Pub of the Week:The Punchbowl, Thorne

It is set back from the road, and what is now a car park would have been a handsome garden with lawns and terraces.
Inside, you get a sense of the spaciousness of the original layout – big drawing rooms, with what could have been the study for the master of the house to one side. Elsewhere the décor is functional in an unfussy kind of way.
The staff are super-friendly. Making their customers feel at ease and welcome is clearly a priority, and apparently the Sunday lunch service brings in folk from some way around the area, and is on the generous side, so it is obviously wise to book in advance.
On a brilliantly sunny day, a couple of pints of the admirable Three Rivers, which is brewed at the Old Mill Brewery at nearby Snaith, went down a treat, accompanied by a well-filled sandwich. No one could claim that we are in a real ale nirvana here, but there is reasonable enough choice.
Sitting out on that broad terrace you can watch the world go by – centre of town off that way, Thorne North station in t’other.
The Bowl also has accommodation, and seems to be quite a busy destination, and there’s also the fact that it is quite near a pair of the town’s attractions – the fishing lakes and the canal and its pleasure boats.
The Punchbowl appears to know what it is doing, and the market it has to serve. And it is doing it rather well.
The Punchbowl Inn, Fieldside, Thorne, DN8, 4BE. 01405 813580.

About The Author

Phil Penfold

A journalist for over half century, Phil writes over a broad range of subjects, including food and drink. He has been a long-term CAMRA member and is a keen supporter of Yorkshire's many and varied markets and independent retailers.

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