The Martin Inn, West Lancs

The Martin Inn

The Burscough area is well off for attractive country pubs, and the Martin Inn is one such. It is in a beautiful rural setting about 15 minutes' drive from Southport, but if you're feeling energetic, a 1.4 mile walk from New Lane station on the Southport to Wigan line.

Firstly, the real ales: on our visit, they were offering a popular range consisting of Sharp's Doom Bar, Thwaites Bomber and Thwaites Wainwright, and they usually have a changing guest ale. The pub prides itself on the reasonable prices of its beers, and we were happy with the quality of those we tried.

There is a large car park and an outside drinking area. The pub is family and dog friendly, and they are open to midnight.

The pub is also well-known for its food, which is available at lunchtimes and in the evenings until 8.30pm during the week, 9.00pm on Friday, and all day on Saturday and Sunday, and they like to offer different themed nights for meals. Parties can be catered for as well as individual diners.

Live music is is featured on the first Friday of each month, and Wednesdays are bikers' nights. They have a pool table and a darts board, and Sky Sports are sometimes shown. A good-sized function room with accompanying catering is available for special events.

The Martin Inn is in Martin Lane, Burscough, L40 0RT. Telephone: 01704 892095.

This is part of a series of articles that I am writing for the CAMRA column in our local paper, the Southport Visiter. Previous reviews are here.