Secret Drinker reviews The Stamford Post in Stamford

I’ve never really had conflicting views about a pub quite like this before.

Although the Secret Drinker’s ongoing pub crawl offers me just a quick snapshot of life in the county’s boozers, I generally leave with a firm enough opinion about a place.

Whether it’s a certain charm, a lively clientele or a thoroughly miserable experience I - just like you - exit a hostlery with a ‘would’ or ‘wouldn’t rush to’ visit again mindset.

But as I tap away, I still can’t decide which category The Stamford Post fits into.

In so many ways it’s a nice, enjoyable pub. I mean, the overall decor, price and staff were all very agreeable.

It’s just that, well, I think the Post is a victim of circumstance because Stamford has so many good pubs that, when thrust against the options all around, it struggles to compare.

And in some ways, that’s quite sad.

The view from the beer garden - looking out towards the spire of All Saints’ Church - is quite beautiful. Frustratingly, it was raining so I only got a snapshot before heading inside.

The pub is a large open-plan spot with a few, quickly-snapped-up, booths to the rear.

It was relatively busy when I got there on this Sunday lunchtime.

Large groups of friends and families tucked into their grub, couples chatted over their pints and coffees, two lads nearby discussed the night before over their Stellas.

But once again, the atmosphere was not quite there.

Drinking in this JD Wetherspoon pub is not as depressing as the company’s boozer in Boston but, after my enjoyable trip to the Spoons in nearby Bourne, I was hoping for a little more life.

Sadly not. Groups stuck to themselves in low murmurs, as seems to often be the Wetherspoons way, rather than the Stamford way where I often find boozers bustling and bouncy.

But, again, it does find itself up against some pretty great pubs within a quick walking distance.

At the bar I spotted one pump was serving Oakham Ales Citra for just £1.99, almost a third of what I’d paid for it on my last visit to a pub in Stamford.

I suppose you have to take the wins when they come your way.

But credit where it’s due. This is not a bad looking establishment.

Before its reinvention as a pub, The Stamford Post was the former Rutland and Stamford Mercury office. And, if you didn’t know that before entering, you’ll quickly read all about it when you get inside.

As Wetherspoons venues regularly do well, the place offered plenty of very likeable nods to the building’s history.

A giant sign reminding you this publication is ‘Britain’s oldest newspaper’ greets you on the facing wall, along with a beautiful old typewriter repurposed as decoration.

Classic front pages and photos of the old printworks greet you on the stairs to the gents where, surrounding the urinals, even the tiles carry a newsprint design.

The pub’s name - The Stamford Post - was the paper’s original title before its relaunch as the Merc more than 300 years ago, back when Rupert Murdoch was a nipper.

I even enjoyed the old newspaper A-boards hanging from the wall above the fruit machines. Until I read the content, at least.

Instead of ‘mast debate for village’ or ‘last chance to enter Miss World’ - or any of the other eyecatching bills that have become internet memes over the years - there was just terrible whimsy.

‘It’s amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits in the newspaper’ quipped one, forgetting half the people in a traditional newsroom have the word ‘editor’ in their job title.

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Another I took particular umbrage to was ‘never believe everything you read in the papers’.

Now, as someone who has worked in newspapers - I delivered one of the Mercury’s rivals to pay for fags as a teenager - I feel I have to step in here.

Behind all your chip wrappers (another sentiment of the bill boards) a small, dedicated group of people put together words to the equivalent length of a novel once, twice or seven times a week in good faith.

And with such an incredible number of factual accuracies delivered to you in print and online daily, a much better slogan would be ‘believe pretty much everything you read in your local newspapers’.

Of course, not everything will always be right. Especially when some idiot is allowed to write a review after having a drink.

THE STAMFORD POST, 7 SHEEP MARKET, STAMFORD, PE9 2QZ

DECOR: I’m never keen on a large open-plan spot, but The Post had some lovely nods to its former life. 3/5

DRINK: My second-ever pint of Oakham Ales Citra (ABV 4.2%), which I think I enjoyed even more on lap two. 4/5

PRICE: At £1.99 it was almsot a third of what I paid previously, but I’m happy to fork out more for a little more life around me. 4/5

ATMOSPHERE: There was nothing wrong with the place or the people, but for the amount of patrons inside it just felt quiet and lifeless. 3/5

STAFF: A couple of very friendly young ladies greeted me at the bar. 4/5

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Do you agree with the secret drinker or have any suggestions where he should go next? Where is your favourite beer garden? Email secretdrinker@lincsonline.co.uk or comment below.