Foresters Arms, Brockenhurst

Official site of Foresters Arms - www.forestersarms-brockenhurst.co.uk

Official site of Foresters Arms - www.forestersarms-brockenhurst.co.uk

Attractive pub near the railway station, looking a bit more like a local than the Snakecatcher, and still retaining separate public and lounge bars (although the latter was mostly reserved for those dining later on). Also has a popular beer garden. Two of three handpumps in use on both counters, offering Ringwood Best (£3.90) and Forty Niner in both cases, with reversed clips for Sharp's Atlantic on the others.

Situated next to Brockenhurst station, the Forester's Arms is a popular, down-to-earth local's pub with a nice, traditional two bar layout. Entering via a small, front patio seating area, you find yourself in a compact L-shaped public bar with a seating area over to the right and a similar size space to the left dominated by a pool table. There were TV screens in here showing the World Cup football and the bar was packed out on our Friday and Saturday night visits. A corridor to the left takes you on to the smart, cosy rear lounge which also doubles up as a dining room. This area had more of a rural pub feel to it than the basic public bar and there was direct access to the servery saving you from making a trip back into the other room. The corridor leads further back, past the toilets, to the car park which on our visit had been lost beneath a huge marquee, erected to allow the pub to screen World Cup matches on a massive cinema size screen. The marquee was equipped with its own lager-only bar and has a mix of standard tables and chairs to the rear and lines of covered hay bales to sit on closer to the screen. We spent a lot of time in here enjoying several matches and found there was a really good atmosphere within. Three fairly uninspiring ales lined up on the bar - Ringwood Best and Fortyniner and Sharp's Doom Bar. The Best was a little off colour but the Doom Bar was pretty good. The young team of bar staff seemed to cope well at the busy bar and were generally in good humour when I kept returning with my twelve pint order, having been put in charge of the kitty for the weekend. This is definitely the most traditional feeling pub in Brockenhurst and it was the one we enjoyed the most, having done a quick tour of all three. It's is rightly popular and I'm sure I would use it regularly if I lived locally. A more interesting ale selection would make this the only pub in town worth visiting, but the current limited range is an unfortunate down side.