Bath Pub Tour

Bath is a city situated at the bottom of the Avon Valley, and near the southern edge of the Cotswolds. The population of the city is about 80,000. It was granted city status by Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1590.

The city was founded, among surrounding hills, in the valley of the River Avon around naturally-occurring hot springs, where the Romans built baths and a temple, giving it the name Aquae Sulis. Edgar was crowned king of England at Bath Abbey in 973. Much later, it became popular as a spa resort during the Georgian era, which led to a major expansion that left a heritage of exemplary Georgian architecture crafted from Bath Stone.

The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987, and has a variety of theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues, which have helped to make it a major centre for tourism, with over one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors to the city each year.

Let Cotswold Pub Tours guide you around this wonderful city, including of course its classic pubs, at which you can sample excellent local ales.

Breweries in and around Bath

Bath Ales is a brewery located in the town of Warmley, just west of Bath. The brewery was established in 1995. Since that time, it has experienced steady growth, which included opening a new bottling plant in 2007. The brewery is noted for its simple label artwork, featuring a dashing hare. It runs several pubs in the Bath and Bristol area, including the Salamander in Bath, and brews a number of regular and seasonal traditional ales:

• Gem – 4.1% abv best bitter
• Barnstormer – 4.5% abv dark bitter
• SPA – 3.7% abv golden pale ale
• Wild Hare – 5.0% abv organic golden pale ale
• Dark Hare – 4.0% abv, seasonal stout
• Festivity – 5.0% abv, seasonal rum porter
• Rare Hare – 5.2% abv, seasonal premium bitter

Abbey Ales is an English brewery located in the city of Bath itself. It was founded in 1997. Its flagship beer is Bellringer, a cask beer with an abv of 4.2%. Other beers which are brewed on a seasonal basis, or for special occasions, include:

• Mild 4.0% abv
• Chorister 4.5% abv
• Bath Star 4.6% abv
• Resurrection 4.6% abv
• Steeple Jack 4.7% abv
• Salvation 4.8% abv
• Twelfth Night 5.0% abv, a dark bitter produced at Christmas.
• White Friar 5.0% abv
• Black Friar 5.3% abv
• Bellringer Maximus 5.0% abv, a new version of the Bellringer bitter, launched at the Bath Beer Festival in October 2007, to celebrate the brewery's 10th anniversary.

The brewery also owns the Star Inn and Coeur de Lion pubs in Bath.

Traditional pubs in Bath

Old Green Tree

The Old Green Tree is a classic English pub, serving a number of real ales. The beam running across the middle of the bar marks the old back wall of the pub. For many of the years prior to the extension, the pub had its own brewery in its rear yard. In 1923, the pub was extended to the format it now has, and the oak panelling and wooden floors were put in. It was, therefore, a theme pub of its time, harking back to the Victorian glory' days of the public house. Fortunately, the craftsmen involved took enormous care with their work, as can be seen by even a cursory examination of the joining and finishing.

The pub has hardly been altered since that time (minor additions being the bookcase and cushions). It boasts three oak panelled rooms, each with access to the bar, with a maximum capacity (estimated) of 100. Brass numbers on the doors date back to the 1920's when the equivalent of Customs and Excise required each separate drinking area or drink storage space to be numbered. This was to ensure that each area on each inspection was checked.

Once inside from the street, two doors are presented to you, both leading to tiny, cosy rooms. The small bar fills the middle room, with open doorways into the other two rooms. Wonderful oak panelling adorns the walls, and colourful paper money decorates the ceilings of the bar and moves on into frames on the walls.

The notice reminding customers that smoking is no longer permitted in English pubs is somewhat unconventional - a framed poster threatens an upside-down slapping with a wet fish for those who dare smoke in this wonderful room!

Raven

The Raven is composed of two Georgian town houses located on a quiet cobbled street in the centre of Bath, a few steps from the famous Milsom Street.

It was CAMRA’s Bath and Borders branch Pub of Year 2006, serving over 200 individual ales in the last year alone.

Coeur De Lion

The Coeur de Lion is Bath's smallest pub. A woodcarver called William Batt acquired a license to sell beer around 1860 at number 4 Northumberland Place (across the road from the Coeur). A few years later he named his beer house the Avondale Stores. Around 1880, after many changes of licensee, it was re-christened the Coeur De Lion.

In 1886 Stoffel and Co, grocers, who by then owned most of Northumberland Place, decided it made more sense to move the Coeur De Lion across the road to where it is now situated.

In 1990, owners Devenish announced that the Coeur De Lion was to close. A large petition from the regulars and support from local MP Chris Patten, the Preservation Society, the Georgian Trust and the Council, saw plans to turn it into a shop rejected.

Described as a "gem", Bath's smallest pub is included in a CAMRA guide to Britain’s top 100 pubs.

One of the striking features of this Victorian pub is a stained glass front window, which, ironically, features the name of Devenish, which was thwarted in its attempt to close the pub.

Today, the Coeur de Lion is now thriving under the ownership of Abbey Ales, and is still going strong.

Salamander

The Salamander is situated along a tiny side street in the centre of Bath, tucked between Queen Square and Milsom Street.

The pub is owned by Bath Ales, and serves all their regular ales, as well as guest ales from other breweries.

Star Inn

The Star Inn is one of the city’s oldest hostelries, and was first licensed as a public house in 1760, when the entrance was in Guinea Lane. Set amongst the splendour of Bath's world famous architecture, the pub provides a welcome escape from the bustle of city life.

A superbly presented example of a Gaskell and Chambers fitted pub, the Star retains many original features, including the 19th Century bar fittings and the numbered rooms, compulsory when licensing laws required all rooms to be numbered and listed for their purpose.

A landlord of yesteryear installed a lift to transport the barrels from the cellar. The lift rises through the trap door, set in the floor and still in use today.

The smaller bar, still used by many older regulars, features a long single bench known as "death row", where a complimentary pinch of snuff can still be found in the tins on the ledge above the wall panelling.

The pub is now a listed building and appears in the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra’s) Inventory of Heritage Pubs.