Royal Exchange

This quiet corner pub hides a hive of daytime activity centred on the racing industry. Form is fervently studied beneath a phalanx of flat-screen TVs switching from course to course; thoroughbreds are celebrated in painting and caricature; and a somewhat fanciful image in the conspiratorial back room depicts a winner cantering past the winning post of the pub itself.

To aid concentration and gambling chatter, Greene King IPA and Brakspear join various lagers and Guinness on tap, the popularity of the latter tied in part to the pub’s long-term Irish ownership.

It might also explain the roast Limerick ham in some of the sandwiches, though there are also hot meals of the comfort-cooking variety (cottage pie, stews). Should your horse come in, consider ordering Louis Dornier champagne: it goes for £35 a bottle.