Transport on Demand – Access to Country Pubs

An exciting new Connect Transport-on-Demand bus service has been launched centred on the Andover (Northern Test Valley area), providing flexible bus journeys in areas that have no public transport.

Importantly the service is available to anyone, including those who enjoy visiting country pubs.

As well as linking local communities and helping many by who have suffered from the cuts by local bus companies, notably by Stagecoach, this could prove to be a lifeline to many village public houses.

Modern minibuses

The pre-bookable service which uses modern well-equipped minibuses (USB, etc), operates where there are no other bus services. The minibuses do not follow a fixed routes or timetables but they do serve around 350 bus stops.

The only requirements are to register in advance, book the journey (by app, online or phone) and to pay the fare which varies from £2 to £5.50.

The service currently runs from 7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday with journeys on a first come first served basis which can be booked up to three days in advance.

Local Campaign for Real Ale members are giving full support to this service and 'test' trips are being held.
North Hampshire CAMRA Pub Protection Officer John Buckley has been trying some of the possibilities saying "Many pubs have been cut off from customers through the loss of local bus services. This can give them much needed support."
He has also has compiled a list of public houses that had lost services and now have a Transport-on-Demand stop nearby – within around a 5-minute walk (see below).

Details are here:

https://www.cfirst.org.uk/community-transport/connect-transport/connecttod/

PUB LIST
Public houses with Transport-on-Demand Bus Stops (within approx 5-min walk):
* = current status of pub uncertain
Always check opening times.

Andover Town Centre is served by stops at the
Bus Station, Railway Station and Memorial Hospital.

plus on town edge:

Anton Arms Andover

Andover Tap Andover

Southampton Arms Andover

Station Hotel Andover

Clatford Arms Goodworth Clatford

Royal Oak  Goodworth Clatford

Crook & Shears Upper Clatford

Poplar Farm Inn Little Ann

Eagle Abbotts Ann

George Inn Vernham Dean

George & Dragon * Hurstbourne Tarrant

White Hart Stoke

George Inn St Mary Bourne

Mayfly Fullerton

Abbots Mitre Chilbolton

White Lion * Wherwell

Plough Longparish

Cricketers Longparish

Swan Barton Stacey

Oak Smannell

Bell & Crown Hatherden

Lion Clanville

Walnut Tree Appleshaw

Welcome Stranger Kimpton

White Hart Penton Mewsey

White Horse * Thruxton

Hawk Inn Amport

Plough Inn Grateley

White Hart Over Wallop

George Inn Middle Wallop

Peat Spade Longstock

Greyhound Stockbridge

Three Cups Stockbridge

Grosvenor Stockbridge

White Hart Stockbridge

There may be some pubs that we have accidentally missed.

Andover pub wins 'Cider Pub of the Year 2025'

Congratulations are in order for the Andover Tap at the Lamb for having been voted as North Hampshire Cider Pub of the Year for 2025.

Applause rang out as the coveted award was made to publican Tim Abram on behalf of the local CAMRA group by long standing Andover CAMRA member Martin Bennett.

Anniversary
This year is the 50th Anniversary of the Campaign for Real Ale's commitment to supporting traditional cider within its campaigning activities. In 1975 real cider was first made available at CAMRA Beer Festivals and has remained a core part of the Campaign since.

Presentation to Tim Abram (R) by Martin Bennett (L)

(click picture to enlarge)

Traditional cider is rarely available in the north Hampshire area but the Andover Tap at the Lamb always has a wide selection on the bar to enjoy alongside its cask and craft beers.

Real Cider
Most ciders in pubs are poor imitations, created from essences, extracts and concentrates in large industrial factories then served up by the addition of gasses.
Real Cider should be fermented from the whole fruit of pressed apples, without the use of concentrates or chaptalised* juices. 

Real Cider is what can be found in the Tap; traditional, tasty, and extremely enjoyable.

The Andover Tap at the Lamb will now progress through further rounds of the National Cider Pub of the Year Competition.

* The word ‘chaptalised’ as used in the definition refers to a process where the alcohol level in a cider or perry is increased by the addition of sugar to an unnatural level for storage, before it is diluted with water to the desired alcohol content for sale.

