Pubs Galore - the UK pub guide

Walking through the door of the Wheatsheaf I was met by an inquisitive Great Dane and Boxer, which I must admit caught me off guard. The pub is U-shaped with a central L-shaped bar counter that faces the entrance and carpeted seating up te right. More carpeted seating, overlooked by a large projector screen, runs up the left to a pool table and dartboard in the rear. In the right rear is a small laminate ‘dance floor’ and DJ booth with disco equipment. Tiles run around the serving counter that supports standard keg, Cruzcampo and Birra Moretti. Televisions are located throughout, one of which was on airing a music channel for the handful of Late Monday afternoon locals. The service was polite, but I’m not a massive dog fan so wasn’t that keen on this place.

A traditional looking pub with glazed green tiling on the exterior, this is in many ways in a prime spot overlooking the river and being just a short stroll from the popular and trendy North Street, but at the same time seems to be out on a bit of a limb and was virtually deserted on our recent Monday evening visit.

Internally it consists of one quite long but narrow bar running along the front of the pub, with the bar counter off to the left. This takes up much of the available floor space, with the only seating in this part of the pub being a few bar stools at the counter, and a padded bench seat in the corner. Décor wise it’s either traditional or dated, depending on your point of view. There is some type of bare concrete screed on the floor, rough Artex style plastering on the walls and nasty polystyrene ceiling tiles in places, although elsewhere there are also black beams liberally adorned with glass tankards and a very large collection of key fobs. A few old pictures were dotted around the wall, many of old Bristol cars, as well as a few old photographs of the locale, particularly the river. A few nautical bits and bobs such as a model yacht, ship’s clock and lanterns were also dotted around. An old Victorian style fireplace was off to the right, and a large TV above this was showing some talent show or other, but fortunately the sound was off so this was not too intrusive. Further rooms were at the rear, similarly narrow and broadly the same in terms of décor. There was a darts board at one end, although it appeared that you’d have to stand extremely close to it to actually throw any.

Beers on tap were Courage Best and Doom Bar, but this is really more of a cider pub and the available options were Blackthorn, Natch, Cheddar Vally, Stan’s Traditional and a trio from Thatcher’s with their Gold, Haze and Dry.

A Wadworth-owned town pub which claims to be a steakhouse though it feels more like a modern estate pub. It’s on a busy road through the town’s outskirts and has a small outside terrace next tot he litter-strewn car park. Passing an indolent teenager sucking pathetically on a pink vape we found a single large bar, L-shaped, with a counter along one side and a raised platform, presumably for live acts or a DJ, on one side. There was an awful dirge emanating from the jukebox, and some gaming machines completed the picture. Ales on were, predictably, 6X, Henry’s IPA, Swordfish and Horizon. The 6X was past its best and served much too cold. The barmaid was friendly enough though. Not a great roadside pub, probably best left to the locals.

Here in under a minute of leaving the Bird in Hand also on Masbro Rd. Quite a few tables also set here for dining but more of a mix of drinkers and diners. Indeed quite a bit larger than the Bird in Hand and so the venue was more pleasant to sit in to enjoy my pint. Most pure quaffers were assembled perched on stools sitting around the bar but I chose the many empty tables as a result rather than squash

Quaff of choice - more out of curiosity - was the Havelock Bitter, an amber coloured ale slightly sub 4% abv apparently brewed for them by GK. Only other cask choice was TT Landlord - wish I had chosen that as their branded bitter was uber bland. Several keg options some looked more interesting than the usual but didn’t record as had to rush off to meet the wife!!

There’s an excellent description on CAMRA’s websites and some of the wood does look good if not all original, likewise the alabaster wall cladding and sizeable acreage of mosaic floor, viewable on Fuller’s website, with a naff mural and salmon pink coffered ceiling (see photo) and gallery, closing at 9.00pm and accessible only to diners.
However, the pub has deafening acoustics; even when only around 20% full, my smartwatch’s dB 100 alarm frequently chirped into life. At least on this occasion – earlier in the week – it was easier to get to the bar, with favourable cask options in the form of Dark Star’s Red Dwarf and Hophead on good form, but with awful pricing, a pint and pint of Asahi coming home at a barely believable £14.45; a second round comprising halves of the above, plus Neck Oil relieving me of £11.25.
This may be a must-visit pub, but it’s not a place to linger, which is why I stand by my previous grade, given that we are all entitled to apply our own criteria.