The Beehive, Swindon

Tucked away in the winding back streets of Swindons Old Town, the Beehive is an oasis in a town of trendy theme pubs and cattle market watering holes. The pub has a quirky flavour and appearance that is reflected by its regular crowd. A painted body outline as if from a crime scene, lies on te pavement outside the door, which as you pass through you notice is actually fashioned as a Tardis door. Unfortunately it dosnt make the place any bigger. The ...
...courner of the joining of two streets, and as such is a strange arrangement of cubby holes and corridors at all heights and angles. Inside all manner of curios and pieces of interest span the walls, charicatures of the regulars, a whole wall of art for sale, posters of bands new and old and lots of strange newspaper cuttings and signs of various humour.

As a pub it is an inviting enough place, but for many the real attraction is the ... more

Tucked away in the winding back streets of Swindons Old Town, the Beehive is an oasis in a town of trendy theme pubs and cattle market watering holes. The pub has a quirky flavour and appearance that is reflected by its regular crowd. A painted body outline as if from a crime scene, lies on te pavement outside the door, which as you pass through you notice is actually fashioned as a Tardis door. Unfortunately it dosnt make the place any bigger. The Beehive is a triangular pub, as it sits on the courner of the joining of two streets, and as such is a strange arrangement of cubby holes and corridors at all heights and angles. Inside all manner of curios and pieces of interest span the walls, charicatures of the regulars, a whole wall of art for sale, posters of bands new and old and lots of strange newspaper cuttings and signs of various humour.

As a pub it is an inviting enough place, but for many the real attraction is the live bands that play there. The regular draw is the Sunday afternoon slot which is normally filled by local acts from those just starting out to the well established musicians. No matter who the act is there seems to be a good following all year round.The real attractions, however, are to be found in the week day evenings, Friday and Saturday seem to be music free to maximise the drinking profits, and they do have the unique policy of "if you can find a more expensive pint within a 5 mile radius they will match it"...different. But many a musical gem can be found on the week day evenings. The band area is the top end of the pub, no stage or such nonsense here, although due to the varying heights of the floors, the bands are fairly well on view where ever you stand. Space seems confined but even eight piece bands seem to squeeze in somehow, but dont try walking passed with undue care if there is a trombone in the brass section! Part of the fun of the set up is that the band and the audience seem to merge as one and create a homogenous blend of musician and punter that seems to break down the barriers between the two.

The bands them selves seem to cover the spectrum, though dont expect to come across any big names, but that is the joy of such venues, the potential of undiscovered new music to experience. Past examples of the range of music include, The Wrinkle Neck Mules, blue grass rock from Virginia and Tommy Hale a rocker from Dallas and Kangeroo Moon a band who divide their time between Britain and Australia. Nearer home a host of blues and rock bands fill the slots, The Snakes a London country/rock outfit, Indie rockers Weekend Remedy, comedy punksters the Fish Brothers and all manner of genres in between. Aside from the bands, Sunday night is The Soul Box, DJ spinning a range of soul, reggae, Tamla and ska, and when there is no band or DJ the music is piped from behind the bar, no jukebox here.

Whatever your prefered taste in music, this is a good venue to experience fresh new and underground talent. The atmosphere is friendly, the prices below average and there is no charge for any of the bands. You may witness the next big thing in their formative years, you may find some great new music to follow, but if neither of that happens then at least you will have experienced the quirky and cultural oasis that is The Beehive. 

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