please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Ah nostalgia...
The long wait is over for the Fullers bean counters, no need to be a pub any more when sold...rejoice oh destroyers of Gales Ales!
Planning permission for conversion into £250K flats with no parking is virtually assured, they can't knock the place down but they will try to erase it from history...
No effort needed really though, the local CAMRA lot forgot the place a few minutes after the last pint was poured a couple of years ago :-(
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As noted below, boarded up and now stripped of its pub sign and ornate Gales Brewery lettering.
Recently seen adorned with an enquiries sign for Savill estate agents, it would appear the buildings future will not lie with the Fullers empire.
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CLOSED and boarded up - what are Fullers going to do with this unique and well patronised pub?
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Sad news, Janet Cook passed away on October 6th. RIP
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An expat for thirty years, whenever I think of an English pub, it is always the Newport that first comes to mind. I was astonished to find at my last visit 19 years ago that it remained unspoiled. And to read now that it remains unchanged warms my heart. An iconic English pub.
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Although some may not like the unrefurbished and gently decaying nature of this pub, as has been said before, this is a pub with character. Our HSB was in fine condition, the doorstep sandwiches were excellent and locals were friendly and conversational. We'll return!
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Recent celebrations have marked the Newport having had only 2 landlords in 70 recent years, not many pubs can say that these days...
Alec Cottle 1941 to 1970
Bernard Cook 1970 to 2009
Of course the pub continues with Janet Cook (nee Cottle) at the pumps, with help from Shirley, Rusty and other friends.
Wonderful place, smashing HSB and ploughmans and friendly regulars in the evenings...I really must try to visit more often.
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Those who complain about the state of the garden and decor are missing the point.
That is one of the things that make this the pub that it is. Original and not looking like millions of other pubs.
Sea-farers was well kept and the Cheese sandwich was more than great value for money. Those having a ploughmans were treated to what appeared to be a loaf of bread for the roll.
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This pub is amazing. My parents took me here when I was little back in the early 80's and now I take anyone who knows me there.. There is nowhere like it. Can't beat a good old sing song around the Joanna!
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An almost unique pub. for a near match (without the plowmans) -the closet thing being a pickled egg, try the Red Lion, Snargate, Kent. Still run by the legendary Doris, having been in the family since 1910 and barely changed in the intervening years.
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I visited this pub today, full of enthusiasm, having read the reviews. Perhaps, if I had gone in the evening, it would have been better but, oh, what a disappointment. Yes, it is full of old stuff and, as someone, else said, had it been full, I may have felt differently but, character is not abject neglect. We sat in the garden which didn't look as if it had seen a pair of secateurs for years with trails of brambles trying to escape from overgrown bushes. Flower beds full of weeds and the garden furniture had to be seen to be believed. Months, maybe years of grime had accumulated on tables and chairs. Junk was dumped between the garden near the car park and the garden near the entrance. To be fair, the beer was okay and inside seemed quite clean but surely a couple of days clearing up outside would make a world of difference. The young man serving at the bar, looked as if he would rather be on the moon but, then, maybe his exam results weren't quite what he expected and he envisaged spending his working life at this pub.
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I used to go to this pub 25 years ago, evey lunch time for the best ploughmans, cheese and ham doorsteps you have every had and a pint or 4 of HSB ( nectar of the gods). I have since lived in New Zealand and Australia for 20 years and visited the Newport last year on vaction and it was EXACTLY the same. The best HSB anywhere, the best ham and cheese anywhere. The most amazing furniture ( bits of old busses, sprnigs pocking out etc) you have ever seen. Don't expect mixers to be chilled, or the till to be plugged in to power! If i could franchise this place in Western Australia I would be a billionaire . . . if you are within 100 miles go out of you way to visit, just hold your nose for a minute or two on entering. Order a pint of HSB or Ordinary if you're driving and a cheese and ham ploughmans - you will not regret it.
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Visited two weeks ago on a Sunday lunchtime - one of the most amazing pubs I have ever been into - and I have visited quite a few. My mate described it as being like a film-set. A complete step back in time - yes the furniture is very tired but the original layout is priceless.
Unfortunately my order of London Pride was on the turn but it was immediately replaced from the other tap / barrel when I asked.
It wasn't very busy when we visited but I can imagine a great atmosphere when busy. A pub for fans of real classics - perhaps not somewhere to take a girl on a first date. Somewhere between a 7 and 8/10 - recommended!
