Daily Echo Pub of the Week: The Firkin Shed in Bournemouth

Though a trip to the modern chain pubs can be a mundane affair, situated in Holdenhurst Road in Springbourne is a bar doing things differently.

Paul Gray and his pub the Firkin Shed offer something unique.

The bar and tables have the feel of that Ship of Theseus pub in your local town that continues to weather the storm of never-ending austerity.

There is also an undoubted indie flair to the whole pub as you're looked down upon by Johnny Rotten’s mischievous smirk and Captain Beefheart’s top hat.

Inspired by the Southampton Arms, the iconic pub in Kentish Town, Paul said: "It was like a pub stripped back to its bare bones, and I’m sat there thinking, 'Why don’t we have anything like this in Bournemouth?' So, I spent the next two years visiting pubs that were closing. I would go in and see the guys that were stripping it out, asking if there was anything I could take."

The narrative around pubs is often quite bleak, with hundreds having closed this year across the country.

However, stepping into The Firkin Shed (Paul’s second choice for the pub’s name after his wife wouldn’t let him call it the Talking Bull), you wouldn’t think this, as it is brimming with life.

From the regular packed out concerts that showcase local bands and help raise money for important causes, to the classic cheese rolls it sells famished AFC Bournemouth fans on their way to the conveniently close Vitality Stadium.

Paul said: "Over the last ten years, they talk about all the pubs that are closing; they don’t talk about all the pubs that are opening."

"Little bars like this are taking the pub back to its original roots. It’s independent from all the breweries, so you can buy what beer you like. Basically, I buy the beer that I like to drink."

The importance of the pub in British culture should not be understated.

Paul added: "The world is ****** up, and I think you gotta just drink good beer and do something that might affect other people’s lives in a positive way."