"A bit of a mooch."

Tonight Keith and I went for a "mooch" to three different pubs, one of which was somewhere I'd wanted to go for ages, The Three Horseshoes at Ecton.

Sophie was at a friend's house and Mikey was quite happy to amuse himself at home so off we went to Ecton first. From the outside the pub always looked cosy and welcoming but as we drove into the car park, Keith suddenly realised he'd been there before, for a friend's stag night...

We walked in and the thing that hit me first was the smell...not quite sure what it was but it wasn't pleasant. The white exterior carried on inside which was chilly and pretty bare. I was the only woman in there and Keith and I sat at the bar trying to ignore the little coterie of men who were gathered on the other side of the lounge. I asked for a glass of wine and was given a glass and a small bottle, which surprised me. Maybe they don't get many wine drinkers in the pub! Keith's beer looked like urine, but he said it was good and tasted much better than it looked!

For me, it was an utter disappointment! I'd been wanting to go to this pub for ages and I certainly won't be going back in a hurry. There was no warmth or welcoming atmosphere and as you can imagine, we hastily downed our drinks and decided to go to The Queen's Arms in Orlingbury.

This was very busy indeed but we managed to get a seat at the bar to enjoy our drinks. The barmaids were under a fair bit of pressure to keep up with demand so after one drink we left and Keith suggested we visit The Red Lion in Broughton, another pub I'd never been to before. We squeezed the car into a tiny space outside and walked in to find another load of men hogging the bar! Keith just about managed to get served and we sank onto a very low sofa which I thought I'd never get up from again!

Although the pub had recently been refurbished, there wasn't a lot of atmosphere, although the restaurant did look inviting so we may go back for a meal, you never know!