Pubs and Bars / Pub of the Week
Pub of the Week: The Colosseum
“I’ve been dead three times, mate,” one man in a shell suit top and a small spiked Mohican tells the table he is sitting on apropos of nothing on a recent Thursday evening at the Colosseum. “I’m too stubborn to admit that I’m dead.”
It turns out that the chap is called Mark, but he likes to be known as Manic. “I have to buy my shirts from China,” he continues, now stripped down to a tight-fitting pink t-shirt with a unicorn on. “I’m an extra large Chinese man.”
The Colosseum on Redcliff Hill – which opens for breakfast each morning at 7.30am and offers B&B rooms from £40 a night – is located in a rapidly altering area of Bristol but is seemingly impervious to change.
is needed now More than ever
Next door to the four-star Mercure Holland House hotel and just down the road from the new Redcliffe Parade development, it’s beginning to feel a bit like the tiny village Asterix lives in surrounded on all sides by the Romans.
Built in the 1960s, the Colosseum seems jarringly out of place opposite the majestic St Mary Redcliffe church, and will soon be overlooking the recently approved new development on Redcliffe Wharf.
The Colosseum pub in Redcliffe is seemingly impervious to change
In the other half of this two-roomed pub from Manic, half a dozen friends sit on stools at the bar. In one corner of the room, sports trophies are proudly displayed, two pool tables are illuminated by bright lights and a darts board is next to a fruit machine.
On the jukebox, PJ Harvey is followed by Ed Sheeran singing about Doritos and a bottle of wine.
Manic is now talking about how he used to be a dancer during the 90s rave days. “You look like you’re an active person. On the dance scene,” Manic tells one customer as soon as walks into the pub.
Four friends on another table are talking about the current form Bristol City are in, underneath so much tinsel that it could probably stretch from here to Ashton Gate.
While the barman pours a £2.70 pint of Courage Best Bitter, more people wander in. Tonight just so happens to be the Christmas party for The Bristolian, a magazine with a mission to be the “smiter of the high and mighty”.
A box of the new issue is brought in without too much ceremony. “Good health everybody,” someone shouts. “Merry fucking Christmas.”
The Colosseum, Redcliff Hill, Bristol, BS1 6SJ
0117 987 0070
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