ALNWICK
A town, in Northumberland, off of the A1 from Scotland to England, Alnwick has many attractions and is a centre for visiting more. The Scottish Borders and the Northumberland Coast are easily reached.
Come into the town from the A1 and the first establishment is The Oaks Hotel. Walking down from here into the town takes you past Barter Books and onto The Plough. Further downs and across the street is The Fleece and round the corner from this and up Hotspur Street, a steep hill, is Ye Olde Tanners Arms. Roll back down this hill and go through the ancient gate into the town centre. Here on the right is The White Swan Hotel which has Harvey's Bistro in it. Further along the town the road splits in two and by taking the right hand fork The George is on your left. Further along this road and down a hill brings The Black Swan (formerly The Hairy Lemon) followed by The Dirty Bottles (formerly Ye Olde Cross) and round the corner Oddfellows Inn (for sale).
Now you now need to turn around and go back up the hill and turn right. This brings the Penny Black and then a little bit on is The Market Tavern. At the end of this road, you come out on the left-hand fork from the town centre. Across the road and down to your left is The Queen's Head hotel while across the road and up to the right is the Alnwick Arms followed by The Blue Bell Inn (formerly The Alnwick Gate). This is the road leading out of town therefore past The Blue Bell Inn turn up to the left and follow the road round to the left. By turning up the next right you will find hidden, The John Bull.
New since last visit: Ale Gate and Harry’s Bar both in CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2024
Alnwick - Judged a Sunday Times “Best Place to Live” 2020
The Oaks Hotel
The Oaks Hotel, Alnwick
The Oaks Hotel, Alnwick
The Oaks Hotel, Alnwick
The Oaks Hotel, alhough missing a few letters has an attractive bar area. It looks like the main door is set on the roundabout but it is easier to go down to the right and in the actual front hotel entrance at the patio and car park. the servery is in front of you and dining height tables are around the room. There is a large patio outside (one of few in Alnwick) at the car park. Restaurant is round to the left. Harry Potter stayed there during filming at Alnwick (Hogwarts) castle
Well worth a pint:
Real Ale: 61 Deep (Marstons); Hobgoblin; Jennings Bitter
Bitter: Marstons smoothflow
Lager: Stella, Fosters, Carling, Birra Moretti
Cider: Stowford press
Guinness + cold
The Plough Bar
The Plough Bar, Alnwick
The Plough Bar, Alnwick
The Plough Bar, Alnwick
The Plough Bar and restaurant is attached to the Bondgate boutique rooms. The main drinking area is to the right of the main restaurant entrance. However, the counter lops round like an old style island bar and also serves a room on the other side. Beyond this area is the restaurant. The decor is light wood and light colouring and furnishings with bright lighting. There is outside seating.
Have a pint
Real Ale: Tomothy Taylor; Black sheep
Bitter: John Smith
Lager: Carling; Birra Moretti
Cider: Stowford press
Guinness
Now opened opposite The Plough is a micropub called Ale Gate which is featured in The Good Beer Guide 2021
Pub Jukebox:
Alcohol themed music to listen to while you browse.
Wide Eyed & Legless - Andy Fairweather Lowe
The Fleece ★
The Fleece, Alnwick - lounge to right
The Fleece, Alnwick
The Fleece, Alnwick - lounge to right
The Fleece, Alnwick - bar to left
The Fleece is an old-fashioned corner pub with a lounge to the right and the bar to the left. Through from the bar is a pool room. The serving area, painted black and mirrored, caters for lounge and bar. The bar has a bay window and 3 tables. It is partially carpet and rest tiles. The lounge has tables around the sides and has a real fire. The bar has the large TV and an electric fire looking small for the space. Food is plain but good value
Two pints here:
Real ale: Blonde; Porter (both Creedance); Black Sheep
Bitter: John Smith
Lager: Fosters; Carling; Stella
Cider: Strongbow
Guinness
PUB QUIZ
What expression explains why floggings were carried out on deck in 18th Century navy?
Answer at foot of page
The Tanners Arms
Tanner's Arms, Alnwick
Tanner's Arms, Alnwick
Tanners Arms (formerly Ye Olde Tanners Arms) is basically a one room bar with a bit around the corner. It offers music some weekends and real ale all of the time. The seating area has a wood burning stove, covered benches and small round tables with a couple of red stools each. A place to drink not lounge on sofas.
