The 5th Hants Volunteer Arms, Southsea

This pub retains the separate two bar format, the front bar off the main road is the Public Bar, wood boarded floor, dartboard and fruit machine, spotlights and speakers indicate bands play here, some group called Soundpatch advertised for this Thursday at 9pm. Some original leaded obscure windows remain, there is also a decent Fuller's mirror, and a great B&W photo of the pub from long ago in the old Gale's livery. I had a quick snoop into the rear lounge bar, there are chunky wood tables in here and a few military prints but I didn't linger as the barmaid and her mate were gooning about in there with no other visitors. Fullers now obviously, Pride, Seafarers and HSB, one unclipped, the lack of mainstream Chiswick based beers had me wondering about how the locals have accepted the takeover of their local brewery. It was quiet on a Sunday lunch and no signs of food, ok for a quick pint along the main Southsea drag though, happy 4 hours on a Friday, 4-8, £2.50 a drink, some outdoor pavement seating. OK but lacking atmosphere and life Sunday mid-pm.

A Fullers (ex-Gales) corner pub on a bustling high street previously owned by Gales, there is a noisy bar at the front and a slightly quieter bar behind. If you look closely you can see much of the original Victorian architecture. The bar staff are friendly and, in some cases, easy on the eye. The floors are a mix of carpeted and bare boards, and it has the usual bar furniture, while there is an odd collection of Army helmets in the back bar. The clientele were mostly the younger element, but they were more civilised than in some other pubs in the area. They run a happy hour scheme which adds to the local character. Four ales on, all Fullers. I had a pint of Fake-HSB-Which-Doesn't-Really-Taste-Like-Real-HSB which was in very good condition. Well worth a visit and a definite for inclusion in a town crawl.

The 5th Hants Volunteer Arms is on southseas main shopping street. This is a smallish corner pub and it was the reason for us doing the pubs in this area as it was a Gales tied house. Once inside there were two rooms and we had a drink in the bar which was the larger of the two,this room was fairly narrow and basic but it was a decent enough room to have a drink in. When we visited this pub it was a Gales tied house and there were three real aels on the bar and i had a drink of Gales best bitter and this was a really nice drink the other beers were Gales HSB and Gales Butser bitter. The pub was very busy on our late evening visit and we were quite happy having a drink in here. Pub visited 17/2/1999 Photo taken 20/2/1999