The Old Duke // Great Pub // Bristol
If you are in or are going to Bristol I definitely recommend visiting The Old Duke. It is a small pub, set on the cobbled King Street down by the harbour and is always the host to good live jazz and blues music.
The pub’s name is a reference to the classic American jazz musician Duke Ellington and the building dates from about 1780!! The pub across the street is the Llandoger Trow and is even older than The Old Duke.
I first went into The Old Duke a couple of months ago, which is crazy because I actually lived in the city for three years whilst doing my degree. If me and my friends had stumbled into this place (we normally stumbled out of Thekla, a boat further down the harbour) I am sure we would have made The Old Duke our weekly haunt.
The night me and the Welsh one first entered the pub The Keith Little Band were playing. They are a jazz, swing band consisting of 6 men that are well experienced and you can tell they absolutely adore the music that they are playing. The whole place was packed and everyone was loving it, they finished their set at half 10 and everyone cried for more, however as they’d played since 7 they decided it was time to be heading off.
After they left I started to look around at the place and saw that the whole room was covered in jazz memorabilia, the ceiling is covered with jazz festival posters from around the country, and around the world. The bar staff were friendly and the prices weren’t too bad either. The place does tend to get very crowded and warm but that all adds to the charm.
On my last visit to Bristol I went back to The Old Duke again, this time The Robin Reece Jazz Band was playing and the place was bouncing once again. The band even played Delilah for the Welsh girls celebrating a birthday and the whole place joined in singing, swaying and stamping. The atmosphere is so welcoming to anyone and everyone and definitely worth going to!
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