Tag: Christchurch

We tried to visit this pub on the first night, but it was just too busy, so we returned earlier the next evening before it got busy. But, it was already packed, so they’re doing something right here. As for the pub name, their website notes:

“The law finally caught up with smuggler, brigand and local hero Thomas Tripp in this very pub. He was arrested here in the early 17th century and taken to the Tower of London to be hanged.”

I’m not sure about the historical accuracy of that claim (I suspect it’s entirely made up), but it’s thought that this venue has been a pub since around 1750 and it was known as the Plumbers Arms before it changed to its current name in the 1990s.

The four real ales and I’m always delighted to see Plum Porter from Titanic. CAMRA have a warning though, namely:

“It has been reported in November 2024 that the Thomas Tripp is serving keg beer through a handpump. The clip is labelled as ‘Brewery Conditioned’; that is keg beer, it is designed to be colder and gassier than cask conditioned ale.”

It’s on the third from the left if anyone wants to know. I’m personally not that concerned, but it’s good that people can make informed decisions.

And the keg options. The service was friendly and timely, it felt a friendly place to be although the loud music was just a bit too decadent for me.

And here’s my Plum Porter, it wasn’t in the best condition I’ve ever had, but still drinkable and pleasant.

The external area which was busy with their Oktoberfest event.

It’s always positive to see pubs that are so busy, it likely means that they’re effectively serving their communities well. I think I would have enjoyed it more in the day without the music, but it was still warm and welcoming.

In this feat of photographic professionalism I appear to have managed to get more of the neighbouring Indian restaurant in the photo than the actual pub. Anyway, this is the only venue in Christchurch that’s listed in the Good Beer Guide and we ventured here first.

The keg beer selection which seemed well curated and had a number of interesting options on it.

There’s also a cask beer list just visible on the right of the photo, but when we tried to go back the next day for me to work through that the venue was just too busy. The service was friendly and efficient, the team members worked well with the limited space that they had.

The coming soon board with a variety of interesting sounding beers.

My first beer was the Pomona Piece of the Pie from Electric Bear Brewing Company. It had a nice crumble taste to it, although it wasn’t quite tart enough for me, but it had pleasant and subtle lingering flavours.

And my second beer was a third of a pint of the Double Choc Fudge Cake from Yonder Brewing. This had a nice cake flavour, which is handy given the name, although perhaps it could have been richer and smoother.

The venue was busy on Friday night and very busy on Saturday night, so they’re obviously surprising and delighting the local community. This was probably the best pub in Christchurch from my perspective, so it seems a marvellous decision to put it in the Good Beer Guide. As a wider comment, this feels like the future of pubs, namely a strong focus on a community venue, decent beer and a welcoming atmosphere.

This is the courtyard entrance to the Stonegate operated Ye Olde George Inn, part of their Social Pub and Kitchen chain. They claim on their website that it’s the best pub in Christchurch. I don’t think it is, but there we go….

The real ale selection was a little uninspiring, but they had a couple of options at least, the Gold from Hobgoblin and London Pride from Fullers.

Some preserved wattle and daub. The building dates to the fifteenth century when it was a private residence, although it became an inn by the seventeenth century (earliest records say 1630) so it’s likely the oldest licensed premises in Christchurch. It was reconstructed after the English Civil War and it’s thought that some of the stone was pinched from Christchurch Castle which Cromwell had ordered to be destroyed. It’s also mentioned to be haunted, but I think that’s said for any vaguely old pub.

The interior of the pub, which has also been known as the George and Dragon, felt historic and interesting. There’s a large exterior area, which is rather necessary as the inside isn’t the largest. The toilets are external, which is something of a throwback. The venue is also keen to note that they’re dog friendly, although the large and spacious garden helps with that aspiration.

The London Pride tasted as expected, with the Pipers crisps being delicious as ever. The prices though were way towards the higher end of the scale and really over the top for a Stonegate pub.

The venue’s food menu, which was still a little expensive, although not unreasonably so. The service in the pub was friendly and engaging, with customers being served in turn despite the relatively small bar layout.

