What does Easter mean to you? Jesus. Chocolate. Bunnies. Chocolate bunnies. In Bristol, Easter sees the reopening of the Red Lodge and Georgian House. In an eastern corner of the city, this time of year also means the welcome return of Beese’s riverside bar and tea gardens after a long winter break.
There can be nowhere else in the city by which the easiest means to arrive is by boat. At the weekend, catch a ferry from the city centre and arrive in style.
Being a weekday, I caught the number one bus with my daughter and her mum, got out by the Good Intent pub and proceeded to walk down an alleyway and then a woodland path before arriving at the gate.
As an alternative, Cycle The City, a new business based in No. 1 Harbourside, is now offering cycle tours to Beese’s on a Saturday, with return trip by boat.
You can drive there as well, but where’s the fun in that?
Inside, Beese’s is a pretty standard bar, with a few electric fan heaters in what is no more than a glorified shed that could do with some serious refurbishment.
This, however, is where that old adage location, location, location comes into its own. Because where Beese’s is unique is its position on a secluded bend of the River Avon, the peace and tranquillity only broken every now and then by the sound of a train.
The garden overlooks the water, and is itself overlooked by a lifesize model of a cow. There is also a decking area and to one side a permanent marquee which hosts regular live music.
There is a line on one wall of the main building to indicate where the water came up to in 2009, while the barman also doubles as ferryman to transport guests from Beese’s to the Hanham side of the river, said to be the oldest river ferry crossing on the Avon and once run by a Mr Beese whose wife founded the tea gardens in 1846.
When the barman is not doubling as a ferryman, he is serving Ma Beese’s Chocolate Stout, made by Towles’ Brewery in Easton – sponsors of September’s annual beer festival – with cocoa beans that have been roasted here.
There are doggy treats on the bar for our four-legged friends, one of whom had his chin on my knee for most of my visit, much to the delight of my young daughter, as he was unsuccessfully campaigning for a bit of my jacket potato.
For us heathens, Easter in Bristol means a chance to visit Beese’s. If you haven’t done so already, get yourself there by boat, car, foot, two wheels or four – by whatever means of transport are at your disposal to one of Bristol’s most delightful hidden gems.
Beese’s Bar & Tea Gardens, Wyndham Crescent, Bristol, BS4 4SX. 0117 977 7412.
