Pint Of Ale

After our visit to Horforth last week, we thought we’d come back to spend an evening in the town’s two excellent no smoking pubs. We ended up in the brilliant Severed Head. It’s a sinister sounding name, but there’s nothing sinister about this brand new, friendly cosy pub on Town Street.

At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Severed Head was pitching at thirty-something wine drinkers, but take a look at the three hand pumps and the wide range of decent bottled beer and you’d need to think again. The cask ales on tap last night were Old Speckled Hen, Black Sheep Bitter and Tim Taylor’s Landlord. I was pleased to see bottles of St Peter’s Golden Ale behind the bar and opted for one of these on this visit.

Drinks are served in Severed Head branded glasses. These glasses are a mix of straight pint glasses and decent old-fashioned tankards. This nice attention to detail spills into the décor of the pub. It’s split into several areas by pillars and walls. The walls are wood panelled and the floorboards are bare. There are lovely leather benches, strange two-backed square chairs, bare stone walls, a grand fireplace, wooden ceilings, ornate mirrors and rich brown and gold wallpaper. I thought that there was a bit of an African theme to the place because of the overall richness of the oranges and the dark wood. The whole place is modern without being pretentious. The Severed Head’s website describes itself as reminiscent of an English country pub and I can see their point. It’s certainly pays a sympathetic nod to decent English pub heritage while keeping a modern identity that is truly unique.

The Severed Head markets itself as a restaurant and the menu looks impressive. Unfortunately, the management have taken the decision not to serve bar snacks at the bar. We asked for some crisps and were told that the only food is restaurant food.

There was a mix of people in the pub last night. No one was smoking and the place was busy. We felt that the atmosphere was good and with the excellent ales available, we really enjoyed ourselves. With Market Town Taverns‘ excellent Town Street Tavern just up the road, it’s good to see Horsforth becoming a destination for those of us who appreciate good ale. All we need to see now is the local traditional pubs taking equal care over their ales as no matter how good the new places are, there’s nothing quite like sitting in a pub that’s been serving the community around it for decades.