Powder Monkey for Andover

Andover will soon be seeing the award-winning Powder Monkey Brewing opening a venue in the High Street. The forward-thinking company that is based at the Priddy Hard Explosion! museum complex in Gosport is taking the lease of the ground floor of the iconic Grade II Listed Guildhall.

Intentions are for a new eating and drinking establishment in a space where relaxation and socialising will be to the fore. 
Hours planned are 9.00am – 10.00pm Monday to Thursday, 9.00am – 11.00pm Fridays and Saturdays, and 9.00am – 9.00pm on Sundays. There will be a breakfast menu, an all day menu, and traditional Sunday roasts.
Drinks will feature "Powder Monkey beers, quality non-mainstream wines, artisan spirits and local coffee". Outside space will also be used when possible.

Powder Monkey
Powder Monkey commenced brewing in the old naval gunpowder store in 2021 where they also set up a visitors' centre and a tasting bar.

They have quickly become established as an exciting growing company. Last year they added the Australian brewery, Willie the Boatman, to their portfolio, while more recently they they purchased the leading independent brewery on the Isle of Wight, Goddards, a brewer more known for its range of traditional cask and bottled beers.

Award
Only last month, Powder Monkey was announced as winning the Brewery of the Year by Portsmouth & SE Hampshire Campaign for Real Ale. 
The brewery said:

"This is a credit to our team who have worked so hard and we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who was enjoyed a Powder Monkey beer this past year and all the fantastic venues helping us bring the beer to you!"

Exciting for Andover
These are exciting times for the hospitality business in Andover, with this announcement quickly following that of Loungers taking on the empty ex-Barclay's Bank premises a few yards further down the High Street.
See:
https://thehappypint.blogspot.com/2025/03/a-new-bar-for-andover.html

A new bar for Andover?

Andover could soon see a major change in its High Street with a new café/bar opening in the old Barclays Bank building.

The company Loungers UK, who are behind the popular Cosy Club and Lounges bars,  have plans to convert the empty 5 High Street building into one of their all day 'neighbourhood café bars'. 

The bars are known for their friendly relaxed atmosphere, with good food, craft beers and other drinks, and their eclectic decor of paintings, photographs, mirrors and lampshades!

Licences are being applied for which include the serving of alcohol from 10am to midnight, and the provision of outdoor pavement area seating.

This could add a new dimension to the vibrancy of the town's High Street.

5 High Street, Andover
Plans to be a new café / bar

Handpump Hijack

While supporting ALL good beer there are many people who especially enjoy a good pint of traditional beer served from a handpump that has been conditioned in the cask in the pub's cellar.

But a twist in dispense methods had appeared. There is a new kid on the block that may mislead.

Unfortunately some 'brewery conditioned' beer is being served through handpumps that may mislead some customers. Unlike cask ale, where the beer continues to brew in the cask due to the presence of yeast, brewery conditioned fresh ale has the yeast removed. The conditioning is finalised in the brewery in the same way as keg beer.

Currently Wainwright Gold, Wainwright Amber and Hobgoblin IPA are sold in this way and the only way to tell them apart from traditionally conditioned cask ales is a small sign on the bottom of the pump clip.

So, if in doubt ask "is it cask?"

Beer Festival returns to Andover

The joint beer festival by the Andover Tap at the Lamb and the local Campaign for Real Ale returns this year and will be held over the first weekend of April (Friday 4th – Sunday 6th April).

With around 20 cask and craft ales, along with a selection of traditional ciders, this friendly event caters for all. There will be traditional bitters, IPAs, porters, stouts as well as modern keg styles to enjoy over the three days. 

There will be a selection of food to purchase and music on Sunday afternoon.

Entry to the festival is free.

The festival opens on Friday April 4th April at 11.00am and runs through until early Sunday evening on the 6th.

The Andover Tap has also won the local Cider Pub of the Year Award for its selection of real traditionally produced ciders. A Presentation is to be made on the Saturday afternoon of this event.

The Boot - Another Community Pub?

Could The Boot Inn at Shipton Bellinger, north of Andover, on the Hampshire / Wiltshire border be the next local community pub?
A campaign by local villagers has got off to a good start.

