This area of Bristol once had half a dozen pubs – it now has none

On a recent afternoon, building work continued to transform a former pub into six flats.

Once known as the Jamaica Inn, another name for this pub, the Inkerman, can still be seen in Bristol street artist Inkie’s distinctive lettering, beneath one of Rowdy’s trademark crocodiles.

Part of the existing building on Grosvenor Road is already being demolished and it might soon be impossible to know that a much-loved community pub even stood here.

The fate of this pub is shared by many across Bristol but St Paul’s has been hit harder than most by pub closures.

Only a decade ago, St Paul’s had half a dozen pubs. Today, there are none at all.

Within living memory of many people, there were even more including the Bridge Inn on Lower Ashley Road, the Grosvenor House on Grosvenor Road and the Springer on Newfoundland Road.

In a glimmer of hope, the former Surrey Vaults on Surrey Street is now Mickey Zoggs bar and cafe, showing that new leases of life can be breathed back into former pubs, and they don’t all have to be turned into flats.

The Criterion was once owned by Trowbridge brewery Ushers – photo: Martin Booth

The name of the Criterion is still on the facade of another former pub. ‘Welcome back’ someone has written in chalk on a blackboard next to the front door, a memory of times not so long ago when pints were being served. There is even a hanging basket still with colourful flowers.

But appearances can be deceptive. Above the pub’s name is a board advertising that the building is for auction.

A guide price of £600,000 would buy a “development opportunity” with planning granted to create a scheme of five flats.

Drone footage shows a beer garden at the back of the Criterion, still with a parasol above a picnic table.

On the other side of Ashley Road, the former Prince of Wales is also still standing – with a handsome stained glass window pride of place featuring the emblem of three ostrich feathers.

Distinctive green tiles bring to mind another former pub, the Plume of Feathers in Hotwells, which even has a concept album written in its honour.

Coral Cafe has taken over what used to be the Prince of Wales, flags outside advertising that this is an Italian and Colombian coffee house serving sandwiches, panini, pastries and more.

Coral Cafe is now within the former Prince of Wales – photo: Martin Booth

A few hundred yards away is a possible glimpse into the future of the former Jamaica Inn: the sight of a building that once was a pub but which has no distinguishing features of its previous incarnation other than stories of times gone by.

The Duke of Sussex on Sussex Place has been turned into flats since closing in 2018.

On a visit two years before last orders were called for the last time, a CAMRA member described it as “a no-nonsense, down-to-earth one bar community pub”.

“Carpeted throughout with seating ranged around the edge. There is a pool table in the centre of the bar area, with a TV by the front window, and the small bar at the far end. May not open until mid-evening.”

The former Duke of Sussex, which closed in 2018 – photo: CAMRA

7 Sussex Place has now been divided into three flats – photo: Martin Booth

CAMRA’s WhatPub website recommends pubs to drink in near Sussex Place including the Star & Garter and the Cadbury in Montpelier; and the Miners Arms and the Duke of York in St Werburgh’s.

But there is no longer any pub to recommend in St Paul’s.

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• This small Bristol road once had almost 40 pubs
• Council starts to enforce pubs’ outdoor seating curfews
• Bristol poet pens a love letter to local pubs

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