please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Very fine unspoilt pub which was very busy when I was there recently. Beer in very good condition/ Proves if you have a unique offer people will come.
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Lovely pub. I hadn't visited for about 10 years when the place was quite downmarket. Now it is a superb pub with superb choice of beers. Only downside was wait for a pasty!
Will definitely return and recommend to anyone wishing to enjoy great beer.
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Ditto 'nuttybrowns' comments, especially about the pump clips.
The information helped me decide to try Mighty Oaks Maldon Gold and Dark Star's NHA Pale - both superb.
I wish the pub was in my town.
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Real Pub, Real Ale, Real Welcome is their claim and you certainly get two out of three consistently. The welcome can be a bit hit and miss but it is never hostile. The neurotic alsatian died earlier this year which might be a relief to some people.
This is the area's Real Ale mecca and if it wasn't so difficult to get to by public transport I'd be in there far more.
There's always 6 ales on. These are helpfully labelled up on the pump clip as The Dark one, The Hoppy One, The Mild etc so you can see at a glance what is on offer. I wish more pubs did this.
Foodwise - its mostly bar snacks but these are very high quality and usually a cut above what you get elsewhere. They tend to source locally if they can.
All in all if you are as uncompromising about your food and drink as the landlords you MUST make a trip here, especially if someone else is driving.
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hi, nice pub, beer range and quality good, prices ok , clean and tidy.
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I have been an occasional but regular visitor here for about seven or eight years. It's only a 2 minute drive from the M25 but feels like it's a million miles away.
This is most definitely a drinkers pub - the only food available seems to be microwaved pasties or peanuts which keeps the families away - not a bad thing.
There's usually about six ales on, which are always well kept and served in oversized glasses so you're always assured of a full pint.
The resident Alsatian has always been sound with me, apart from the one time I went to stroke it and it got a bit defensive. Ironically this kind of mirrors the attitude of the aloof locals - it's like "you're welcome to drink here, but don't expect to interact with us"
This, together with the perennially miserable landlord are the only things that detract from what would otherwise be the perfect pub
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Eight superb ales for the drinker, but not much in the way of food if you are hungry.
It is not for the want of trying to find a pub with this much choice of beer along with a decent selection of meals but, alas, I will keep searching.
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Excellent pub and yes it’s not a food pub but if you like beer and haven’t tried it then you are missing out !!
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Has a festival on this weekend. This means that the normal selection of 6 ales on the bar is increased to 10. On today were Tring Liberty Ale & Gerry B Winter, Redemption Rock The Kasbek, Moorhouses Black Cat, Oakleaf Heart of
Gold, Hardknott Azimuth IPA, Vale Brill Amber, NZ Rakau Verulam, Darkstar Porter & Saltaire South Island Pale. Ciders and perries were Westons Country Perry, Gwynt y Ddraig Two Trees Perry & Happy Daze & Millwhites Scrumpy & Hedge-Layer. The clientele were mainly locals. But this is a handy pub to stop for a swift half of something unusual if you are driving around the M25 past junction 17. Or even better, get somebody to drive you there and sample them all.
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A proper pint
A proper pork pie
A proper pub.
Make your way there this instance.
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Pleasant real ale pub benefitting from regular turn-around of beers. The landlord could do with cheering up, though.
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Definitely a beer pub, not a food pub. Unfortunately I was looking for somewhere for lunch and the meagre choice of pie or pastie wasn't tempting. Would be unfair of me to rate it, so I won't.
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Excellent range of top-quality ales and ciders. Nice old, country pub feel and decor. Good setting in a great part of the world, would not know you're so close to the M25. Friendly staff. Only criticism is the presence/smell of the large alsatian. I am sure it is a lovely old dog and pub dogs can add to the character, but surely landlords/ladies must realise that not all patrons are going to be as big a fan of dogs as them, particularly when out eating and drinking in a relatively confined space? Given this pub an "8" regardless.
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Great pub for real ales. Was a bit crowded on this visit but worth waiting to get served.
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Excellent. A proper, unpretentious beer pub with obliging service and first rate ales. A very rare straight ten from me...
