring Meg
BWV 12.5.06: Black Sheep Bitter, Greene King Abbot, IPA, Old Speckled Hen, Prospect, Timothy Taylor Landlord
| | | DONCASTER CAMRA | | Winning Post
Warmsworth Road. Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN4 0TR
On the Donny side of the A630 from Rotherham and A1N, it’s a convenient road house welcoming all supporters while offering one real ale –
Theakston’s Best Bitter when I visited (27/12/08), but often Acorn Barnsley Bitter | |  | | 
LOCAL BREWERY
Thorne Brewery CIC
Unit A2
Thorne Enterprise Park
King Edward Road
Thorne
South Yorkshire
DN8 4HU
Telephone 01405 741685
www.thornebrewery.com | | WETHERSPOONS
The Gate House Priory Walk High Street Doncaster DN1 1TS Opening Times: Sun-Thu 9am-midnight; Fri/Sat 9am-1am
The Old Angel Cleveland Street Doncaster DN1 3EF Opening Times: Sun-Wed 9am-midnight; Thu 9am-1am; Fri/Sat 9am-
The Red Lion 37-38 Market Place Doncaster DN1 1NH Opening Times: Sun-Thu 9am-midnight; Fri/Sat 9am-1am
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