Our 18 favourite country pubs in the UK and Ireland
There is but one reason for a country walk. And that is, of course, a UK country pub. The Dales may be dazzling, that coastal path pulchritudinous and the Broads simply divine. But without the prospect of a pint, I just can’t see the point. Because a good country pub in the UK is as much secular church as it is boozer, a place of well-oiled worship, not just a shelter from the storm (we’re in the British Isles, remember) but an institution dyed deep into the fabric of this green and pleasant land. A place for succour, good cheer and merry cliché, where damp socks are dried before glowing hearths, pints are forever foaming and summer evenings whiled away in the soft crepuscular gloom. They’re as quintessential as orderly queues, milky tea and a million ways with ‘sorry’. Proudly democratic too. All life is here. Lords and shepherdesses, bishops and knaves, farmers, travellers and fools. Whether it’s a pint and pickled egg at the bar, or the heady gastronomic heights of The Sportsman in Seasalter, this country has them all.
OK, so it’s not all hand-raised pork pies and artisan ales. That’s the joy. Sometimes, you crave two pints of lager and a packet of crisps. And rather than submit yourself to the tyranny of the tasting menu, scampi in a basket will do just fine. The nearest pub to my mother’s house, The George Inn in Lacock, may not have Michelin banging down their door. But give me a jar or three of Wadworth 6X, in front of that vast fire, and you’ll be hard pushed to prise me out. That said, I’ve been to a couple of places that make The Slaughtered Lamb in An American Werewolf in London (you know the one, deep in the Yorkshire moors, which goes deathly quiet when two fresh-faced Americans walk in) look positively friendly. The dark side of the Half Moon. So atmosphere is all-important, if not a smile of welcome then at least a nod. Plus good, well-kept beer, preferably local. Cider too. And there must be a place for the dogs.
Decent crisps are key. Extra points for scampi fries. And pork scratchings. Always pork scratchings. A fire too, especially for those dim, dark winter days. And while pounding house music may be a plus in certain city pubs, I prefer the sound of silence. As for food, it depends upon the mood. Sometimes, I want elegance and comfort, and serious, though un-mucked-about ingredients. Somewhere where you can taste the local bounty, cooked by someone who knows their way around the pans. The Wild Rabbit in Kingham, or The Fordwich Arms in Kent. At the other extreme is somewhere like Tucker’s Grave Inn in Somerset. Where there isn’t even a bar. Just some of the best cider you’ll ever taste. Because that’s the beautiful thing about the country boozer – it’s each to their own, with a place for every possible whim and desire.
The best country pubs in the UK and Ireland, as chosen by staff and friends of the magazine:
Till Britze1. The Copper Dog in Scotland
Chosen by food writer Tom Parker Bowles
‘This place sits smack bang in the middle of whisky country in Craigellachie, a mere totter away from the Spey. Which is why you’ll find fans of a wee drop here from across the world. And a hell of a selection they have too. But the true joy is that all-important mixture of locals and visitors. Everyone rubs along just fine. There’s Tennent’s, if you like, a must round these parts. Or two cask ales, properly kept. The ceilings are low, the fires suitably crackling, and the menu makes the very best of all that Scottish produce. Spanking fresh langoustines, good fish and chips, local sausages and steak. A decent wine list. And if things get a little too merry, well, you can always take a room at the hotel upstairs.’
Address: The Copper Dog, The Craigellachie Hotel, Victoria Street, Speyside AB38 9SR
Telephone: +44 1340 881 204
Website: craigellachiehotel.co.uk/copper-dog2. The Leicester Arms, Penshurst, Kent
Chosen by Andrew Clarke, chef-director at East London restaurant St Leonards and founder of the Pilot Light mental health campaign
When I manage to leave East London to see my dad in Kent, I’ll usually stop in for an ale at The Leicester Arms, an ivy-covered Tudor pub in the village of Penshurst. I grew up in Dartford, and we used to go foraging together, then to Penshurst for a drink. The Leicester Arms always feels like a proper pub to me; the kind of place you’d have found with its windows glowing in the dark a hundred years ago, before pub chains came in with their fake blackboards and mediocre beer. They do a nice roast, great fish and chips and a picnic board with pork pies and honey-roast ham, but nothing is too overworked or fussy. The Spotted Dog, also in Penshurst, is another good one – like the Leicester Arms, and any good country pub, it just fits the place.
