The Swan

		Around 1500 visits a day
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The time now in Ruislip

Situated in the heart of the historic part of Ruislip by St Martins Church and the Duck Pond everybody who has ever lived in Ruislip will have been to the Swan. For those that have moved away it will be an enduring memory, think of Ruislip and think of The Swan.

It has about four bars, all situated around the bar itself, and all more or less interlinked without doors. The bar is, unusually, in the middle, so forming a sort of roundabout. Low ceilings, and the bars being at slightly different levels add to the fun when trying to carry drinks around.

At the bottom end of Ruislip High Street near the roundabout and church. Turn down The Oaks along side it and a car park may be found behind it.

Good, The George is just around the corner to the left, Sweeney's is five minutes up the High Street and The Laurels just beyond it to your right, where this is taking you towards better public transport links. You could also walk to The Orchard and the White Bear via Ickenham Road but this leaves you with less options for public transport. Better to start there and work back...

Not been in for a year or so and the interior is much as anyone remembers it. However as far as I am concerned The Swan has been totally ruined by the now deafening music being pumped out. Why oh why does this have to be the case? I suppose if I were looking at my profits and wanted to attract those that spend money this would be a good, easy and cheap way of doing so, but at the end of the day does anyone actually listen to it, or do they just enjoy shouting over it. This is a listed building - can't this extend to how loud the music is played.....?

It may not be like this at lunchtimes, or other evenings. Perhaps it has changed since I last went...or perhaps I am just getting old......but I left thinking that all those that left Ruislip yesterday will have better memories of The Swan, and thus Ruislip as a whole, than those that leave here tomorrow.

(Footnote. Visited again on 29/08/2002. Pleased to say the loud music had gone, the jukebox was playing fairly loudly in the "main" bar, but the rest of the pub was quiet, very quiet, as in nearly empty. It has to be said that the car park was litter and pothole strewn and inside the pub is just starting to look tatty. A stitch now could save major work in the future. Marston's Pedigree was on offer. I do wonder if this pub has the smallest "No Smoking Area" in the world....(You will have to pop in to see what I mean!))(You missed it)

11/08/2003. Coat of paint added, quiz night (Monday) was the night I chose. Real ale on offer, not many in, nothing to fault it, yet little to get excited about.

What a change a lick of paint can make. The place is so much nicer now. The beer is good. The menu is great ,and reasonably priced. They've reopened the bar down the back of the place and added a pool table. They also took away the stools from the old bar so you can actually get served without having to climb over people. The staff are pretty friendly too.

The Swan is under new management. They seem like a pretty nice bunch of people. The only down side being all trouble makers previously barred have apparently returned. I think it's still got to be one of the hottest pubs in the world, even with all the windows and doors open there is no circulation of air.

First the good news. Troublesome characters mentioned by earlier contributor seem to have gone up the road (hard luck to whichever pub got them), some have been barred. Food has been quite good lately, and service friendly, and there's London Pride (though at a price!).

Well done Phil and Arthur, Bob and Adam oh and not forgetting Martin. Also the chef whose name I didn't get.

Quiz nights were a bit depleted recently after some decamped to Eastcote for karaoke, but on Thursday it was reasonably full, and my team won, so there! (OK my contribution was small, but it's the team spirit wot counts!)

Now the bad news. Instead of finding money to do the place up, owners are reportedly selling up to Cafe Rouge. As if that corner of Ruislip was short on licensed restaurants. I don't know what their food is like, but so far as I know they don't run pubs as we know them. So Ruislip's oldest pub, with its own character (and characters) will be replaced by yet another chain outlet, its role as a social focus in the community will be lost, and yet another high street lose its village-character to look like anywhere else. Unless....

Charles 24/12/2006