The Palace Under the Alps

There are 77,000 pubs (or, more properly, public houses) in Great Britain, far more than anyone could possibly visit in a single lifetime, though you could happily die trying. Even if you faithfully visited a new one every day, it would take you 210 years to see them all. So recommending one out of the thousands of first-rate pubs in Britain is an insanely impetuous exercise. But having said that, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in the heart of Nottingham does rather neatly contain all the ingredients of a good pub: history, conviviality, coziness, and decent beer. It is also - albeit arguably - the oldest in Britain. Although several others claim that title, the Jerusalem has been the site of an alehouse since 1189, on which basis it is indisputably the oldest in the country. The present building dates from 1760, making it a relative infant, but the foundations and cellar are the originals. The name, incidentally, comes from the fact that the inn was a gathering spot for Crusaders en route to the Middle East in the twelfth century. Nestled up against the walls of Nottingham Castle, the Jerusalem consists of nine small, atmospheric rooms on two floors, all filled with dark, ancient furniture and dusty curios (watch out for the clock that runs backwards). There is a prodigious range of hand-pumped beers and an attractive assortment of cheap and filling sandwiches at lunchtime. The castle behind, built by William the Conqueror in 1068, is worth dragging yourself away from the pub for. It is now the city’s museum and art gallery and contains, among other things, one of the world’s finest collections of lace, for which Nottingham is famous.

Details: Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem is at 2 Castle Road, Nottingham. In common with other English pubs, the Jerusalem is open only from 11am to 2:30pm and from 6pm to 10:30pm (till 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays). The opening hours, which vary from region to region and even sometimes from pub to pub, were introduced during World War I to keep factory workers from drinking away their afternoons and are now, like much else in Britain, a pointless but cherished anachronism. Nottingham (pop. 271,000), one of England’s principal industrial cities, is 128 miles north of London.

William Bryson, The Palace Under the Alps, p112

http://www.triptojerusalem.com/