Address: The Leicester Arms Hotel, High Street, Penshurst, Tonbridge TN11 8BT
Telephone: +44 1892 871617
Website: theleicesterarmshotel.com
3. The Devonport Inn, Kingsand, Cornwall
Chosen by contributor Sally Shalam
'I’ve had more good times in this salty beachfront local than I can remember: pasties with pints of Cornish Rattler after coastal path walks; family Sunday lunches at long tables tucked into the blond-wood interior; elbowing through the fancy dress-clad throng on New Year’s Eve before the fireworks. The food is as splendid as the views over the little bay – Looe scallops, River Exe oysters, Devon ruby steak and chips – but it still has the intangible soul of a proper local’s bar. Just a minute away is Westcroft Guesthouse, a boho-romantic bolthole in a tall, skinny Georgian townhouse, with the plumpest pillows, hand-picked bedside reading and a great art collection.'
Address: The Devonport Inn, The Cleave, Kingsand, Cornwall, PL10 1NF
Telephone: +44 1752 822869
Website: devonportinn.com4. Westford Inn, North Uist, Outer Hebrides
Chosen by Lisa Drewe, author of Islandeering
I remember noting to a stool-rooted local at the Westford Inn that I loved North Uist. ‘And North Uist loves you back,’ he replied, without missing a beat, before settling back to whisky and dry silence. I had just cycled around the island and had spotted the faintly austere Georgian stone building against a backdrop of machair, white sand and sea. I’ve been back a few times, and it’s always packed with locals, cyclists, hikers, shooting parties and fiddlers; a hubbub in stark contrast to the peaty wilderness outside. It does the basics well, too: Isle of Skye real ales, local venison and peat-smoked North Uist salmon and scallops that Prue Leith reckons are the best in the world. At the back of the pub there’s a detached stone bothy. From the cosy double bed you look out to the little sandy island of Kirkibost; beyond that, nothing much until America.
Address: The Westford Inn, Isle of North Uist, Na H-Eileanan An Iar, HS6 5EP
Telephone: +44 1876 580653
Website: westfordinn.com
Chanaley Alleyne5. The Royal Oak in Wiltshire
Chosen by Wahaca restaurant founder Thomasina Miers
‘This is a really special spot, off the Wiltshire Downs, on an organic farm run by farm-to-table expert Helen Browning. We talked soil and the universe as we ate creamy organic chicken-liver mousse and twice-baked cheese soufflé with mustard; she was so bright but down-to-earth and not at all didactic. The place is a bit like Helen – serious about food but also fun. It has a huge vinyl collection and young staff. After a bath and a night in a cosy barn-like room, the breakfast was just right: home-made granola, local honey, bacon and eggs from the farm. I left with a country-pub glow, but also with fresh ideas about how we should be living and eating.’
Address: Helen Browning’s Royal Oak, Cues Lane, Bishopstone, Swindon, SN6 8PP
Telephone: 01793 790 481
Website: helenbrowningsorganic.co.uk/royal-oak6. Nora Murphy’s in Co Kerry, Ireland
Chosen by chief sub-editor Grainne McBride
‘Every St Stephen’s Day, I climb snowcapped Mount Brandon with my brothers, sister and cousins, then head to this pier-side pub to warm up by the open fire with Guinness and cheese toasties. We used to stay in a house nearby during the summer when we were little. Our parents and their friends would duck into the bar fresh off a sailing boat, keeping us quiet with red lemonade and Tayto crisps, our lips still salty from swimming at the tiny beach down the slipway. Now, punters eat fresh crab sandwiches on the new wooden deck. It’s especially cheery at Christmas, when the pictures are covered in wrapping paper, and fairylights are webbed across the ceiling like fishing nets. Run by the same family for five generations, it’s the best spot for a seaside pint in Ireland for me.’
