The Mothers' Ruin, Bristol

I can't quite make up my mind about this pub. It's split across several different floors and has a suitably shabby feel to it, with scratched and marked wooden flooring and vinyl seating held together with tape. The dark red walls create a slightly gloomy atmosphere and given the impression of something from the Victorian era perhaps, but somehow it doesn't quite all fit together. They have open mic nights on occasions and the last one of these I went to a few months ago was actually very good. Although there were three hand pumps on the bar, unfortunately none of these were in use. I asked if there was any beer on, and the barman said not, without offering any explanation as to why. Somewhat surprisingly then, there was actually a good choice of ciders – Thatcher’s Gold, Thatcher’s Draft and Cheddar Valley, the latter two being served directly form barrels behind the bar. The Gold was a very reasonable £2 per pint.