The Tannery, Bristol

Official site of The Tannery - www.claverhamvillagehall.co.uk

Official site of The Tannery - www.claverhamvillagehall.co.uk

An unusual pub in that it is actually the bar for the adjacent village hall, but it is nonetheless open to the public, and staffed by volunteers. It certainly feels like a village hall on entering, and in fact if you go straight on when entering the building you’re liable to find yourself in a Pilates class rather than the bar. The pub still has something of that village hall bar feel to it, with little in the way of any cosy ambience and the patio doors and bare windows making it feel a little cold now the nights are drawing in. Perhaps just some curtains may help. That said, the walls are painted in a number of pastel colours including green, grey and maroon and there were a number of colourful scatter cushions on the grey bench seating which skirted much of the perimeter. A couple of very large black and white photographs on the wall depict the old tannery, presumably from which the pub gets it’s name. A couple of large decorative panels with inset down lighters were suspended from the ceiling. There were some speakers mounted up in the corner, although these were not in use – a little background music would definitely have improved the atmosphere, I thought. There was also a plasma screen up on the wall near the end of the bar, although was not in use either. Beers on tap were Butcombe and Rev James, whilst the ciders were a trio from Thatcher’s – Gold, Dry and Haze. Prices were very reasonable with a pint of the gold and a G&T coming in at just £5.10.