Address: Murphy's Bar, Brandon, Co. Kerry, Ireland
Telephone: +353 86 343 0267
Website: murphysbarbrandon.com
7. Star Inn at Harome in Yorkshire
Chosen by Tart London co-founder Lucy Carr-Ellison
‘I went to school near here, and on special occasions we’d go to the thatched Star Inn in Little Harome, on the edge of the Moors. It was the first time I’d had food like that in a pub: I remember, aged 16, tasting the grilled foie gras with black pudding and apple, and having a ‘whoa!’ moment. I go back regularly, and still feel happy walking through the tiny medieval doorways, or up to the little snug upstairs. Andrew Pern was a gastro-pub pioneer, and his food is as amazing as ever. In the autumn, steaming hunting parties come in, and there might be a cottage pie made with venison shot around the village. Then it’s just family time, fires and good wine.’
Address: Star Inn, High Street, Harome, York YO62 5JE
Telephone: + 44 1439 770397
Website: thestaratharome.co.uk
Ed Reeve8. The Flying Stag in Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Chosen by editor-at-large Steve King
‘A 12-point stag taking flight by means of a pair of dainty ptarmigan wings is the sort of thing you might see as you wobble out of a remote Highland pub after a few drams too many. But that hybrid beast is the first sighting as you step into The Flying Stag at The Fife Arms hotel in Braemar. It would be difficult to exaggerate the sheer strangeness of this weird creature – a brilliantly executed artwork by James Prosek, suspended in front of the bar – or the feeling of delight to which it gives rise. The Fife Arms was, for me, the most exciting opening of last year, not so much a hotel as a wunderkammer with mattresses. Its owners, the Swiss gallerists Manuela and Iwan Wirth, have gone to great lengths to ensure that it remains a place for locals as well as high-rolling visitors, and in this respect The Flying Stag has an important role to play. I defy you not to be utterly charmed.’
Address: The Fife Arms, Mar Road, Braemar, Aberdeenshire, AB35 5YN
Telephone: +44 1339 720200
Website: thefifearms.com9. Farmers Arms in Wales
Chosen by author Horatio Clare
‘Where I live in the beautiful Cwmdu valley, in between the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons, there’s nothing but a café in a former petrol station, a church – and the wonderful Farmers Arms. When we first moved here, the landlady was formidable: favoured customers had their own chairs, and outsiders were distinctly unwelcome. These days, it’s community-owned, dog-friendly and run by vivacious former music-industry executives, with seemingly eternal games of dominoes and cards being played by the fire. It serves Wye Valley Butty Bach ales and pub grub that folk cross the mountains for – Whitby scampi, beef-and-ale pie, a great roast. But it’s the atmosphere that makes it exceptional: farmers, pony trekkers, musicians and Hay-bound writers, existing together between the stone flags and the low-beamed ceiling.’
Address: The Farmers Arms, Cwmdu, Crickhowell, NP8 1RU
Telephone: +44 1874 202132
Website: the-farmers-arms.com10. The Rising Sun in Sussex
Chosen by restaurateur Oliver Gladwin
‘This 16th-century institution in Nutbourne, my home village, has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. The owner, Regan Howard, bought my brothers and me our first car, which my brother crashed into a tree on the family orchard. One childhood Christmas, we attempted to walk our llamas through the village, but one steadfastly refused to leave the pub. It’s that kind of place – my brother often drinks with a local called Richard who goes exactly 13 times a week. Every Friday, villagers sing and play music, including Willie Austen who has been playing Sussex Swing for 50 years and often jams with his sons. It’s where everyone goes for Easter-egg hunts and carol singing, and where they still keep the village defibrillator, which my mum has had to operate a few times. One of my most joyful memories was going into the kitchen, cooking a rabbit I’d shot and feeding everyone at the bar. But I love just walking into the place: everything wooden, that slightly damp boozer smell. I order a pint of Proper Job and a packet of pork scratchings, and all is well.’
