Swan, Great Chartback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Full name is The Swan & Dog, large food dominated pub large smoking area to front, 2 ales on, I had Harvey's 'Sussex' [decent pint].
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i visited this pub at the weekend and im sorry i totaly disagree with some of these comments. The couple that own this pub are quite new to the swan and i have seen they have made a great effort to create a great atmosphere and lovly enviroment for friends and families. service was fantastic and food was great with a new menu offered with bar snacks and traditional meals they cater for all. the back garden is now not a dumping ground it now has a beautiful decking area in the sun with a climbing frame for the children and a fenced area with friendly ponies and goats chickens and rabbits it really was fantastic. the front garden was having a bit of work done to it but the landlady said it is yet to improve. everyone was friendly and the couple who run it now were very welcomeing and we had a great convosation with them i even got a drink on them. When the front garden has been finished i would definetly rate this pub as a 10 definetly are families new local, (the children have told me so).
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Popped in to this pub to see if it might be a good place to go out for a meal without the kids. Very quickly decided against this idea as the pub can only be described as neglected and 'spit and sawdust'! Friendly service but they had no cold white wine - only rose on offer and the coke was very watery due to a glass literally full of ice. The decor is very 'rough', out of three women's toilets only one flushed which created an unpleasant environment in which to take children to the toilet on a busy afternoon! The plantpots in the garden were growing weeds and dead plants, and my favourite seemed to be growing the up-ended contents of a former hanging basket. It reminded me of the places visited by "The Hotel Inspector", very much in need of a tidy up.
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It�s eighteen months since I last reviewed this pub here, but I have been passing the pub from time to time. And in that time nothing about the place has changed my opinion of it.
It may well be the most wonderful pub in the world. It may well serve the world�s finest food, accompanied by the world�s finest ales in the company of the world�s finest people. But I will never know.
Take yesterday�s visit for example. Despite freezing temperatures and snow on the ground, at 1.30pm the beer garden had a dozen assorted thugs and thug-ettes standing around in it. They were all obviously drunk on lager and were shouting abuse at passers-by. In the past they�ve been content to be screeching at each other. Now they�ve turned on the general public.
So there I was, faced with two pubs within ten yards of each other. One has a garden filled with yobs screaming abuse at the world, one does not. I suppose this pub fills a useful niche for those who like to shout whilst necking lager by the gallon.
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At the risk of getting into a petty "oh yes it is - oh no it isn't" squabble....
A group of us cycled into Great Chart on Sunday afternoon. Now I don't doubt that the people in the beer garden are decent folk. I expect every one of them is a stirling chap, someone with whom I would quite happily share a pint or two, were I to meet them socially.
However they looked and acted scary. Sorry - they did. And when you are faced with half a dozen on one table in the garden, and another half a dozen on another, all screaming abuse at each other, you don't stop. You just keep going ten yards down the road to a place which doesn't look anywhere near as scary.
I don't deny for one minute that the pub down the road might very well be filled with axe-murderers, but the pub down the road looks safe to enter.
And that's what I for one look for in a pub. Sorry.
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This site is all about opinions of course and it's good to hear the other side of the argument. Having said that, I stand by my previous comments that I wouldn't expose my daughter to a bar full of blokes shouting "f"s and "c"s at one another which is how I found the pub on my own, admittedly brief, visit . If you have a different set of values, that's fine of course and I would agree that the fund raising, which I'm sure is true, is highly commendable.
Having said that, I can't help noticing that the 3 users who have commended this pub so highly in the last week are all first (and only) time reviewers who have exactly the same style of writing and almost identical arguments about the pub's strengths . I will draw my own conclusions from that.
Nothing to do with not wanting to mix with a variety of people (I pride myself in being able to share a beer with anyone)....but I still won't rush back if I have my family in tow.
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I had the pleasure of attending this pub on their latest charity event on saturday the 2nd of may ! Going by previous reviews i braced myself only to be completely and utterly blown away the so called 'chavs' and 'very rough people' were welcoming and none other than extremely friendly .... the pub was very busy and yet not a hint of trouble to even make you feel the slightest bit on edge my children were even made to feel at ease ! not only that but these so called 'chavs' and 'very rough people ' helped the landlord and landlady of the pub raise a staggering �1,240 for demelza house . I do hope that this is a lesson to those of you that judge these people on a 5 minute basis rather than take the timeto get to know them, and after getting to know them on saturday and be welcomed the way my family and i were i would gladly take the labels 'chavs' and 'very rough people' if that means a lovely and amazingly generous group of people such as these were ... i shall be returning and think that if yo are looking for a friendly family pub you should definately give this one a try .
