We have a pint in The Stokers - a ‘no frills’ Bristol estate pub with karaoke, skittles and a happy hour

The hanging sign, the name above the door and logo etched into the glass of one front window may confirm that it’s called The Stokers but older drinkers still call this roadside pub The Magpies, a reference to its previous moniker.

This 1960s-built estate pub on Gipsy Patch Lane is neatly positioned between Filton and Bradley Stoke, an area not blessed with too many pubs despite the number of people living in the area.

It may have started life as The Magpies but The Stokers seems a more appropriate name given its close proximity to Little Stoke and Bradley Stoke, but it’s also plainly a reference to the fact the pub is near the railway - stokers being a device that used to feed coal into the boiler of steam trains.

North Filton Platform station closed to the public in 1964, possibly around the time the pub was built, but Patchway station is a short walk away and trains still travel across the bridge that straddles the busy road outside.

These days, The Stokers attracts locals but also workers from nearby Rolls-Royce - a large group of them were enjoying pre-Christmas drinks on the lunchtime I was there.

A no-frills pub with two bars, The Stokers has a huge car park and there was a shuttered kebab van parked near the entrance, presumably ready to feed hungry after-dark customers in the evening.

On Sunday nights, there’s karaoke and the pub also runs live music evenings. As well as Sky Sports on the TVs, there’s pool, darts and skittles.

Presumably aimed at locals and the post-work crowd passing the door, there’s a happy hour Monday to Friday (4.30pm-6.30pm) and Sunday (7pm-8pm).

The choice on the taps is a straightforward one with Foster’s, Kronenbourg, Amstel, Guinness, Thatcher’s Gold, Blackthorn Dry and John Smiths. There’s only one real ale on tap, but it’s a decent one - Bristol Beer Factory’s Fortitude.

The Stokers is a perfect example of one of the last remaining 1960s estate pubs that has lasted the distance.

But with thousands of new homes being built, a new railway station promised and the long-awaited arena planned for this part of north Bristol, this is one ‘proper’ Bristol pub that has a bright future, too.

The Stokers, Gipsy Patch Lane, Little Stoke, Bristol, BS34 8LU.