Pubs and Bars / Pub of the Week
Pub of the week: The Barley Mow, East Street
“Do you want me to get naked? I’ve got great hairy bollocks.” That was the response as I took a picture of the dimly lit room. But somehow the question didn’t seem out of place in this Bedminster pub. The Barley Mow, on East Street, exudes a sense of history, as if tales of drunken debauchery had seeped into the walls and now made up the fabric of the place.
Greeted at the door with the doff of a Del Boy cap, I could tell that the pub would be full of character. A net curtain draped across the window added an air of comfort, and at the same time, from the outside, made me wonder what was hiding beyond.
Once through the door, I felt half a dozen eyes ogling at me as if I were a rare species of bird – not far from the truth inside these four walls. I had gone where very few young women go these days.
My presence was so intriguing that it called for the landlady, dressed in a pink nightie, to be disturbed from her slumber. “This is a local’s pub” she warned me at first. After some convincing, she gave a nod of approval for me to have a drink and wandered back upstairs.
The bar was the brightest part of the small pub, illuminated by back lights that made a stretch of near-empty spirit bottles the centrepiece of the room. Pictures of sponsored guide dogs, named after deceased customers, hung above the bar.
I grabbed a pint of Fosters and reclined by a nearby table. The seat was made from red leather which matched the embossed, gloss-painted ceiling from where the rotor blades of a fan hung over the room. Surrounded by the many framed pictures and mirrors hanging on the walls, I started to feel more at home.
Everyone around me were clearly at home too. Locals in paint-spattered jeans and flannel shirts burped loudly as they stared blankly at a TV screen buzzing with the sounds of a day-time crime show.
At first I couldn’t help thinking that this was a home I hadn’t been invited to. But the longer I stayed the more comfortable I felt. One man who had fully adjusted to my presence, started to tell me more about his local haunt. “This collage is made from pictures of all the locals. A lot of them are deceased now, but we like to keep their memories alive.”
The Barley Mow contains more history than at first glance. Behind those net curtains and tile walls is a pub with community at its heart. At a time when Bristol and its pub scene seem to be constantly evolving to the latest fleeting trends, it is good to see stalwarts like the Barley Mow holding dearly to the things that matter.
The Barley Mow, 1-3 East Street, Bedminster, Bristol BS3 4HH
0117 983 0386
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