Pubs and Bars / Pub of the Week
Pub of the week: The Sandringham
More Bristolian accents are heard in an hour in The Sandringham in Brislington than in a week spent walking around the centre of Bristol.
A poster for a 70s soul train night is Blu-Tacked to a wall: “Relive those memories of the 70s.” It’s certainly pitched right to the locals in flat caps here at the Sandy Park Road pub on a Friday evening.
It is also almost entirely male. Western music plays as I walk in, and every head turns as if a young woman walking into the pub is a rare sight.
The grand exterior of the pub fits into the historic architecture, with Arno’s Court Triumphal Arch only a minute’s walk away.
The stately pub has a more modest interior that makes no effort to be stylish. The chairs look like someone’s great grandma donated the material and the mismatched tables might be from a jumble sale. The carpet is a dirty red to hide the spillage stains.
There are two bars here, one with a pool table. Vaping is banned from one bar but allowed in another. As well as the soul train night, the pub hosts regular poker nights and a monthly quiz. There’s even a magic show coming up soon.
Live football plays in the corner and from all the posters about matches you can tell it’s an event on match days. On this recent afternoon, however, the mood is calm.
There’s nothing elegant about The Sandringham but there doesn’t need to be. It’s spacious, fairly clean and has a television for the football.
Locals nod to each other at the bar as their eyes flick between a pint and the television.
The Sandringham, 8 Sandy Park Road, Brislington, Bristol, BS4 3PE
0117 983 0383
Read more: Shop Brislington trail
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