My boyfriend and I stumbled across this pub by accident, despite it being in the High Street, when visiting the town for their Victorian Evening which, as I understand, they hold on the last Friday of November each year. We approached the town from the Bath end and would have missed it had it not been for the on-going event with all the traffic shut out, which would have been a huge shame as we both loved the place.
As expected it was a very busy evening, to the degree the pub was holding an all comers BBQ in the road in front. Despite this we managed to grab a freshly cleaned small table and two very comfortable chairs (unfortunately not the lovely leather settee). The place had a relatively small bar, but the two members of staff working it did so efficiently and as a result there was no real queue, which shocked us both given the remarkable selection of real ales, lagers and ciders available at, to us at least, more than reasonable prices.
Inside the pub was warm, with a roaring wood burning fire, and had a lovely collection of framed photos of the town from yester-year. Outside there is a small parking area and an enclosed, fenced and covered smoking and drinking area. In spite of the wandering crowds and busy feel we were made to feel welcome and the service was most attentive - so much so we returned three weeks later to see if our first impressions were correct. They weren't - the pub was actually better!
We got involved in a lengthy and hilarious conversation with a couple of locals and what turned out to be the landlord, although he was very unassuming for a man that runs a pub (we were told afterwards by a regular who is a local lawyer the landlord is also a published author which makes sense of the free ranging conversation). It seemed to be a traditional style pub, one which takes good care of its regulars, but also welcomes outsiders warmly - as do the locals.
The only downside for me was I found it hard to drag myself away at the end of our second evening, and much harder to get my boyfriend out of the place. We loved it, and if we lived closer it would certainly be our watering hole for sure! read more