Carpenters Arms, Shirenewton

Very popular country pub, a long whitewashed building that was once three businesses with the original pub extending into the adjoining blacksmiths and carpenters shop, hence the name. Inside there are several connecting tastefully decorated rooms. Among the most interesting items are the apprentice bellows from the former smithy hanging from the ceiling of the 'Smithy Bar'. Some of the bar fittings, in a combination of wood and iron, were retrieved from an old Bristol chapel. Note also the chamber pot collection. As with many very old buildings there is a ghostly tale to tell. This of a time in the 1980s when crashing noises were heard in the cellar, objects were seen flying around the bar and the ghostly presence of a young woman detected. These events were attributed to the crime of a former landlord who had murdered his daughter and had walled up her body in the snug. Talking of bodies, one table in the room immediately to the right of the entrance was used to lay out bodies, although not recently! If seeking a bite to eat, several blackboards near the entrance announce the appetising menu. The reduced beer range sees London Pride usually accompanied by Marston's Pedigree which is sometimes changed for Wychwood Hobgoblin. There might also be a pin of cider on the bar.