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wolvesfan hits the nail on the head, if you want a pub with character, he is one.
I have been to the Newport Inn a couple times now, and was relieved to see it was pretty much how we remembered it.
Having told the kids about the place we would have hugely disappointed if it been developed into yet another poncey eatery that reluctantly serves beer.
Having never been anywhere like it before or since, they were suitably impressed, and asked when we are going back.
I haven't eaten there, but the beer was spot on on both occasions and they were more than happy to let us play darts on what was quite a busy night.
I can't remember the last time is was asked if I wanted my pint in a 'straight' or 'handle' - make the most of it, I doubt it will be like that for many more years to come.
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Maybe I'm in the minority here, but this pub is living history. Yes against todays 'plastic pubs' it's a bit tired ansd yes it could do with a clean and the windows probably need scraping down as well. But Janelt Cook (the Landlady) is a treasure and the pubs got character. No doubt the day Janet retires (I think she's been running the place since Charles the First was on the throne!!) Fullers will either sell it or develop it into some sort of smart, plastic eating house with some moron of a manager running it. Visit it while you can, there aren't many left like this one!!!
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A weird experience. Being a relative youngster I do not remember the period supposedly when all pubs were like this. The Gales HSB was in decent nick but the overall 'tatty' ethos of the place was a little bit depressing to be honest. Kudos, however, for being the only pub I have been in that does not use any form of cash register.
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Braishfield has three pubs and this is probably the one that doesn't need to make the usual 40% profit on food for the owners to continue to exist. Sure, the interior is reminiscent of a down-at-heel club with its tatty chairs and rickety tables; of course, the garden has furniture in it that has seen better days (white plastic tables with lichen? I remember trying to get the same effect by using sour milk!); well, the owners are no spring chickens... BUT this place has the charm to attract the old boys out for a quick pint of Gales/Fullers HSB and a game of cards who look as if they've been doing the same for eons. I went on a Friday lunchtime, had the dirt cheap ploughmans (what else is there?) washed down with a couple of HSB's and sat in the garden watching the robins, blackbirds, coal-tits et cetera whilst listening to tantilising tales coming from Old Braishfield-ites. Very nostalgic and good value.
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Let's go up the Newport for a ploughman's, we thought. It's my birthday this week and we're turning it into a long weekend. So we did.
It used to be pleasantly eccentric, now it's just a dump.
Still does a good cheap ploughman's lunch (rumour has it that the kitchen fails all food hygeine rules hence they only do cold food.)
And I don't even mind that the furniture is filthy and falling apart. It always did. I've been going in there on and off for 17 years, and my husband for 30.
But I do mind when it took my husband 25 minutes to get served, even though there were only 2 people in front of him. And that when he ordered two ploughman's lunches at 1.45 he was greeted with 'I don't know if we can do that, we close at 2.30'. And that, at the same time he ordered our second pint, and he placed our two empty straight pint glasses on the bar and said 'two HSB please' and the response was 'pints? halves? straight? handles?'. He pointed out that the glasses in front of the barlady were pints, straight. This made the other customers giggle. They were then told off by the barlady for giggling.
On the way out we politely said to the other couple 'see you later'. 'Not in here you won't' they replied.
Yep, that sums it up really.
anonymous - 27 Aug 2007 18:02 |
Delightful dump - if you only look at the decor - far more if you're going here for a pub as in the traditional sense.
Yes the interior is shabby and the loos stink to high-heaven but the landlord is smartly turned out and very professional. The beer was good (my first pint of HSB since Fullers bought them)
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I notice that 'Blartman' in another post lamented the lack of Stella in another pub. 'Nuff said, I think, with regard to his post here. I think sympathy is more appropriate than contempt...
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Are these reviews a joke?? We tried this place and got as far as the front porch before the stink put us off. A peek inside showed a junk yard, with torn seats, grime everywhere, and even more pungent smells. If this is the state of the 'public' side of things, God knows what the kitchens are like. Health & Safety would have a field day. We turned round and went elsewhere.
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On a Saturday night, be prepared to enter a time warp. Something happens here that you would have been mildly surprised to see as late as about 1965. It was a privelege to experience it but even more so for my grown up children. The atmosphere was authentic (real locals only - apart from us) and wonderful. Be prepared to sing along to old music hall tunes played by a wonderful (70 year old?) lady on the piano. Everyone knows the words and sings along with gusto. To rate this pub as 10 out of 10 is not doing it justice. It's in a special class of its own, as places like this just do not exist any more. I just wished I could have bottled the experience and taken it home.
