The Great Western Corsham

Not been to this pub before. A couple of our group had and said there had been an ownership change and mass refurbishment in the last couple of years. You could tell the place had worn in, but it was in a good way. Staff were really friendly and accommodating, food was good (honest recommendations received after we pressured the bloke - very good humoured 😊) and decent range of local/brewery beer, wine and spirits. Will happily go there again

This is a great place that has excellent food. The menu does not have a lot of items and it is a bit expensive but the food is worth it. The curry is quite lovely and the chips are great as well. Well worth the time here. They have plenty of seating and it is a great place to watch some sports. It gets pretty busy and can get a little roudy. The staff is so friendly and kind. They checked in often and were very helpful.

In recent years, this place has changed from a small local Pub with lots of storage space and a large garden, to a larger Pub & café with a good-sized carpark and a riverside-feel Beer garden, except the river is a railway cutting. They absolutely do not claim a river - it just feels like that sort of setting. The café part has a separate entrance, at the back on a lower level, opening into the carpark, and it's open much earlier than the bar. Both parts are connected internally, in an open-plan layout. The café entrance has quite an extensive porch, good for sheltering from the rain under, which is how I noticed it. I wasn't originally planning to go in, waiting instead for a lift to a large walking group. Then rain stopped play, and they all joined me instead. There are several different seating areas; one very cosy & internal, one like a conservatory, as well as the ones surrounding the bar upstairs. It's good for both large and small groups, and the acoustics are better than many places, in that you can still carry on nearby conversations without being drowned out by hubbub. One thing which did strike me, was the hot drinks are not served burning hot, so they're drinkable immediately: You don't have the thing where you order a fancy espresso variant, then have to let it sit for half an hour for it to cool down. This happens so often in other places, I've started carrying a little bottle of water around with me, to force-cool drinks. I didn't have to use it here. They'll also happily serve a normal white/black Coffee, without insisting on calling it a flat white or americano.

Top notch place. Food was lovely - I had chicken curry and a delicious South African pudding similar to sticky toffee pud and a pint. Ambience was great. Lots of people enjoying their evening in this lovely local pub. Great background music. And the service was fantastic. Overall: a superb pub and just like pubs should be.