FOOD&DRINK

Prepare for your jaw to drop when you enter the Battleaxes. Recently reopened, a five-month refurbishment has transformed a building which dates back to the 1870s, with punters exclaiming ‘Totally different!’ and ‘All changed!’ when arriving during my visit.

Assistant manager Colin O’Brien’s boozer “feels new but has an old look”. Sprawling over several areas, shiny floorboards lend a stately home air aided by tasteful paintings and taxidermy: you half expect Bertie Wooster – or a ghost carrying its head – to appear. Look closer though and you’ll find furniture and menu items echoing the Lounge chain’s style (a bacon butty’s yours for £3). This may be Deco and Tinto’s posh country cousin, but its manner is relaxed, welcoming and similarly quirky.

A diverse clientele has been admirably catered for. The large car park makes driving feasible, although proximity to Bristol and Clifton, affordable dining and a great sense of occasion justify the taxi fare. Ladies in pashminas and pearls won’t feel over-dressed; the pint-carrying chap in tracky bottoms looked perfectly at ease. Youngsters get high chairs, their own eating options and baby-changing facilities and, ultimately, a garden. Beer drinkers get 20 different ales every month while the ciderheads will get their own bar and those wishing to stay overnight accommodation as of next year.

The lay-out enhances this provision, with smartly dressed women partying by the bar, couples enjoying seclusion on the sofas and the utterly stunning club room offering grandness for gatherings.

Just when I think this place can’t get any better I discover an upmarket publication’s frightfully foxy fillies adorning the gents’ walls. With waitresses in keeping, the only battleaxes here are on the logo.(Simon Fry, pics Mark Simmons)

The information

Lager Becks, Staropramen. From £3.40.

Beer Two permanent house beers, Flatcapper, Saxon, plus three guests. From £2.90.

Cider Stowford Press, Orchard Pig. From £3.20.

Wine Red: four by glass, 15 by bottle from £3.65 gls/£13.95 btl. White: as red.

Food Served Mon-Sat until 10pm, Sun until 9.30pm. Pub/country/hearty. Rib-eye steak £14.95, chicken & ham pie £9.50, chicken liver salad £7.25, Portobello mushroom & chestnut pie £8.95, ham, egg & chips £8.25, Flatcapper ale-battered cod & chips £10.95.

Offers Mon burger & drink £8.95, Tue three grazing dishes plus wine £8.95.

BATTLEAXES BRISTOL RD, WRAXALL, BS48 1LQ, TEL: 01275 857473, WEB: WWW.FLATCAPPERS.CO.UK OPEN MON-SAT 10AM-11PM, SUN 10AM-10.30PM

Copyright Simon Fry 2010; pics copywright Mark Simmons Photography 2010