please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I think that the pub won largely because of the landlord's outstanding commitment to charity. Othet than that, it does not seem to have anything else going for it.
|
In answer to Snarling-Mallards question,very bad indeed.
|
A smallish bar and a lounge both of which were kitted out in some garish 70's disco style with carpets up the side of the bar. A bit worn and tired but this place gets a zero for it's appaling ale.. They had Pedigree and Black Sheep on, tried the Black Sheep which was undrinkable - no staff around although I supose it was a slack spell. This dreadful establishment was voted Pub of the Year by the local newspaper - Good God.... how BAD are other pubs in the vicinity ?
anonymous - 26 Mar 2011 22:58 |
I have visited this pub on several occasions and for the most part, I have enjoyed my experiences. The food has been excellent, the staff are exceptionally friendly and the landlord is an incredibly nice and polite person who does a substantial amount of work for charity.
It is not the largest pub in the world, but it is quite cosy. I like the fact that the landlord has elected to hang pictures on the walls which depict his work for charity and what he has done for the community.
The reason for my low rating of the pub is the high level of hostility that the landlady directs towards the customers. I concede that when people are being rowdy, this needs to be dealt with firmly. Every time I see her, she has a sour expression on her face and is rude to the customers. This is why I am making the decision to never attend the pub again. It is my personal opinion that she does not treat people very well and lacks a respectful attitude. Many of the customers with whom I spoke told me that she is rude to her staff and is highly critical of other people. I know that running a pub is an exceptionally difficult job, but when people serve me, I like for it to be done with a smile and the server to adopt a friendly attitude. It is rare that I choose not to attend a venue, but the attitude of the landlady is just so off-putting that my decision will stand.
|
Grim venue, avoid at all costs.
|
A little late, but further to my post of last October, I can now comment on the pub.
Overall, OK-ish. The live music bar is extremely cramped, and not a great set up for the bands, but short of re-building the pub, you have to work with what you've got, and they do have a few bits that might help the band - a small stage and a UV stage light. Also, the pub hadn't seemed to have done any promotion, so the only people there were those that we already knew.
The bar staff were helpful to the band when we got there. However, they almost completely disappeared when we had finished setting up and wanted to start drinking. This became a feature of the night, and even when we had a fairly good crowd in the bar, getting served took forever. Some people ordered food, which was good enough for pub grub, but took over half an hour to appear. Our drummer had ordered a meal in plenty of time before we played, but it appeared a couple of minutes before we were on, so he was stuffing scampi and chips into his mouth between songs for the first half of the night.
That said, the beer was good, the locals were friendly, and it was a good night out. But I hope we caught the staff on a bad night, or else you might die of thirst!
|
DATE OF VISIT: 12/04/08
This is a very good pub and should receive 10 out of 10 for all the charity work they've done down the years.
The pub itself is fairly small and divided in two. One side of the bar has the pool table and juke box and the other hosts the many live music nights. The interior decor is adorned with photos from previous Ash Music Festivals and charity work for which they're quite rightly proud of. I had a pint of Green King IPA though I'd have preferred to of have tried the Ringwood Brewery which on this occaision wasn't available. I've haven't the food there nor have been up there much during the evening.
Is it worth a visit? Very much so. The people there are friendly and the atmosphere is welcoming. The only disappointment was the lack of choice of ales but if you can put up with that then it's well worth a visit...
|
Nice friendly landlord though the pub itself wasnt really up to my expections having heard some good things about it - im not sure its that good!
anonymous - 28 Oct 2007 14:39 |
this used to be a cracking pub, good beers, and a good bunch of locals, Now the beer is shockingingly BAD and all the locals have gone.
SHAME
anonymous - 26 Oct 2007 12:01 |
I played here with Uploaded! a few weeks ago. The landlord liked us, the pub was busy and he paid us without any trouble - a decent bloke really!
Come and see us - Sat. Oct 6th - 8.30pm!
|
In response to gigger's comments, I just had a report from the singer in my band who has booked us a gig there.
