South Western Arms, St Denys, Southampton

A classic! This place has won so many awards I think they stopped putting them up. You can't get any closer to a railway line and you can sit in the beer garden and hear the trains as they go to London & Portsmouth past St Deny's. In the garden is an old pub sign for 'Nellies Nob' which gives the pub its local nick name. The selection of beer is almost unrivaled. There are 12 pumps, and at its peak, each one served a different beer, Now there are seven beers and if you go to one of their beer festivals you're in for a delight. Add to this an area upstairs with Pool and a TV and you're in pub 'heaven'. Very much the locals bozzer for this small area of Southampton, let the train take the strain and give yourself a treat.

This excellent, spacious pub is ideally located next to St Denys railway station so you can sup until the very last moment before rolling onto the platform. It has a split-level layout and the interior is a mixture of original brickwork and dark wood furnishings, surrounding one bar in the corner. During my midweek, evening visit it progressively got busy with a mixture of regulars and curious punters such as our party, who after ordering our beers got stuck into the worst game of arrows in history on the well located dart board. Ale-wise you really have a generous selection here, including on my inspection Andwell Gold Muddler, Ringwood Old Thumper, Hogs Back HOP, Traditional Scottish Blonde Ale and Sharp's Doom Bar amongst others. Southampton doesn't have many truly high quality pubs but this is certainly one of them.