please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Two years ago I posted a review about how this once great pub had gone way downhill. I am very happy to report that a mate had said he'd heard a new landlord had turned it around and we went there, he had. The Humble Plumb is back to its old welcoming self. It is clean and tidy, the gents' doesn't smell and has all new fittings - let's face it, if you drink, you're going to have to let it out somewhere!
Keep up the good work!
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Wadworth's pub tucked away in a back street. I love this pub. Great beer, great atmosphere, great food. As well as Wadworth's beers they also do guests or "changing beer" as Camra now likes to call them. The original mid Victorian building (which appears to have been a residential house, has been extended to create versatile seating areas. Very pleasant. Child friendly. Only drawback is that they don't do food in the afternoons.
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I am shocked.... i returned to what was my local after letting the dust settle after the 'refit'... WADSWORTH.... what the hell have you done to your beautiful back street pub?!!!
A more detailed review i shall post after i've got over how you have destroyed this great boozer.
This IS NOT just my opinion...
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Pubs are rarely in pristine condition in terms of furnishings, but I noticed the carpet was unusually worn and the walls dirty when my mate and I went in there last night. Towards the end of the evening, I heard a man saying “F this” and “F that”. I didn’t like to turn round and stare as I’m quite happy with my face the way it currently is, so I asked my mate what was going on. He said the landlord was just abusing his staff and appeared to be completely wasted. When we left, the landlord and landlady were sat on our side of the bar, and the custom when you leave is the staff say good night and thank you. The barmaid did, but the landlord and landlady said nothing. Sad to see this once nice, quiet boozer has gone quite a way downhill.
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Nice to see Kev and fat Dee don't run it anymore. They were terrible for its reputation
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6x from the wood removed from sale! Why? Surely this isn't a brewery decision!
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Noted some of the comments below about the price of the beer, it's not just London, try pubs on Crawley High Street or in Eastbourne where I work, all very similar!
My first visit to the pub, and very impressed, several Wadworth's beers on and guests too, I tried a Swordfish and a 6X straight from the barrel which was in fantastic condition!
I will be back again, and I'm sure the guest list will provide some excellent darker beers in the winter months, everything is a little too "blonde" for my taste at this time of year.
I didn't eay but the aroma of a curry ordered by another patron was that of a restaurant dish, not a standard pub one!
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Arrived here Saturday lunchtime. Note the pub does not open until midday, despite 11:30 being shown on some websites. It's a Wadworths pub with a fairly decent list of guest ales too. Wadworth ales were 6X, Bishops Tipple, Swordfish, St George & The Dragon & Henry's IPA. Guests were Greene King Yardbird, St Austell Spring Brew & Proper Job & Long Man Blonde & Copper Hop. The bar is L-shaped with seating all around. It's difficult to get to the football ground from here for a 12:45 kick off, as we found out. The Humble Plumb was better than expected and better than our first pub - The Hop Inn (not listed on the site).
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UPDATE from alezilla- new landlord, really nice bloke- got rid of that damned awful CD from the last lot that went round and round and round- terrific bar staff- great ales always well kept- this place has been turned around- not sure on the prices- £3.50 has to be reasonable these days - still great cask 6X - great atmosphere- keep it up guys- and you lot out there- if alezilla says it's good- it must be REAL GOOD!
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UPDATE : Although the prices seemed high we still use this pub quite often but when we went there last night I was REALLY shocked by how much the drinks have gone up almost overnight.
Being a Wadworth owned pub it has a great range of their own beers and also guest beers but the price increase baffles me, most beers have gone up by about 30p a pint in one fell swoop and the most expensive pint is now £3-75.
They use to do 3 third of a pint 'tasters' for £3-00 and that's gone up to £3-45 and this is before anyone can blame the upcoming budget !!
We wondered why it seemed fairly quiet when we turned up but paying for the drinks I can guess why, we'll not be returning..........
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I like this pub, always have, and its always had a great range of beers, Wadworth straight from the cask and always a good range of guest ales.
However, what is really putting me off and I fear will be the death of this pub is the prices its starting to charge.
I went there last week and the price for 6x was now �3-25 and their guests ranged from �3-30 upwards with Ringwood 49er, hardly an unusual pint and a local one at that costing �3-50 and Green King Abbot Ale a whopping �3-60 !!!
