Petersfield or thereabouts

• The Harrow, Steep, 2 miles; unchanged since the Liberals last tasted power. No, really.  Beer strictly from the barrel, pea and ham soup that your spoon will stand up in and ye treacle tarte of Olde Englande. Who could wish for more? In its own way, perfect. Downside: tiny, welcome can be a bit chilly, service can be flaky (Bedales work experience maybe?), toilets would also have been recognised by Lloyd George. This is nitpicking however; in truth it's a great characterful pub. Get there: signposts for Steep off the old A3 into east Petersfield. 01730 262685. GMAP

• The Good Intent, Petersfield. Really very decent old school boozer. Gales beers, old-style but good-looking pub grub (O'Hagan's excellent sausages feature strongly). Old-fashioned atmosphere (in a good way), no smoking restaurant area. Provides a platform every Sunday night for most of the local bands, jazz on Thursdays (check our listings for more). Recommended. College Street, Petersfield, 01730 263838 GMAP

• The Square Brewery, Petersfield. Honest town centre pub. Gales beers, decent range of pub food (subscriber Michelle Stainer recommends the Square for lunch and for a breakfast which she considers the best in town - and she does sound like she knows what she's talking about). Increasingly the place to go for live music in Petersfield - see listings for details. 7 The Square, Petersfield 01730-264291. GMAP

• The George, Petersfield. Really rather snazzy - more a bistro/ bar than a pub, but let's not be picky. A handful of excellent ales (Deuchars, Hopback and Sharp's Doombar when we were in), a terrific range of wines by the glass or bottle (from our friends at the General Wine Company, we're guessing) and a nice selection of brasserie-style food. 'Burger Kitchen' looks good too, if you have a substantial gap to fill, as does Sunday brunch. Acoustic music on Friday evenings, something a lot louder on Sundays (we'd let you know what, exactly, if they'd supply some listings)... really looks like a very good place. Sofas and easy chairs around the bar at the front, tables and chairs at the back and an outdoor courtyard too, featuring the celebrated Mexican Hut: tequila, Corona, Desperados and ice cream (shot and a beer, just four of your Earth pounds) . Best place for a drink and a bite in the centre of Petersfield, certainly, and really making an effort. One to watch. Frankly - we like.  28 The Square, Petersfield 01730 233343 GMAP

• The Seven Stars, Stroud. Much more of a big family restaurant now than a pub, but the beer and wine are decent enough to mitigate the joys of eating out with the children. Full review here.

Is that it for Petersfield, you may be asking? Well yes - as far as we know, Petersfield itself has plenty of pubs and wine bars but few that you'd cross the road for. But you may have other ideas. Let us know. mail@myPetersfield.co.uk.

West

• The Hawkley Inn, Hawkley, 5 miles; everything you want a country pub to be; walking boots, wellies, horses, bikes, great beer and cider, rib-sticking pub grub, fire, moose, big garden. All this and power showers too, in the very smart accommodation introduced at the end of 2006.  Seven beers on tap that change every week and decent wine too. Always plenty of local ales, (myPetersfield has personally never had a bad one and would walk several country miles any day for the fff Moondance). Music at weekends, beer fest every year. Perfect pub in any weather, crowded at weekends, however, when food service can be on the slow side - get there early or late would be our advice if waiting a while bothers you - and the number of untethered children may occasionally test your tolerance (though this seems less of an issue since new space opened up in the pub at the end of 2006). A great place, even better than we're making it sound. Get there: Follow signs for Hawkley from West Liss (Hawkley Road runs up the side of the Spread Eagle).  Pococks Lane, Hawkley. Liss 01730 827205, more at www.hawkleyinn.co.uk. GMAP

• The Pub With No Name (aka the White Horse). Priors Dean, 4 miles. Big old pub in remote, appealingly bleak spot high up on the downs. Its popular name derives from the empty pub sign which swings grimly out on the main road, a final challenge for anyone trying to find the place. Two bars and restaurant, lots of room outside and in. The two snug bars inside, candle-lit and cluttered with old furniture have a dark, Jacobean feel which, in winter, warmed by open fires, is wonderfully welcoming. Can seem a bit less so on a summer's day, but a big sprawling garden makes up for that. A brighter and lighter restaurant has been extended at the back. Food is traditional pub stuff but skilfully handled with excellent ingredients (Cornish scallops, Scottish mussels or O'Hagan's celebrated sausages) contributing to a good repertoire of standards backed by regularly changing specials. Excellent range of ales including its own No-Name bitter. Has plenty of fans, including the poet Edward Thomas who was a regular and made it the subject of 'Up in the Wind', and celebrated chef and food enthusiast Antonio Carluccio. Excellent beerfest every summer with food, bands and camping available for weekend revellers, and other events through the year (check the listings). In short: highly recommended. Get there: west from Petersfield towards Steep, follow the road as it winds up Stoner Hill. A mile or so past the Trooper Inn, look for the empty sign at the roadside and turn right. The pub is up a track on the right after 100 yards or so. Priors Dean, Hampshire, 01420 588387 GMAP

