New Engine House, Carlton, Nottingham

The steam engine that gave the pub its name in situ in the 1970's

It's perhaps some measure of the lack of ambition in much of the pub trade, that on those rare occasions when the larger brewers and pub owning companies spot an opportunity to build a new pub, they invariably settle for such dull, utterly characterless, off-the-peg designs. Functional, single-room family dining venues, safe and similar, almost entirely lacking in charm, let alone the kind of local distinctiveness that makes pubs at their best so special. Hasn't it always been this way though?

Certainly breweries have always had their 'house styles' when it comes to new pubs, and it's true that many of the later 20th century estate builds were far from attractive, even by the standards of the most innexpensive post-war architecture and design. But they were always essentially 'pubs' at heart, usually multi-room, and designed to encourage social interaction on many different levels including provision for games and sport of course. Also, there would always be space in the pub for locals to stamp their own identities, interests and personal tastes on, even if it was just a noticeboard for local leagues and societies.

When Nottingham's Shipstone Brewery commissioned The Engine House pub back in the late 60's, a new-build on the site of the former brickworks at Carlton, they clearly followed what was then the house style for many Midlands estate pubs. Red brick, flat-roof, very plain, very functional. But somewhere along the line it was decided that several tons of horizontal steam engine from the defunct brickworks would make a fine and fitting addition to the front of the building, because breweries did that sort of thing back then! The engine was a major feature of the pub that reflected the areas recent industrial past, and was such an ambitious installation that in 1982 when it was eventually removed to the Industrial Museum at Wollaton Hall, it had to be lifted by crane through the roof. These days, a few historical prints on the wall and a plastic ball-pit for the kids seems to be the limit of the architects imagination!

In all honesty, the pub itself is fairly typical of the time, and I've little doubt it would have been regarded as somewhat lacking in character by most pub-goers back then, this at a time when there was still plenty of Victorian and Edwardian splendour to be found in nearby pubs and clubs. A brick-built estate pub like the Engine House would have been entirely unremarkable if it wasn't for the massive steam engine on prominent display. But today, with every closure and subsequent demolition or redevelopment, utilitarian multi-room estate pubs like the New Engine House are becoming rarer, and perhaps that little bit more appreciated by some of us.

Of all the pubs we've lost in recent years, classic 1960's estate pubs have suffered more than most. Victims of a general decline in the pub trade, widespread indifference to their social (and sometimes architectural) importance, and the fact that most were built on substantial plots to accommodate the new trend for car ownership making them prime sites for residential development or conversion to neighbourhood supermarkets. Very few if any from this era of pub building have been granted listed status. Even the nearby March Hare, a wonderful unspoilt boozer recognised as having important heritage status, as well as being an Asset of Community Value by the local CAMRA branch, has no listed building protection. Sadly there's very little, other than strong local opposition, to stop rapacious pubcos from destroying these post-war boozers, so do enjoy and support them while you still can.

The New Engine House has certainly been altered and refurbished over the years, the most recent makeover giving the pub a smarter, brighter, and more attractive interior than has previously been the case. The pub retains a separate room to the left of the entrance for Pool and Darts, a multi-level L-shaped bar where the Wimbledon tennis held customer attention when I visited, as well as another room toward the rear of the pub with Dartboard and older formica-topped tables which would have been used for Cards and Dominoes. Off this room is that rarest of pub-games assets within the urban confines of Nottingham, a fully functioning alley for the local game of Long Alley Skittles.

Whilst Long Alley Skittles is still played throughout much of the East Midlands, in common with many traditional games and particularly those which take up a bit of space at the pub, skittles has practically disappeared from city centre locations. In Nottingham there are perhaps three remaining pub skittle alleys within the wider suburban area, of which the one at the New Engine House is probably the closest to the town centre that's still in regular league use (the Embankment has a recently refurbished skittle alley in the basement which is available for functions, but this hasn't been used for league play for several years now).

The alley is something of a rarity then, and one of only two that I'm aware of in the local league at pubs, most being located at clubs. There were originally two alleys at the Engine House, one located on the upper section of the bar area which has now been removed (I guess it's still there, just covered in carpet and seating), and another which when I first visited the pub some six years ago was an outdoor alley at the rear of the pub. Within a few months of that first visit, the outdoor alley had been covered over and effectively brought indoors in an extension to the rear of the main pub building. Whether one or both of these alleys were included in the original layout of the pub is unclear, but it's highly likely. Another local brewer, Hardys & Hansons, tended to include a skittle alley as standard in their late-20th century pub designs, and skittles would have been very popular at the time the Engine House was built with alleys at several pubs in the area, all of which are now gone of course.

So the pub has changed in many ways, yet remains essentially how it's always been. Skittles is played on Monday nights in Division 'A' of the Nottingham Summer Skittles League, as well as in the smaller Graham Broen Sunday League. Pool and Darts are also played in local leagues, and needless to say the New Engine House is a focal point for televised sport of all kinds.

Perhaps what's helped the New Engine House survive where other similar community locals have been lost is the pub has no car park of its own and occupies a fairly compact site for the size of pub making it less of a development opportunity. The pub would have drawn its custom from a very local area, a walking destination boozer for the residents of the estate which is how it remains today. I doubt whether too many pub or beer enthusiasts take the trouble to visit the New Engine House. It's hidden away off the main road to Carlton, and real ale plays no part in its day-to-day business. I found it friendly, welcoming, and very well-maintained, with plenty of interest for those of us who prefer to drink in proper locals pubs rather than the glorified restaurants that the larger pub owning companies see as the future.