A nice old pub in this small downland village, with an extensive beer garden serving real ale and food.
The pub itself is what you'd expect of a village pub - lots of beams, traditional furniture, in a two-room pub with a central bar area. They have four handpumps but were serving three beers on my visit - Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter, Adnams Broadside and Youngs Gold. The beer seemed reasonably well kept and customers were certainly buying plenty of it, which is a good sign.
They have an extensive food menu, but prices are more like those at restaurants than a pub: starters from £4.70, mains from £8.50 (veggie) or £9.50 (meat or fish) and puddings from £4.70. I've heard mixed experiences of the food - some say it's OK, but overpriced.
The clientele certainly seem very well heeled, judging by the cars parked in the car park, and one of the barmaids was a bit sniffy about me coming in looking a bit sweaty after a long hot walk, which is odd as they're close to the meeting of several major long-distance footpaths. The other, in contrast, was very friendly to a couple looking for a campsite for the night.
The pub is well known and does get very busy on nice sunny days. read more