The Sidings, Bristol

A fairly unappealing looking place at the bottom of a nasty 60’s/70’s tower block outside the rather more attractive Temple Meads station. The name is in acknowledgement of Isambard Kingdom Brunel (who was responsible for Temple Meads amongst a number of other Bristol landmarks) and his perceived recklessness. The interior is a very dated, spartan and tatty affair that concentrates on live music and biker-types. A raised area with industrial scaffolding-style railings for the bands. It was packed on my visit as it looked like a gig was about to take place. Beer-wise, six pumps but the two actually available were on from stillage - Otter and Butcombe. The Otter was, in fairness, pretty good and quite cheap. Not sure why anyone would want to come here outside of the live music evenings really, but if there’s a gig on then it looks a fair bet.