The Central Hotel, Parkstone - pub details
Address: 81 Commercial Road, Lower Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH14 0JB [map] [gmap]
Tel: 0871 951 1000 (ref 3263) - calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras
Parkstone (0.3 miles), Poole (1.4 miles), Branksome (1.7 miles)
Brewery: Hall and Woodhouse
Pub facilities/features:
- Real ale
> Current user rating: 5.9/10 (rated by 10 users)
other pubs nearby:
The Hub Bar and Kitchen, Parkstone (0.0 miles), Bermuda Triangle, Parkstone (0.0 miles), Bricklayers Arms, Poole (0.1 miles), Brit, Ashley Cross (0.1 miles), Le Bateau Bistro, Parkstone (0.1 miles) - see more nearby pubs
user reviews of the Central Hotel, Parkstone
please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
5 most recent reviews of 11 shown - see all reviews
| I used to go to this pub about 12 years ago - travelling from Salisbury. I now live in Poole and was very saddened to see that it had closed. It was one of the main venues for the blues band The Producers - fronted by Harry Skinner (amazing guitarist and vocals) and Dave Saunders (Bass guitar and admin!) Best live blues in the Poole/Bournemouth area. I haven't tried it now it's The Ox. Maybe they should invite Harry & Dave back for some blues sessions! LynR6 - 20 Nov 2015 18:14 |
| "Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of pubs"... The Central used to be one of the very best pubs in Parkstone and a personal favourite of mine, especially around 2003-06 when it was also a great live music venue. Brilliant atmosphere, landlord who knew what he was doing and just a great boozer all round- everything a pub should be! Then 2007 and the smoking ban came along... First the Central was taken over by some metrosexual London types who stopped the live music, put a pool table in the way of everything and demolished half the bar to put a massive a telly in. They were also completely unaware of which local troublemakers had been banned for years resulting in a lot of middle aged hooligans getting back in, probably for the first time in decades, to argue and fight at the bar. The next landlord to give it a go came about six months later and did a bit better- he undid some of the damage but it was never really the same again. Also I think being an ex- copper he took security a bit TOO seriously- searching people who came out of the toilets looking slightly happy and employing overly chuck out happy door staff. He also had an inexplicable policy of moving everyone out of the main bar into the comparatively characterless "Bar 2" at about 10 every night- needless to say, most of us just ended up going elsewhere. So what was once the legendary Central is now "Ox", a generic, laminate floored coffee and cake restaurant for office ponces with a dress code and a list of "No swearing, laughing or smiling" type rules on the door. Absolute disgrace that quite succinctly tells the story of the decline of the public house over the past decade. SharkIsland - 16 Aug 2014 15:48 |
| All boarded up now....probally for the best in the end...shame how a once great pub got into this state... clarkey_cat - 19 Jan 2010 11:02 |
| certianly got better since my last comment....most of the idiots seem to have gone and it has had a lick of paint...still not brave enough to start drinking the ales again though..!! clarkey_cat - 29 Apr 2008 00:32 |
| destroyed by the previous landlord....since the top of the bar was ripped out by these fools about a year ago it has died with none in there except a few cocaine hungry chavs. nice if you like your beer to taste like chip shop vinigar.. clarkey_cat - 6 Nov 2007 12:29 |
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