He tells me that the landlord was very insistent on knowing how many people we thought we would realistically bring. This followed another band telling him that about 40 people would come and see them, when only 3 actually turned up. In the meantime he had hired staff, etc, and so was out of pocket.
I suspect that the truth lies somewhere in between. So musos, do take care - but it's not always the landlord taking advantage of the poor musicians.
can't rate the pub as I haven't been there yet, but will report back in due course.
|
Muso's beware: the landlord phoned us in the pub just after we had finished setting up our gear to say that because the pub was not full, he wouldn't be paying us the agreed fee. We could either pack up and leave or he would pay us "petrol money".
We declined to take any money and played for a bit in any case. A regular told us that the landlord has form when it comes to this kind of thing so beware - decline this gig. And punters wanting an evening's entertainment should look elsewhere - where musicians aren't exploited in this way.
|
A pretty good pub - saw a great band here on Sept 14th - Uploaded!. They're back on the 6th Oct - go check 'em out!
anonymous - 17 Sep 2007 13:45 |
The review of 10Aug is fairly accurate barring the references to pikies.
The pub is a real s**thole, parts of it are falling down (internally) and the stench from the gents toilets is simply disguting!
The beer is often terrible and you are lucky if they have anything that is not 'off'.
The staff on the whole are quite nice but the owners wife is a real surly cow.
This pub needs to be knocked down and have flats built on the plot.
anonymous - 3 Sep 2007 03:41 |
The Lion Brewery is a good old village pub have been in here a few times so I don't know what the bloke/person is talking about below. The food is pub food nothing fancy just good old pub food at a reasonable price and the beer is good to, with a good selection, I drink lager but they have a few bitters as well. The atomsphere is good with Live bands on at the weekend and a pool and dart board. They don't get any trouble in here and certainly no ponies!! They do do B&B but most of the people staying are work men working near by but the ones I have spoken to all seem like nice lads.
Obviously someone just has a grudge against this pub!!
anonymous - 21 Aug 2007 11:10 |
May have been alright a year ago, but now............. not great. Visited for a pint and food, whilst there one of the bed and breakfast guests was chatting to his wife and the words "Yes love work is fine but the place I am staying is a S***t Hole". I could not have put it better myself, beer terrible, staff unfriendly as were some of the regulars. And if you don't own a white van, tarmac drives and own a pony ............. don't bother. Shame as it is in a great place.
anonymous - 10 Aug 2007 17:58 |
absolutely without doubt the best live music venue in miles.if you love good music in a great atomosphere then try coming down for SKP,Rainmaker,On fire,the list goes on.it's a fantastic party most weekends with a wide aged group of regulars who are always welcoming to likeminded people.you can drink dance and enjoy some of the best music has to offer safe in the knowledge that there is never any trouble here.see you there!
|
An update on this pub. The most lively pub in Ash by a long way. So much live music goes on here plus a nice choice of beers. Good place to go
|
The Lion brewery has been around for some time. Originally the pub had a slaughter house out the back, where they would serve freshly cooked meat and beer. That was it, Meat and Beer.
The surrouding area of the pub was all hops, and therefore the Lion made its beer from the surrounding Hops.
Since then, the pub has had a slight refurbishment, and its current landlord Mike has made it into a wonderful pub where the locals are friendly, the range of live music is excellent and it has a feel of old school england.
They do a lot of work for charity, and are a pillar in the community.
The selection of Ales isn't bad, and the age range is surprising. Go there, and enjoy it. The real pubs like this are dying out.
|
The best pub in Ash, or of the ones i visited anyway. You can understand its high rating. The live music certainly adds to the atmosphere, just unclear about when it starts. Big TV screen as well
|
Seems to be a place that people of all ages frequent. Does live music Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, though seems to be on a 'start-when-we-feel-like-it' basis. Guess live music is like that in any pub though! The drinks: seems to cater well for wine drinkers. The beer range appears to be limited at first, but more on offer in the cabinet. Shows TV before the live music, which adds amusement to the atmosphere. Not really a brewery. Would be curious to know how this place got its name?
Will2 - 25 Sep 2005 21:35 |
blues music
dave - 7 Jan 2005 20:00 |