• The Thomas Lord. West Meon, 6 miles. Draws on its association with the eponymous founder of Lord's cricket ground and former resident of West Meon with plenty of cricketing memorabilia, but not overpoweringly so. More to the point, it's an absolutely tremendous country inn: roomy, comfortable, with a nicely weathered assortment of furniture, including big leather armchairs, many pulled up to fires which blaze through the winter. Friendly, chatty and, it would appear, a matey dog at every table, which may not be standard but was a nice touch on the cold day that we were there. Excellent range of beers, including myPetersfield's favourites from the Triple F brewery. Tempting short menu, drawing on local suppliers - when myPetersfield dropped by for lunch, smoked haddock stovie topped with a fried egg and a dash of chilli hit the spot very nicely. Good for lunch, great for dinner, or just a fine place to idle away a few hours with beer and the papers. If it was closer, could be our new favourite pub, as it is it certainly justifies a trip. Get there: turn south from the A272 towards Fareham on the A32. The pub is signposted to the left just inside West Meon village. 01730 829244. GMAP. See also our restaurant review here.

• The Trooper Inn, Froxfield, 3 miles. Subscriber Giles Frost asked "why doesn't the Trooper pub/restaurant feature on your site? Our two visits there with full children /grandparent retinue in tow have been a great success!". We were looking for an excuse to give it another go, and dropped in. Full (and positive) review under restaurants, which may tell you all you need to know.

• The Shoe Inn, Exton, 7 miles. myPetersfield reader Jackie Pullen put us on to this one. "Went last night in a group of six and we all had great food." We'll second that. Very friendly traditional village pub in the Meon Valley whose slightly tired decor is compensated by some excellent grub. Lots of fish and seafood, cooked with a sure hand and offering some some great flavours. Wadworth's beers, good short wine list, terrace in front of the pub looks towards a riverside garden. Busy even on a Tuesday night, worth booking. Shoe Lane, Exton 01489 877526. GMAP

• The Bakers' Arms Droxford, 8 miles. We already love this place. Comfortable, good beers, pleasant staff, absolutely terrific food but a real pub too. Well worth the drive out of Petersfield, even more so if you can persuade someone else to get behind the wheel. Full review here. High Street, Droxford 01489 877533 GMAP.

• The Black Boy, Winchester, 17 miles. OK, it's a long way off but this is one of the greatest city pubs you'll ever visit. An old curiosity shop of a pub, featuring a seemingly endless series of rooms, crammed with a variety of furnishings, stuffed animals and entertainments of all kinds. Grub is of the soup and sandwich variety, but fresh and very good, excellent selection of beers, friendly, warm and cosy in winter, fine big garden for the summer. Music on Mondays, 'Black Rat' restaurant across the street (owned by the pub) also looks worthwhile... Pleasingly removed from Winchester's well-beaten tourist trail. Worth the trip, certainly worth dropping in if you're passing. 1 Wharf Hill, Winchester, SO23 9NQ Tel: 01962 861754. Park in the public car park across Chesil Street.  GMAP.

also recommended:

The Izaak Walton, East Meon. Richard Williams tells us that the Izaak has re-opened to tremendous local acclaim. "The pub is now back in the very safe hands of Roger and Sue Young who ran the pub from 1990 to 2001. It has been restored as an archetypical village pub, with great ales, pool and darts for the locals, excellent value food for the diners and a large garden for families". Certainly sounds like a myPetersfield destination and we'll be beating a path to East Meon without delay. High Street, East Meon 01730 823 252. GMAP

 

East

• The Lickfold Inn, Lickfold. 12 miles. Pukkah joint, much more restaurant than pub but nice for a drink outside peak dining hours. Full review here.

