NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.

This pub is one of those with rather eccentric decor inside. The soft furnishings are similar. It really is a place to go just to see, let alone drink beer. While it is a Bass pub, it does have beers from Hadrian and those on the Bass portfolio of Allsop. The pub is set out in three areas all served from one bar. This provides a problem at busy times during the weekend - you cant get served quickly. Apart from that a good pub. There's no accommodation here, and strangely very little cheap B&B in the city centre - none at all to be honest. There is B&B about a mile from the centre, try the tourist information.

This is one of the CAMRA national inventory pubs for its interior and exterior. From the outside it looks imposing and rather unlike a pub. From the inside it is a real gem and reminds you of how your grandparents must have seen it. The little ironwork over the door welcomes you into a history lesson of Victorian splendour. Three areas await you in which to enjoy the pub, though it is tiny in terms of the drinking barns of today. The windows are still stained glass - not yet succumbing to vandals. The small snug at the front is welcoming with ahead-height screen - just look at the ceiling and wonder why some other pubs always look as though they have lung cancer slime up there. There is a servery in the middle, but it is narrow and beyond that there is a seating area with bench seating. Well worth a stop just to look at it, but the Crown also does beer and usually supports the local micros. Unfortunately it does not do food, nor accommodation. According tot he locals there are some paintings under the present wall covering that depict Spanish scenes to go with the Posada bit of the name.