Address: The Rising Sun, The Street, Nutbourne, Pulborough, West Sussex, RH20 2HE
Telephone: +44 1798 812191
Website: therisingsunnutbourne.co.uk
Tom Parker11. The Sportsman in Kent
Chosen by big-hitting chef Skye Gyngell
‘This is without doubt my favourite pub on the planet, and Stephen Harris must be one of the best chefs in England. There’s a real sense of place about the cooking: the salt gathered from the beach in front of the restaurant; the Whitstable native oysters served on a bed of shells; the thornback ray or gurnard that somehow tastes like the sea. I’ve always liked the contrast of this refined food and great service with the building itself – out on its own in the middle of nowhere, everything a bit rough and worn. When I recently took the staff from my restaurant, Spring, we went for a walk on the beach with Stephen before lunch. The whole day was completely perfect.’
Address: The Sportsman, Faversham Road, Seasalter, Whitstable, Kent, CT5 4BP
Telephone: +44 1227 273370
Website: thesportsmanseasalter.co.uk12. Royal Oak in Shropshire
Chosen by food & drink editor Tabitha Joyce
‘As a child, stopping here was always the lure after long family walks on Caer Caradoc – a steep, windy four-hour schlep up the Bronze-age hill fort. Lunch, as a reward, meant bottles of Appletiser and bubbling dishes of macaroni cheese or cottage pie. On a warm day, my brothers and I would sit at the roadside terrace out front; afterwards, we’d paddle in the stream at the back. It remains a very ‘old Shropshire’ boozer – I’ve watched farmers in Tattersall check settle by the fire with still-wet sheepdogs. These days, I feel compelled to order Dad’s choice: pork-and-apple fidget pie, made with gammon cooked in spiced cider, with a golden puff-pastry top.’
Address: The Royal Oak, Cardington, North Church Stretton, Shropshire, SY6 7JZ
Telephone: +44 1694 771266
Website: at-the-oak.com
Cristian Barnett13. The Tickell Arms in Cambridgeshire
Chosen by wine expert Nina Caplan
‘By the time I visited this pub in Whittlesford in the early 2000s, legendary owner Joseph Hollick ‘Kim’ de la Taste Tickell had been dead for a while. Which was probably a good thing, since I was in search of a pint and a decent dinner, not a fight, and Kim famously banned lefties and ‘modern women’. This bright-blue former coaching inn didn’t disappoint then, and while it’s since become part of the Cambscuisine group, it’s still a lovely place for a feast and a glass. The refurbishment has lightened the interior and smartened up the conservatory, if perhaps removing some of the smoky old character, and the wine list now focuses on the Languedoc, with some excellent vintages from Domaine Gayda. The fish is sustainable, and the cooking has a modern European slant while still being British: there’s salad Lyonnaise and pulled-pork croquettes and risotto, but also an English charcuterie board, slow-cooked beef rib and sticky toffee pudding.’
Address: The Tickell Arms, North Road, Whittlesford, Cambridge, CB22 4NZ
Telephone: +44 1223 833025
Website: thetickellarms.co.uk
Jake Eastham14. The Lord Poulett Arms in Somerset
Chosen by cookbook author Joanna Weinberg
‘Classic West Country villages require classic country pubs – and honey-coloured, rose-strewn Hinton St George has this one, which seems to have changed little since it opened in 1680. Teal-painted, with a flagstone-floored wooden bar, it could simply trade on its aristocratic history, but the local ales and ciders are kept in great shape, and the food is seriously good, from soft baps stacked with salt beef and homemade mayo to Cornish fish served with spelt and nasturtium risotto. On sunny days, French metal tables are put out on the herb-lined gravel courtyard. And past the lavender-fringed boules court in the garden out back, there’s a rare Basque pelota wall – the precursor to fives. Wall-papered rooms upstairs have slipper baths and village views.’
