Live Sports — Pubs in Lancaster

Pendle Witch

90-92 Penny Street, Lancaster LA1 1XN

Bright and airy bar with a mainly varnished wood floor and a long counter. In recent years, has concentrated on serving cheap food and drink to students, although it was opened in 1976 as a wine bar. Many TV screens showing sport most evenings.

Park

1 St Oswald Street, Lancaster LA1 3AS

Built 1890 as an imposing street-corner "hotel”. The ground floor has been entirely opened out but there are still three areas with contrasting characters. A local for the nearby streets, also gets trade from the University of Cumbria.

Penny Bank

51 Penny Street, Lancaster LA1 1XF

Former bank converted to a pub in 1991 and has managed to give the feeling of a much older town centre corner pub. Popular with shoppers during the day, it is part of the vibrant Lancastrian social scene during the evenings.

Bobbin

36 Cable Street, Lancaster LA1 1HH

Large mainly Victorian pub (part eighteenth century), entirely open-plan but still divided up by raised areas and pillars. Very handy for the bus station; also frequented by a goth/metal crowd (but they are by no means the only customers). 70s-style flock wallpaper and laminate floor Extremely eclectic jukebox.

Boot & Shoe

171 Scotforth Road, Lancaster LA1 4PU

A village inn until Lancaster grew around it. Completely altered in 2016 making one large bar-room divided into distinct areas. Decor mainly shades of brown with lots of woodwork. Opens a bit beyond midnight at weekends. 50p off cask ales on Mondays.

Ring O'Bells

52 King Street, Lancaster LA1 1RE

A traditional pub with a rustic feel and a strong regular clientele. A friendly hospitable and helpful pub. Party food for events available. Has a large beer garden at the back.

Royal

Thurnham Street, Lancaster LA1 1YD

Large bar in city-centre hotel redecorated in 2016 in muted blue/grey shades and with a lot of upholstered bench seating.

Bowerham

Bowerham Road, Lancaster LA1 4DT

Imposing building erected 1901 and built as a hotel, but really it's always been a local for the populous suburb of Bowerham (although there are plans to start offering accommodation) . The original multi-room layout has been completely opened up except for one room. The 2016 refurbishment revealed the old ceilings, creating space for chandeliers, otherwise conforming to current fashions. During the Covid pandemic has started a pizza business.

Sun

63 Church Street, Lancaster LA1 1ET

The decor combines a mixture of exposed stonework, wood panelling and solid furniture, with ambient candlelight in the evenings. The original pub has open space for vertical drinking; the extension is mostly furnished with old dining tables. Some original features remain, including stone fireplaces (one with a wood-burning stove) and a well. The pub is the primary outlet for Lancaster Brewery in the city. Outside is a peaceful courtyard with a heated and covered smoking area. Note: open for breakfast before 11, but alcohol not served then.

Hogarths

9 George Street, Lancaster LA1 1XQ

Picture windows, generous spaces and four floors. Thoroughly revamped in 2018 with wood panelling and TVs throughout; partitions, glasswork and chandeliers. Descibed as a gin-palace, it does indeed have an impressive number of gins, but the usual pub drinks as well.

Wagon & Horses

27 St George's Quay, Lancaster LA1 1RD

Two terraced houses knocked together form the front half, the back half being an extension added in 2008 when this pub became much more food-oriented. Although this pub is quite a long way from town, there is a long tradition of crawlers making their way out here (formerly a remote Hartleys outpost) - though the pubs on the way also benefit from this traffic. Also on the tourist trail - the Maritime Museum is close by. Shortcut to the station from back of pub.

White Cross

Quarry Road, Lancaster LA1 4XT

A modern renovation of an old canalside warehouse with an open-plan interior and a light, airy feel. French windows open on to extensive canalside seating, making this a popular location for summer afternoons and evenings. There is a library of ale books for customers. In the corner of an extensive complex of Victorian textile mills, now converted to other uses. The wide open spaces and general style makes it look like a circuit pub, but it is just too far from the town centre and much of the custom comes either from the residential areas up the hill or from the nearby workplaces .

Crafty Scholar

33-37 Church Street, Lancaster LA1 1LP

Typical late 20th-century superpub now (July 2015) de-branded for the first time and given new more 21st-century decor and a greater emphasis on choice. Serves bag-in-box ciders (mostly flavoured) from Weston's and Lilleys.

Vale of Lune

Powder House Lane, Lancaster LA1 2TT

non-members welcome. quiz Mon, poker Thu

Brown Cow

44 Penny Street, Lancaster LA1 1XF

Occasional quizzes. Karaoke Friday and Saturday.

Greens

61 North Road, Lancaster LA1 1LU

Former Wetherspoon pub reopened under new ownership with minimal alterations. This pub has been built behind an old shop facade so has the picture windows that modern pubs often have anyway. The drinking space is only broken by two raised areas and thus has a very open, non-intimate atmosphere, which seems to appeal to younger drinkers, though there are plenty of older ones too.

Sir Richard Owen

4 Spring Garden Street, Lancaster LA1 1RQ

Dating from 2001, a typical Wetherspoons of that time with wide open frill-free spaces. Behind the old warehouse facade is a split-level design. The bar is on the upper (front) level; the lower level resembles the second-class dining saloon on an ocean liner. When no sport is showing, 24-hour news plays without sound on the many screens. Disabled access is via the rear (Russell Street).

Lancaster House Hotel

Ellel, Lancaster LA1 4GJ

A modern 4 star hotel close to Lancaster University Campus catering for both business and leisure guests. The Sandeman's Bar is airy and modern - most customers are here for the food. House beer (Two Chimneys) from Lees.

Squires

90 King Street, Lancaster LA1 1RJ

Staggered Inn

2 James Street, Lancaster LA1 1UP

The last comprehensive re-vamp here turned it into "Fibber McGee's", themed around a fictitious Irish fish-poacher. Since then, successive minor changes have gradually stripped away most of this, leaving just a rather basic town-centre boozer.

Fox & Goose

Newlands Road, Lancaster LA1 4JF

Typical 1960s suburban pub. Children in the bar until 8pm

Golden Lion

33 Moor Lane, Lancaster LA1 1QD

The pub is reputed to have been the last drinking place of the Pendle Witches in 1612. The present building may be c1818, and is included in the Pendle Trail. Also known as the Whittle, it is a popular pub with a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Nice collection of old Lancaster photos inside with lots of pictures of old pubs.

Horse & Farrier

16 Brock Street, Lancaster LA1 1UU

This little pub resolutely remains an ordinary local catering mainly to its regulars. Music Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Was next door to a bookies - the shop has moved but the pub still shows horse racing on TV, with betting slips by the bar.