The Beehive, Swindon

Official site of The Beehive - bee-hive.co.uk

Official site of The Beehive - bee-hive.co.uk

An unusual wedge-shaped pub in the residential back streets away from the main drag, it’s not somewhere you’re going to stumble across by accident if you’re a visitor to the town, but is certainly worth making the small detour to check it out. Internally it consists of three interconnected rooms, all on slightly different levels with three or four steps between each. The central room houses the bar counter and looked to be the cosiest of the three with sanded wooden boards on the floor, and a small fire blazing away at one end which was a nice touch on a cold December afternoon. Some of the décor was a little uninspiring with just a plain whitewashed ceiling for example, but the overall feel was very pleasant. Seating was mostly fitted wooden benches around the perimeter, whilst above the fireplace was a brick chimney breast and some interesting pictures either side which looked to be painted directly on to the wall. A mannequin complete with long platinum blond hair and fishnet stockings was sat in one corner, and I had to do a double take to check she wasn’t real. The lower room was broadly similar in terms of décor with the addition of some wallpaper on much of the walls, and there were multiple Good Beer Guides on the wall suggesting they feature regularly. Beers on tap were Olde Trip, Two Bees, Rocking Rudolph, Hop Monster Child of the Jago, Kettlesmith Satan Claws and Cotleigh Kiwi. Ciders meanwhile were Pheasant Plucker and Ashton Press. All in all, a lovely little pub with a friendly barmaid and a cosy ambience. I could quite happily have settled in for a few if we’d had more time.