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Disappointment of the week with Tris39
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Wellington Arms, Freemantle, Southampton
Southampton
SO15 3DE
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
paulof horsham left this review about Wellington Arms
The Wellington is a busy back streets local offering 6 ales in the public bar, with folk regularly coming and going. My 2 (different) pints from Flacks were unfortunately nothing to shout about. It seems that Neck Oil has recently been added to the keg taps, to some astonishment at the £5.40 price, though ales are more reasonably priced at around £4. The main road through Shirley is pretty grim, and this pub benefits from being somewhat out of the way, but it turned out to be not really the beer destination I'd expected.
On 13th May 2022
- rating: 6
[User has posted 453 recommendations about 425 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about Wellington Arms
This traditional pub consisted of a lounge and bar side with a central bar area serving both sides. The lounge side found on the left of the entrance was a decent size, with the room running parallel to the bar with an extra side room, leading out to the rear patio garden. I found the bar side on the right to be the more interesting side, with its three booth seating areas opposite the bar, with some ornate brasswork at the top of each booth. The paint work was predominately a Heritage green colour, walls and timberwork included. The bar counter top was finished in copper and I especially liked the original porcelain handpulls. Five cask ales on our visit, so we went for the Bootleg Brewing Chorlton pale, which was like drinking a smooth flow keg beer, so I drank as much as I could bare and then lashed it in the flower bed in the back garden. Fellow customers in here weren't very welcoming, along with the relief manager, who didn't want to engage with anyone. I am glad my observations were right as locals at a nearby pub said the pub has gone down the pan to what it was and most were giving it a wide berth, now I can see why...
On 5th April 2019
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about Wellington Arms
A great little local in the back streets noted for its music and beer range. Retaining a two bar layout, it has been refurbished in a slightly dark green colour scheme but retains a warm, comfortable feel. An excellent range of beers is available from a dozen or so pumps, plus a few boxed ciders in the chiller. Do not include this pub on a crawl or you may not get past it!
On 21st March 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Wellington Arms
A wonderfully traditional backstreet corner pub with its fair share of quirkiness as Quinno mentions. 11 handpumps all clipped up on my visit, though I only tried the one, Dark Star Sunburst at a very reasonable £3,28 a pint, other beers were Flack Manor Double Drop,Palmers Tally Ho, Dark Star Hophead and American Pale Ale, Andwells Gold Muddler,Triple fff Alton's Pride and Forbidden Fruit, XT13,Fullers London Pride and ESB.An Impressive line up for a relativly small pub, the quality of the one beer I tried was excellent.
On 26th April 2017
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Wellington Arms
A quirky pub, both in exterior and interior décor - a burgundy coloured main bar with nice seating booths, a green and purple colour scheme in the other plus a ‘hidden’ room, (perhaps a converted corridor?) on the way to the garden. The garden area is a patio with faux Victoriana metal chairs and tables. Seven ales on with Dark Star APA, Otter Amber, Fullers, Ringwoodx2, Youngsx2 Bowmans and Flowerpots – a decent selection spread over the two bars. My Dark Star APA was pretty cheap at three quid and in good nick though the Otter was somewhat pump tired. There is plenty of scribe elsewhere saying how friendly the place is and indeed the landlord was chatty to the locals...but not me despite my best efforts. Plenty of things to see here, including the pub’s name in picked coloured glass in the front windows, bar counter covered in old pennies, jugs hanging from ceiling, papers, free Wi-Fi. Mixed clientèle and clearly a popular watering hole. I’d be happy to pop back again though it did feel a bit ‘local’. The Guide Dog and South Western were more welcoming of visitors I thought.
NB – pub’s claim to (brief) fame in 2007 when it was made UK consulate for the Caribbean island of Redonda in an ultimately futile attempt to circumvent the smoking ban.
On 24th September 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Chris 87 left this review about Wellington Arms
This excellent pub hit the headlines in 2007 when it was anointed as the UK consulate for the tiny Carribbean island of Redonda in an attempt to circumvent the smoking ban ('foreign territories' being exempt). While this effort appears to have failed, it highlights the sort of place it is - a proper drinkers pub, with as mentioned a friendly, chatty landlord and a friendly local feel. It stocks an impressive array of Ales - Fullers ESB & Pride, Ringwood Best & Old Thumper, Adnams Bitter & Wychwood Hobgoblin as well as, on my visit, guests in the form of Brakspear Oxford Gold, Youngs Bitter and Triple fff Moondance. An excellent pub that I will definitely visit regularly.
On 6th May 2009
- rating: 8
[User has posted 179 recommendations about 179 pubs]