I first glimpsed the Ship Inn only recently, on a walk from Bristol Temple Meads to the city centre along Redcliffe Way. When the sun has set, look up Pump Lane just before St Mary Redcliffe Church and there it is – shining like a beacon for weary travellers lost in the night.
The Ship Inn, however, presents a more welcoming facade from further away than it does from close up. Although a sign outside promises that families are welcome, it’s a pub that I would not choose to visit with my two-year-old daughter.
Also helpfully on another sign outside are the lagers on offer, in a pub that hosts the odd live music and shows all the big sporting games on its television screens.
The Ship Inn is far more interesting for what is nearby not inside. Only a hundred yards away in the garden of the church is a piece of tramline that was thrown here and embedded in the ground after a German bomb fell on Redcliffe Hill on April 11, 1941. It has been left in situ as a reminder of how close the church came to destruction.
Opposite the tramline on Colston Parade is the Frys House of Mercy, an almshouse dating from 1784; while a few doors down on the parish office of St Mary Redcliffe is a simple engraving advertising a long-forgotten business: ‘Mr Gardiner surgeon’.
Here is the Ship Inn viewed from the south entrance to the church garden:
The Ship Inn, 1 Cathay, Redcliffe, Bristol, BS1 6PA
I’m confused as to what “Pub of the week” means here. Normally I would assume it’s a reccomendation or at the very least a review. This particular “pub of the week” only describes the outside of the pub – the only thing you mention about the inside is that it has TVs.
It’s go a skittle alley in the back, which you can hire out for a evening do.
It’s what I call a traditional locals local pub where every know everybody.
Did you actually step foot inside this pub, because I’m not quite sure ? You could have written this review by looking in through the windows.
I love the ship inn. You’ll often find me loitering around the mens toilets there.