Welcome back! The re-opening story so far....
We've been delighted to welcome back so many old friends and customers after we opened our doors again after the lockdown on Sunday 5th July. We've had lots of comments on the measures we have taken to make the pub Covid-19 secure, mostly very positive (our customers feel safe) but, of course, it's not like it used to be inside the pub. It's very strange not being able to allow customers to sit or stand at the bar and we all look forward to the day when we can fully return to the OLD normal!
We're gradually re-introducing food with a limited menu at present (the example on our menus page is from Sunday 12th July - we are intending to upload the menu here on a daily basis from now on)
Opening hours for this week (commencing Monday 13th July) are:
Monday and Tuesday 4.00pm - 9.00pm NO FOOD
Wednesday and Thursday 4.00pm - 9.00pm FOOD 6.00pm - 8.00pm
Friday and Saturday 12 noon - 9.00pm FOOD 12 noon - 2.30pm & 6.00pm - 8.00pm
Sunday 12 noon - 6.00pm FOOD 12 noon - 3.00pm
Next week (from 22nd July) we will start serving food at lunchtimes on Wednesdays and Thursdays as well.
The pub closing time on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays will be flexible if we are sufficiently busy at the advertised time.
COVID-19 SECURITY MEASURES
Our full risk-assessment carried out before we opened and shared with all staff can be found on the Covid-19 Risk Assessment page from the main menu
We have put in place necessary measures to make our pub Covid-19 Secure, and we hope you will all bear with us as we get used to new ways of operating, and accept staff advice where given. It is vitally important that we follow social distancing guidelines to protect our staff and customers; as a result, we are unable to accept groups greater than 2 households (maximum 6 people) indoors, or groups greater than 6 people (from any number of households) or 2 households in the garden. We have less table space available indoors, but are happy to take bookings for tables inside and in our garden even if you just want to have a drink. If we are very busy, we will have to insist that you arrive within 15 minutes of your booked time, and tables can be booked for up to two hours (if we are not full this time limit won't apply. )
When you arrive at our pub we ask you to enter via the front door, join the queue (if any) and order at the bar in the normal way. You will then need to take a seat indoors (not at the bar) or move outside. Our outside tables are now all numbered, so it will be helpful if you can tell us where you are sitting if you are ordering food.
The pub
The present landlords, Andy and Linda Brooks, have been at the pub since 2001 and, despite huge changes in the industry since then, have remained true to their principles of retaining it as an individual village pub, know much for its good quality home-made food.
The pub has undergone a few physical changes under their stewardship - in 2002 a children's play area was part of improvements to the garden. In 2007 the interior was extended, disabled access and a new toilet block were provided, and in 2013 there was a further interior and exterior makeover, providing improved seating and lighting.
Our beers
We now sell six real ales - three of them from local independent brewers such as Burning Sky (Firle), Long Man (Wilmington) and Gun Brewery (Gun Hill), and three of them are nationally available ales.
We also now have two real ciders on tap, in addition to craft lagers and fine keg ciders such as Aspall.
Food
We are well known for our no-nonsense home-made food such as proper shortcrust pastry pies, locally sourced seasonal meat, fish and produce, and a selection of regularly changing meals alongside sandwiches and burgers.
We have a menu that changes on a daily basis that is served lunchtimes and evenings from Monday to Friday, all day on a Saturday, and lunchtime on a Sunday. Our food service times can be found below.