Sports Day at The Bedford Arms

Just like the good old Saturday afternoons of Dickie Davies and World of Sport,  there's a diverse range of sport on offer in this Southampton town centre pub...

Footie, pub quizzes, NFL, Lets get Social and Happy Hour - sport for the masses...is Party Bowls a sport or a food?...

The final pub on our Saturday afternoon pub walk was The Bedford Arms in Bedford Place, Southampton.  It has been around since the 1830s, owned originally by Aldridges Bedford Brewery, which was next door to the pub (not in Bedford), and later by Brickwoods Brewery, before being swallowed up by Whitbreads.  In recent times it became ‘arm-less' for a while, known as just ‘Bedfords’, but has now regained them.  It is now owned by Stonegate.

The Bedford Arms dwarfs the neighbouring terraced shops.

Historically it has also been a hotel and in earlier times may have had more genteel custom as the Bedford Place area was a posh Regency out of town suburb. Now it is a mix of solicitors offices and bars and nightclubs.
The Bedford Arms these days can definitely claim the title of 'sports pub’...

Saints fans again...

Sporty England and Guinness rugby bunting...

...no surprise then that on our Saints home match day pub walk, this final pub was also full of fans.   This area is not exactly next door to St Marys Stadium, but even though 2:30pm came and went, the fans desperately hung onto their glasses, until at about 2:35pm.  Then the mass exodus and the dash to St Mary’s for the 3pm kick-off began...
While all this pre-match ritual was going on we went to the bar...

Ravenhead tumblers again...

As you can see there were two beers worth considering, and strangely both were called Scrum Down...so Greene King’s six nations special it was....
...and it was a good beer - tight line; solid head; good down the flank; worth a try...

Good lacings down the flanks, worth a try, converted?....

Ah yes... back to the impressive variety of sport on offer...

There’s the blighter...tally ho!...

Seen the fox old chap?...

So a great old pub, still full of (sporting) life... and by the look of the capacity crowd on match day and the action-packed event board...a real winner...
I’ll leave you with this interesting photo of the corridor to the toilets...

Halfway house?....

...emergency facility if caught short on the long walk to the loo perhaps?...