Pubs and Bars / A-Z Bristol pub crawl
A-Z Bristol Pub Crawl: The Dark Horse, Bedminster
There’s a surprisingly lively atmosphere in the Dark Horse on Nelson Parade on a recent early weekday evening, almost all the tables claimed by a mix of couples and colleagues making the most of the mellow September climes.
Most punters have gravitated to a coveted spot in the beer garden: the setting an explosion of colour with surreal street art splashed on every available inch of the walls.
Inside, light glints through a set of stained glass windows behind a bar that stocks all the usual suspects, and photographs of bygone Bristol adorn the exposed brick walls.
is needed now More than ever
The clash of old and new is an example of how history and modernity now very much intermingle in the pub, which has undergone many different guises over the years and was formerly known as the Rope Walk.
The Dark Horse on Nelson Parade has undergone multiple iterations over the centuries
Famed for its live music in the 1990s, the Dark Horse was built on the site of an 1860s public house nicknamed the Old Black House.
It now appears to cater to an eclectic clientele, and everyone, including several tables of 30-somethings chattering away in Spanish, looks right at home.
Many have been drawn to the pub for its food offering. Casa Latina promises Bristol’s “most varied and authentic Latin food” from an unassuming table visible through gates from the road.
Casa Latina is a pop-up kitchen in this Bedminster boozer
Around the back, the hum of the football is playing on multiple televisions, which is often punctuated by a table of two women periodically dissolving into giggles as they wave their vapes around.
“Ugh, ick,” one says agastly when the other told her a date ended early because he brought his bicycle.
A few tables away and a couple in their 60s brighten with anticipation when an animated fellow with a feather on his cap asks them if they are part of the ever-popular Blood and Butchery in Bedminster walk, staged by Show of Strength theatre company. The couple nods and is swept away.
By 7.30pm, it’s time for us to go too, but it’s a different story for the rest of the punters who linger over their pints to make the most of the mild September night.
The Dark Horse used to be nicknamed the Old Black House
The Dark Horse, 5 Nelson Parade, Bedminster, Bristol, BS3 4JA
All photos: Betty Woolerton
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