Bankes Arms Hotel, Wareham

Naturally a stone built old pub, two rooms at the front with a bar area between, much panelllng and dark wood in evidence. Up a few steps through a wainscotted corridor, past the toilets, is another panelled room and a large garden beyond with views of the steam railway. Some bench seating in the front bar but mostly tables and chairs. Four pulls with two beers each from Palmers and Gritchie breweries. Beer quality is ok and as it’s in a tourist hotspot the service is slightly lax. Owned by the National Trust.

This is a fairly large pub on the main road that runs through the village of Corfe Castle. The pub is divided into various sections, with the front door taking you into the main bar. On a recent weekend lunchtime visit we entered and found the staff all lined up at the back of the room looking very inactive and bored, whilst a grumpy barmaid tended to the customers all on her own. The bar has a fair bit of seating, but was empty, perhaps as customers didn't want to have the staff stood watching over them. From this room, a side door leads to the restaurant and a passageway takes you through to a large room at the back, which had a second, unmanned bar. There was a lot of additional seating in this room and it seemed a much more inviting place to have a drink. The wooden floors echo throughout the building as you walk, which accentuates the empty feel of the pub. The beer garden, which was almost full on this sunny afternoon, gives excellent views of the castle and as mentioned below, you can clearly see the steam trains making their way past on the line that runs past the kids playground at the bottom of the garden. The views were perhaps the high point of our visit. Beer was limited to Ringwood Best and Wadworth 6X and was served somewhat grudgingly by the over-worked barmaid. The menu looked okay, but it was pretty pricey, which is perhaps to be expected in such a tourist destination. All told, not a great experience - perhaps worth one drink in the garden, but nothing more.