The Retford Ramble -A ramble of 1.2 miles, around the town visiting some of the better pubs. (updated March 2022)

This ramble or pub crawl starts at the Galway Arms which is opposite West Retford church and close to the northern end of the ring road and finishes at the Brew Shed which is close to the southern end of the ring road.

The Galway Arms, a welcoming pub, is 300 metres from the town centre on Bridgegate, is an open plan pub with four distinct areas plus there is under cover seating outside. Sport is shown on tv and there is live music most Friday and Saturday evenings. The pub opens early at weekends for breakfasts and serves two changing guest beers. On our visit the guest beers were Bradfield Farmers Blonde and Theakston's Lightfoot.

Left out of the Galway and back towards the town, keep left after the pedestrian crossing opposite the Herbalist, into Cannon Square where you will see the town's cannon which was brought back from Sebastopol after being captured by British forces in the Crimean War. Keep left past the cannon, then all the way along Chuchgate and cross the ring road to the Black Boy.

This pub attracts a large proportion of regular drinkers due in part to the reasonably priced drinks and welcoming atmosphere. The open plan pub had a refit during the covid pandemic when pubs were closed. The pub is comfortable, shows sport on tv, has a dart board and there is even a tv in the smoking area. The 2/3 hand pulled beers are usually "locale" (from breweries within 25 miles) and on our visit there were 3 Pheasantry brewery beers, PA, Lincoln Tank Ale and Excitra.

Turn left out of the Black Boy and then left again walking at the side of the ring road; take the second right turn onto Grove Street and the Turks Head is 50 metres on the right. An imposing stone building with an open plan wood panelled interior and also an open fire in winter. There is a pool table, dart board and an old pub game called Hook the Ring, behind the pub is a decent sized outdoor drinking area. On the bar were the two regular beers Adnams Ghost Ship and Timothy Taylors Landlord and two guest beers. Often available are Bombardier, Greene King Abbot Ale and Thwaites Wainwright and in our case the two latter beers.

A few steps across the road is the Dominie Cross, a Wetherspoon’s Lloyds No1 pub.

The building has been a garage and a supermarket before it became a pub. Open plan and quite large but not as impersonal as some pubs in the group, there are photos of old Retford on the walls and two impressive chandeliers hang above the bar. The usual fare is Ruddles Best Bitter, Green King Abbott Ale and Sharps Doom Bar plus up to three guest beers including beers from local breweries are usually available. Exmoor Beast, a 6.6% ABV dark porter, Phoenix Double Gold, a 5% ABV golden beer and Bradfield Brown Cow were on offer on our visit and with 4 more pubs to visit most of us opted for the Bradfield.

Out of the Dominie Cross front door, turn left and walk to the Market Square. Face the Town Hall and take the opening between the Town Hall and the 10 Green Bottles Cafe (bottles of Woodforde are often available here) and Beer Under The Clock a small pub is 50 metres on the left in what is called the Town Hall yard. The pub opened in October 2014 as BeerHeadZ and in 2021 the staff bought the pub lease and changed the name to Beer Under The Clock. There are up to five changing beers that will include a bitter, a stout or porter and a session pale, several ciders and bottled beers and cans are also on offer. On our visit the beers available were Elb (East London Brewing Company) Pale Ale, Dynamite Valley TNT IPA, Spingo Ales Bens Stout, Penzance Brewing Liberty and Padstow Lobster Tale. North Notts CAMRA Pub of the Year 2023.

Left out of Beer Under The Clock to the end of the town hall yard, left to the end of Exchange Street (50 meters) and then right along pedestrianised Carolgate and take the second right onto West Street. Walk to the car park entrance on the left, cut across the back of the car park and 25 meters along the street are the back gates and the outside seating area of the Ship Inn(formerly the Rum Runner).

The much talked about gates made by a local artist from old donated tools were rescued after a wave of protests when a former landlord almost scrapped them. This Bateman’s pub has one long room on different levels, which is the main drinking area and there is a smaller dining room and the very pleasant outside seating area with its own stage. Usually 3 Bateman’s beers, XB, Gold or Yellow Belly as it is called in Lincolnshire and Salem Porter or XXXB.

Out of the front door of the Ship and left and the Idle Valley Tap is 50 metres along Wharf Road, opposite the fire station on the corner. The single roomed pub used to be the tap for the Idle Valley brewery (no longer trading) and opened in November 2015 after being completely refurbished since it closed its doors as the Anchor. The pub has a pool table and dart board and the space outside has been maximised to get as much seating as possible. Despite its short life the pub has been awarded Pub of the Season by North Notts CAMRA. On the bar are up to seven beers, Idle Valley Pale is regular brewed for the pub by Welbeck Abbey, the other beers change but Welbeck Abbey and Kelham Island breweries are two of the favourites, although beers from as far as Cornwall have frequented the bar.

Out of the Idle Valley Tap across the road, Aldi is on the left, onto Carolgate bridge and just over the apex is The Brew Shed (opposite the Masonic Hall) but be careful not to walk straight past. Opened in August 2017 as a small one roomed pub which soon become a favourite with Retford's real ale drinkers, this was followed in 2018 with the opening of Harrisons brewery in the yard behind the pub and in 2019 the decision was taken to move the pub next door to larger premises. Upstairs at street level is a L shaped room, downstairs there is a smaller room which accesses the outside drinking area overlooking the canal. On the bar are usually 6 real ales, mostly from the Harrisons brewery including the Bitter, Vacant Gesture and Proof of Concept, but there can sometimes be guest beers. In 2019 the pub was voted Notts CAMRA Pub of the Year and was also runner up in the East Midlands Pub of the Year.

A pleasant ramble through the town, beers were fine with 35 different beers available, not one repeated, and the pubs are a good mix that in my opinion complement each other.