The Hanbury Arms, Newport

Official site of The Hanbury Arms - www.hanburyalehousenewport.co.uk

Official site of The Hanbury Arms - www.hanburyalehousenewport.co.uk

Located in a lovely spot overlooking a bend in the River Usk, it’s clearly quite an old pub and should be a must-visit when in the area, but unfortunately it’s somewhat less than the some of it’s parts. For starters, the beer garden is almost entirely tarmac, with just a small strip of grass running along the water’s edge. And service at the bar was abysmal – a sunny Saturday afternoon, when there were obviously loads of punters in filling up the garden and yet there was one solitary barmaid serving, spending as much time taking food orders as pouring drinks. I would say she was doing her best under difficult circumstances, but she had absolutely no idea who turn it was to be served next, leaving the queueing customers to sort themselves out whilst she simply shouted “Who’s next?” at the end of every round. The pub itself is split in to a number of rooms with a broadly similar décor throughout. Walling was mostly rough painted plasterwork, with a mixture of wood strip and red patterned carpet on the floor as well as some flagstone style tiling around the bar counter and painted wooden beams on the ceiling. A stone fireplace was off to one side and a wood burning stove in a plastered recess the other side. A few old black and white photographs of the locale were dotted around the walls. A restaurant area to one side was perhaps a little cosier, with whitewashed stone walls, chunky timber supporting pillars and some colourful artwork on the walls. Seating was pretty much all regular tables and chairs, and all the tables were laid up with cruet sets and menus, although this didn’t strike me as a gastro-pub by any means. Despite five hand pumps on the bar, only two were in use dispending Pedigree and Rev James. Ciders fared somewhat better with a chalkboard next to the bar listing Stan’s Traditional, Cheddar Valley and Big Apple, Old Rosie and Rosie’s Pig in Strawberry or Raspberry. These were joined on the bar by Strongbow, Strongbow Dark Fruit and Inch’s Apple.