The Boot, Shipton Bellinger, (Photo by Chris Talbot)

With the formation of the SNAP (Shipton Needs a Pub) campaign and of Shipton Community Pub Ltd, a community benefit society, progress towards a purchase of The Boot Inn for the village has moved up a gear.

Background
After the pub's closure in August 2022 the owners applied to Test Valley Borough Council for a change of use to residential and additional housing.  The owners also placed the pub on the market. 
TVBC rejected the application, but the owners did not give in.

A subsequent application was made and again rejected by Test Valley Borough Council on various policy grounds including that insufficient evidence had been provided to show use as a pub was unviable.
The planners also considered that the proposals "would impact the sustainability of the village", would be "cramped" and "would not be reflective of the existing character and appearance of the area". There are a number of Listed Buildings nearby including the local parish church. 

The Boot is also registered as an ACV (Asset of Community Value),  recognising its intrinsic value to the village.

Support from villagers
Last September (2024), a well-attended meeting of over 80 villagers introduced the Shipton Community Pub Ltd along with its management committee made up wholly of local residents committed to making the re-opening of The Boot Inn a reality. SNAP set out its aims as:

"Our goal is to raise the funds to purchase and reopen The Boot Inn as a thriving, inclusive community hub where residents and visitors can enjoy good company, quality real ales, and delicious food." 

The local MP, Caroline Nokes, also gave her support calling the pub a "beating heart of a community".

Fundraising underway
There are a number of fund raising events in the pipeline, the next being a special jumble sale on 8th February 2025 and SNAP has sent out a call for volunteers who may be able to offer any services and help.

Let's hope that this small Hampshire village can succeed in retaining its valuable public house.  

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Photo credit:
Shipton Bellinger - The Boot Public House
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Chris Talbot - geograph.org.uk/p/1108422

Contracts Exchanged for Community Pub

The end of 2024 has seen some excellent news with the exchange of contracts for the historic Bell Inn in Odiham as it now moves forward to re-opening as a community owned pub.

The Bell before closure

The Bell Inn, Odiham
The Bell Inn, licenced since 1509 is one of Hampshire's oldest pubs where brewing has reportedly taken place as far back as the Domesday Book. Tucked away in the historic area known as The Bury, opposite the church and the stocks, The Bell is an integral part of this tranquil corner of Odiham. 

An unfair system that closes pubs
As a traditional pub it was primarily a drinks 'wet-led' house and was owned by the national PubCo Admiral Taverns. It was tied for products to Admiral which meant little opportunity for tenants to build the business further, a harsh reality of what many feel is an unfair trading system that needs serious legal changes. This can often lead to a pub being made unviable, sometimes deliberately, in order to obtain a change of use, usually to residential.

Applications were rejected
During covid the pub closed when the publicans retired and, as sure as night follows day, it was subsequently sold to developers who claimed the pub was unviable and had plans for converting it into houses.
In late 2022 after local pressure, the developer's planning application to Hart District Council was refused and a subsequent Appeal to the Planning Inspector was also rejected.  

Local support for retaining the pub
As well as support from the planners the registration of The Bell as an ACV (Asset of Community Value) was a factor in the recognition of the premises as an important local amenity. 

With the social and economic benefits a public house provides to a community, CAMRA's local Pub Protection Officer, John Buckley, calls on all Parish and Town Councils to ensure their pubs are both registered as ACVs and also recognised in Local and Neighbourhood Plans. "Having ACVs and adopted planning policies in place are important tools in an armoury to fight change of use applications. many more pubs need to be registered but it needs local people and their councillors to be proactive in putting them in place. The Campaign for Real Ale can provide advice."

*********
Meanwhile a group of residents formed a team with the aim of purchasing the pub. Finance was obtained through a successful application to the government's Community Ownership Fund and a Share Offer was launched for local people.

On the last day of 2024 the team announced the fantastic news:

"We have exchanged contracts to purchase the Bell.
We will complete and collect the keys on Friday."

Brillant news
Now the hard work towards refurbishing and reopening starts in earnest.

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The Bell image by Basher Eyre
license under Creative Commons