After a quiet start to The Tester pub walk at (the) Anchor, it was all hands on deck and splice the main brace as I set sail for the second nautical-themed pub…
As Russ correctly observed in his comment on The Anchor post, it wasn’t a long voyage to get to next pub. Russ had it down as 2 minutes which to be honest was rushing me a bit, and anyway I meandered along taking in the sights of old Redbridge…
…where old cottages once looked out over the Redbridge shore, but now only see the stacked steel boxes of the adjacent container port, and share their mock gas lamp lit streets with blocks of flats…
However the centre piece of old Redbridge amongst all this flotsam and jetsam, has to be The Ship Inn…
This lovely building has been around since at least the 17th century and records of its life as a pub go back to the early 1800s. It may well have quenched the thirst of shipwrights and labourers building the naval and merchant ships in adjacent shipyards.
The pub is now owned by pubco EI. Inside the pub there is one main room, right across the front of the pub with dining tables on the left side…
…and a smaller area on the right of the bar, with TV and fireplace, which though set out for dining, seemed more for drinkers….
There are beer garden tables out front occupied by a group of people enjoying the sunshine, and apparently the pub also has a skittle alley somewhere.
Needless to say The Ship Inn makes the most of its name and history, with a lot of nautical themed bits and pieces inside…
An old local sea dog with big white beard and large walking stick, was sat at the bar drinking Speckled Hen and eyed me suspiciously as I walked in. However there was a friendly welcome from the bar staff and a decent range of cask ales…
As ever I was attracted to the unusual pump clip like a moth to a flame…and so had a pint of Groovy Moover…
Actually I wasn’t totally blinded by the bling of the pump clip, as Hopback Brewery do quality beer and this was no exception. Groovy Mover (4.6%) is a cool crisp pale ale with light citrus hop flavour, I thought it was very similar to Summer Lightening but not quite as strong. It was on top form and very good.
So a great pub which still captures some of the atmosphere of old maritime Redbridge…
…and you can still imagine that you can hear the wind whistling round the rigging of the merchantman and the rumble of barrels along the quayside…
….or perhaps it was the traffic on the Redbridge flyover….
Garden Hermit Goes to the Pub 
Love those photos, particularly the one where your flat cap takes centre stage.
Never been to Redbridge (or Shirley, if honest) – Good Beer Guide free zones over the years. Staggered to read Redbridge has 14,000+ residents !
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Thanks Martin. I thought 14,000 was a bit of a strange number too, but I guess Redbridge has now just merged in with adjoining Southampton suburbs like Millbrook, and there are quite a few blocks of flats in the area – so that will up the citizen count a bit.
I reckon The Ship Inn is definitely worthy of a GBG place, but other pubs in this area (not Shirley) seem to struggle to support cask ale…
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Finally! Someone who hasn’t posted umpty bloody times for the past week whilst I’ve been busy with company (and my wife’s return after two weeks up north).
“As Russ correctly observed in his comment”
I’m famous! (LOL)
“has to be The Ship Inn…”
I have to say, judging by the outside, it does look a tad better than the Anchor.
“which though set out for dining, seemed more for drinkers….”
Not a bad compromise.
“Seagoing requisites…but whaling probably not a Redbridge industry…”
And methinks they got that sign from the U.S. Siasconset is a small village in Nantucket county in Massachusetts, which did in fact have a whaling station back in the 1800s.
“Groovy beer….”
And it came in one of their own glasses which is a nice touch.
“….or perhaps it was the traffic on the Redbridge flyover….”
(slow golf clap)
Cheers!
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Thanks Russ – nice to know my campaign to reduce excessive posting on pubs (CAMREPP) is appreciated…!
I’ve had a bit of a busy week too, hence the interlude in The Tester pub walk (at least you’ll have time to get ice cream and popcorn before part 3)…
I’m so far behind on the famous pub blogs I don’t know if I’ll ever catch up – but I’ve got a weeks holiday now so that might help – if not I may need to retire…🙂
Useful bit of info about Saisconset – very interesting….perhaps they ought to ‘twin’ with Redbridge…
The Ship Inn was a nice pub – a dining pub but one you feel comfortable in, just having a drink – and good beer too…
PS – you’re way more famous than me Russ – by mentioning you I am of course just associating myself with some of your fame…🙄
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Had company arrive last Friday for a week, a day before my wife arrived home from two weeks up north. So yes, a bit too busy to peruse the blogs properly. 🙂
As for the famous bit; pfft. If you lot weren’t blogging I’d have nothing to reply to – so it goes hand-in-hand PH. 😉
Cheers
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It would be nothing without your comments Russ🙂
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