The Cross Hands, Bristol

A prominent pub on a busy fork in the road, it looks as though it may have had something of a refurbishment recently and now has a fairly contemporary style with the obligatory shades of khaki green paintwork, and really has little to distinguish it from many other similar places. It seemed a little too family orientated for my liking with most tables having young babies sat at them as well as numerous toddlers wandering around, one of whom kept going behind the bar counter, much to the mother’s apparent amusement. To be fair though, we were there on a Sunday lunchtime – it may well of course be different at other times. It’s essentially an L-shaped pub with the rear area primarily for dining, although it looked as though all the tables were available for eating. As previously noted, much use has been made of khaki green paint on both the ceilings and wood panelling on the lower part of the walls with cream plasterwork elsewhere. Flooring was a mixture of sanded wood boards and slate effect tiling, whilst a couple of chandeliers hung from the ceiling. In the middle of the pub is what might be described as a snug area with a couple of chocolate brown leather sofas and some shelving on the wall housing a selection of books as well as other bits and pieces including an old sewing machine. There is a large patio area at the front of the pub, although with traffic whizzing by on two sides it didn’t strike me as a particularly enticing spot. It looked as though there was also some sort of garden at the rear, although we did not investigate this. Despite four hand pumps on the bar, only Butcombe and Loddon Hullaballoo appeared to be available with Gem seeming to have run out and a fourth pump being unused. Ciders were Thatcher’s Gold and Orchard Pig Reveller whilst Cheddar Valley and Old Rosie had also apparently run out. Perhaps they had a busy weekend. All in all, whilst there’s nothing really wrong with this pub, it’s not really my sort of place and not somewhere I’m likely to rush back to.

Official site of The Cross Hands - www.thecrosshandsbristol.co.uk

Official site of The Cross Hands - www.thecrosshandsbristol.co.uk