The Star Inn  

An excellent pub, not quite in the centre of Bath, but well worth the effort to get to - on a busy road there is no parking here and so represents a bit of a walk 'up' the town.. They serve the excellent Bellringer from Abbey Ales (you can now buy this on-line from their web site for home delivery). Beers on this visit other than Bellringer were Abbey Black Friar 5%, Batemans XXXB, Black Sheep Bitter and Bass. There is a real fire in separate drinking room with bench seats and tables close together. Alas there are plenty of steps into and around the pub which makes access for the disabled difficult, no disabled toilet either. Toilets for others are through the saloon doors by the entrance. There is a picture shelf around the walls, which holds lots of 'tat' you get in some pubs these days. Not a lot of it seems to relate to the pub itself. No food here other than crisps. The Star Inn is one of the cities oldest Hostelries and was first licensed as a public house in 1760 when the entrance was in Guinea Lane. Set amongst the splendour of Bath's world famous architecture the pub provides a welcome escape from the bustle of city life. The building itself is far older than its rather grander neighbours. It was one of two or three buildings on the Vineyards when work begun on the Paragon. The entrance was moved to the front of the building to allow the work force building the Paragon to collect their pay from the paymaster in The Star. A superbly presented example of a Gaskell and Chambers fitted pub. The Star retains many original features including the 19th Century bar fittings and the numbered rooms, compulsory when Licensing Laws required all rooms to be numbered and listed for their purpose. A landlord of yesteryear installed a lift to transport the barrels from the cellar using a lift, which rises through the trap door, set in the floor and still in use today. It could have been a different story altogether though. In 1942 during the so-called Baedeker raids, the houses directly opposite The Star suffered a direct hit, luckily the pub emerged unscathed. The smaller bar still used by many older regulars, features a long single bench known as "death row" where a complimentary pinch of snuff can still be found in the tins on the ledge above the wall panelling. The pub is now a listed building and appears in The Campaign for Real Ales Inventory of Heritage pubs. The Star has always been famous for its pints of Bass served from a jug and more recently for its pints of Bellringer the award winning best bitter from bath's only brewery Abbey Ales. Food is served only on Friday and Saturday lunchtimes.

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