Black Boy, Winchester

Tucked away on Wharf Hill, off Chesil Street in Winchester, The Black Boy is still faithful to its origins. Although recognised in most of the well known beer and pub guides, it is still a traditional back-street boozer. The pub has 5 locally brewed real ales and a small selection of good French wines. Good 'pub grub' is available from Tuesday evenings through to Sunday lunch. During the winter months roasts are served on Sundays with lighter lunches being offered during the summer. On the off-chance there is a summer, there is a sheltered rustic garden with heaters. Three standard ales Ringwood Best, Cheriton Pots, Hopback Brewery Summer Lightening. They also have 2 other real ales on, normally from The Itchen Valley Brewery, The Triple FFF Brewery, The Hampshire Brewery or one of the other small local breweries. A stuffed Donkey, collections of fire buckets says it all. A true classic you must visit.

This is a fantastic old pub, a little out the way but worth the detour to find it. As others have said, it's completely full of "stuff" everywhere, far too much to list. Plenty of stuffed animals, including what was presumably the pub's dog at one point, and one room that's more like a library with floor to ceiling shelves of books. I liked the old space invaders/pacman video game table, I haven't seen one of those for ages! Many different rooms on several different levels, and a couple of real fires. Friendly barmaid, everyone got a "Hiya" before they were hardly through the door. Beers on this occasion were Palmer's Best, Hidden Quest, Hop Back Summer Lightning, Flower Pots and Ringwood Best. Also Stowford Press and Thatcher's Dry ciders.

I recently went to stay with my brother who lives near this pub and he took me for a few drinks there. What an absolutely amazing place..... A goodly colection of stuffed animals, tables where the tops are painted with board games, a patio area with individual heaters that you can turn on at your own discretion... The whole pub is like walking through the house of an eccentric collector of random stuff. A set of book shelves with some books that you can take away, read, sign and then leave somewhere else on your travels, or add to the collection by leaving one of your own. The atmosphere is just amazing, the clientelle such a cross section that any budding actor looking for character study material will find it a gold mine! The staff are absolutely brilliant, charming, welcoming and great fun. A fine selction of real ales on draught is available. I enjoyed several pints of a local brew called "flowerpots" and wish I could get it where I live. This pub is a shining example to breweries and a landlords alike of how good a pub can be in a time of great difficulty for the industry as a whole. If any people in the trade read this then take note and see how it should be done. For any weary traveller passing through Winchester in need of sustenance then you would be hard pushed to find a better place to relax for a while with fine drinks and good company, Not just here in Winchester but any where in the U.K. Many thanks to all at The Black Boy from a grateful visitor from Wales.

Where do I start, a seriously quirky place with numerous rooms, nooks and crannies, chock full of the oddest collection of paraphenalia I think have ever seen in a pub. There is no way I can list them all but there are stuffed animals, (a donkey, leopard, a baboon in a kilt and a gull in a cage), plastic and papier mache hams hanging from a beam, an aga, suspended model aeroplanes, an old set of handpumps, clocks, tin and cast iron signs, blow lamps, hundreds of key rings hanging from a ceiling, an upside down Christmas tree, a collection of fire buckets, dried chilli peppers adorn a window surround, numerous book cases all around and so much more. One set of seats are numbered and tip up, looks like they are reclaimed from a football stadium somewhere, I'd rather like to know which one. There is also a bar football table. Part wooden and part stone flagged floors, old timber beamed ceilings. Outside seating to the front and also the side with an area under the cover of a pergola. Beers were, Flowerpot "Flowerpots", Hop Back Summer Lightning, Ringwood Best Bitter, Andwell King John plus one badged Black Boy Bitter; I'm not sure what this is, the barmaid thought it was from Ringwood but as they already had BB it wouldn't add up. An interesting place with good beer. Not one to miss on a Winchester crawl. Prices on a par with other pubs visited, not a cheap town for beer with prices similar to London, generally £3+.

One of the oddest pubs in Britain but one of the best for ale. It all looks very old but cunning decoration and weird collections deceive the eye here. There are lots of rooms or separate drinking/dining areas containing mad collections of what can only be described as 'stuff'. Particularly macabre is the bit with plastic cuts of meat, animal heads and carcasses, all enhanced with shotgun stocks. The beer is generally excellent from local microbreweries, plus some more unusual kegs dispensed from those strange little dumpy barrel shaped fonts. Pricing is reasonable for Winchester.

Official site of the Black Boy, includes real ale listing - www.theblackboypub.com

Official site of the Black Boy, includes real ale listing - www.theblackboypub.com

Excellent independent real ale pub with a very quirky interior. Good selection of local beers. Interior reflects the eclectic tastes of the landlord. Well worth seeking out as it is about ten to fifteen minutes walk along the river from the centre of town. Its more of a homely version of the Wykham!