Are these Mansfield's best eight pubs?

If you are wanting to have a quiet pint, watch a match, or have some good snap with your beer, then there is a venue to suit you.

From the small but perfectly-formed Beer Shack, on White Hart Street, to the likes of the larger JD Wetherspoon, and in between, there is a pub for you.

The continued excellence of Mansfield as a great place for a night out was officially recognised with the endorsement of a “light touch” assessment of the town by the Association of Town and City Management’s Purple Flag accreditation panel.

Mansfield was awarded Purple Flag status, which recognises excellence in the management of town centres at night, in September 2014.

A steering group, headed by Sarah Nelson, Mansfield Business Improvement District manager, worked to improve and promote the town centre to secure the prestigious award. Physical improvements were carried out, changes made to policing and projects were introduced to increase safety and confidence. To retain its Purple Flag status this year, the steering group had to report back to the ATCM, demonstrating that improvements have continued and that Purple Flag status has been used to benefit the town.

Dave Wilson, Mansfield BID business crime manager, said: “You can have a great night out in Mansfield, knowing it offers a safe environment. There’s a lot of variety of venue too so it’s no wonder that Mansfield is a destination for people.”

The New Inn, Westgate, Mansfield town centre. A traditional pub in many ways, Grant Hill and his wife Fiona have been running it for a couple of years now. It is about beer and there are snacks such as crisps and peanuts. The pub hosts regular, free live entertainment, including live artists and bingo. Traditional Mansfield beers, Original and Smooth and Mild and The New Inn one of only a handful of pubs in the area who will do you a pint of mix. If you want a warm welcome, where a great atmosphere awaits, The New Inn, is the place to be.

Pint of Mansfield Original, priced £2.35; pint of Carlsberg lager, priced £2.35.

The Bowl, Leeming Street, Mansfield town centre. If you have not been to The Bowl in Hand for a while, you will see some changes. Not least, the name - The Bowl. It has had a refurbishment, inside and out and, for an old pub, it is looking fresh for the future. The people who run it are proud of what they are doing there and reckon that their pints are some of the best in town.

Pint of Fosters, priced £2.90 before 5pm, £3.20 after; Pint of Mansfield Smooth, priced £2.60 before 5pm, £2.90 after.

Railway Inn, Station Street, Mansfield town centre. The Railway Inn is a great pub in Mansfield and is renowned within the real ale drinking circles. It cites itself as a “lovely, welcoming traditional pub” serving ever-changing real ales and typical pub grub “all fresh and homemade – even the chips are like mum used to make”. You can even get a cheese cob too. It can be cosy in there, and you find that everyone talks to each other. They do have real music too – advertised on its Facebook page.

Real ales, priced £2.70; Lagers, Carling and Coors, priced £2.90.

White Lion Yard, Church Street, Mansfield town centre. The White Lion Yard is a quirky pub, nestled as it is in the caves of Mansfield and harking back perhaps to when pubs were real places, simple, good beer and fine conversation.

Downstairs has two pumps – Twisted Genius stout and Ghost Rider, an unfiltered real ale, both from Navigation brewery in Nottingham.

It has normal cask ales and ciders too and exclusive fruity ciders from Loicraison. From a new business in March 2014, it has become a firm favourite in the town and is listed in The Good Beer Guide.

Pint of Twisted Genius, priced £3.50; Pint of Ghost Rider, priced £3.50; Cask ales, priced £2.80 to £3.50.

The Wheatsheaf, Stockwell Gate, Mansfield town centre. Marc Wheatley and Kim have been at The Wheatsheaf for about a year now, and if you ask them what makes the place special, they will say that it is a traditional pub; it is a pub where you go for a pint and conversation. There are no children. There is no food, apart from usual snacks. Regulars are happy to go along and have a pint and have an evening of drinking and socialising. Pint of Mansfield Smooth, priced £2.25; Pint of Carlsberg lager, priced £2.25.

JD Wetherspoon venues, Mansfield town centre. Wetherspoon has three venues in Mansfield, including The Court House, on Market Place, The Widow Frost, on Leeming Street, and The Stag & Pheasant, on Clumber Street – interestingly, The Widow Frost is named after the 18th-century landlady of The Mason’s Arms which stood on the site. While similar in many ways, each pub has a different atmosphere and the Stag And Pheasant is a Lloyds No1 Bar which means it also has music. It also does some good breakfasts too. The Stag & Pheasant – Pint of Doom Bar, priced £2.29; Pint of Coors Light, priced £2.55.

The Swan, Church Street, Mansfield town centre. The Swan was one of the finest hotels in town. It is now a great pub for having a breakfast, lunch or going for good pint – cask ale and real ale. Customer service is excellent. It is busy pretty much most of the day. A new food and drinks menu was launched in November, and if you want to watch the football, selected matches are on the TV. Remember also for when it gets a bit warmer, there are seats outside too. Pint of Snow Belle, priced £2.75; Pint of Pedigree, priced £2.75.

Beer Shack, White Hart Street, Mansfield town centre. They say good things come in small packages. The Beer Shack is a small pub, but it has a great atmosphere - an award-winning micropub in every sense. There are numerous and changing real ales and ciders available, and there are, on occasion, music acts. It is difficult to describe the perfect pub, because everybody has different requirements, but if it is beer, conversation, and atmosphere, then this is the place to go.

Take our poll on the best pub here.

For more about the town centre, visit www.mansfieldtowncentre.co.uk.

What do you think to the list? Is your favourite pub mentioned here or not? Let us know by emailing [email protected]