please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
A great place to have a drink at when walking from Beadnell to Craster as we did a week ago. I tried the house Ship Hop Ale and the Red Herring - the first was average to good, the second was better. At the moment, it is outdoor service only and they take your order at one window and you collect drinks/pay at another. Food is collected from a third. It all seemed to work quite well although queues did form during our hour there.
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Amazing place. Quite hard to get to, unless you are walking! There is no parking immediately near the properties and a pay and display car park at the top of the hill.
When you arrive, there is a cluster of white washed former fishermens cottages and the pub is in the corner.
Inside - a lovely log burner, bar at one end and rows of big, six seater tables.
There is a brewery on site, but I stuck with the Farne Island - which I am starting to love.
A great experience.
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Lovely small pub in a great setting, just off a magnificent beach. There are seats out front or, if there are taken, plenty of grass to sit on and admire the view.
Brew their own beer (and sell bottles to take away). I sampled and enjoyed the Red Herring, a ruby ale, and there was a stout and at least one other as well as other more standard stuff on tap.
It does get busy but it's very civilised, with a patient queue (rather than a scrum where those with loudest voices and biggest elbows get served first).
We visited on a lunchtime when I don't think they take bookings for food, but they serve until about 2.30pm. I enjoyed a good Ploughmans with big helpings of two cheeses from local Doddington Dairy and excellent home-made chutney.
For those who are bothered, they do take payment by card now !
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Visited on a very cold May Saturday lunchtime. The place was faultless. They don't take cards but this was the only minor problem. Beer was excellent. Food was served promptly and was delicious. Staff were knowledgable and helpful. Looking forward to returning.
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Went there on Friday afternoon. There were plenty of seats and the beer was excellent. People who insist on paying for drinks with debit cards (particularly when pubs are busy) are a pain in the backside anyway - what's wrong with making sure you've got enough cash? A nice pub, and probably better off without the moaners.
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Quite frankly I am amazed at people rating a pub poorly because it doesn't take the method of payment they wish to proffer. Surely one has some cash ??? This pub is superb, a shining beacon of a pub of how to do it! Other pubs which may take debit cards are pale comparisons.
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Not surprised at the low rating this pub gets, despite it constantly being mentioned in travel guides etc. The only good point it has is the location, which is beautiful and handy if you're walking the coast.
It's always packed with tourists/walkers so getting a seat is well nigh impossible, food is pricey and only served for an hour in the evening. Service is slow and indifferent. Beer selection is limited. They don't take cards so if you've got no cash you're out of luck. The throngs of people desperate to get in or get served can make the place feel chaotic and claustrophobic.
If there was anywhere else to go they might make more of an effort, but there's always a steady supply of cagoules stomping in so they don't have to. I can't believe the number of times I've trekked all the way out here and been frustrated or disappointed. Yet we still go because of where it is.
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My wife and the dogs decided to walk to this pup over the Easter break, we enjoyed a fantastic walk and were looking forward to enjoying a beer and a snack at lunch time, we decided on our food and beer however when i approached the bar to order i was in formed that they did not take debit cards. With no other means to pay i went thirsty and hungry, this did have a negative impact on the dya and the pub. In this age i find it extremely hard for establishments as popular and taking as much as they are not to provide this means of payment. I found the male barstaff apologetic but the older female behind the bar extremely unhelpfull
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About 15 minutes stroll from the nearest bus stop. I found it to be a pleasant pub with interesting beers, plus it was, for the time ofyear, quite busy (9/2/10). My only regret was that I had to go after a short time: wish I had been able to stay longer.
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Visited in February so review bit out of date . It was excellent , great beer and cracking food. Dogs allowed too. Would def recommend.
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Good location for lunch and a drink after a fantastic walk from Craster.
Beer good but lunch very disappointing and attitude of owner poor.
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Excellent pub. The food was of a high standard and the staff were helpful and friendly. Also, could not get a better location!
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I too was there with foreign visitors (from Romania) but was very happy with the Ship. The house beers were excellent, and the food was simple but fine ( we had Craster Kippers and fish-cakes). The serving area was maybe a mite restricted for all the customers, but on a Friday holiday lunchtime, the queue moved quickly, the service was friendly and the food arrived well before the first pint had been consumed. During our visit, reasonable weather meant that there wasn't too much crowding since the outdoor tables accommodated most visitors - it might be different on a wet evening. The location is special and worth the drive. I have been happily recommending this pub to people since first visiting it in July 2009 - but then (see norbitonpaul) I'm a Guardian reader!
