The Old Mill House stands on the edge of what was once Weston
Tip, a large household rubbish landfill site on the edge of
Southampton. I went to Junior school over the road for a year,
but the pub wasn't even built then. When it was built it was
called The Grange for a while, and styled as a family restaurant,
but without much success. Since the rename it's still got
a beefeater-ish vibe about it. Every time I've been in there
its been dead, but at least you get served quick and get a
seat, as the bar area is massive. A pub for intellectual conversation
over a glass of Staropramen, rather than a raucous session
on the tequilla!
Once described to me as "the pub you take a bird if
you don't want your mates to see you", the Roll Call
is the place to go if you want a pint of real ale with your
dominoes. I can't be harsh to this pub as my Mum and sister
both worked there. I was also involved in a lock-in there
once, many years ago (allegedly, officer), where I left the
pub to be confronted by the sight of mate's uncle pissing
in the flowerbed by the main road.
If you fancy a drink in here, stick to the lounge bar (left-hand
side), as you're less likely to sit in someone's favourite
seat.
Just down the road from the Roll Call, and closer to the
heart of Butlocks Heath, the Cottage stands opposite the Hound
Parish Hall, home to the Junior Youth Club that Paul, Rich
and The Wee Man all attended religiously. The Cottage has
changed hands since I was last in there, which can only be
a good thing, given the old landlord used to walk his rottweiler
without its lead, but with a baseball bat in case it went
ortho-dental. Used to have a bar-billiards table, which is
the forgotten art of country pub gaming (along with Aunt Sally).
The Cottage is a cosy wee boozer split into two bars, with
low ceiling beams and loads of nick-nacks on the wall. Gives
you a "pleasant drink in a country pub" vibe. It
also boasts a very active website - check it out here.
The Station used to be a wee bit dodgy, to be honest. I
worked there as a barman for a couple of years. Once had a
ridiculously successful Sunday League team. The pub has undergone
a make-over and been painted red and green to go with its
Giants Plate rebranding.
Once upon a time this was a buzzing, vibrant pub filled with
young village types getting beered up before heading over
town to New Yorks, however these days I've no idea what its
like. Used to specialise in gassy mainstream lagers, usually
with one barrel of real ale (which was always a bastard to
change).
The Prince's proximity to the Vicky and Southampton Water
has always attracted a yachtie crowd, which is never a good
thing. Used to have a decent kitchen as well. My Netley-based
correspondents tell me that the Prince has gone downhill a
wee bit. My best visit in here was on a Wednesday afternoon,
when the Wee Man and I happened to stumble across a drinking
session involving Rich and Pete, who were both between jobs
at the time. The place to go if you're on a Campari and Soda/white
wine and spritzer tip.
Now a listed block of apartments on Victoria Road.
This pub closed when I was still very young, though its legend
lives on. Famous for the fat, old drunks who used to sleep
on its pavement bench, the pub was genuine salt-of-the-earth
boozer. Village legend continued to flourish after its demise,
with tales of cockroaches roaming freely amongst the half-cooked
meat pies for sale on the back bar. It is one of my personal
regrets that the pub did not live long enough for me to grace
the premises.
The RBL is open to all serving or retired servicemen, whilst
the Victoria and Central clubs are CIU affiliated. I've never
been in any of them to be honest (not being affiliated, myself),
but apparently the beer's cheap.
Made famous by BBC TV's Howard's Way in the 1980's. There
are a number of pubs in Hamble, with all but The Harrier full
of yachties. With its quaint, olde worlde cobbled street feel,
Hamble is a good venue for a leisurely summer afternoon/evening
pub crawl. The Wee Man often drinks up here with the Butlocks
boys, but for Rich and I and our pathological aversion to
yachties, Hamble is really best avoided.
By the way, The Jolly Sailor (the pub from Howard's Way)
is not actually in Hamble, but upstream in the neighbouring
village of Bursledon.
The suburbs of East Southampton, closest to Netley.
I wouldn't. Particularly not The Seaweed Inn, which in on
the Woolston-Netley coast road next to the Weston Flats. By
all accounts, pubs such as The Millers Pond (Sholing) and
The Newbridge Inn (Woolston) are perfectly acceptable boozers,
but best to give the London Arms (Woolston) a wide berth.
Also one to watch out for is the last bus from Southampton
to Netley, the 23.05 No 17. On a Friday and Saturday night
this is a perfectly acceptable, if a little bumpy, journey,
best undertaken in a pleasant stupor. However, when the bus
stops at the 2nd Woolston Stop, 20-30 people pile on from
Woolston Social club, and proceed to urinate, fornicate and
vomit all over the bus. This is a time when you need to have
your wits about you to dodge any wayward snooker cues/pint
glasses/Chinese takeaway cartons that may be heading your
way. A bus driver once told me that of all the last bus routes
in Southampton (and Southampton's got its fair share of dodgy
areas), the one that most drivers dreaded was the Number 17.
When younger, I would do all my serious drinking in the town.
A lot has changed since those days, as the building of the
huge West Quay shopping centre has led to a lot of shops deserting
the Above Bar shopping area, leaving buildings for the chain
pubs to move into. It's also a lot more acceptable to be a
student in the centre of town - in my day students were confined
to the Bevois Valley 'Ghetto'.
Many of these new pubs are pretty formulaic - Hogshead,
Yates Wine Lodge, Ale Café, Wetherspoons and the like.
One of the first of it's type in Southampton was The Square
Balloon (now known as The Square). It's a cavernous ex-Cinema
that on Friday and Saturday nights is full to bursting with
bright young things. Rich and the Wee Man's wee brother, Deano,
swear by this place.
On the clubbing front, Southampton tends to have loads of
bars that stay open until 1am (and therefore feel the right
to charge you £3 to get in after 9pm) and not that many
actual clubs. The main late bars are Chicago Rock Cafe (where
Matt Le Tissier got headbutted by a taxi-driver, allegedly)
and Jumpin Jak's, both of which are chains, and the hit-and-miss
Schooners at Ocean Village marina. On the club side, there's
the chain Ikon/Diva clubs, plus New Yorks, which was a legend
on the Southampton club scene for sheer cheesiness.
(Now I have renounced my season ticket,
I am in Southampton less and less these days, so apologies
if this information is out of date)
