Samuel Johnson had it right in the 18th century: ‘There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern.’
So did the ‘Boy’ in William Shakespeare’s Henry V: ‘I would give all of my fame for a pot of ale and safety.’
The poet William Blake was on the money too, with a cheeky twist: ‘A good local pub has much in common with a church, except that a pub is warmer and there’s more conversation.’
There is something quintessentially British about pubs – which is why stories of huge financial pressures forcing so many to close has induced such a massive public backlash.
With roughly a pub a day having closed last year (with 5,500-plus job losses), Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been forced into a policy U-turn – no longer intending to scale back business rates discounts for pubs; the Government this week announced a new support package.
Yet the effects of higher National Insurance contributions and increases in the minimum wage, energy costs and inflation continue to sting, putting landlords under mounting pressure.
Here – as ‘dry January’ comes to an end – we aim to celebrate this cherished British institution. Most people have a favourite, so we asked hospitality industry leaders and travel writers for theirs… places that are worth a special visit.
We hope they inspire a trip or two. Cheers!
The Mariners in Rock, Cornwall, boasts a beautiful setting, great service and outstanding food
Cornish corker
CHOSEN BY: Tom Kerridge, owner of the two Michelin-starred Hand And Flowers in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
Big shout out to Paul Ainsworth and the Mariners pub in Rock, Cornwall (the-mariners.co.uk). Beautiful setting, great service and outstanding pub food. Their buttermilk fried chicken and Scotch egg (right) are go-to classics; and you can’t go wrong with the famous Dog’s Pollock, a play on a hot dog and a fish finger sandwich.
Buzz in Barnet
CHOSEN BY: Sir Tim Martin, founder and chairman of Wetherspoons.
I’ve always tried to escape for a sherbet after a day at the coal face – to someone else’s pub. Ye Olde Monken Holt in Barnet enjoys historic ambience plus a buzz, no music, lots of regulars and a friendly guv’nor and team. Try the first-class Directors bitter (instagram.com/yeoldemonkenholthighbarnet).
Rutland secret
CHOSEN BY: The Inspector, Daily Mail hotel reviewer.
Ben Jones bought the Olive Branch & Beech House in Clipsham, Rutland, then a closed pub, in 1999 with some friends. The food is exceptional. Nothing too fancy but wonderfully fresh and generous. Great value for money, too, and all in a pretty little village not far from the A1 (theolivebranchpub.com).
The Acorn Inn, which features in local boy Thomas Hardy’s Tess Of The d’Urbervilles, is a gloriously traditional country boozer in rural west Dorset
Hardy to believe
CHOSEN BY: Benjamin Parker, Daily Mail acting head of travel.
The Acorn Inn, which features in local boy Thomas Hardy’s Tess Of The d’Urbervilles, is a gloriously traditional country boozer in rural west Dorset: low beams, a well-stoked fire and oak panels. Menus rave about regional suppliers, with dishes ranging from fish and chips to spiced pumpkin risotto. The best bet, after an evening of dinner, local ale and gin, is to drift upstairs to one of its ten cosy rooms.
Thirsty in Norfolk
CHOSEN BY: Simon Barnes, author of Spring Is The Only Season.
To get to Reedham Ferry Inn (in the Norfolk Broads) from the south, you must cross the River Yare by chain ferry (reedhamferry.co.uk). You can also come by boat. Once inside you find a real pub – remember them? And Sidney, the chef, is the mistress of real pub grub. You can see marsh harriers from the outside tables: they go very well with beer.
The Bull in Charlbury, Oxfordshire, still looks like a proper pub, not some decorator’s fantasy, and the food is just great
Unpretentious Cotswolds
CHOSEN BY: Prue Leith, restaurateur and author of Life’s Too Short To Stuff A Mushroom.
We’re spoiled for great pubs in the Cotswolds and my current favourite is The Bull in Charlbury, Oxfordshire. It still looks like a proper pub, not some decorator’s fantasy, and the food is just great – unpretentious, hearty and cooked with imagination and talent (thebullcharlbury.com).
Somerset welcome
CHOSEN BY: Christopher Somerville, author of Walking The Bones Of Britain.
A beautiful walk across the fields from the Somerset city of Wells brings you to the George Inn in Croscombe (thegeorgeinn.co.uk). It’s a proper local, the heartbeat of the village, where Peter and Veryan Graham serve good food, delicious beer and great warm dollops of welcome.
Welsh wonder
CHOSEN BY: Harriet Sime, travel editor.
The Sailors’ Safety is named after the light it once kept burning to guide ships. This former smugglers’ pub from 1593 faces Pwllgwaelod Beach, Pembrokeshire, and is my favourite for a sunset drink. Perch on a bench by smoking firepits and watch fishermen drag boats across the sand. Excellent mackerel tacos and crab linguine (dishcult.com).
