The Hop Inn – Our Pub is their home
The Hop Inn is a friendly place which local say serve the best food. The pub is run by Stu Fudge, who is a Sotonian and has lived in the area all of his life. Stu says ‘the pub is home. It’s a place where everyone comes in here and treats it how they want to treat it, we get everyone from all ages.’
Stu used to own another pub in Bitterne Park and when this pub came up he says ‘it was meant to be and we got it.’ Stu has been at the pub the last year or so.
The pub has 2 sides, one is more of a family, social side and loungey, again the food is excellent, and the other side has pool tables and dartboards. The pub supports people in darts leagues and the lads come in and train for the pool leagues and on the weekend, they have local bands.
Stu says the area is what makes the pub special, it is the only pub in the area and is a place for people to go meet, people get work, and they make their best friends. ‘People have met here, fallen in love here and even got married here. That’s why we call this place a home – it’s a community space,’ says Stu.
Stu says that pubs are a dying breed, and that people are worried about the bad reputation that comes with pubs. When actually the Hop’s regulars are people who learnt to play pool at 95 and one who had his 95th birthday at the pub. They hold the world record for barefoot skiing and come in caked in mud from the challenge course to have a pint.
Rich Lansley and Stephen Muldowney-Mizen, artist and poet for The Hop Inn