The Good Beer Guide regular … 2023, 2024, 2025
Have a pint
Real ale: Galatia (Wylam); Game Bird (Born in the Borders); Red Kite ; Farmhouse (Tempest)
Lager: Portman lager; St Mungo
Cider: Thistley Cross; Stowford press
The White Swan Hotel
The White Swan Hotel, Alnwick
The White Swan Hotel, Alnwick
The White Swan Hotel, Alnwick
The White Swan Hotel is the fancy hotel for the town. The bar is round to the left from reception with the small servery to the right. An old coaching inn, its interior was salvaged from the Titanic's sister ship the Olympic.
Have a pint
Real ale: Village Choir (VIP); Doombar
Lager: Carling; Prevha
Cider: Magners
The George Inn
The George, Alnwick
The George Inn is smaller than it looks from outside. Small comfy area at front leads to a friendly bar with pool at rear.
Have a pint
Real ale: Atlantic (Sharpe’s)
Lager: Fosters; Carling
Cider: Carling Cider
Guinness
PLACES TO VISIT WITH PUBTRAILS
The towns and villages highlighted on this web site have a wide variety of pubs and beers in them. All of the places are great to visit, whether for a day or longer, and most have tourist attractions for all of the family.
There is a large variety of pubs throughout the different towns shown below. Some you may wish never to visit again but even discovering these can be interesting. There are pubs that you would not take your wife into. While some you could not take your girlfriend into. A few you would not take either into. However, most of the pubs are very pleasant.
HOME MAP of places visited
Alnwick Ambleside Anstruther Bakewell Bamburgh Barnard Castle Bath Berwick upon Tweed Birnam & Dunkeld Bourton on the Water Bowness on Windermere Bridge of Allan Chester Chichester Dunblane Dunoon Edinburgh Ely Fort William Glasgow Gourock Greenock Helensburgh Inverness Kelso Keswick Knaresbourgh Largs Linlithgow Lyme Regis Melrose Montrose Newton Stewart North Berwick Norwich Oban Pebbles Penzance Portree Pitlochry Quorn Richmond Rothesay St Andrews Seahouses Seend Shrewsbury Skipton Stirling Stratford-upon-Avon Stockton Heath Whitby Windemere Whitstable York
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Who owns your pubs?
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Interesting articles to read
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Who owns your beer?
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Comparing pubs in Scotland with England
Nearby trails
The Black Swan ★
The Black Swan, Alnwick - servery in middle of room
The Black Swan, Alnwick - view to front
The Black Swan, Alnwick - down the far stairs and patio outside
The Black Swan, Alnwick
The Black Swan (formerly The Hairy Lemon) is a large long pub. Lots of seating, either side of the door, with rectangular dining sized tables around the perimeter and banquette seating. The room then it narrows to stairs leading up to the bar. At the counter are bar stools and a little width of standing space before the wall. From the end of the bar you look over a flight of stairs and down into a room below. The back wall has a giant screen for sport. Beyond the bar there are stairs going down to a landing with sofa and small tables and then further down to a variety of seating and tables, and finally on the back wall under the screen an outside bit for a breath of air. Smartly done up it has good food all day. This lower area has subdued lighting and fairy lights to add to its atmosphere.
Have a pint:
Real ale: Paegan lady; Fireglow (both Firecracker Brewery)
Bitter: Caffrey’s
Lager: Fosters; Carling; Prevha; Birra Moretti
Cider: Strongbow Cloudy Apple; Carling Cider Guinness
The Dirty Bottles
The Dirty Bottles (formerly Ye Olde Cross) It is said that if anyone touches the bottles in the window they will drop dead as happened to the Victorian landlord when he put them there.
Once inside, the main room and one to the left, are two dining areas. The right with walls stripped back or white tiles and heavy wooden tables on tiled floor to give a rustic appeal to this smokehouse and fancy burger area. The left has stripped back walls and booths with i-pads for ordering and pull your own beer pumps. Between the two rooms are steps down to the main serving counter on the right with bar stools and some standing in a wide corridor. The room then opens out towards the back with another room off to the left. Again, the walls are stripped back and cleaned to an older age and the bar counter has been replace by a large piece of old wood. At the end are doors to an outside area and stairs to a terrace. Despite the stripped backed walls, the lighting and outside doors makes the room quite bright.