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I am only 25 and have worked in pubs since I was 15. A friend took me to The Newport Inn and I was amazed. Thank you for keeping this a real pub. It doesn't bow to trends or fashions just serves good beer, good wholesome food and I hope it stays the same for ever.
This pub, its landlord, its locals and its atmosphere is 1 in a million.
Pageo - 25 Jul 2006 02:03 |
This was my local for two years when I lived in Hampshire and was one of the finest, most authentic pubs I've ever visited. The beer is excellent (Gales) and the default glass is the now almost defunct Dimpled Glass with a handle.(If ordering beer, the landlord will ask,straight or handle?) The landlord and landlady are both stalwarts of the local community and appear to have been at the pub since time began. A bona fide classic well worth visiting but with the acquisition of Gales by Fullers and House Prices in Hampshire showing no sign of slowing down, I fear its future is far from certain. Make the most of it whilst you can
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I love this pub. This is one of the remaining few that it still worthy of the name "pub". It is not a puberama, or restaurant. It has not been extended or tarted up or otherwised spoiled. Instead it offers simple unpretentious food at silly pricess and a modest range of well kept beers. No gambling machines, no juke box,no racket, but it does have a dartboard, shoveha'penny (pretty rare these days), piano -singsongs saturday night, folk music most thursday nights and an elderly couple who chose to run it in their very own way. The decor is a little idiosyncratic, but charming in a historical sort of way (not been touched since the fifties I'd guess, so probably not for the genteel ). One day soon it will be gone, so enjoy it now.
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I've been going to this pub for so long I can remember when they last redecorated (23 years ago I think!!!) The beer is gorgeous (HSB - yummy) and the menu is designed for simpletons like me (ham or cheese sandwiches/ploughmans at prices that will make you think you have stepped through a time warp is the complete menu). The staff are surly, the decor absolutely unique - tattiness raised into an art form - a PERFECT pub of a now defunct genre. If you are looking for sophistication then go elsewhere. When the landlord eventually leaves this mortal coil (I hope he lives to be a 100) then this place will probably cease to exist and the world will be a sadder place.
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Probably the most splendid pub I've ever come across I was first introduced to it on a balmy summer's evening in 1984, and repaid a visit again in August 2005-it hadn't changed at all. Decor and atmosphere more like 1955, and must say the only pub I've come accross with NO juke box/cigarrette machine/tv or any other irritating electrical 'nuisances' to mar the pure art of conversation! Highly recommended for a visit. The still of the 'in-the sticks' atmosphere outside has to be experienced to be believed.Superb!
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Near-legendary venue for lovers of great ale (Gales) and home-made food like your mother makes.
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All beer is very well kept. A range of Gales fruit wine is also sold. One of the few places that still serve "Gold Label" Barley Wine. In my opinion over the last few years the run down nature of the place has turned from being part of the charm to just being plain dirty.
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This pub is like a time capsule,the decor and staff suitably ancient.The ales are always excellent and huge ploughmans for a couple of quid are unbeatable.I've never found a pub quite the same and only hope they can keep going for a few more years.theres no better place to enjoy a pint of Gale's mild of an evening.
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Pubs like this don't exist any more!I've been going here for years and rue the day when it gets turned into a modern food pub!Long live the real beer pub!!
Shauna - 29 Oct 2003 22:21 |
Well worth a visit for a ploughmans and a pint of butser, the floral flock decor was hung during the war but who cares its a real spit and sawdust atmosphere without the trouble of all the modern theme pubs (vince, Christchurch dorset)
vince - 15 Oct 2003 20:46 |
Great food - only two types of sandwich, cheese or ham but both big enough to stop a truck and delicious too. A great pub and deservedly busy at the weekends.
johnnythespoon - 10 Jul 2002 13:53 |
Not been cleaned since the 1940's, the bar attracts a similar clientele. Run with a iron fist, Janet rules to roost, no questions asked. Saturday night's are great fun as Janet bangs away on the old piano and the pub "rocks" to the sounds of the WW2 songs ! Does a great pint of HSB, the local brew. I always pop in when home, and everyone I know who has visited the place, loves it. Unfortunately might not be around for a much longer as the owners are now getting on a bit.
Tye Holmes - 25 Mar 2002 16:29 |