These prices are London prices surely, not a back street pub in Bitterne :(
With these prices they have lost a fairly regular customer and I fear I won't be the last........
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Poor service at the plum the other day- I love 6X from the cask, but one I had was definately wrong- a guy who couldn't have been drinking more than 6 months argued the toss about how other people were drinking it so it must be ok- the landlord then used the same argument and after ages of discussion- reluctantly gave permission for me to have an alternative....ever heard of the customer always being right? Well, here I am! A potentially good pub, bruised by typical British customer service- shame. At wetherspoons they don't argue and we wonder why these places will all die out!
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A quiet pub with a wide selection of real ales, some also in bottles. No juke box, no pool table, but a couple of caged birds and a resident Meerkat called "Kevin".
Food is all (or mostly) Brake Brothers freezer to microwave food, as per most other pubs.
Pretty no-smoking garden at the rear, large smoking-allowed patio at the front with nice hanging baskets and tubs. Tempered only by the manager's ardent anti-smoking attitude.
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Seems that some people have got distracted from giving assistance to those trying finding a good beer pub - and that is exactly what this is!! It's a very well kept pub and more importantly, an often overlooked oasis regarding beer, with the best selection of ales for many miles (certainly this side of Southampton). It has a regularly changing selection of typically five guest ales on top of the Wadworth selection (notable for it's 6X from a wooden cask). The staff are very helpful and the food is very reasonable.
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and back to school for Meerkat who obviously has no ability to concentrate on a piece of prose longer than the first two pages of THE SUN
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I can't be bothered reading the civil war going on between other reviewers so I'll just stick to the facts as I saw them. I can say that I for one will certainly be back, and this has to rank amongst the best boozers in the South East- luckily, just 20 mins away from me! I dismissed as mere rumour a beer oasis served in holy grails anywhere in the south, never mind just down the road, as I thought i'd exhausted the fruitless search for such an Atlantis in the East Itchen zone. Anyway, tucked down an unassuming street, I feared the worst....inside the disappointment began with two huge TV screens blasting out the latest populist sporting activities- they only have freeview however, so punters might be spared tedious crowds roaring all night, but that remains to be proven. Food is available, but this was not sampled so that will have to wait for a future review. The real point is the beer- and wow, what beer! The Wadworth's staples (minus JCB) are there PLUS five guest ales. This is a total of ten- a remarkable number, only bettered by such classics as the Ship and Mitre Liverpool and Birmingham's The Wellington. Moreover, the 6X was served straight from its wooden cask- not a better example of this classic will you find outside the brewey. Fantastic beer- I could have finished the lot- but there were more to try!! If you want samples, reasonably priced 1/3 of pints are available. I was pleased to see a Batemans (Hooker) and a Loddon beer in- so that made my trip. AS regards the bar staff they were perfectly pleasant, there was a bonus parrot in case the company you were with wasn't keeping you occupied and the pub was spacious, but not in the way that you couldn't find a nook. This achieves a remarkable rating from me of the big 8.
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In response to Penguintoo (Im quite fond of Penguins!) I feel he does have a right to his/her opinion, could be wrong but I thought we lived in a Democratic Sociey? Each to his own etc, etc? Cant believe everyone is taking it all so seriously, there is a war going on in Afghanistan! I have been a regular at the pub through many different Managers so as you can imagine I do have my opinions, not all of them positive! And as for the Rambling Biker Gary, are you that total Moron with the personality of a Gnat that uses a WHOLE car parking space for your Toy (I mean Motorbike!)
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Hi, Just thought Id get my 5 eggs in - dont normally react to such posts but hey, its Christmas.
'Penguintoo' its a shame that you have had a bad experiance with in the 4 walls of a VERY community based pub. The pub itself suffers like any other pub, and yes, maybe the management can do things differently sometimes. I for sure dont want their job and from what Iv seen they do a good job 99.9 % of the time. I dont think for one minute that there is a 'witch hunt' going on here, we need to remember that the management are the pub. 'Penguintoo' has just simply had a bad experiance. Dispite this, I urge him to come back, speak to the local people during this festive season - put his money across the bar and help save another community pub!!! dont listen to 'penguineater' quite clearly , the hard ship the country is going through, and the threat of closure for majority of pubs has passed this individual by, like you too 'penguin2' (im sure Kev would be quite pissed off if someone was telling people not to go to his pub and spend thier money)
I'll give you all a little bit of a my back round - im sure Bikergary knows who I am.
