Oddfellows Arms, Apsley, Hemel Hempstead

Blue Scrumpy left this review about Oddfellows Arms

This seemed a slightly unusual entry in the Good Beer Guide, but was the reason that I'd returned to Apsley after an absence of almost 20 years.

We entered through the right-hand door into what seemed like a very strange layout. You couldn't really access the bar easily from this side, such was the clutter. There was a small seating area near the bar and a more open area with a TV, pool table and dartboard to the side. Around this were a few odd tables and chairs, some packed into spaces where I doubt people could realistically squeeze into.

Continuing around to the rear of the bar, there was an area with a book exchange, a games machine and a jukebox. This was also the part of the bar where the handpulls were located. Tribute & Trooper are the regular bars. The rather unadventurous choice for a guest beer with a handwritten pumpclip was Hobgoblin Gold.

The highlight of the pub is probably the larger room to the left-hand side which features a stage for live music. Indeed, a band was just setting up on our Sunday afternoon visit and a decent (mainly elderly) crowd had gathered, presumably to watch them. There was no available seating in this room, but it seemed a much more cosy drinking environment with display cabinets on the walls containing guitars.

To the rear, there is a small garden and an equally small car park. The gents toilets had the same cramped feel as much of the pub with 3 urinals, 2 in the form of large lips. How you could fit 3 people in at one time is beyond me.

This pub certainly seemed to be a popular place with plenty of regular live music events, as well as pub quizzes and parties such as one advertised for New Year's Eve. I didn't quite take to it though.

On 25^th November 2024 - rating: 5
[User has posted 3040 recommendations about 3038 pubs]