We had a pint in the Bristol pub run by the same landlady for 33 years

Passing the ‘welcome to Bristol’ sign on the road out of Hanham, the first pub you’ll find that’s officially in the city itself is The Trooper.

A large grey-painted pub at the top of the hill, it has three Union Jacks hanging outside and a sign advertising live sport, real ales, ciders and home-cooked food.

Set across two levels, the pub is painted a similar grey as outside and there are large black and white photos of Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana, as well as a painting of George Best with Matt Busby. A signed Bath rugby shirt is a forgivable reminder that the pub is only just inside the Bristol boundary.

The Trooper has been run by Lynne Hunt since 1990 but for the past 19 years, she has also been joined by Steve Davies.

Their combined love of sport and food has made this pub on the border between St George and Hanham a hugely popular venue.

During the pandemic, Lynne and Steve delivered meals to regulars stuck at home, as well as newspapers and essentials. Since things have returned to normal, many of those regulars have returned to the pub for lunches, which are served every day apart from Monday when the pub is closed.

The pub still has a darts team and there are large screens for the live sport, but it has also gained a strong reputation for its home-cooked and affordable food.

At lunchtime, the food menu includes roasts; large cod and chips with peas; ham, egg and chips, and chicken curry and rice.

All meals are between £6.95 and £8.50 and all cooked by Lynne. I tried the chilli and rice (£8.50) and it was a proper old school chilli con carne of the sort you rarely see these days. It was steaming hot, mildly spiced and rich - proper pub grub at a fair price.

As for drinks - the cheapest real ale is the Doom Bar (£4.40) and most of the ciders and lagers are £4.50. My Guinness was £5.30 and there’s also a large range of gins.

On Sundays, the pub serves a roast (£10.95) and they also deliver those to locals who can’t get out, as long as they pre-book them by the Saturday.

The Trooper is already advertising the fact they are open on Christmas Day morning and they will also be delivering lunches that day, too. It’s a remarkable act of kindness from a pub that is very much at the heart of the community.

The Trooper, 90 Bryant’s Hill, St George, Bristol, BS5 8QT. Tel: 0117 967 3326.