If you are a fan of real ale but don’t want to drink in a pub populated by overweight middle-aged men with long beards and even longer sideburns then this is the place for you. ‘The Basketmakers Arms’ (12 Gloucester Road) is a long established traditional and yet trendy, public house hidden away in the North Laines of Brighton. The North Laines (not to be confused with the more touristy Lanes!) is an area of small streets leading down the hill on the left hand side of the main Brighton Railway station. The area is full of small shops selling all sorts of weird and wonderful items from second hand comics and books, trendy designer ...  Read the complete review

The Basketmakers Arms, 12 Gloucester Road In a town that revels in its hipness and modernity, to stumble upon the Basketmakers is wonderful. The old oxo and assorted tins on the walls, the enamel signs, the music hall bills and varied breweriana bring Britain's, and Brighton's, past alive. It is not difficult to imagine the rowdy knees up and animated drinking sessions that must have been commonplace when North Laine was a working class and artisan quarter way back when. Despite the nod to the past, this boozer is anything but twee. The folky, rock and roll, blues soundtrack ensure that, as does the cultured crowd. This is a boozer for good company, ...  Read the complete review