My family went through a very hard patch around 10yrs ago, my parent found salvation through the community within the Humble Plumb. Friends took care of him, and the children (me included) that he was left with.
I have grown up around the community of the village and the 2 pubs in the area, along with the church are the heart of the village.
All through my teen years and now in my late 20's, I couldnt think of a safer place and better place to spend my Friday nights.....and most of the weekend to be honest!!!! - even some of my girlfriends have been bar maids.
Basically, im saying, the pubs alright. We alll need to pull together and safe the local pubs, not slate them. No one saved the Percy, which was a great shame. I liked that pub too, and the pool table!
iv eaten in the Plumb too - its alright, not 5* but its a bloody pub! - to comment on a females appearence as discusting may mean that you're abit homosexual, or hate women.
I was there during the 'Butlins Duo' - not my cup of tea, but I stood outside, very happy, under the HEATED SHELTER (yes, heated shelter) with my mate and had a very enjoyable night.
It appears that both the penguins are not as local as they think, for one reason everyone knows who Bikergary. Anyway, im off for a pint up The Humble Plumb
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Ok penguin you've admitted to getting some things wrong, now it seems that you are being outnumbered perhaps you should admit that you were hasty with the other comments,and that in this time of goodwill to all men you should consider moving on from the past and dare I say it from the pub aswell. I'm sure that other pubs in the area would welcome your insincere custom.
Merry Xmas to all sincere Humble Plumb regulars.
Obviously this web site is not meant to be used as a direct conduit of your personal vendetta against either the pub or management so mooooove on.
P.S. Well said bikergary whoever you are.
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Having read some of the negative reports about The Humble Plumb, or should I say, about its landlord and landlady, I am confused.com.
I walk to The Humble Plumb, since I don't drink and drive. I walk past The Hare and Hounds and The Exford Arms in my 2 mile walk to the pub. Why? Because I love the pub, I love the friendly atmosphere, my friends are there, the beer is good and not over-priced. I am always made welcome by the landlord and landlady (Kev and Dee). On the very rare occasion that there is trouble in the pub, the landlord is on it straight away and quashes it before it gets out of hand. Riff raff are not made welcome, thank God, that means the rest of us clean living people can relax and enjoy a happy and peaceful visit to The Humble Plumb.
If the landlord and landlady are so obnoxious, why is it then that so many of the faces in the pub are regulars? and of those regulars, many of them walk or drive from some distance away. They don't all live just around the corner.
The landlord and landlady have always been very pleasant to me, and in fact have been a welcome ear when I experienced an extremely low point in my life.
My personal view is that there appears to be some sort of "witch-hunt" by a minority.
And again, personally, if I didn't like a pub or its staff, I would drink else where,
or have the guts to actually express my dislikes and concerns face to face, not write on a message board.
Kev and Dee have an unenviable job which I believe they do very well. Keep up the good work, Merry Christmas and a HAPPY New Year. X
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In response to "penguineater" report dated 16th Dec, I stand corrected. It is Kev and Dee Jukes. One assumed and mis- heard surnames. The previous deputy Manager holds the surname which is the Managers surname prior to marrying Kevin Jukes. That surname itself is 'Harris' - which is where i also misheard by calling them Harrison.
Now, please read previous reports and they speak for themselves. Merry Christmas
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In reply to penguin report (see Dec.14) I feel I have to say that penguin cannot be much of a regular at the Humble Plumb if he doesn't even know the manager/manageress proper name,(they have only been there 6 years)As for rude and aggressive I think that some of the morons that any landlord has to deal with would try the patience of a saint. As for reducing women customers to tears I think not.Cat on the bar I would not like that persnally but have not witnessed that either. Toilets well I can only speak for the gents but they are fine otherwise I wouldn't use them. The "Butlins Duo" penguin must have been in a different pub to me because I never heard one complaint in fact people moved from one end of the pub to the end that the dou were playing so that they could enjoy and join in in a good old sing-a-long.
The way penguin's report was written seems to me that he has a personal grievance with Kev and Dee.
When penguin says Avoid This Pub, I hope that he does exactly that because he obviously wouldn't know a good pub if he walked into one!
Carry on KEV & DEE JUKES!