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I'm surprised I haven't reviewed this pub before. Friday was our third visit and just as good as the previous two. The pub is not far from the M25, but a world away in terms of atmosphere. It is a country location. The drinking area skirts around the L-shaped bar and there is an outdoor smoking/drinking area adjoing the car park. If a mobile phone sounds in the pub, you're liable to a fine! One corner features many beer and pub related books and the walls feature several items of breweriana. This weekend is their designated cider weekend and they had 7 real ciders or perries on - Westons Old Rosie & Country Perry, Millwhites Hedge Layer & Mixed Scrumpy, Gwynt y Ddraig Happy Daze & Two Trees Perry and Lyme Down Roaring Meg. The ale selction is just as extensive, with Tring Liberty Ale, Red Squirrel Conservation Bitter & Heronsgate Pale Ale, Wentworth South Yorkshire Pale Ale, Acorn Quantum, Buntingford Night Owl, Grain Redwood and Country Life Old Appledore all on during our Friday evening visit. Well worth a detour up the lane from the motorway.
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Excellent range of ales spread over all styles from blondes to porters. Pub is fairly basic and food pretty much non-existent but who cares!
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Good to find a pub with some great Real Ales.
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Remains fantastic, and particularly enjoyable on a relatively quiet Saturday afternoon (didn't enjoy it when struuggling to get past people drinking at the bar on previous visit).
Surprisingly low marks presumably reflect people judging pubs on lemonade, wine and gastro food. The pasty and the beers were superb.
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Excellent traditional pub in a secluded and peaceful location, but only 15-20 minutes walk from Chorleywood Station. Friendly welcome and interesting range of ales served in tip-top condition. Well worth a visit. 10/10.
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This pub has to have a five until I can go to sample the prestigious range of ales on offer. Went in with a non drinking friend and ordered soft drinks including lemonade which was completely without fizz. Worth a trip back to see if the beers are better but this is certainly not the place to go unless you aren't driving.
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Really good pub. great ales and so many to choose from. staff are friendly and knowledgable. great place to relax in the evening. no other pub will ever be good enough!
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Visited this Sunday afternoon. The place was heaving. The only food was pasties and pork pies which were well received by the party, unlike the wine. But then pub wine is usually awful. Some fine pints of Welland Mild. One I think for connoisseurs of pubs, but if you like proper pubs as they used to be, then this is a place well worth seeking out. But it makes no concessions to the casual pub goer.
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Superb beer and an atmosphere taken straight out of a more relaxed and technology-free era. Not a family pub, not a gastro-pub, just a little pub the way pubs used to be (only with better beer).
We regularly drive for half an hour just to sit and savour a couple of different halves -- and go home feeling the better for it.
Argel - 26 Oct 2010 18:33 |
Great selection of quality ales but when asking for a Guinness for my friend was told "we don't serve any of that sh#t in here". Fair enough but a "Sorry, we don't have any Guinness but would you like one of our ales?"would have been a bit more of a polite response. Lovely looking pub and well worthy of it's many awards I imagine but very much a locals establishment of the Barbour jacket brigade. Would ignore it's claims of having a dartboard, even if confirmed on phone. They do but will be very unlikely to be ever able to play on it. Sullen looking farmer type in world of his own didn't seem willing to shift up one space on his 6 seater table this time. Fantastic ales and fully approve of the mobile phone ban but after 2 visits, not finding it particularly welcoming
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Very disappointed recently to go in at lunchtime and to be told there is no food except for a pork pie or a cornish pasty, and when you order either, that is what you get, no salad garnish, no chips just a plate with a cold pork pie or a vey luke warm cornish pasty. The beer selection is still good though.
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Have been coming here on and off for over 5 years. It remains a real find with an excellent range of beers. Pretty genteel clientele, the Torygraph tends to be paper of choice for most coming on lunchtime but adds to the quiet atmosphere, super beer garden too-recommended.
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its still a stinker of a pub.
if you think this is a good pub.. well you must be either drunk.. or into widescreen football in a big way. NOT a traditional pub at all..or even a nice local. the Stag down the road is a million times better in every way you only have to view the clientele inside to assure yourself..,and you wont be abused by the neanderthal staff in there.
if you drive a white van, own a pitbull and smoke weed..then the land of liberty is the place for you!!