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I moved to Great Chart some 5 years ago and I went to the Swan they were pleasant welcomeing and above all all the bar staff I have seen come and go allways had a smile on there face. When the current Landlord and Landlady took over us locals had reservations but we couldn,t have been more happier Steve and Caz will not stand for any nonsense, I,d like a pint for every one He,s barred. Yes the Lads do get a bit loud sometimes but it,s all friendly banter and only usually on a Friday in the afternoon after they have finished work for a week just like most decent pubs on a Friday afternoon. We probably raise more money for various charities than any other pub in the area the food is great the beers are top notch so why not give it a try but not on a Friday afternoon if you don,t want a bit of atmosphere.
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Last three reviews- totally inaccurat. None of my customers are Chavs. They are decent,hardworking, honest, familey MEN. Who like to have a pint after work. Yes sometimes they get a bit loud on a Friday afternoon between 3pm and 6pm but this is just friendly banter between themselves they wouldn't want to offend anybody. I would like to say that these so called Chavs and rough people from council estates have raised loads of money for charity the past two years
�1,300 Kent Air Ambulance and �800 Paula Carr trust. �1900 for Help a Whale to walk. The winkle club is also run from the Swan raising Thousounds of pounds for local charities mainly the elderly.
We are holding another Charity event on Saturday 2nd May for Demelza House. A football Match between The Old Great Chart V The Old Fox players. Kick off is 11am @ Great Chart football pitch, then back at the Swan for BBQ, Live Music with One Love and some great Raffle Prizes. Please come along It will be a great Day. And Guess what Webo from KMFM is captain of the old Fox team who is also from Stanhope.
Its a great Pub. But don't take my word for it, come and have a look for yourself.,
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Contrary to the otehr viewers opinions, I believe that a diverse clientele from a range of social backgrounds is an important part of the local pub. Ok, occasionally it can get a little loud, but I think the Landlord and Landlady do a really good job of organising events at the pub that everyone can join in with.
They recently had a Halloween evening for children as well as the adults, a fantastic Caribbean evening last Autumn and a whole host of other, well attended events. They also have a well attended raffle on a Sunday, with the proceeds going to a local organisation for older people.
The crowd might often be loud, but I always find them to be friendly and never feel threatened or awkward.
The food is nothing if not good pub fair, with good quality local produced used when possible, good portions and always served with a smile.
The beer is fine, with the Harvey's being particularly good and much better value than a lot of other country pubs in the area at �2.60 per pint. Their wine and Whisky is also good and very reasonably priced.
My girlfriend and I have lived in nearby Singleton for a year now and we enjoy our visits to The Swan, as we are always made to feel welcome by the bar staff and Karen the Landlady in particular.
As for the above comment about the 'people from the rough council estate', I find it slightly offensive that you would categorise everyone from council estates in the same pigeon hole. As I said before, to me, a pub is at it's best when frequented by all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds and if you try, you might find that you actually get on with some of 'them'.
I'm soon to be moving away from Ashford and, although I'll not miss the townitself, I will miss the Swan
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The change in this pub is amazing and really rather depressing. Once upon a time, it was a decent family pub that boasted good (if limited) real ale and an impressive menu.
I must admit, I hadn't been here for a while, preferring the Hoodener's Horse which is literally next door. We fancied a change though so popped in for a spot of lunch recently.
I have to say that The Swan now holds the record for my shortest visit to a pub ever. I thought some of the people in the beer garden looked unusually rough for the area but that was nothing compared to the foul mouthed mob at the bar.
Now, I'm no prude and I can certainly hold my own in terms of industrial language when the situation dictates but I wasn't going to subject my family to it so, as they were still a few yards behind me, I turned round before I'd even reached the bar and retired to the more familar surroundings of the "Hoodie".
Sadly, therefore, I can make no comment on the standard of the beer but if it's anything like the clientele, I wouldn't bother anyway !
This appears to have been no fluke either as every time I've been past since, a similar group of chavs could be seen slouched (and I mean "slouched") across the benches outside.
No idea where they come from as , having lived in the area of 10+ years, they don't appear to be locals but (as a fellow reviewer siuggests) one theory is that it is the fallout from the demise of The Nelson in Stanhope.
If so, the sooner they build a replacement the better !
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A lovely pub utterly spoiled by the clientelle.
Mind you, I suppose it fulfils a vital role in being "the country pub where people from the rough council estate go to". It's probably a wonderful place to visit *if* you come from that rough council estate.
But for everyone else, I'd keep on going. There's pleny better within a five minutes' drive
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This place is generally frequented by very loud, very rough people.
Located in the pretty hamlet / village of Great Chart, its location is a little too near to south Ashford for comfort. As a result, it is plagued by the very rough people from the Stanhope estate who decide to have a little jaunt out into the country in order to ruin, what would otherwise be, a really rather pretty little country pub. Shame. Chavs 1 Decent Folk 0 !
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