Orb micropub in Darlington has been nominated by customers in The Northern Echo's best pub competition.

The micropub on Conniscliffe Road has been in town for nearly seven years and in that time it has grown a loyal group of regulars.

Ian Clough and his son Daryl Clough have built a reputation for having the best range of whisky in Darlington.

They hold a variety of themed beer festivals, varying the regions they focus on.

Ian, a former NHS worker, explained that they wanted to create a traditional micropub.

He said: "We want to create a friendly community here.

"When we started we set out to make a traditional micropub with great beers on offer.

"We succeeded, we were supported through the tough years of the pandemic by our regulars."

(Image: Northern Echo)

Daryl described how through doing different events they have managed to become more recognised in the North East.

He said: "It will have been seven years that we will have been open by December.

"We are a pub that focuses on excellent beer and the biggest range of whiskey in Darlington.

"We host lots of different events throughout the year.

"Right now we have a London beer festival going on. We do four beer festivals a year looking at different regions of the country, we do international cities as well.

"We hold a whisky tasting session once a month now.

"We get lots of regulars coming in, we have made some friends for life.

"We are becoming more well known in the North East as a whole."

Here is an idea of what is involved in London festival beer week at the Orb:

•Over 30 London/Thames beers in Cask, Keg and Can

•Brand new ORB festival Cask Beer

•Pop up IPA Bar

•London tunes on the playlist

•Pie, Mash and Liquor

•Jellied Eels

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The owner and manager both discussed how much they liked fellow micropub in Darlington Crafty Merlin's. 

Ian quipped: "If we were to come joint top with Crafty Merlin's that would be perfect."

You can vote for Orb using the form printed each day in The Northern Echo.