Pubs and Bars / A-Z Bristol pub crawl
A-Z Bristol Pub Crawl: The Avon Packet, Southville
“To Thatchers Gold!” went the shout from the beer garden of the Avon Packet on a recent Friday evening.
Drinkers share this pub’s beer garden with half a dozen ducks, who have the luxury of a small pond within their own specially fenced off area.
It’s not just ducks who currently have to contend with fenced off areas, with the well manicured grass currently out of bounds to both humans and avians.
The Avon Packet’s popular beer garden (ducks just out of shot) – photo: Martin Booth
“Fucking rammed in there, standing room only,” said one of the newest visitors to the garden, separated from the main section of the pub by a metal walkway (‘NOT A PLAY AREA’ informs a sign).
A pit in the garden is even rumoured to have been used for bear-baiting – Southville’s own bearpit.
The pub’s popularity tonight is not just because it’s a Friday but because Bristol Bears are also playing at Ashton Gate less than a mile away.
One pair of visitors wearing Bears bobble hats had forgotten that Vauxhall Bridge is currently closed but managed to shin over the fences around the span to pop up on Coronation Road almost opposite the pub.
They walked in rather pleased with their obstacle course over the New Cut and ordered themselves celebratory pints of Thatchers Gold.
The Avon Packet was built in 1843, with a tiled frontage added around 1900 – photo: Martin Booth
Main photo: Martin Booth
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