Good pub to pass time one I passed umpteen times

The Gables in Hough Lane, Leyland, is one of those pubs I might easily have passed a thousand times, proceeding in one direction or other, and thought ‘must nip in there some time’...
The GablesThe Gables
The Gables

Don’t ask me why, but never managed it. Until Tuesday night just gone, whereupon I immediately awarded myself a hefty kick up the metaphorical backside.

A nice enough looking pub from the street, crossing the threshold I found a pub which ticked more or less every box I am looking to tick.

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Friendly staff, a good mix of punters, well cared-for fixtures and fittings – nice old wood panels and furniture – an impressive horseshoe bar serving on one side a room with sports TV and pool, on the other a spacious more laid back saloon...

Assuming a comfortable spot at the bar from which to scope the cask offer, it would be some exaggeration to say the selection fell a little way short of what my initial impressions of the place had led me to expect.

Of a trio, the widespread and often disappointing Doom Bar and similarly common Wells Bombardier are never going to set a Real Ale Twit’s kecks on fire, and with no great joy I ordered Doom.

Yet it was with great enthusiasm that I drained the glass. Crystal clear copper with an off white head, the ale gave off a fresh appetising malty toffee aroma, and the fluid that followed was clean and smooth.

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Average ale, well handled and kept, will always make for a decent pint. Second up, having studiously saved best ‘til last, a Robinson’s Dizzy Blonde.

Long a favourite, this was as fine a jar of aforementioned as I readily recall. Golden with a gleaming white head, the nose is tangy with fresh lemon and the body is soft, round, biscuity and subtly bitter at the last.

An all round good pub, and having passed a thousand times before sampling, my guess is that the challenge from here on in will be getting past without nipping in.

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