Pubs and Bars / A-Z Bristol pub crawl
A-Z Bristol Pub Crawl: The Mardyke, Hotwells
It’s rare these days for pubs to be busy on a mid-week early afternoon, especially one without a beer garden.
But, on a recent late-May afternoon, the Mardyke on Hotwell Road was proudly bucking that trend.
That day, the clock had just passed 3pm when every table was occupied by gaggle of mostly older gentlemen, some alone and some with friends.
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“Andy!” shouted one man across the pub to a solitary drinker, who was more focused on composing a text with his index finger than replying to his mate.
Conversations were competing with the juke box, pumping an eclectic range of loud music through a sound system – from REM and Cilla Black to the Stranglers.
Pints of cider at the Mardyke cost £2.50
Meanwhile, a woman focussed on the fruit machine in the middle of the pub, eyes and fingers deftly darting up and down in concentration.
Making his way through what was clearly a regular haunt, another grey-haired punter nodded and smiled at half a dozen people seated as he ambled towards the bar.
Following him to buy drinks, we were quickly reminded of the Maryke’s reputation as being on of the cheapest pubs in the city.
All the ciders in this long-established pub cost £2.50 and the cheapest larger, Fosters, was £2.70, a bar staff told us – probably pushing at half the price of the same at the Grain Barge across the road.
Old metal advertisements line the walls of this traditional boozer
Despite peels of sun streaming in, the decor was defiantly very dark, from dark wood panels to black tables and stools to the outside’s black paint job.
Brightening the decor was a huge array of old metal advertisements, among them adverts for News of The World, Pears Soap and Wills’s Gold Flake cigarettes.
The Mardyke’s own history is one that goes back as far as 1865. At that time, the pub was located immediately across the street from the Mardyke ferry, which transported workers back and forth across the Floating Harbour to the dockyards.
Today, it remained just as bustling as it once was 150 years ago, with a gaggle of regulars, cheap pints and plenty of conversation.
The Madyke, 126 Hotwell Road, Hotwells, Bristol, BS8 4UB
All photos: Betty Woolerton
Read next:
- A-Z Bristol Pub Crawl: Lebeqs Tavern, Stapleton Road
- One of Bristol’s oldest restaurants to close
- Key footpath linking Hotwells and Cliftonwood to reopen this summer
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