Crown & Sceptre, Stroud (Hat & Stick)

Lively back-street local that is at the heart of its community. Landlord Rodda Thomas is Cornish and the pub has a special relationship with the Blue Anchor Brewery at Helston, with Spingo Middle a regular guest beer. Spingo Special and Extra Special also make occasional appearances on high days and holidays - and always at the pub's Easter and August Bank Holiday beer festivals, held in a marquee in the garden.

A large oak table in a side room is popular with local groups - including Knit and Natter on Tuesday and the Friends of Daisy Bank (the park and children’s playground directly in front of the pub). The pub also has its own motorcycle society. The Hat & Stick (as it is affectionately known) raised £1,800 for a public defibrillator, which is housed on the terrace at the back of the pub and available 24 hours a day.

The walls display an eclectic mix of framed prints, many of vintage motorcycles, and old film posters, and the ceiling of the side room is covered with band posters. There is some new stained glass - look for the Crown & Sceptre in the fanlight over the front entrance passage and the Gents above the passage to the men’s loo. The walls and ceiling of the Gents themselves are covered in posters, while the Ladies are palatial. An elaborate mantelpiece clock, a cuckoo clock and a Che Guevara clock argue over the time.

Famed for its Up The Workers good value set meal on Wednesday and its Sunday roasts (booking essential). Saturdays are pasty days, the first Wednesday of the month is steak night, the second pie night and the last Wednesday of the month is curry night. Meat-free Mondays on the last Monday of every month. Football, rugby and cricket screened in the back bar.

A south-facing terrace to the rear offers panoramic views across the Stroud valley to Rodborough Common.

[OPENING HOURS updated 16 December 2021 from A-board outside pub]