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I have used this pub for a few years, on and off. I have seen this pub decline in its homelyness standards since the two Managers Kev and Dee Harrison took over a few years back. The Landlord is a rude, aggressive individual who can not handle his drink! I have whittnessed countless times him reducing some female customers to tears and insighting violence with male customers. He even had a full blown fight in the bar with his step son before sacking him.
Control of contamination is at an all time low too by allowing their cat on the bar around the ale pumps - if this is allowed, im sure it gets in the kitchen. The state of the toilets are awful and general appearence of the female kitchen staff member (their daughter) is discusting. Wadsworth need to sort this out! the pub runs its self due to customers, and a general good history but, it needs a new front of house to add to the welcome.
After visiting there last week (first time in a long time) I was subjected to a terrible 2 peice band, a man and a women, who could not sing. It was a typical Butlins holiday night that obviously only catered for the manager and the family as they were the only people not complaining about this duo.
AVOID THIS PUB, its not what it used to be
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Well managed and popular local.Probably the best beer you'll find in a Wadworth pub.Five guest ales alongside the brewery beers and an excellent pint of the normally unreliable 6X straight from a wooden cask. The Old Timer is also excellent, but give the IPA & Bishop's Tipple a miss(both exceptionally bland).Good value food.Not the most atmospheric of pubs, but well worth a visit nonetheless.
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A good all round pub pleasantly decorated with well kept beers, plenty of choice of ales, staff friendly, would like a pub like this as my local!!
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Used to love this pub as it was local for me and my friends and had a nice selection of real ales. Ordered two pints of an ale I wont name which is usually a great pint and it tasted absolutely foul with a smell of line cleaner in it. I took the pints back to the bar virtually untouched and was told i would have to pay for 2 halves if i wanted to exchange the beer for something else!!!!
As a brewer myself i know what a real ale should taste like & as a customer I know how I should be treated!!
Avoid! unless you wish to drink bad beer & be publicly humiliated when you complain about it!
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A few years ago I moved into the area. One day I wondered into the Humble Plumb. I was amazed at how welcome I was made to feel by the management, staff and patrons alike. I have now become a regular at this pub as there is a great selection of beers, the food is superb, it has a great atmosphere and there is never any trouble. The pub is very well managed and I often go with my young family for a drink or a meal. We are always greeted with a smile and made to feel accepted. If your in the area pop in and try one of the guest ales or the great food. Children must be out by 7pm food is served 6-8pm so get there early if you have kids like me. Well recommended.
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I am a member of the local CAMRA branch and have found the staff and landlord always friendly and always serve great beer
epcot - 12 Apr 2009 22:25 |
As a regular visitor to the plum both with and without my grandchildren I have found the pub and its staff to be nothing but polite and courteous. The children are always made to feel welcome and quite frankly I'm more than happy that children have to leave at a certain time. The Assistant Manager has always made us feel very welcome and with reference to a previous review I would suggest that the gentleman in question who made the comment that the Assistant Manager was "always chatting" to others in the bar would simply be professional etiquette. I for one and certainly a lot of locals are more than satisfied with service given, The fact the pub is always full and cheerful speaks for itself.
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Was my local and has been a great pub. last week I witnessed the landlord making a scathing attack on a bloke in front of his family. He was rude and offensive. If this is how you want to treated, this is the place for you. Its not for me!!!
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I've been a regular at The Humble Plumb, on and off, for about twenty years. The 6X has always been good and it's generally had a great atmosphere. Until now.
A recent visit with my family left my wife in tears and my kids upset after the landlord went absolutely mental at us after we tried to order some food. Apparently they don't have a licence for children despite advertising 'families welcome'.
Don't go there if you're looking for a nice relaxing evening.
6Xboy - 26 Mar 2009 11:11 |
Good range of beers and excellent value food.
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Lovely cosy pub, good range of ales.
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What a moody un welcoming landlord. Landlady friendly enough but unless you want to be starred at all night I'd re-think your choice of pub. Beer was OK, tasted of beer line cleaner over Christmas but better now the New Year has arrived and a good selection. Staff friendly enough unless you get served by the Assistant Manager who would prefer to chat with his friends. Food only served on a Thurs or Sat night which was disappointing as my wife & I as we really wanted to eat.
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Nice atmosphere. Friendly staff and the landlord keeps a good pint and a nice selection of guest ales.
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