Old-school banker
CHOSEN BY: Adrian Tierney-Jones, author of A Pub For All Seasons.
The Bridge Inn in Topsham, Devon, is a soothing time machine, where life slows down. Enjoy a cask beer in the old-school front parlour and cosy back bar, glowing with wood-burners, in colder months. In summer, sit outside overlooking the River Clyst.
Winchester winner
CHOSEN BY: Robin Hutson, chairman of LimeWood Group.
My favourite pub is my local, The Wykeham Arms in Winchester, Hampshire. It is located in the narrow cobbled streets close to Winchester Cathedral, serving excellent Fuller’s beer in a warm friendly atmosphere, with roaring log fires. Lots of intriguing artefacts fill the walls and the Wyk Pie, a take on shepherd’s pie, is great.
Edinburgh drams
CHOSEN BY: Olly Smith, Saturday Kitchen wine expert.
Kay’s Bar on Jamaica Street, Edinburgh, is tiny, cosy and has a wonderful range of whiskies (kaysbar.uk). This tucked-away haven is the perfect place for a discreet meeting when the weather turns frosty. Check out the library at the back for even greater privacy.
Lovely in the Lakes
CHOSEN BY: Tom Chesshyre, author of Lost In The Lakes.
In a heavenly spot between Loweswater and Crummock Water in the western Lake District, Kirkstile Inn is a hikers’ delight (kirkstile.com). Expect blazing fires, fine local ales (especially the Loweswater Gold) and good lunchtime sandwiches (£9). And there are splendid views of the 512-metre Mellbreak from the garden.
Island pints
CHOSEN BY: Coinneach MacLeod, whose series Hebridean Baker: Nordic Islands is on BBC iPlayer.
There are not many pubs you would cross the Atlantic for, but this one is definitely worth it. On the Isle of Seil on Scotland’s west coast, just over Clachan Bridge from Oban, Tigh An Truish is perfect for an afternoon pint or a hearty evening dinner.
Liverpool’s Baltic Fleet is a Grade II-listed 19th-century pub with a distinctive flat-iron shape
Liverpool class
CHOSEN BY: Rob Crossan, travel writer.
A ten-minute walk from Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock, Baltic Fleet is a Grade II-listed 19th-century pub with a distinctive flat-iron shape that looks like a ship run aground (balticfleet.co.uk). The cosy interior has a (not overly kitsch) nautical theme. Stop for a pint of Trapper’s Hat ale and a hearty bowl of Scouse stew.
Heaven in Devon
CHOSEN BY: Mark Stratton, contributing editor at Wanderlust.
Once run by Britain’s oldest active publican, 99-year-old Mabel Mudge, a 2024 community buyout after closure saw the Drewe Arms proudly restored as the beating heart of pretty Devon village, Drewsteignton. You can taste the community’s love for it within its 17th-century cob walls where it champions Devonian ales, farm-fresh mains from £12 and local musicians (drewearms.org).
The Old Forge on Knoydart Peninsula in the Scottish Highlands is the British mainland’s most remote pub – and one of its best
Remote and riotous
CHOSEN BY: Robin McKelvie, travel writer.
The Old Forge on Knoydart Peninsula in the Scottish Highlands is the British mainland’s most remote pub – and one of its best (theoldforge.co.uk). That it takes a couple of days hiking across rough Highland wildscapes – or a boat trip – makes that first pint taste all the better. Riotous live music sessions too.
Pub games
CHOSEN BY: Genie Harrison, Daily Mail executive travel editor.
The 250-year-old Blue Ball Inn provides a welcome pitstop by Grantchester Meadows, Cambridge, with a beer garden and East Anglian ales/lagers selected carefully by owners (and previous regulars) Toby and Angela Joseph. Enjoy pub games such as Ring the Bull and Shove Ha’penny by the log fire. Good beef and horseradish baguettes for £7 (blueballgrantchester.co.uk).
Northern delight
CHOSEN BY: Joanna Tweedy, assistant travel editor.
Banquette seating, crackling fires and a welcome as hearty as the Nidderdale beef Sunday roasts awaits those who pull up to the Sportsman’s Arms in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. This character-filled ramblers’ favourite, in a particularly verdant portion of God’s Own County, has 11 rooms upstairs.
The interior of the Crown Liquor Saloon in Belfast features wooden booths, snugs, stained glass windows, gas lights and beautiful tiled mosaics
Belfast booze-up
CHOSEN BY: Thomas Isacke, travel writer.
For a classic Victorian gin palace, look no further than The Crown Liquor Saloon in Belfast (nicholsonspubs.co.uk). Step inside, between Corinthian columns, to find wooden booths, snugs, stained glass windows, gas lights and beautiful tiled mosaics. Good ales, too – perfect with accompanying oysters (half a dozen, £19).
