Blair Atholl, near Pitlochry:
Attached to the Atholl Arms hotel, but definitely a pub. Really nice, funny barman, really good food and a nice place to pause our journey south. The hotel looks quite grand, the bar is pleasant and confortable.
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The Kinlochbervie Hotel
Kinlochbervie, Sutherland, Scottish Highlands:
Yes, it’s a hotel. It’s also the only public bar in town, and it’s where the locals drink, so it counts for “pub”, an allowance we regularly make in Scotland.
The bar itself is a bit noisy and echoes a lot, so it was tricky hearing over the couple of blokes at the bar conducting a conversation at full shout, but the staff were pleasant and we chose as quiet a table as we could. No cask ale, Heineken alcohol-free, and decent if basic bar food, which was welcome after the long journey.
The bar had some locals and some tourists, but was pretty busy: it is the only pub for some distance, but this is also a pretty sparsely-populated area.
The Watermill
Lelant, near Hayle, Cornwall:
One pub? On holiday?
Yes. Something went wrong, we were ill. We’d ventured out, and time was getting on, so we needed lunch. The one thing that went right was I spotted this place, serving food until 3pm.
It really is a watermill, with wheel inside, some machinery inside.
Staff were great, food was good, AF bottled beer was OK. It was a bit cold inside but they provide blankets and the atmosphere was nice.
The East End Arms
East End, near Lyndhurst, New Forest, Hampshire:
Positively lovely pub. It’s not even a village pub- East End is a very small hamlet- but it’s a great pub, owned by John Illsley, one of the founders of Dire Straits.
We happened upon this entirely by accident while driving around back roads, and what a happy accident that was!
Really friendly staff and locals, good food, good choice of ale and AF options. You can stay here, as well.
The Green Dragon
Brook, New Forest, Hampshire:
Lovely village pub. Traditional inside and out, multi-roomed with a nice snug you can hire for a group.
Decent, if not cheap, food, pleasant staff, good parking. We chose this as our friend described the other pub nearby as “a bit golf club”.
Pub cat was a bit unresponsive.
The Scholar’s Arms
Southampton:
We should have known better, but we needed a sit down, a drink, and lunch. The outside impressions were of a typical, perhaps student-aimed, city centre pub.
Inside, it was, as our friend said, “a drinking shed”. Quite accurate- it’s a big space, no real character, quite spoons-a-like, down to the mucky table that we had to ask to be cleaned.
To be fair, the staff were pleasant, and service was quick, but the food was a bit disappointing- the bread was past its best, for a start.
This was the worst pub of the trip, but still not actually awful, but compared to the others, a bit of a disappointment.
The Snakecatcher
Brockenhurst, New Forest, Hampshire:
Just over the road from The Forester’s Arms, and named for local celebrity Brusher Mills.
Outside for some reason led us to expect less, but inside there’s a tidy gastropub interior, fairly traditional but clearly not that old.
Good food, a step above average pub food. Ale on offer, friendly staff. Normally there’s be a good AF choice but all except the gin was sold out..
The Swan
Emery Down, Lyndhurst, New Forest, Hampshire:
We were heading off in search of pigs (which we totally failed at), got stuck in traffic, and took a diversion. We needed lunch, and were passing.
It’s a pleasant roadside pub, now a free house. Traditional inside and out. Very pleasant landlady, decent food, a real fire, good beer including cask and AF.
The Sir John Barleycorn
Cadnam, New Forest, Hampshire:
We were meeting a friend for food and drink and she’d suggested this, a short drive up through the forest, and on what was previously the main road, but now a cul-de-sac when the M27/A31 junction got dropped in.
It’s a beautiful thatched pub, originally 3 cottages, and the inside is traditional beams, but looks contemporary and traditional at the same time.
The difference with this place is the food: they offer a dual menu, Indian and traditional pub food.
Now there’s nothing unusual about Indian food in a pub, especially if you live in the West Midlands like we do, where the Desi Pub thing is normal but here in the New Forest is’ a bit more unusual, and the menu itself isn’t a standard Indian one; there’s a few unusual dishes.
Service was great, the food was excellent, and they found us a nice quiet table.There’s real ale on offer, AF options too.
The Smuggler’s Inn
Milford on Sea, Hampshire:
We were driving around the nearby coast and needed lunch. This place was handy and there was parking, so we went in.
Inside was modern gastropub: very much a food bias, stripped and waxed old wooden furniture, old beams. Friendly, pleasant staff coping well with the lunchtime rush, decent food, good beer offering.
Real surprise from the child watching something on a tablet nearby, who’d been given headphones, so didn’t disturb the rest of us.