Pub 30, Day 10 – The Beehive

By Andy

The bell rang.

Unlike at school, where this was always a joyous occasion; when you're sat in a pub, it is a moment of despair. It can only ever be followed by two words:

“Last orders!”

We had run out of time. Our planned pub crawl around Hillsborough had come crashing to an inescapable halt. In order to continue, we once again had to head to town.

Luckily, The Queen's Ground is on the tram route. With West Street being the obvious stop to disembark at, we ended the night at The Beehive.

Pleasingly for West Street, The Beehive is still undeniably a pub – with carpeted floors and wooden chairs, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in the suburbs. Not to worry though, as a quick glance out the window will soon bring you back to reality, where the local entertainment includes drunken kebab juggling and high-heeled gymnastic routines.

All too many “pubs” in town have abandoned their roots and morphed into pub-bar bastards, unthinkable hybrids of J.D. Wetherspoon and Peter Stringfellow. This is undoubtedly an attempt to tick all the boxes, but all too often ends up pleasing no-one: an impressive array of guest ales and 4 Jagerbombs for £5 do not belong under the same roof.

The Beehive hasn't fallen for such populist nonsense, and it is all the better for it. Strangely, this seems to manifest itself in improved decorum – whereas at many city-centre drinkeries, punters crowd around the bar until the person at the front can no longer breathe, The Beehive retains a more orderly system, pleasing everyone who values an intact ribcage.

Don't be mistaken into thinking it's less lively than its neighbours though. When we arrived at almost midnight on a Thursday it was still buzzing with students, and on a Friday night it maintains its colony until closing time.

Getting into the spirit of things, we selected two pints of Freshers Ale, a fruity beer whose logo awakens nostalgia for anyone who spent their pocket money at the sweet shop.

Thankfully, Freshers (the ale) wasn't quite as sour as Refreshers (the sweets), although it did possess a tangy kick in honour of its inspiration.

Glancing around, we noticed something always sure to arouse our interest: the pool table stood idle. Although we had both proved our worth against formidable opponents so far on Pubquest, we were yet to play each other. That was about to change. Being of a similar ability, we agreed that the only way to determine who was better was to compete at every Pubquest pool table we encountered. With scores to settle and change to waste, the pool marathon began.

As most of the clientele at this time seemed more interested in drinking games than cue sports, we managed to hold on to the table for quite some time. This was bad news for Rob, who was woefully out of form. I took the first five frames, before he reduced the deficit to 5-1. However, just as he was announcing his comeback, he was rudely interrupted.

The bell rang.

“Last orders!”

The Beehive pool score: Andy 5-1 Rob

Pubquest pool score: Andy 5-1 Rob

Pub: The Beehive (240 West Street, S1 4EU)

Rating: 8/10

Pint: Freshers 

Brewery: Naylor's Brewery (Cross Hills, North Yorkshire)

NEXT UP: The quest for the 50p pool table, at The Cavendish...