• The Duke of Cumberland, Henley, 12 miles. Exquisite, creeper and wisteria-clad small country inn, well off the beaten track (aka the A286), perched on Verdley Hill. Tiny, dolls-house bar and dining area (book if you want to be sure of a table) contrasts with big rolling wooded garden, dotted with tables and chairs, bisected by streams and ponds full of fat brown trout which regularly make the short hop to the pub kitchen.  Lovely views north towards Haslemere and the Black Down. Good beers from the barrel and excellent, if slightly pricey, food from a small menu. Good looking roasts and game. Get there: Travel north from Midhurst towards Haslemere, look for the turnings to Henley as you approach Fernhurst. If you pass the Kings Arms, you've gone too far. The pub is on a steep single track road - look out for potholes. 01428 652280 GMAP

• The Keeper's Arms, Trotton. 5 miles. Change is well underway at the Keepers' since its adoption by Nick from the Hawkley. People are reckoned to fear change, but their fears will be proved groundless here. The entertaining but migraine-threatening interior of yore has been stripped back and toned down to a much cooler, lighter space while retaining the intriguing nooks and crannies which make it a great pub to visit with any number of people. Still a work in progress - the kitchen and restaurant recently revamped and some highly promising accommodation is scheduled for later in 2007, a la The Hawkley- but already a fine destination pub, with skilful cooking of an extremely high standard available lunchtimes and evenings (see our restaurant review) and some intriguing beers (Bowman's Quiver, newly produced by expertise from the former Cheriton Brewery was on offer when we dropped by. Excellent wine list too. Get there: perched above God's own highway (southern region), the A272, half way between Rogate and Midhurst. 01730 813724 GMAP

• Three Horseshoes, Elsted. 7 miles. Ancient pub, great atmosphere, spectacular views over the downs from the garden, really very good. Food is classic British... Sussex lamb cutlets, Selsey crab, Scottish mussels, lobster salad, venison, Dover sole, and some extremely toothsome puddings. Beers are from the barrel, wine list is short but good.  Manages to cater to both the real ale and the champagne crowd (it's within the gravitational pull of both Goodwood and Cowdray Park) while maintaining its own identity. This is a gastropub dating from years before anyone coined the term, and full of brisk confidence. A local great with which myPetersfield is a touch smitten. Definitely a pub to settle down with. Get there: Elsted is signposted south from the A272 between Midhurst and Trotton; follow your nose for a couple of miles. 01730 825746. GMAP

• The Hamilton Arms,  Stedham. 7 miles. This is different. The region's #1 Thai boozer (from a fairly small pool, admittedly), combining Thai restaurant with what feels oddly like a London local that has been bodily transported to the West Sussex woodland, complete with clientele, oddly enough. Worth visiting at least once a year, when the pub creates the fantastic Eastern Cultural Fair, taking over the woods and clearings opposite the pub, filling them with Thai and other eastern food stalls plus Asian entertainments and exotica, a little bit of Glastonbury landed in West Sussex. We said it was different. Get there: half a mile or less north of the A272, between Trotton and Midhurst, signposted. 01730 812555 GMAP

• The White Horse, Rogate. 4 miles. Solid village pub, decent, often imaginative food, great Harveys beers. Used to be a good bet for a quiet pint and a seat but was chocka the last time myPetersfield dropped by. Easy for the unwary to shoot past and then find nowhere to tie up, but actually there's a good sized car park right behind the pub. Deservedly popular. Get there: right on the A272 in the middle of Rogate, opposite the church. Parking behind the pub, entrance on the right hand side. 01730 821333 GMAP

• The White Horse, Easebourne, just outside Midhurst. 9 miles. Good unspoiled country pub, battered leather armchairs, fires, pub grub of the old skool. Greene King ales. Top of the range pub dog. Best pub in and around Midhurst that we know of. Get there: Signposted just off the A272 half a mile or so east of Midhurst, opposite Cowdray's tradesmen's entrance. 01730 813521 GMAP

• The Halfway Bridge Inn, Lodsworth. Much more restaurant than pub but damned nice. Full review here.

