Author George Orwell once described his perfect pub - the Moon Under Water - in an article titled by the same name that lists ideals that Bristol’s King William Ale House subscribes to. The long list in the author’s essay includes qualities like a separate bar for darts, two or more burning fires, possessing neither a radio nor a piano, and putting the beer first.
You’ll find all of this and more in the orange-painted King Street pub, which welcomes drinkers back to the 18th century - save for the electric lighting and the digitised till. Everything else is tinged with the past without looking rundown, several expansive fireplaces, the tramcar seating and the garish carpets - in keeping with the style of Samuel Smith Old Brewery.
The pub was closed for more than six months from May until December and has been taken over by new owners who hope to breathe new life into the building without altering its appearance.
Read more: Another South Bristol pub is set to reopen after four closures were announced last month
“We’re not doing anything to change it. We had to do some well-needed structural refurbishments as we had some broken beams and did some work in the upstairs bar where there are pool tables and darts,” said the pub’s new manager, Alex Lent.
As the pub is a heritage site and Grade II-listed, the wooden beams had to be a like-for-like replacement, which meant importing four Moroccan oak beams at £2,500 a piece. The team is planning on replacing the pool tables and dart boards in the near future.
Alex first started working in hospitality when he was 16, taking a break after 12 years to work as a prison officer and at airport security. But last year, he went back into the pub sector, taking the reins of the Samuel Smith’s pub, a Tadcaster brewery with some 200 venues situated predominantly in the former mill, mine and steel areas of the north of England. This makes the King William Ale House a bit of an anomaly in Bristol.
Like its King Street neighbours, it's housed in a building imbued with history. According to Alex’s research, it has been a public house since 1701, having previously served as a shelter for abused women for some 60 years from 1630. It’s even rumoured to be haunted, and while Alex is hesitant to label it paranormal activity, even he’s witnessed unexplainable incidents.
'We are a digital detox pub'
But the pub is one of very few Samuel Smith pubs in the south, but it’s one of the most traditional pub groups in the country. There is no music playing, signs discouraging you from using your phone and no screens showing the football, which sets it apart from its neighbours.
“The company’s policy is old-fashioned. It relies on word of mouth and we are nowhere on social media. The whole point of this kind of pub is to make it feel like the 1600s when there was no social media or telephones.
“That’s why we have a policy here that we are a digital detox pub. We rely on good quality beer, good service and a clean kitchen serving fresh food.”
It’s in keeping with the street’s heritage of public houses, which was pedestrianised to allow more space for outside drinking. Recently, a city centre landlord spoke out on a curfew crackdown by council enforcers on the late night outdoor pavement seating that could kill off many city centre pubs.
King William has a 11pm curfew on drinks outside, but the new policy by Bristol City Council would mean outdoor seating, including enormous picnic benches, would have to be moved inside or turned upside down by 11pm. Bristol Live has asked the council for clarification when the news first broke.
“I’ve seen it happen in Birmingham. Broad Street was the most famous place for youths to go with the likes of Prysm and Walkabout. They built some residential blocks there. Now the street is lacking the buzz and more like a business quarter,” Alex explained.
“That will be one aspect that’s taken away here, the buzzing of the street, which is the whole culture of Bristol. This area in Bristol is always full but it won’t be full if they don’t have any pubs here.”
Pouring beers with the same 360-year recipe
King Street maintains its reputation for attracting drinkers in their droves, with each pub offering something unique. In a city with a rich beer scene, the King William is set apart from the rest through its range of traditional beers from Samuel Smith Brewery. The brewery has a long legacy of making organic, vegan beers before they were buzzwords in the food industry, so these qualities were scarcely shouted about until recently.
There are around 20 beers on offer including ten on draught, three stouts, organic IPA, porters and six fruit beers made with real fruits. The brewery’s traditional beers range from £3.50 to £6.80.
“We can be the cheapest pub on the street or the most expensive,” Alex joked. The beers have been using the same recipe since it first started.
“The beers have an interesting story. They’ve been using the same yeast since they first opened some 360 years ago and they still use rock squares where they ferment the beers. In Tadcaster, they still deliver the beers by horse and carriage.”
King William Ale House’s food menu was spruced up around a month ago but still focuses on pub classics like bangers and mash, Samuel Smith’s steak and ale pie, and beer-battered fish and chips - which are all made by Alex from scratch. Having worked behind a bar for most of his working life - which saw him crowned European champion for bartending - he fancied a change of scene. He is hoping to introduce Sunday roasts back to the menu in the near future.
“We’re not planning on changing much but we might add something or take something away from time to time. We know it works already.”
While most things will stay the same, some new things may be in the pipeline as Alex wants to host live comedy and art exhibitions in the upstairs bar. On top of several flats used as staff accommodation, the pub has some eight double bedrooms that he would like to let out to holidaymakers.
King William Ale House is open is open Wednesday to Sunday. 20 King St, Bristol BS1 4EF
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