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The staff especially the barman with the crew cut to be rude and not interested in customer care, all matter of fact approach, the two visitors I had with me from Czech Republic were amazed with the area, the location and the Castles, but the Ship Inn staff just put a dampener on their experience, thanks very much.
Czech - 29 Jul 2009 11:38 |
As a "kagool and rucksack type" the Ship was a welcome place to come across on a long coastal walk. I had an excellent pint of pub brewed Ship Hop Ale and would love to have stayed longer to sample the other home brews . One criticism is that it took a long time to get served as there was only one person serving and lots of food orders being processed. The landlady seemed to be otherwise occupied on the customer's side of the bar rather than pulling pints. The pints were also short measure due to the large head - why do Northeners put up with this?
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On a sunny Sunday afternoon, worth a detour. But as others have noted, it's an enterprise that is pretty dependent on the kagool and rucksack tribes. Also a few action-man yachtie types stomping around in their Maine windcheeters and wellies...with accesories in the form of dogs and toussle-haired kids.
A copy of the Guardian by the front door sums up the pub's ethos!
Beer excellent, tried two from its own micro brewery, including one that had been brewed for the wedding (I think) of someone called Oliver. Lucky lad.
Interior strangely devoid of atmosphere, lacking old worlde authenticity that the exterior might promise. If the sun is out, most of the action seems to take place outside on the grassy quadrangle that leads down to the beach.
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No Local beer on Sat till tues-run out!Brunette barmaid very off,9 pint rounds to much for her?
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I would think if this depended on "locals", it would be shut!! I have come here almost every year for the last 20 years whilst walking the coast from Craster or Beadnell. I always look forward to arriving and never want to leave! Situated in a beautiful location, it serves its purpose - providing sustenance to travellers and holiday makers alike.
The beer is from its own brewery and is perhaps alien to north easterners weaned on the over-rated "newcy brown". I had Hop Ale - which it was - very bitter 4.1% Also Sea Wheat 4.1% which was less bitter and which I could have stayed all afternoon supping. There were two more beers which sadly I had not time to sample. The food is made from local produce - crab, cheese, bacon, bread, etc., with fresh salad.
It was very busy on a Friday lunchtime in February - the staff were right on the ball and orders processed quickly. The guy delivering the food never stopped and I thought Gordon Ramsay would have had nothing to say except "******* brilliant" - good beer, locally sourced produce, good service - spot on.
The only hold up/problem comes when irresponsible "middle clarss" adults let their kids rule their lives and, with a complete lack of spacial awareness and inconsiderate behaviour in such a tiny pub, get to the front of the queue without a clue about what they want to order!
Basic and functional decor - it'll do for me!
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Smallish pub among a row of cottages in a corner of the village green close to the sea.
There is no vehicular access to the green for non-residents - you have to use the car park a few hundred yards up the hill and walk down ( and then back up afterwards obviously !)
The pub brews its own beer on site now - this must be a relatively new venture as the CAMRA GBG entry for 2009 makes no mention of this. I had a pint of the onsite brewed bitter which had a pleasant hoppy taste. Rather imaginatively, its called Hop Ale. Farne Island from Hadrian and Border was also on, but this is not a place for drinkers.
Despite the splendid setting, the pub interior is rather dull and functional, the wooden trestle tables reflecting the clear emphasis on providing meals for those visitors who manage to find it. It makes no pretence at being a village local.
However, the pub was quite busy on my late afternoon visit of 4 September. I seemed to be the only customer without any of the seemingly essential accessories - walking boots / stick, large smelly dog etc.
There's a few seats and tables outside on the village green.
Its a bit remote, and certainly not worth an effort to visit in its own right, but if you're walking the nearby coastal path, you'll probably want to drop in.
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Wanted to like it but couldn't. Lah-di-dah student staff ineptly serving a group dinner at one end of the room ("I don't think we got the right number of apple crumbles") meant you waited an age at the other for them to deign to languidly pull you a pint of the frankly wierd "Sandcastles At Dawn" - imagine wheat beer with astringent lemon added - or "Dolly Daydream" - think the wet dog shown on the pump clip. They want �22 to serve you a lobster. Trading 100% on its location; this 'pub' has no atmosphere, nothing worth drinking and is a total pisstake.
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What can I say one of the most picturesque old fishing villages around,the pub owned and leased out by the national trust.Thats the best bit,The Ship has been ruined over the past ten years, souless, not very inviting,you have to queue out the door to get a pint of not very good ale (it's quicker to drive up the hill to The Joiners and back for a pint).
All the locals left the place years back but for a few who venture back mow and then hoping its changed.
It caters for the holiday pound and walkers who daresay love the place.
A good old locals pub completly ruined.
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