Bird in Hand, Glastonbury

Still very much as described by Blackthorn, below, this roadside pub suffers from restricted opening hours so is not somewhere to visit without checking first. I liked it, as the staff were welcoming and it was a pleasant atmosphere, but unfortunately there was no ale or real cider on, which at a weekend is a big downside and suggests they’re running with very tight margins. I made do with a Thatchers cider. On the plus side the food looked good and was very reasonably priced, good VFM for the area. They promised they would have ale on ‘shortly’, and Exmoor Fox was promised, but jam Tomorrow isn’t something I rely on given the remoteness of the pub. Huge potential, but somehow just doesn’t quite cut it.

A traditional looking pub in the centre of this small village, it’s not perhaps the most enticing building from the outside, particularly if approaching from the car park when you’re met with a set of uPVC doors in a nondescript looking building that perhaps was, or is, a skittle alley and with no sign of life beyond. Walking around the front though, and you enter straight in to a traditional and pleasant lounge bar. The bar is roughly a U-shape wrapped around a central bar counter, and plenty of locals were congregating here on our Sunday afternoon visit. Décor wise it’s quite traditional, with wood strip on the floor and a chunky supporting timber post with a couple of beams on the ceiling. A large stone fireplace to the right had been pressed in to use as a recessed seating area which was quite a cosy spot, though fortunately a smaller fireplace opposite with plenty of horse brasses around it still contained a wood burning stove and this was blazing away on our visit. Deep maroon paintwork was on the walls and below this was dark wood panelling. There were also numerous pictures of generic country scenes dotted about. Shelves around the top of the bar counter housed a collection of old books and crystal decanters, whilst numerous old beer clips and a collection of pewter tankards were affixed to the beams. Despite the variety of pump clips on show, the only offering on the bar was Bath Ales Gem as far as I could make out. Ciders meanwhile were Thatcher’s Gold and Thatcher’s Haze. All in all this seemed like a decent pub and would certainly make a great spot to settle in with a few beers for an afternoon.