IT’S a pub where 80s TV fans may get a sense of déjà vu.

And more than 20 years after filming came to an end, Howards’ Way enthusiasts still flock to the Jolly Sailor in Lands End Road, Bursledon.

The pub was the setting for many scenes of the hit show, which followed the lives of the yachting and business communities in the fictional town of Tarrant.

Pictures of cast members still adorn the wall of the historic pub – and manager Amanda Pilcher, who runs the pub with her husband John, says the connection with the show still draws in the crowds.

She added: “It’s huge for tourists – they still come because we’re the pub in Howards’ Way.

“We get a lot of fans in, even after all these years.

“We did take the photos down during a refit, and there was outrage – it had to go straight back up.

“We were only getting it re-framed.”

But the pub is more than just a blast from the past for soap fans.

Probably built in around 1750, the pub was originally owned by the nearby monastery – though its use by the church is unknown.

Since becoming a pub around 100 years ago, it has been a focal point for the village, set on the banks of the River Hamble.

Amanda added: “It’s a beautiful setting and it’s a buzzing pub when the sun’s out – a metropolis of all different people.

“It’s like two pubs; in the summer it’s a hubbub of activity and we’re the pub on the river.

“In the winter, people come down because it’s cosy - the fires are roaring and they come for the atmosphere.

“I don’t think there’s many pubs like us and the food we produce I think is exceptional.

“It’s sort of European and English food – things like fish and chips, steak and ale pies, burgers.

“But everything is made on site.”

The Jolly Sailor,
Lands End Road,
Bursledon.
023 8040 5557
jollysailoroldbursledon.co.uk