THE SALAMANDER – A BATH GEM ? BATH 3/7

November 2024. Bath.

Back in the previous millennium, before the invention of the civilising influence that is The Internet, CAMRA produced a series of books (on actual paper) to help folk plan Big Days Out.

One of those was a guided to Pub Crawls around UK towns which allowed you to take in the sights as well as the suds, admiring the ghost signs and graceful architecture of cities like Bath.

Of course, CAMRA has now banned “Pub Crawls”, and our hosts Jon and Tracy instead took us on a “Carefully Curated Taster of Public Houses”, the post-lunch chapter of which took us about 10 steps from the Raven,

to the Salamander.

Rather smarter and dining-focused than I remember, though our group did our best to scruff up the place.

Mrs RM would have said “It has a woman’s touch“, which is the sort of casual sexism I expect from American voters. But she’s right.

I mean, how many pubs do you know with “The Circle of Sappho” behind the bar ?

Some of our group didn’t warm to the Salamander;

but I can happily live with Harry, and Neil, and Donovan (is that his first name).

The fire was taped up, but it was cosy enough, reminiscent of a Tunbridge Wells Pantile pub, a small town pub running on upmarket food trade.

I waited for the verdicts on the St Austell range,

and then had a pint of Bath Gem, a beer I always associate with Rugby Union and butterscotch.

But it was lovely, superbly presented, cool and frothy (NBSS 3.5), and a bit of unexpected Bath redemption. But still a tang of butterscotch, mind.

Right, northwards now.

You’ll know where we’re going next.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

16 thoughts on “THE SALAMANDER – A BATH GEM ? BATH 3/7”

      3. Mrs. E and I had a half each of plum porter to round off an evening at the Hermit’s Cave in Camberwell.

        I now remember that it’s the only beer that she liked unreservedly, which I must keep in mind.

        Thanks.

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      8. Etu,
        Then you’ve forgotten it by 8.17am which, unless someone reminds you on here, is why you and Mrs Etu have never taken a holiday in Burslem.

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  3. Sounds like a wonderful trip. Wrexham and Bath City were in the same league for a couple of seasons, and I think I had a pint in the Salamander during 2010/11- it seemed a bit lifeless and darker back then and less pubby than your pics suggest. It probably instilled a prejudice in me against Bath Ales as being uninteresting as well (which I only recently overcame after a decent pint of Gem at the Taffs Well Inn).

    On my last visit to Bath in 2011/12 (they got relegated o National South then I think) I went to a pair of pubs along the main road between the station and Twerton Park. One was a scruffy-ish pub with a good real ale range, more to my taste. From consulting WhatPub it was likely the Royal Oak, and it seems a local CAMRA favourite. Bit of a trek out of town though, not that that seems to put you off!

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    1. I was just about to mention those pubs south of the river, Rhys, as I also visited Twerton Park in 2010-11 (they thrashed Cambridge 4-0) and Royal Oak would definitely be in my top 3 in Bath.

      I don’t know if the Salamander had Bath on back then, I remember it as quite a grungy pub.

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      1. Ah, it could well be a completely different pub then (this was pre Untappd and my memory is terrible) but it did have a lot of wood, seemed fairly up market and was in the same vicinity.

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