please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Had an encounter with that pesky pillar last night. Took a while to get noticed. But locals at that end of the bar were kind enough to point out my presence to the barman. The ale selection was not too inspiring - Greene King IPA & Magna Carta & Morland Old Golden Hen. The interior is L-shaped reflecting its corner location. It's a large, airy pub. But it lacked any kind of atmosphere. Possible the worst of the day's 11 pubs.
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It's now The Churchill - a Greene King Meet & Eat Grill.
Food looks good, haven't tried it yet.
Beer is Abbot and GK IPA with a changing guest ale.
Service is generally good but the pillar in the middle of the bar can mean people get missed.
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Me and my wife recently went for an evening meal. The food was reasonably prices yet sub standard, my wifes meal came out cold twice. When i complained to the manager he informed me that he had cooked the meal and that "it was hot when i put it on the plate". I am a great fan of real ale, but it was far to cold. The other people in the pub were loud and leary, and other people informed me that there is usually "alot of trouble" with fights occuring regularly. The staff were unhelpful and some appeared intoxicated! The manager seemed far too busy drinking his own drink to serve other people. I heard from some other people that lock-ins occur regularly (more often than not they are not smoke free lock ins)
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The Landlord in there now is the same Landlord for the last 2 years, as is the clientele! The Ale is served too cold and you can tell when a Line Clean on the lagers needs doing - it's not very often.
And the only times the bar staff are friendly are when they're drinking! The place sometimes smells of smoke, too - perhaps they smoke in there after hours - I often see lock-ins after hours when I'm walking past.
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New landlord since the summer - old clientele seem to have gone elsewhere & cask ale tasted good to me. Smart friendly staff & a good crowd. They get live bands in too.
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Clientele doesn't seem to have changed since recent postings: teenage mums & babies still in evidence. Cask (Speckled Hen) served too cold.
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Absolutely awful pub. The customers are loud and obnoxious and the landlord just sits at the bar drinking the profits most days and nights, talking out of his arse. It's not somewhere you'd want to take your kids (or your mum & dad for that matter) due to the language. I heard a rumour it was turning into a Wetherspoons, fingers crossed...
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Seems to be exclusivley for teenage mothers lured in by crap tasting cheap beer and food. Not a paticularly nice place...
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This pub is closing shortly... for good! Hooray!!
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Get off the fence Minesapint63 and say what you really mean. Unfortunately, I have to largely agree with you. I dropped in one Saturday evening and there was a karaoke night taking place. Karaoke isn't my thing so I only stayed for a pint but whilst I was there this enormous cropped haired oaf got up 'on stage' to murder a song. He was diabolical - which some may say is the whole point - and gave the sort of performance that would normally be jeered and laughed at. However, he made it plain that he thought that he was the bees knees and that anyone mocking him would be summarily dealt with in a violent fashion. Very nice.
On a more recent (daytime) visit there was a young boy who I would guess was nine years old sat at the bar! At no time did I see him accompanied by an adult so I assumed that he was related to someone working in the pub but by the manner in which the bar staff were speaking to him, this didn't seem to be the case. All very strange.
One plus point is that the food is ridiculously good value for money.
anonymous - 1 Nov 2006 17:38 |
This place used to be a department store (Co-Op if I remember rightly) before being converted into a Hogshead. The Hogshead closed and after some refurbishment (circa 2003/2004) it reopened as 'The Parkstone'.
I used to go to this pub regularly, but over the last few years, it has gone down hill and I've stopped going there. All the regular troublemakers who used to go to the VC and have now been barred from there, now go to the Parkstone.
In the afternoon it's full of chavey unmarried 16 year old mothers and and their snotty offspring along with a scattering of pensioners. In the evening, it's full of people you wouldn't piss on if they were on fire. Avoid his pub.
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its ok if you want to go and watch a fight on a saturday night( it normally kicks of at about 10pm)
the new manager is more intrested in licking the local bikers arses than serving beer
anonymous - 27 May 2006 09:29 |
Was called The Fox, now called The Parkstone. Has a big screen at the toilet end.
Unfortunately the smokers are allowed right beside the non-smoking area so not really smoke free.
This was a department store before it became a Hogshead
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If it is the same HogsHead i was in on Monday night then i thouroughly recommend.... Staff are so so friendly,service is good,food is excellent and the atmosphere is very relaxed.The best!
becky - 14 Jul 2004 15:09 |
Toilets were disgusting last time I was in there. There was also a small telly at a low level that about twenty people were huddled around. Either have a big screen or don't bother with a telly at all. This halfway house is ridiculous. Even the beer wasn't as well kept as the other Hogshead pubs in the area. A disappointment.
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