• The Unicorn. Heyshott, 10 miles, about 2 miles south of Midhurst. Under new ownership and well worth checking out - reports suggest that the choice of beers and the atmosphere is greatly improved. The location is certainly spectacular, right in the lee of the downs, with great views from the garden. Good place for a sunny spring or summer day, perhaps combined with a walk. Also worth visiting for the annual Guy Fawkes torchlight parade and bonfire. 01730 813486 GMAP

• The Country Inn, Bepton. Real traditional community village pub. Not horsebrassed and whitewashed and generally chi-chied to death, but properly characterful, comfortable and friendly. Good beer, plain but tempting food (ham, bubble & squeak and poached eggs caught the myPetersfield eye), boules in the summer, big log fire in the winter, lots of room and distractions for kids in the garden. Community notice board, newspapers, book exchange... why doesn't every village have a pub like this? Get there: a mile or so west of Midhurst on the Bepton road, keep your eyes peeled for Severals Road on the right as it's easy to miss. 01730 813466 GMAP

• The Fox Goes Free, Charlton. 12 miles. Rangy, popular, comfortable old country pub. Stylish restaurant too, offering really exceptional quality and value - myPetersfield was quite moved on its last visit by a piece of perfectly cooked belly pork at a very reasonable price. Excellent wines and beers, including its own traditional Fox bitter at a refreshing 3.5°. Nice garden where you can sit under old apple trees and enjoy lovely views of the downs.  Rooms available, popular with the horse crowd. Regular music nights and poker school. Quite terrific really. More detail here. Get there: turn east at Singleton off the Midhurst/ Chichester road, travel two to three miles along a single track road. 01243 811461  GMAP

also recommended: myPetersfield reader Fred Edwards speaks highly of The Limeburners at Newbridge, between Wisborough Green and Billingshurst. "Top end of the market in all respects but priced just above 'pub-grub' level".  Some way from Petersfield but if you're heading that way, worth a look. Signposted off the A272 at Newbridge. 01403 782311 GMAP
 

North

• The Sun Inn, Rake. 5 miles. Not really a pub any more, but the parlour bar offers a couple of nice comfortable leather armchairs to loaf in and the canopied terrace out back is a real treat on a sunny day. Decent beers (Greene King on draught) and wine list. Full review here.

• The Blue Bell, West Liss, 4 miles. Not lovely or ancient or any of that other stuff that can usually be depended on to turn myPetersfield's pretty head, but an excellent range of beers (including our favourites from the Triple F brewery in Alton), lots of room and, most importantly, three large TV screens. So for those days when watching sport in the company of your fellow man (and occasional woman) is what tickles your fancy, we know of nowhere better in the area. Get there: between the A3 and Liss proper, Farnham Rd, Liss, Hampshire, GU33 6JE 01730 892107 GMAP

South

• The Royal Oak, Hooksway, 9 miles. Genuinely ancient - the building dates back to the 1500s and it's been an inn for at least half that time. Visiting the Royal Oak isn't a 'heritage experience' however - it's a functional village pub in the old-fashioned sense, serving good beer and plain but decent food, much of it to walkers and cyclists passing through between Chichester and the South Downs Way. Easy to miss - Hooksway is down a single track lane east off the B2141 Chichester - South Harting road, south of Harting Down. Blink and you'll miss it. 01243 535257 GMAP

• The Vine, Hambledon, 7 miles. Handsome old pub in the exquisite, chocolate box Hampshire village recognised as 'the Cradle of Cricket' and home to the Hambledon Vineyard. Nice mix of eating, drinking and plain loafing-about areas with a handful of shaded tables on a deck out back. Excellent menu too, which has gone down well with regulars Pat and Brian Ashworth. Pat pronounced it "the best pub meal I've had in years" and spoke of the duck in rapturous terms. Good beers, including the Vine's own and a fine example from the Black Sheep brewery in Cumbria. Melanie Flint from the Lone Barn B&B (looks damn nice itself) put us on to this one: "a lovely atmospheric local pub serving excellent food with great service." She was right, and we'll be back regularly. Get there: head west from the A3 through Clanfield on a rolling road which will take you past Broadhalfpenny Down, the oldest cricket ground in England and still, surely, one of the most dramatically located (home of the feared Broadhalfpenny Brigands). The Bat and Ball, opposite the cricket ground, not half bad either. The Vine is located at the far end of Hambledon's main street. 023 9263 2419. GMAP

• The Five Bells, Buriton, 4 miles. Rising from the slough of mediocrity into which it had sunk in recent years, The Five Bells shows every sign of reclaiming the status it once enjoyed as a really great country inn. Roomy, comfortable, traditional bar on one side, classy but equally loafable restaurant area on the other. Menus are reassuringly short. Good range of ales - King & Barnes' excellent Sussex going down well when we visited. Very friendly service. Was once famed for its Sunday lunches and has that feel again now. Food is certainly good, and portions are generous to a fault - does anyone order pudding here? More reports welcomed. Early days, but a hearty welcome back already seems justified.  High Street, Buriton, 01730 263584 GMAP

THE MAP

Drag the map around and click for detail