Eight Bells, Canterburyback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
With our train cancelled, I had enough time to pay the Eight Bells a visit. It's a 7 or 8 minute walk from the station and it is a Youngs House. Ordinary & Special were on. After tripping through the door, I had a swift half of Special before moving on. The bar is fairly cosy. Toilets (or at least the gents) are outdoors at the rear. Ok pub. But typically bland Youngs beers.
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Went into the small front room bar straight off the road. It smelled of cigarette smoke, and was empty of people. A rather stern looking woman came from the back. She was probably the cause of the smell. Two casks on - Youngs Ordinary and Doom Bar. Some clips behind the bar show that they sometimes have other beers on, but nothing exciting or unusual.
As I was the only one there, the pub did lack atmosphere, so I was not seeing it at its best. But other pubs visited in the same area on the same day, did have customers and were more welcoming. With the lack of atmosphere, cigarette smoke, and the stern looking woman remaining vaguely in attendance, but not saying anything, I felt uncomfortable and finished my half of an indifferent Youngs quite quickly and moved on.
The pub sign outside says that they are listed in the Good Beer Guide. It has been my experience with that guide that it is fairly random, and while it can list decent pubs, it also has a tendency to list places like this which seem to have little to recommend them. It is possible that at a different time I would have had a better experience, but given that on my visit the place contained cigarette smoke, had no customers, was staffed by an unwelcoming person, and served an indifferent beer from an indifferent selection, it would need to offer something substantial in terms of bonhomie on the possible right occasions to justify inclusion in a pub guide.
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My wife and I visit Canterbury every year and recently called in at the Eight Bells for the first time in ages. The Youngs bitter was rather warm and tired, but Wells Bombardier was the only other cask ale available. At �4.45 for a pint and a half, it was the chapest round of our three-night vacation, but considering the number of years the pub has been in the Good Beer Guide, it was a disappointment.
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Very much a locals pub which was friendly enough on this visit. Ale choice was just Bombardier and Youngs Bitter. The Youngs Bitter was okay but nothing brilliant.
anonymous - 5 Nov 2011 23:31 |
I see my last posting got wiped. Odd, as it was (deservedly) quite complimentary!
Popped in the other day and saw that the 8B had had a redecoration. Thankfully, given what often happens when brewers run amok in traditional pubs, the 8B is still intact! Worth a visit, if only to sample one of Canterbury's last remaining, traditional, community locals. Nice sunny garden too.
BTW - Beer (Young's) was very good and I noticed that the 8B will soon be offering Holt's/Marston's.
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The little garden at the back would be a nice place to sit if there was a). decent beer or b). friendly staff to serve it or c). any locals who were polite to newcomers. I have tried this pub on and off several times over a seventeen year period. Don't think I'll bother again. (It was once suggested by teachers at the nearby Canterbury High School that they make it their regular, as it was near to the school. That amounted to one quick drink and a hasty retreat to the Bishop's Finger down the road!)
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I hoped to visit the Eight Bells yesterday afternoon, but when I got there just before 2 p.m., it was closed. I had neither the time nor the inclination to hang around for it to open at three o'clock.
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Good drinkers pub (for Arsenal supporters mainly, but others accepted) An old fashioned pub the way they used to be before tartification came along.
ronb - 19 Dec 2004 16:43 |
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