Real ale pubs and bars in Carrington, Nottingham

Just a couple of kilometres north of Nottingham city centre at the junction of Mansfield Road and Hucknall Road lies the small suburb of Carrington. Blink as you drive through and you might miss it as you progress north towards Sherwood, and that would be a pity for lovers of good beer.

There are only five pubs of note in Carrington, but all serve real ale and all offer a different experience to the drinker, from the delightful micropub that is Doctor’s Orders to the more locals’ bar of the New Carrington Inn.

Doctor’s Orders, 351 Mansfield Road

Opened in late 2012, the Doctor’s Orders was a welcome addition to Nottingham’s already excellent range of pubs, for this was the city’s first micropub. A converted pharmacy, hence the name, it has no bar as such but a window through which the stacked casks can be viewed. Customers are served at their tables, Continental style, and there are normally half a dozen real ales available from various microbreweries. The main, and only, drinking area feels like someone’s front room and it does not take many people to fill it. There is a very small amount of seating out front. The corridor to the loos is decorated with the work of local artists. Overall, this place is delightful, and wonderfully addictive.

The Gladstone, 45 Loscoe Road

Though tucked away in the back streets, the Gladstone is well worth hunting out. This traditional boozer is split into a public and saloon bar, both comfortable and pleasant. The public bar has a dartboard to pass the time while the saloon bar has a long row of books for the same purpose. There is a beer yard out the back. On the beer front, there are normally up to six well-kept real ales available with a mix of large and small breweries represented from near and far.

Bar Deux (The Guitar Bar), 2 Clumber Avenue

Part of the Hotel Deux, this music venue serves four real ales, specialising in small breweries. The music, as the name suggests, is guitar based, but can range from folk to jazz. There is plenty of seating in the room to the right as you enter and in the main bar to the left before entering the music room itself. There is also a large beer garden at the front. The music room is intimate and cosy, with lots of comfortable seating for enjoying the entertainment.

New Carrington Inn, 335 Mansfield Road

A locals’ pub, the New Carrington Inn normally has two real ales available including Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. Some evenings, a DJ provides musical entertainment and for those who like to entertain themselves there is a pool table. There is a large outside beer yard and Sunday is barbecue day.

The Grosvenor, 293 Mansfield Road

Opposite the Park Inn Hotel, the Grosvenor is a large, open-plan pub that caters for sports fans and those looking to eat. Part of the John Barras chain, it serves up to four real ales from a central bar; one of the beers is normally the locally brewed Castle Rock Harvest Pale. A pool table and dartboard provide entertainment as do large-screen TVs scattered around the premises. The food menu has a good range of reasonably priced pub meals.

Pubs near to Carrington

Only a short distance to the north of Carrington is Sherwood, which has some nice pubs along its main drag. Going south, you can enjoy the pubs of Mansfield Road as it drops down into the city. And there are also some very good pubs in Nottingham city centre.