Colston Arms, Bristolback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Popped in here on a sunday a couple of weeks ago, as said before, good pint of rev james, excellent sunday lunch at a very reasonable �6.50.
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Small friendly local with a reasonable enough pint of Butcombe, 6/10
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Always quite liked this, pleasant enough interior , nice pint of the rev james served by always friendly bar staff.7.5/10.
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This seems to be a bit of a cross between a traditional old boozer and a sports bar. D�cor wise it�s more your conventional pub, but there is clearly a strong emphasis on sports with large advertising hoardings outside, plenty of football photo�s on the wall, a plasma in the smaller front bar and a large projection screen in the side bar. The fixtures list for up and coming sporting events listed no less then 32 in February alone, and included football, rugby cricket and even American football. Fair enough if that�s your thing, but the football rather dominated on a recent visit and a quiz night was in full swing in the back bar, so it made it tricky to find somewhere to sit for a quiet pint.
Seating in the two front bars was limited, with some bench seating around the perimeter and several bar stools. The side bar has a pool table and some exposed brickwork which may be an attractive feature, but was largely obscured by the large projector screen. There was a basic pub grub menu, although nobody was eating on this occasion that I could see.
Beers on tap were Brain�s SA, Rev. James and Butcombe. Ciders were Blackthorn and Stowford Press.
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Well, I stand corrected - said the man with the orthopaedic shoes....
Finally did step in briefly to the Colston last week, on a wet Tuesday lunchtime. Only two chaps in doing the crossword together - bless! - and the landlord, who was clearly expecting no further custom as he was busying himself at the back of the boozer for some while before I could alert his attention to my arrival. That said, he was convivial, and the ale - a quick 'alf of Gem on this occasion - was kept well and was one of three to sample. Nothing outside the box as it were here, but a solid pub which I do hope attracts a greater buzz during evenings, perhaps courtesy of the local workforce at the hospital? Certainly I could envisage this forming a useful stop-off of a wider crawl from Kingsdown to the Centre, or back again.
In terms of character, I didn't notice much alteration good or bad since it was Micawber's. There was a surprisingly large area to the left of the bar which I didn't recall from its pseudo-Dickensian days - so don't write this place off if you're in a larger group as the interior is more commodious than you might guess.
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Albeit a slight difference, the "Bristol's Lost Pubs" Website lists this as "Colston's Arms" (note the apostrophe). Trouble is I read the book "Eats Shoots & Leaves" by Lynne Truss!
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Regarding the last comment for this pub - which used to be known to me many years ago - the re-naming is simply restoring it to its original name! This pub was known as the Colston Arms I believe from its inception until c.1995, when it needlessly dumped all semblance of previous history and changed its name to "Micawbers Ale House". The licensee wasn't called Micawber and the pub doesn't have any obvious connection to the character of the same name from Dickens' "Pickwick Papers", so who knows what the rationale was. Colston of course has a clear Bristolian connection and gives its name to many streets and edifices in the area. I am pleased they've seen sense and reverted.
Now all I need to do is get back in and sample the beers, as it sounds far more enticing than it ever managed to be in the mid-'90s....
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Now refurbished and re-named the "Colston Arms"
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A good job lot , no nonsense sort of pub , 3 real ales , hobgoblin , sa and one other , beer well kept . pretty good
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This is certainly a proper pub, quite a find on the central area of Bristol. Fairly busy on a Monday night, although there was a group of some sort meeting there. Well worth popping in if you like your pubs more traditional.
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great boozer , lovely landlay , brilliant i n comparison to green man which was bloody awlful , not so much landlady with chip on her shoulder , but bag of potatoes , you know texting all night , unfriendly.you were there
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A small and genial freehouse snuggled into the hillside.
3 pulls on the go, and the place features a pool table. Was pretty dark inside, so be prepared for locals to pop out of the corners.
Legend has it that this pub is where condemned men would sup their final pint before being hanged at the top of St Michael's Hill. Nowadays appears to be a shrine to Wales and Manchester United instead!
Worth a visit.
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A nice place that had liberal interpretations of 11pm when I was there! San Miguel on tap makes a nice alternative to the excellent ale. Just not figured out why they sell model buses behind the bar...
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a good honest pub generally filled with friendly people who are willing to talk to whoever enters.
butcombe bitter and SA served at a decent temperature.
pool and a garden.
well worth a look.
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