IT has a reputation for old men sitting in darkened corners, holding a roll-up with tobacco-stained fingers as they slowly negotiate their way through their pint.

Yes, offering good drinks at reasonable prices might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but it has hardly made the Moon Under Water the most fun of places.

Still, if you are looking for lunch and don't want to take out a second mortgage, this could be the place to come. The food is decent and does not cost the earth.

The toilets are clean and tidy even if they are a flight of stairs away and with reasonable seating you can understand why people come here to while away an afternoon.

In this age of gimmicky, tacky pubs, at least you know where you are here. If it were a footballer, it would be Carlton Palmer a solid, no frills professional.

As a place to spend a Friday or Saturday night, though, it is not brilliant, although no worse than many other places in the town centre.

Getting to the bar can be like the first day of the January sales, and it is lacking in atmosphere, but at least the lack of ear-drum threatening music means you can actually hear what the person next to you is saying.

RE