Bridge Inn, Bristol

As described below, this is a friendly little ale bar, a pleasant surprise once inside given the awful exterior paintwork and the pile of fag-ends on the footpath by the covered benches. There was football on the TV, but apart from that there was a convivial atmosphere which the two overloud bromancers failed to spoil. Ales on were Azzaca American Ale, Twisted Oak’s Ghost Town and Good Chemistry Extra Special, and there was an additional dry pump on the bar. Craft ales from Butcombe, and Wiper n True, were complemented by Paulaner Pils, a selection of megaciders, a premium lager and a selection of Belgian bottled beers. Worth a GBG entry and I’d definitely include in a crawl.

Enjoyed our visit to this 2016 Good Beer Guide pub. As well as the real ales available it stocks bottled beers and malt whiskies. We enjoyed beers from Grey Trees and Box Steam here.

Doombar, Bath Spa & Gem, Pontypridd (Otley) O-Garden. The latter was available from the cellar and, when this was offered, I first thought he said Hoegarden but glad I eventually tried it, very flavoursome, & later available on handpump. Clips above the till showed what was coming next – Darkstar Meltdown, Yeovil Posh IPA, Otley O2, RCH Double Header. Tiny pub with wall banquettes surrounding 4 tables and, well, that's it. Friendly service from the Polish(?) couple, a notice behind the bar announced bookings were being taken for ‘Christmas Breakfast', champagne etc, which was declared excellent by American, Brislington Lyn (“one n – I'm poor”) in the other group last Sunday lunch. Homemade specials board showed sponge pudding, £1.50 after yr Sunday roast. I reckon 20 customers would fill this place, maybe that happens on Happy Mondays; £2 pints all day. I didn't notice the gramaphone, but this visit followed a very late night. On leaving, I was disproportionately pleased that Lyn recognised my username when I said I'd include her in the review, haha.

As others have mentioned below, this is a very small, compact bar situated, as the name suggests, next to one of the river crossings. As one of the stragglers on the Pubs Galore crawl, I arrived here to find the place already rammed with fellow crawlers and locals on their lunch break, so I headed off to the nearby Cornubia, only to return much later in the day when things had calmed down inside. The pub has a truncated L shape with the servery on the rear wall opposite the entrance and various fixed bench seating options around the perimeter, supplemented by numerous low stools. The servery is a fairly straightforward affair with tongue and groove panelled counter and basic bar back, whilst the rest of the room has been decorated in a fairly warm colour scheme with some modern wallpaper in places. The pub puts live music on occasionally and there is a distinct music theme throughout, including several record sleeves dotted around the room and a large photo montage of famous artists close to the entrance. Some shelves to the rear housed a collection of board games and some books. The need for overspill has partially been dealt with by offering limited pavement seating, although this in turn is constrained in terms of available space. There were four operational hand pumps when we arrived, dispensing Dark Star APA and Hophead, Twisted Brewing Conscript and Salopian Darwin's Origin. I had a pint of the latter - always a favourite and in good condition here. This is a fine little bar that perhaps suffers a bit from its own success, but nevertheless offers a warm, cosy environment in which to enjoy a good pint. It's a sociable place where you're bound to end up chatting to someone due to the compact seating set-up and, presuming you time your visit to avoid peak periods, it can be a rewarding pub experience.