Walkers’ choice
CHOSEN BY: Mark Jones, ex- editor of BA’s High Life mag.
My favourite pub is The Bell in the West Berkshire village of Aldworth. I don’t mind progress, except when it comes to pubs. Here’s what I want. A small garden, a homely porch and a flagstoned bar. Beer: a proper ‘session pint’ – 3.8 per cent. Food: bread, cheese and pickles. And here it is: a little time capsule on the Ridgeway.
Special in Salford
CHOSEN BY: Ben Aitken, author of Sh*tty Breaks: A Celebration Of Unsung Cities.
On a recent visit to the Black Friar in Salford, I started with a pint of Boddingtons in the garden – by ’eck it were gorgeous – before entering the classy interior for a quite frankly astonishing pie, chips and gravy. If Nigella Lawson ever ran a pub, it would look something like this (theblackfriarsalford.co.uk).
Scallops and pints
CHOSEN BY: Simon Heptinstall, author of The Great Little Book Of Walking.
The Masons Arms in Branscombe, east Devon, is a 700-year-old stone cider house, now a gorgeous gastro-pub serving sardines, crab and scallops. Enjoy a pint of Hicks beneath beams by the fire (masonsarms.co.uk).
OUR PICK OF THE TOP PUBS IN LONDON Hammersmith bliss
CHOSEN BY: Al Murray, who is on tour as his alter ego The Pub Landlord.
I’m going for The Black Lion on the river in Hammersmith (blacklion.london). Pandemic summers there were bliss and the warm winter welcome unsurpassed. Honourable mention to Mulligans in Manchester for the best Guinness in the country (mulligansmcr.com).
The Holly Bush in Hampstead, north London, is a tucked-away, old-fashioned local with cosy corners, character and a villagey feel
‘Village’ life
CHOSEN BY: Simon Reeve, whose latest programme, Scandinavia, is on iPlayer.
I’ve got a soft spot for pubs that feel properly London – warm, lived-in and unpretentious. The Holly Bush in Hampstead fits that perfectly: a tucked-away, old-fashioned local with cosy corners, character and a villagey feel, just minutes from Hampstead Heath.
Turn back time
CHOSEN BY: Lucy Lethbridge, author of Tourists.
The Seven Stars in Carey Street, Holborn, is my idea of pub perfection – it has weathered the vicissitudes of pub fashion and emerged unscathed. It is small but cosy, full of nooks and creaks. It serves warm beer and unpretentious pub grub on gingham tablecloths. A treat if you feel like time travelling to London in 1945.
Blue Stoops on Kensington Church Street is ‘everything a proper pub should be… with one of the finest cheeseburgers in town’
Kensington classic
CHOSEN BY: Tom Parker Bowles, food writer and restaurant reviewer.
My selection is Blue Stoops on Kensington Church Street. Publican Jamie Allsopp may be an old friend, but the beer is excellent (I love his Allsopp’s Pilsner and Pale Ale), the food consistently fine and the atmosphere splendid. It’s everything a proper pub should be… with one of the finest cheeseburgers in town (thebluestoops.com).’
Chelsea charmer
CHOSEN BY: Mark Palmer, travel writer.
My choice is the Fox & Pheasant in Chelsea. You might want to avoid this delightful pub (founded 1846) when Chelsea are playing at home. The stadium is just a goalie’s punt away – but it’s such a special, authentic boozer serving terrific food, owned by singer James Blunt, with three open fires, darts and dog biscuits (thefoxandpheasant.com).
The 19th-century Trafalgar Tavern has amazing views and an impeccable atmosphere
Thameside treasure
CHOSEN BY: Hayley Minn, dailymail.co.uk’s deputy travel editor.
When I’m walking around Greenwich, where I live, I’ll nearly always make sure I stop off at the Trafalgar Tavern for a glass of red (trafalgartavern.co.uk). Sitting by the Thames, this 19th-century boozer has amazing views and the atmosphere is always impeccable.
Heaven by the Heath
CHOSEN BY: Jo Kessel, travel writer.
The Garden Gate is all about its Hampstead Heath location, dark wooden interiors and beer garden (thegardengatehampstead.co.uk). Their Sunday roast is superb, dished up with trimmings and lashings of gravy from £21. Top or tail lunch with a walk on the heath or a dip in a bathing pond.
Capital choice
CHOSEN BY: Tony Wheeler, co-founder of Lonely Planet.
The Devonshire Arms is friendly with good food and Kensington people-watching, too, if you’re in the front garden. The Dev is the locale for the annual ‘Lonely Planet old hands’ travel writers gathering and there’s always someone who announces: “Got to go now, my flight to Azerbaijan/Djibouti/Paraguay leaves in three hours,” (thedevonshirearmskensington.co.uk).
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