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Super pub with some great real ales, ciders and perry. Board shows the beers which today were Tring Liberty Al and Lunardi's, Red Squirrel Conservation, Acorn Old Moor Porter and Mighty Oak High Daze which was excellent. Large beer garden and smoking patio, plenty of old brewery prints on the walls and a friendly welcome. Advertise Belgian beer but I didn't see what selection they had. Recommended although if you come off the M25 be careful as the road to the pub is narrow with passing places.
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Not the greatest pub by a long way. But the beer quality is always 100%
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Just a short distance from Junction 17 of the M25, but a world away really. Looks and feels like a 'proper pub', even though there are no particularly remarkable features inside. However, the main attraction here is the beer and there is a fine selection of six real ales (including the decent Conservation Bitter from the Red Squirrel Brewery) plus four ciders and a perry on draught. Uses over-sized glasses to ensure a full pint too. Well worth seeking out.
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Great pub - four or five excellent beers including Tring Liberty, two from Hertford Brewery (Blonde & Conservation) and several others including a stout. A couple of the beers went off during the stay and were immediately replaced with new alternatives so lots of choice. Good service, a business like hum to the place and much appreciation of the beer from all.
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small but pleasant
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This is a real gem; great beer that is well kept and served, interesting and friendly folks and nice bar staff. A sensible policy about mobile phones mean that it is a peaceful spot for a pint.
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Too late for dinner but they did me a pasty & a pork pie which was very welcome. Watched the FA cup from here & they also had the decency to put on a beer festival - a good selection too! Had a couple of their more interesting bottled beers as well. Eleven years or so since I was here (see also 'The Stag') when they were doing draught Belgian beer and I should be ashamed of myself for taking this long to come back..
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One of those 'here for the beer' pubs, they had a beer festival on, so lots of choice and the beer was in decent nick.
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We thoroughly enjoyed the beer festival over the Easter weekend and look forward to the next one. That said, the selection of cask ales is constantly changing here, so there's an opportunity to try new ones upon every visit anyway. Local suppliers are actively supported, with beers from Red Squirrel Brewery and Tring Brewery always on offer.
The bar area has a basic and traditional feel, with an open fire at one end and no juke box or fruit machines. There's a dart board and some tabletop pub games to play, for those who are so inclined. Food is served at certain times and snacks are always available, our favourites being the pork pies and the home-baked cashews in chilli seasoning.
The owners and their staff are always friendly and welcoming, as well as being enthusiastic and knowledgeable about their work.
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We visited 12/04/09 and it was the Beer Festival so plenty of good ales on tap. Well kept ales, in a decent quiet pub. Everyone was there for the right reason, to have a drink and enjoy themselves. We will be returning.
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We concurr entirely Lucy (visit 11/1/09)
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Even better than on a previous visit; one of the very best of the specialist ale-houses and catering to a local community (i.e. better than the Wellington in Brum). Red Squirrel fantastic - just a shame about the lack of pork pies.
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its a downer for this one I am afraid... staff were rude and then some... advertised log fire on board outside, and it was bloody freezing, yet fire was not on and being used as magazine rack..
pub dog approached us and we were petting her, when the bar woman rudely called the dog away (assuming we were feeding it or something??). we were the only people there apart from two regulars in the other side, and my phone rang, a hazard of my work (as a carer)... I took the call quietly yet was 'told off' because the pub bans mobile phones..despite there being no signs to this effect on the door, on their carefully produced leaflets or otherwise. was told'we are a traditional pub here' ...Not so traditional that they didnt have a wide screen telly showing loud football(despite no one there watching it) if you are going to market as a traditional pub then dont have widescreen tv!! price of two non alcoholic drinks was astronomical at over five pounds, and not even polite service or made to feel welcome.. you think they would want to keep the customers, because its a nice looking pub in a nice location, but obviously they dont give a fig...I would really have liked to have had a positive experience here, as its near my new home..but I wont be visiting again..