Returning up the stairs to the main dining area there is on the wall a five pump self-service beer dispenser. Some of the tables also have a two pump self-service beer attached to them. You charge a card at the bar or with waitress and enter it into a slot below the beer sign and you can pour away.
Have a pint:
Real ale: Alnwick Amber Ale
Bitter: Newcastle Brown; Caffrey’s
Lager: Staroperaman; Carling
Cider: Rekorderlig ; Stowford Press
Guinness
Self service -Blue Moon; Dirty Bottles own pale Ale; Punk IPA; Brookland lager; Desperados
Sherlock’s pubs for dogs
A very good town for dog friendliness - lots of pubs let me in.
The White Swan Hotel (I stayed here) and The Black Swan pub are great for being fussed over and both let me stay at meal times. The Tanner’s Arms is a place to meet other dogs. The John Bull is also good. Treats to be had in The Market Tavern while humans eat.
Barter Books allows dogs and has treats and a roaring fire. Unfortunately, the castle and gardens do not let dogs in.
The Market Tavern
The Market Tavern steakhouse and lodge follows the common design in Alnwick with wide seating area at front then onto bar and narrower area. Here it also widens again and expands into a dining area which is up a short flight of stairs. Front area has traditional pub seating around the sides and served by smaller end of bar counter while rear area has a greater variety of seating and tables, and is served by the lengthier part of the servery. This also has bar stools and some standing room. A short screen separates the two parts.
CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2025
Have a pint.
Real Ale: Bombardier ; Greene King IPA
Bitter: Mosaic (Adnams)
Lager: Stella; San Miguel; Carling
Cider: Stowford Press Guinness
The Queen’s Head
The Queens Head again has the wide front area with a serving counter at the right-hand side. Moving to the back it narrows with the rest of the serving area to you right, and then widens again. Bright and clean, it has sections which is a change from the open plan pubs around it. The real ale is served from the back bar - why is it hidden there? Live music some weekends. Good food stops at 7pm.
Have a pint
Real Ale: off
Bitter: John Smith;
Lager: Fosters; Carling; Birra Moretti
Cider: Woodpecker; Strongbow Guinness
Alnwick Arms
Alnwick Arms is now a late night time venue
The Blue Bell Inn
The Blue Bell Inn (formerly Alnwick Gate and The Falcon's Rest)
Recently done up to a high standard. Tables and chairs along window and bar counter against far-right wall. Comfy seating on opposite wall. Pub then expands up to the left-hand side. Very friendly staff.
Have a pint here.
Real Ale: not on
Bitter: John Smith
Lager: Carling; Fosters
Cider: Strongbow ; Strongbow Dark Fruits Guinness
John Bull ★
John Bull can be difficult to find but well worth the looking for. It is a traditional pub with no airs or graces, a gem for the real ale drinker and pub searcher. Now open plan from what was two rooms. The servery is on the left-hand wall of the rear room. Traditional and modern games available. Small outside beer patio.
North Northumberland pub of year 2007, 2009 and 2010. A place for drinking not lounging on sofas. Locals know their opinions.
Good Beer Guide (CAMRA) regular …..2023
Good Pub Guide 2013
Two pints here then.
Real ale: Auzzie Pale ((North Riding); Old Buzzard (Cotleigh); Cry Wolf (Rudgate)
Broadoak Premium Perry; Old Rosie Cloudy Cider
pages to visit
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Books on pubs
A selection of recommended books on pubs and their history. There are books on the social history of pubs and the design of pubs through the ages.
There are also books on visiting pubs and recommending pubs to visit.
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Books on beer
A selection of recommended books covering all aspects of beer and brewing.
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CAMRA
The website of the Campaign for Real Ale
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Pubtrails available
Places visted by Pubtrails
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Maps
Pubs visited by Stevenson & MacKay as outlined in their seven books describing their trips around Scotland using their bus passes.
Pubs in Roger Protz’s Coaching Inns off the Great Northern Road
Pubs in Adrien Tierney-Jones’ book Great British Pubs
CAMRA Heritage pubs
“I’m on a whisky diet. I’ve lost three days already.”
— Tommy Cooper
ANSWER: “not enough room to swing a cat” - reference to there not being enough room inside to swing a cat-o-nine-tails when flogging a seaman