Pubs and Bars / A-Z Bristol pub crawl
A-Z Bristol pub crawl: The Apple Tree, Bedminster
“Do you want the light turned on?” the landlord asked a new visitor to the Apple Tree who was struggling to write in his notebook on a recent evening.
The lights were turned on but then off again. The man could just about see well enough in the gloom of this one-room Bedminster cider house.
When was the last time that you spoke to strangers in a pub? By the end of his pint of Thatchers Gold, the first-time frequenter had spoken to almost everyone inside.
is needed now More than ever
There are some areas of Bristol without a single pub. Knowle West for example, where social clubs – accused by some of being cliquey – are now the only places people can go to drink within their own neighbourhood.
It’s one of the reasons for this new weekly feature on Bristol24/7, where we will go on what could be a never-ending pub crawl across our city, working our way from A to Z and when we get to the end of the alphabet, starting at the beginning again.
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Bedminster still has its fair share of pubs, with the Apple Tree one where everyone seems to know everyone else.
Inside, there is a fruit machine in one corner and a jukebox in the other.
One of the punters inside had just been to check out the new Cheekies on East Street that has opened in what used to be the Assembly and was not too impressed. (“There was a cluster of people at the bar. But nobody inside.”)
Back at the Apple Tree, she cracked open a can of Fosters. On tap, four out of seven drinks are Thatchers: Cheddar Valley, Traditional, Gold and Haze.
Opening hours here are midday to 8pm, and midday to 11pm on a Friday (‘all times subject to management discretion’ according to a sign), with plenty of fun nights past documented in photos above the bar.
The new visitor’s pen was borrowed by a new friend to write down the number of a job agency for a local looking for work. The lights remained turned off.
The Apple Tree, Philip Street, Bedminster, Bristol, BS3 4EA
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: Fight continues to prevent another pub being turned into flats
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