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Plenty of real and local beers on here. it's a real pub, where mobile phones are banned. No bad thing, that.
Once saw Holts Manchester beers on,
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Great pub with bags of character. The collection of old bottled beers above the bar look to be originals. Good selection of ales, mostly local, in perfect condition. Large outside area at the back, partly covered. Nice location, excellent pub.
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An absolute gem. Go there soon and you'll realise why it's won so many awards. Can't believe it's got such a low rating.
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Popped in yesterday - the beer was in top condition and as usual the toilets were spotless. The beer was better than the Wenlock!
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I had a great Saturday afternoon sesh in here. Beer quality was top notch (not a bad one out of the 8 sampled) and the staff were nothing but friendly and efficient. Had a game of dommies with a couple of locals and kept up with the sport on the telly (sky sports news only). Decor was obvoiusly sending the "we are a traditional pub" but it wasn't OTT and actually quite tasteful in a way. Fine place.
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I am so lucky to be about 3 minutes walk from 'The Land'!
With the national decline of unspoilt character pubs and the growth of chain and theme pubs that are just driven by profit, I have found this pub quite literally 'liberating'. The variety of craft real ales that I have been able to try over of the last two years has been quite stunning. It is almost like having a permanent beer festival right on my doorstep! The third pint glasses also make it easier to try the complete range of beers and still remain standing!
The Land of Liberty really deserves it's growing list awards. I can't recommend it highly enough.
anonymous - 23 May 2008 11:22 |
One of three runners-up in the CAMRA National Pub of the Year awards and it must have been a close call. The winner, Dursley�s Old Spot (q.v.) is a fantastic community pub and this one is in the same bracket. Great ale from local small brewers with food ingredients sourcedfrom independent producers. This pub cares! Background music is just that, at a barely audible level. Why, there is even a 50p penalty in aid of charity for mobile phone �noise�. No wonder that it has won a shelf-full of awards. One mile from Chorlaywood rail station (main line and tube) and a mile from the M25 (J18), it�s not close to a large population base ( indeed it�s surrounded by trees) but is obviously well supported.
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Avoid If your under 40 and enjoy friendly conversations with the landlord! Well kept beer i'd agree with, but felt like i'd ruined everyones day by walking in the door. Maybe I don't conform to the CAMRA ideal!
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Sorry, Miles007!
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Quite an uphill struggle from our previous stop at the Black Horse, but well worth it. Tring Liberty Ale & Monk�s Gold, Red Squirrel Dark Ruby Mild, York Mordic Fury, Grand Union, 3 real ciders, blackboard displaying short list of belgian beers. Small front bar but one where you could happily stand drinking, seating for 12 or so to the left, winds round to a fairly nondescript room on right with more tables & seating. There is a beer book corner far left, also cards, doms, chess, shut-the-box, but don�t get too distracted from those ales. Thank goodness it�s downhill to the station but as giles007 says, beware those cars, esp if you�re as wobbly as we were when leaving!
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Was at this lovely pub yesterday and had a very nice time.Great range of ales on and served in over-sized lined glasses and all the ones I tried were in tip-top condition.Dogs welcome,which is nice to see and a small television discretely tucked away for those interested in the sport.If you're walking from the station beware-the pavement runs out so you have to run the gauntlet of cars for a little while.
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Continues to impress me each time I visit - excellent range of ales in great condition, good service and a pretty location.
It's fairly easy to get to from the M25. I would urge everyone to sample the place whilst it's this good (in the final four of CAMRA's national Pub of the Year award, 2008)!
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'Looking for TOAD' - this is a great pub! - I should be a shareholder - Adx
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I believe it has the 2nd longest name in England, behind The Old Thirteenth Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn at Stalybridge. There is a longer one in Wales too. The Land's name comes from the chartist connection, who lived in the village of Heronsgate in the 1840's. It is a lovely pub.
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I've heard good things about this pub, but have yet to try it. Does anyone know if it's true that this place has the longest pub name in Britain?