There was some Stonegate signage saying that you could get a free drink by signing up to their app. I have endless enthusiasm for this sort of thing, so I managed to get a free pint of Guinness, even though the manager was initially unsure this was included in the offer. But, it scanned through and I felt that overall we received rather decent value for money with the addition of this beer to proceedings.

All told, it’s an interesting venue given the heritage of the building, but I can’t help but think that Stonegate could do a lot more here. There is a disparity between the price of half pints and pints, something CAMRA doesn’t like (quite rightly in my view) and the pricing seems rather high.

However, much as I might think they’re making a mess of matters, it’s still well reviewed and it was reasonably busy and so they obviously know far more than me about this one. I liked the building and the service, but it was the free Guinness that surprised and delighted me most of all.

I’m pleased to note that Ross and I managed to visit every pub in Christchurch (the Dorset one, not the New Zealand one) so that means a heap of blog posts.

Formerly known as the Ship Inn, the venue has a long history, the core of the building is thought to date to around 1688, with a Victorian facade on the front. Christchurch was very much a smuggling town in the eighteenth century, so perhaps there was a fair amount of that going on in the pub. The word ‘inn’ indicates that there was accommodation, and newspapers from the 1850s show that there was a large room upstairs which could be used for meetings. There was a recent planning permission change request and the owners said that the interior had been so knocked about that there was a limited amount of original layout left.

The Ship is more of a restaurant than a bar, but they do allow drinkers in and we were made to feel welcome during our visit.

The Doom Bar had run out, although I didn’t personally consider that as any great loss, so they had two beers from Timothy Taylor’s on.

We sat at the bar and I went for a Golden Best and I was pleased to discover that I haven’t had it before. It was well-kept, light. fluffy and sweet, so that met my expectations, although there was nothing overly notable about it.

The venue appears to have recently been taken over by new owners and the reviews seem positive. The menu is mostly traditional pub food, but it seems like an effort has been made to source locally and the presentation looks decent.

Looking at old photos of the pub, it was a gastropub and jazz bar fifteen years ago, so the theme of a food led venue isn’t something new. The last owners had an Asian themed menu, although the new owners seemed to have stepped back from this and are aiming for traditional meals served in what I think is designed to be a contemporary manner. Anyway, it was welcoming, clean, friendly and I got to try a beer that I hadn’t had before.

I rather like a castle, especially one that’s free to visit, although there’s not much of this one left.

This is pretty much what exists today, not quite what was originally here. The first castle here was likely in the Saxon period and would have been a traditional wooden motte and bailey arrangement, although this lovely practice of putting a heap of sticks at the top of the hill wasn’t entirely sustainable after 1066, so the Normans rebuilt it in stone in the twelfth century.

The doorway in and back a little to who was behind this project, namely Richard de Redvers, one of those efficient Norman lords who followed William the Conqueror across the Channel and ended up owning half the south coast.

And now inside, looking outwards.

The information board.

The view over Christchurch Priory.

It requires some imagination to be able to see this as a substantial defensive structure which once controlled the local area. There was more of the castle still standing by the time of the English Civil War, but then Cromwell had some of it demolished which is sub-optimal from a heritage point of view. In many ways, it was an appropriate way to go as it was finally used for defensive purposes when Parliamentarians seized it and the Royalists besieged it until they gave up. It was then that Cromwell thought it was best to ensure it wasn’t used by anyone again. After this, helpful local denizens pinched bits of it for their own building project, so it’s remarkable that there’s anything left.

And there are two negative TripAdvisor reviews which are somewhat ridiculous, complaining it seems that someone hasn’t put some of the castle back again.

“A few crumbling stone walls at the top of a knoll. I do like history but this little bit of it was not very exciting I’m afraid”

and:

“It’s just a pile of rubble now, nothing at all to see here except a plaque with the typical “this castle was home to…” dialogue written on it…honestly it’s pointless coming to visit unless you like giant stones”

Unfortunately, Cromwell has evidently failed to meet the expectations of these visitors.

It was reported in 1992 that English Heritage were worried about people meandering up the hill and damaging the mound, so they installed some steps and these are still going strong today and seem to have tackled the erosion problem from people creating their own desire paths.

Anyway, I’m not sure that anyone is going to spend more than around fifteen minutes visiting the castle, but it’s a relief that at least some of it has survived.