The Cock, Broom, Bedfordshire

Don't be put off by the Greene King signage on The Cock, it's well worth visiting for a pint (there's usually a guest beer or two), and you'll be made very welcome if my own experience is typical. The pub is another treasure on CAMRA's list of Heritage Pubs. Much altered and extended over the years, but done in such a sensitive way that The Cock can be held up as a great example of how pubs can develop to keep pace with changing circumstances without being spoilt in the process.

The interior is a mellow blend of old polished wood and red floor tiles. There are several distinct areas for drinking as well as a separate dining room, all linked by a narrow wood panelled corridor, the floor tiles worn to a shallow groove through many years of traffic to and from the cellar door. Beer is served straight from the cask and delivered to the top of the cellar steps on a tray. There's no bar counter to get in the way at The Cock.

The pub currently opens all day every day, which is great news if, like myself, you've been disappointed far too often by the ever more limited opening hours of rural and village pubs. Whilst it's reasonable to expect pubs to limit their lunchtime or even evening opening during the week, I'm finding it  increasingly difficult to find a rural pub open on a Saturday afternoon, often one of the main times I'm looking for a pint when out and about. The difficulty with The Cock is that having found the pub open, you may not want to leave in a hurry.

The Games Room is located directly to the left on entering the pub, and houses a Darts Board and a well polished Skittles Table. Pins and Cheeses are the pale yellow plastic variety favoured in the Bedfordshire game. The table has a couple of faded labels on the legs, probably marking this out as a W T Blacks model. Now no longer in league use, a collection of trophies in the Snug attest to the skittles action which would have once taken place at the pub.

Given the small size of the games room at the Cock, the Skittles throw is positioned on the diagonal to achieve the correct distance. Consequently the Darts and Skittles Oche's share space on the tiled floor. As far as play is concerned it's one or the other, unless some kind of strict rota is in place.

Trophies in the snug include two from the Lord Roberts Skittles League. There is a Lord Roberts pub in nearby Sandy. This league now appears to have been consolidated to form the Beds & Roberts Skittles League.