retiredmartin

September 2026. Goldthorpe. South Yorkshire.

A real ale gain in the unlikeliest of places, as Goldthorpe becomes the latest South Yorkshire mining village to get a micro, and a CAMRA Pub of the Season micro at that.

What are those numbers below the letters ? Scrabble ?

In a village of 6,051, any pub needs to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, so cask has to survive alongside lager, cider and Guinness.

A lad in a green Ireland shirt is on his fifth Guinness, though you wouldn’t know it. He’s a cheery lad from Doncaster, too young to identify “Sally Cinnamon” by the Stone Roses but old enough to appreciate the soundtrack.

I’d describe the Corner Tap as “loveably chaotic“,

the seating on split level “varied“,

the staff “friendly“, and the beer from Stancil “better than GOOD“.

What I can’t do is repeat verbatim any of the conversation at the bar, but it included the lines “I don’t know how to handle a *****, I’m a virgin“.

Regrettably, even my Patronised readers will not get the full story.