please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I really like this pub. Good beer friendly bar-staff and landlord and some great music.
Sadly, I can't afford to drink there as often as I would like to so often end up drinking somewhere cheaper
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Should be the best pub in Swindon, quirky multi levelled, unspoilt and unchanging......except for the utterly ridiculous price of a pint there. �3.80 for a pint of guest ale, come the landlors of this pub is having a turkish, will never frequent it again.
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I've been drinking in this pub on and off for 21 years now, it remains one, if not my favourite local pub, good range of local, regional and national ales, some fantastic live music, friendly bar staff, nice crowd of locals, tucked away behind the derelict old college building it's a bit off the beaten track but well worth seeking out, as an 18 year old goth I drank here, as a 39 year old father I continue to drink here, whether it's a quiet pint with friends or a lively evening's drinking, the Beehive delivers every time for me, Andy the landlord is a good guy and a music nut.
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Terrible disco going on here when we visited. Beer was served far too cold and really expensive. �7.40 for two pints of ale - �3.70 a pint that's the most I've paid anywhere, including London. Used to be much better.
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Cracking pub, shame about the miserable unfriendly ginger headed barmaid at lunchtime today, I don't mind paying �3.40 a pint for a 4.2% abv guest beer but when I put the empty glass back on the bar and say goodbye I do expect you to stop talking to your boyfriend and return the complement.
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fantastic traditional pub with top selection of beers, well served, friendly host and staff and good company.
Not my local but make sure to pay a visit whenever I am in the area.
We need more REAL pubs like this, Well done Landlord
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It's a good pub, but for f**ks sake how expensive?????
Pint of Hurricane, pint of Trip, pint of Strongbow......�10.40.
�3.70 & �3.50 for the bitters!!!! No wonder it's not as busy as it used to be!!
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The beer was fantastic - still can't work out what it was though it might have been a winter warmer. The pub reminds me of the back-street beer houses diown the road in Reading, but a lot friendlier. Pubs on hills are always a bonus too !
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Doesn't look like the most promising pub from the outside. But inside, this is a pleasant locals pub with a decent atmosphere and a varied clientele. Live music was on during our visit and there were 3 real ales - Old Speckled Hen, Halfpenny Old Lech and Cropton Dangleberry Ale.
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Other than the Gluepot, its the only real traditional boozer left in Swindon. Bags of character, beer fine, if a little pricey, hasn't changed for years, well recommended.
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I went back to the Beehive last Sunday, because there was a band I particularly wanted to see.
I tried the Osset Beijing and it was absolutely superb and really well kept. I ended up having a few of them.
What a contrast from my last few visits.
Excellent beer and great music. And a really good atmosphere.
I would therefore like to withdraw my earlier comments about the Beehive's beer. It is once again, a pub I could highly recommend.
I'm still a bit miffed, that Andy Marcer didn't reply to the e-mail I sent him a week before posting on BITE.
I've always believed, if I don't like something about a pub, I should tell the landlord/landlady.
Even negative customer feedback, can be valuable. If they don't want to know, then and only then, complain about it on BITE.
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I have used the Beehive, on and off for a number of years.
On the positive side, the atmosphere is generally very laid back, with as far as I know, little or no trouble.
They also have decent free live music on, usually about 3 or 4 times a week which is why I don't have a problem with their high beer prices. Presumably this covers the cost of the artists.
However, I noticed during my last few visits, that the quality of their beer has gone rapidly down hill. The problem is not their brands of beer but how they keep them. Also, if they cleaned their lines once in a while, that might help.
As a beer drinker, I don't mind paying a bit extra for free entertainment but I do object to paying higher prices for something that is practically undrinkable.
Last Sunday I went to see Out of the Blue.
My first pint was a bit on the cloudy side and tasted slightly stale,so I saw that off and decided to try something else.
The next pint was even worse. The barmaid cheerfully acknowledged it was a bit cloudy but assured me there was nothing wrong with it, it was just the way it came out of the tap. I accepted it, as so far as I knew, there was nothing better to replace it with. I drank that one, at these prices I wasn't about to waste it, then went home.
I felt very ill for the rest of the evening and was sick a few times, the first time in living memory that only two pints has done that to me.
There is another good band on this afternoon, which I would have liked to see but I am certainly not in a hurry to go back there. Not until someone can convince me that teir beer has improved at least.
I e-mailed the Beehive on their web-site last Sunday, but so far have received no reply.
Hopefully, now that they know their beer is not only crap but making people ill, they might do something to improve it
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gOOd old fashioned pub - very much a locals' alehouse but they make visitors very welcome
RichT - 24 Apr 2008 15:59 |
A real national treasure, proper old school pub, firm committment to live music, friendly clientelle, i used to drink in here as an 18 year old back in the early 90s before moving to Oxford, returned back to Swindon a few years back and was delighted to see it was still there, one of my favourite pubs in Swindon if not the UK
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Between the already high prices and now the smoking ban this place seems to have had it's day, which is a shame because it holds a fond place in a lot of local hearts. And I'm pretty sure there are more to follow.
anonymous - 9 Aug 2007 12:11 |
The BEST blues bar I have EVER been to
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Beer fest on at the moment.
Live music all week.
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Interesting place...interesting people! Quirky pub pretty good for a swift beer!
Wineo - 25 Aug 2006 11:29 |
used to go there years ago, blues fans beer fans and great craic
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Good bands quite often & they put food on the bar at tea time, but they've just had another price hike (e.g. �2.90 for Speckled Hen)
It's a small pub with a big rep and prices to match!
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See what you mean about the prices �2.75 for an average pint of real ale!!!!!
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Pretty damn pricey these days. Shame becoz it used to be a lot busier.
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Fantastic pub. The Beehive has everything you need and nothing you don't - beer is first rate, always guest real ale on, great entertainment, friendly staff and an eclectic crowd that are welcoming to strangers. Hosts real ale festival and most importantly, the home of the Swindon Literature Festival Firnge (like a fringe but not so high brow).
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Tucked away behind Swindon College, close to the town centre, the pub is a centre for local arts, music and heavy drinking.
A cultural Oasis in the desert of the Swindon scene, the Beehive holds host to a variety of entertainment and events including some great live music
Andy Marcer - 6 Dec 2004 12:16 |
