The Beehive, Cheltenham

Backstreet pub in the residential Montpellier area of town. It was very busy in here. There is a large bar area and a smaller area just the other side of an entrance corridor. Nearly all tables were taken with a young crowd. I ended up taking the only one I could see available, but it still had a mostly drunk pint and some dirty plates on it. One of the previous occupants returned shortly after I'd claimed it, but he was happy to stand at the bar now that they had eaten. 4 real ales were on - Timothy Taylor Landlord, Goff's Cheltenham Gold, Ramsbury Blindside, Uley Bitter. There was no real cider apparent. I ordered a half of the Blindside and was taken aback a little by the barmaid's response. She asked if I was sure, as it wasn't very nice! I asked if it was off or what was wrong with it and she offered me a taster. As far as conditioning was concerned, the beer was fine. The beer was quite bitter and wouldn't be to everyone's tastes (it wasn't particularly a beer I'd normally choose, except for the fact that I hadn't seen or tried it before). However, it seemed a very strange thing to be said. At least she was honest! Busy place that didn't quite hit the spot.

A corner pub extended into a next door part of the building and partially retaining original features. An original two rooms have been combined into the front bar with a horseshoe shaped counter, there’s a long room at the back and a door at the side leads to a dining room. Floor boarded and with bench seating in places, a couple of barrels as tables and mix of wooden furniture. Two horseshoes greet you when entering but round the curve of the counter are six hand pumps, two off and Cheltenham Gold, Atlantic, Landlord and a Bristol Beer Factory beer on the others. Not bad at all and a useful part of a crawl round these parts.

An attractive looking pub hidden away in the back streets but located only a short stroll from Montpelier Gardens, it doesn’t perhaps have quite the cosy charm that might be expected from outside, but is nonetheless a decent enough spot to stop for a pint or two. Internally it’s a good size and consists of a number of different rooms with the largest one being to the left which included the bar counter and looked as though it had at one time been a couple of separate rooms that have been knocked together. Etched glass windows were to the front whilst the flooring was rough wooden boards. Paintwork was predominantly cream in the main bar with dark green timberwork, although a couple of the smaller rooms had been painted throughout in a deep shade of red. An ornate carved wooden fireplace was off to one side, although it’s a shame that this wasn’t in use on a cold December day. A TV was mounted up in the corner, although fortunately this was not in use on our visit. Beers on tap were Fuller’s Hollybush, Longman Long Blonde, Exmoor Christmas Ale, Timothy Taylor Landlord and, unusually in these parts, Betty Stoggs. Ciders too were well represented with Sharp’s Orchard, Cornish Rattler and Stowford Press. Unfortunately, the advertised mulled wine was unavailable, despite the sign staying in place even after we had asked for it.