The Horse & Groom, Wareham

This is an old, traditional pub just off the main road through the centre of Wareham, recently reopened after a period of closure, with a smartened up interior. I drank inhere a few times in my teenage years and am sure that the pub used to have various separate rooms, but it has been opened out quite a bit now, with the entrance leading you down a short central passageway of sorts before emerging at the bar, with seating areas to either side in spaces that could well have been partitioned off in the past. The servery runs along the rear wall and has a nice traditional looking counter and plain white bar back lined with a few pump clips. The two seating areas have been carpeted and offer limited banquettes and quite a few regular tables and chairs under walls lined with typical photos of the local area, horse brasses and rural themed items. A couple of large TV screens were showing a test cricket match with the commentary audible but quite quiet. A door to the rear leads out to a two-tier patio garden with a few nice flowerboxes, several tables and sturdy garden chairs and access to the toilet block. The new owners have installed a real ale presence, with five handpulls on the bar, three of which were operational on our recent visit, offering St Austell HSD and Proper Job and Butcombe Original. My pint of Proper Job was in good nick and the pub has made the latest edition of CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide. My parents have visited a couple of times and said the food was very good but the menu was very limited and the service wasn’t always the friendliest – something I can sympathise with, having encountered a particularly miserable barman on this visit. I’m pleased to see this place open again and doing its best for the town’s beer scene and I thought the place was quite well presented, even if the TV screens were a bit overwhelming and the welcome was lukewarm. There are better pubs in town but this place has jumped up the pecking order and should be considered for a visit when in the area.

An end terrace, 19th century looking, multi-building pub and eatery, in a beigey kind of render, with a beer garden at the back. The interior is a large open-plan kind of area mainly in white and wood panel along with ceiling beams, with a few fireplaces. There is a pool table area and there is a dart board. There is a mix of photos, icluding some of sport teams and arty pictures of food and coffee cups - a mix that also sees sofas and settle juxtaposed. There was a large screen TV, which wasn't on and the music was rock based, but at a decent level. There service was fine, the clientele small. I didn't eat so i couldn't comment on that. Beer; tap stuff with Ringwood Bitter and a decent Dorset Piddle on handpull A decent enough place, not the biggest selection but what i had was kept well. Not sure about the art, but that is my personal taste - worth popping in for one rather than all day.