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Saw Jan Saturday - Thnaks so much. Pub Great as usual
anonymous - 22 Aug 2007 01:18 |
Still Good
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Excellent choice of beers and ciders. Has been CAMRA's best pub in Herts for last 2 years and its easy to see why. Quite small and out of the way but worth trying.
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I've never had this apparent problem that others claim to have with the Landlord+lady when I've been in, nothing wrong with being knowledgeable about the product you sell is there?!?
As far as I'm concerned I've always had an excellent selection of ales served in great condition with a good atmosphere!
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Nice peaceful location near leafy affluent Chorleywood and close to the busy M25. An intelligent beer selection with beers served in very good condition. I like the mobile phone ban too and wish more pubs were brave enough to adopt this. Would definitely return here when I can get a lift. My only criticism is that I felt that the landlord/lady give the impression that you are very privileged to be drinking in their pub.
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The beers here are ok, but when I buy a pint I just want to drink it, not listen to a twenty minute lecture from the barmaid about how, where and by whom the beer is brewed.
I'm all for knowledgable bar staff, but this lot are OTT.
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Nice little pub. Very good range of real ales - there's loads of them, so the only problem is the temptation to stay there all afternoon. This is, of course, only a problem, if you're driving, so get someone else to do it and stop worrying.
Food is good too. Oh, and the toilets were very clean.
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Great beer but it's just a shame that it is so hard to get to if you aren't driving or don't live in Chorleywood.
Varied selections of real ale and upto the standard of some of the best pubs in St Albans..
anonymous - 29 Mar 2007 18:02 |
its a ok pub real ale is ok nothing special but staff could be more friendy
anonymous - 24 Mar 2007 21:41 |
nice pub 10/10
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B/F likes it here :-( Wine is OK nothing special
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Popped in for a couple of pints on a Sunday afternoon. Two excellent ales from a very good selection of bitters and proper lagers. Friendly and interested staff. Open fire, no TV or music. Perfect - worth the trip.
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this is agreat pub. Friendly & a good selection of real ales. Highly reccomended
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Lively pub with a good and wide selection of ales.
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An excellent selection of different and well kept beer always available, always someting new to try.
Wish there were more pubs like this.
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A brilliant real ale pub, knowledgeable landlord, well kept beer, 6 real ales, good food and a comfortable traditional atmosphere. Wish it was more local!
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Solid enough pub, good choice of ales. Were I local would use it all the time. However as a City wage slave, not sure that I would make a visit from the teeming metropolis out here.
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*** Congratulations ***
Winner for Hertfordshire Pub of the Year.
Sorry I cannot be there tonight for the presentation, but I did pop in yesterday for a swifty.
Smashing pub. Well done.
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Cracking proper pub with 5 real ales (2 regulars and 3 guests from micro-breweries). Beer quality is always superb. Selection of Belgian beers and some good lagers if you are that way inclined. Friendly staff, real fire, friendly locals, good food and a excellent programme of events. The best pub for many miles!
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Spent a rather pleasant afternoon there (24/3). Harvest Pale was most excellent. Picked up a load of free CAMBRA literature. Looking forward to my next visit. Nice pub, like it a lot. Owner (?) may like to just be a tad more welcoming and friendly. Nonetheless, GREAT
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Easily the best pub for miles around. Top-notch beer quality and there are always many new beers to try, many of which you won't see elsewhere.
Location wise it's slightly out of the way but it's well worth making the extra effort, be it for a quick drink or the whole evening. Relaxing atmosphere and friendly staff.
Hopefully it will become non-smoking before too long.
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Fine selection of well kept ales. Relaxing, utterly pleasant pub. Friendly staff. Perfect really.
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A great selection of well-kept ever changing real ales. Great hosts! Parents: Under 14's only allowed in outside garden.
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Excellent beers, friendly bar staff, good food with a garden for long summer afternoons. About 15/20 minutes walk from Chorleywood tube station (downhill going back!), so no arguing about who drives!
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Cosy country pub that is less than a mile from Junction 17 of the M25, and worth a visit. Excellent home-cooked food is available at reasonable prices and a selection of good real ales too.
For the summer there is a garden out the back with boules and a children's play area.
Graham - 28 Oct 2003 13:01 |
