The Pack Horse Inn, Affetside

What a nice building and a lovely location. I expected a traditional country/village pub and a friendly atmosphere. You know the type, full of locals and farmers and other eccentrics. I was disappointed. I eventually came to the conclusion the pub was trying too hard to be something it isn't and will never be. I went on a Friday evening, and there wasn't any convivial atmosphere at all. I really would have expected it to be full of people from the small village in which it is situated, but there were none in. I did ask an elderly guy who seemed familiar with the place, and was told that the villagers don't come in - they go elsewhere. Odd, but not surprising. You would have thought the place would be packed with locals and regulars but it wasn't. There is no shortage of flash motors in this village.

The beer was OK-ish - I had Hydes Best, and whilst Hydes do brew a good pint, it can be variable but does require a good cellarman to keep it tiptop. It wasn't the best kept pint of Hydes I have had.

I understood that there was a restaurant to the rear of the pub, however, it would appear that this has now closed. The restaurant building is relatively new and looks like a charmless church hall; this is in complete contrast to the rest of the building which has character. When I was there a B-rate disco was in action. The clientele here were a bit chavvy and the DJ was a typical 'mobile DJ'. In fact it reminded me of something from Phoenix Nights, but I didn't see if the DJ was called Ray Von. (Shabba!). I was surprised by this, and it was unexpected in a remote country pub.

I subsequently found out that the pub advertises on Facebook - what on earth are they doing? Certainly smacks of desperation to get customers. This explains the disco clientele & Ray Von. If they are using social networking, they are targetting the wrong demographic - they want the over 35's with disposable income, not the 13 to 24 year olds binge drinkers/chavs their disco night is attracting.

Would I go again? - no. I did have to drive to go there. What is attractive is the building and it's setting, the beer should be good but it isn't kept well. I didn't eat, so cannot comment, however the menu seems to cover every taste and every continent. A disappointing pub as I expected it to deliver a real country pub experience, but it didn't. I don't mean to be harsh but my lasting impression from this pub was charmless & chavvy. It could be so much more.

18 Jun 2011 09:07