Address: The Lord Poulett Arms, Hinton St George, Somerset, TA17 8SE
Telephone: +44 1460 73149
Website: lordpoulettarms.com
Stuart Milne15. Galvin Green Man in Essex
Chosen by creative director Pete Winterbottom
‘Everyone was excited when the Galvin Green Man opened round my way a few years ago: it was the homecoming of the Essex-born Galvin brothers (who won Michelin stars at their eponymous restaurants), adding a glass extension and a spritz of East London buzz to an ancient coaching inn north of Chelmsford. It’s still doing the simple things brilliantly; the young staff really look after you, and Chris and Jeff are often around for a chat. The food has won a Bib Gourmand, but I struggle to look past the cricket ball-sized Old Spot Scotch egg with pickles, and the Galvin burger with bacon and provolone cheese. On Neighbours, everyone always went to Lassiters for a special occasion – the Galvin has become our Lassiters.’
Address: Galvin Green Man, Main Road, Howe Street, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 1BG
Telephone: +44 1245 408820
Website: galvinrestaurants.com
16. The Gunton Arms in Norfolk
Chosen by managing editor Paula Maynard
‘Here is an unlikely spot near Norwich, on northeastern Norfolk’s quiet coast. It’s in a flintstone building set in a deer park south of Victorian-seaside Cromer, so the wall-hung stags, battered Chesterfields and Lillie Langtry connections were almost predictable; less so that the space would be filled with Emin neons, Hirst butterflies and strange erotic prints by Japanese photo-grapher Nobuyoshi Araki. It is owned by lank-haired art dealer Ivor Braka, whose wife Kristen McMenamy was a grungy model in Nineties New York, and he’s brought an insouciant glamour to a place that still attracts the hunting crowd. Stuart Tattersall, Mark Hix’s old right-hand man, cooks venison over an open fire, as well as Blickling beef and Cromer crab. The beer garden seems to stretch into infinity, as does the estate for kids to run around in. After lunch, I watched one almost clatter into an Antony Gormley figure, staring forlornly at a herd of deer. We were forlorn, too; we longed to stay the night.’
Address: The Gunton Arms, Cromer Road, Thorpe Market, Norfolk NR11 8TZ
Telephone: +44 1263 832010
Website: theguntonarms.co.uk17. Bird in Bush, in Northumberland
Chosen by travel writer Harry Pearson
‘I first stumbled across the Bird in Bush in Elsdon after a ferociously cold walk in the Redesdale countryside, finding a vision of stone-flagged floors, sloping beamed ceiling, log fires crackling. The Equinox pale ale from a microbrewery in a barn had an ambrosial quality, and the pork terrine with beer-pickled sprouts was made with brewery ale and a drift of pigs reared out the back. A return visit on a sunnier day proved that Katie Bland and Stephen Shaw’s 18th-century inn had been no Brigadoon-style fantasy, and that Franco-Northumbrian chef Guillaume Rideau consistently creates locavore wonders without the need for a fixed menu. The pub also houses a library, and has quoits pits – it’s the north-east’s answer to pétanque, played with rubber rings tossed onto wooden sticks.’
Address: The Bird, Village Green, Elsdon, Newcastle upon Tyne NE19 1AA
Telephone: +44 1830 520804
Website: facebook.com/elsdonpub.
Alamy18. The Fox Goes Free
Chosen by Audience Development Manager Amber Port
The Fox Goes Free is tucked away in the hills of the south downs, offering locals and visitors an unmatched view of the English countryside. The pub itself is quintessentially British and full of character, boasting carefully preserved inglenook fireplaces, low-beamed ceilings and even a bread oven. I’m partial, as I hosted my wedding dinner here, but I’m convinced this pub is perfect for every occasion. A cosy winter’s evening spent by the fireplace? Yes. A mild summer’s evening spent watching the sky change over the downs? Yes. The Fox Goes Free is the country pub of dreams, with delicious food (order the pie of the day) and booze (ice cold lager) to boot.
Address: Charlton, Nr Goodwood, West Sussex PO18 0HU
Telephone: +44 01243 811461
Website: https://www.thefoxgoesfree.com/