The Land of Liberty, Peace & Plenty, Rickmansworth

Called into this 2018 Good Beer Guide pub while on a CAMRA coach trip of the area. It is a popular pub, not just for the locals, and keeps a range of 6 to 10 ales. We chose Hattie Brown's Moonlite and Mighty Oak Old Man & the sea, both in good condition.

Quite an uphill struggle from our previous stop at the Black Horse, but well worth it. Tring Liberty Ale & Monk's Gold, Red Squirrel Dark Ruby Mild, York Mordic Fury, Grand Union, 3 real ciders, blackboard displaying short list of belgian beers. Small front bar but one where you could happily stand drinking, seating for 12 or so to the left, winds round to a fairly nondescript room on right with more tables & seating. There is a beer book corner far left, also cards, doms, chess, shut-the-box, but don't get too distracted from those ales. Thank goodness it's downhill to the station but as giles007 says, beware those cars, esp if you're as wobbly as we were when leaving!

The virtues of this excellent real ale pub have been well described by previous reviewers, so no need to repeat those, except to say that if I ever do get round to developing the “recommended guide to pubs just off the M25”, The Land Of Liberty, Peace & Plenty would be a shoe-in for junction 17. As usual a well-balanced selection of light to strong ales including a dark mild were available last week when the traffic density was sufficient for me to detour for a couple of halves. Seven of the ten pumps were going on my latest early evening visit and along with the house beer, Tring Liberty Ale these included Redemption Trinity, Buntingford Brewery Britannia, Peerless All American IPA, St Georges Brewery Dragons Blood and a really excellent dark mild, Forest Dark from the Downton Brewery. A top pub and a highly recommended detour from the north western section of the M25.

The strap line on the board containing the list of beers "Real Ales... in a Real Pub" sums up this place perfectly.PSM has described the interior well,the wooden floor and seperate sections give a traditional feel and the 10 handpumps gladden the heart.On my lunchtime trip ,six handpumps were working dispensing Tring Liberty,Mighty Oak Maldon Gold,Downton Goosberry Wheat Beer,Leeds Gathering Storm,XT6 and Red Squirrel Legally Blonde.Pints were served in oversized glasses and the quality was very good as you would expect in a GBG regular. There is a small list of pub snacks available at all times including a selection of cornish pasties(£3.50) and a very good pork pie which looked home made and good value at £1.50. The pub was quiet and a commercial radio station was piped into the interior to break the silence which seemed a bit out of place but that was of no real concern due to the good selection of ales.A friendly and committed landlord make this a pub that will appeal strongly to any CAMRA member,it has rightly won many local awards.

This is an excellent country pub in a quiet village which is surprisingly close to the M25 motorway. Getting there by public transport is a bit awkward, but I found that the walk from Chorleywood station was a good way to work up a thirst. The pub has a nice traditional feel to it, retaining a two room layout with bare floorboards, half panelled walls and dark beams in abundance. The room to the left has a limited amount of banquette seating and a few bar stools along the main part of the servery. Several CAMRA certificates are framed on the walls alongside some old brewery mirrors. There’s a small fireplace on the side wall and next to this is a TV set which was turned on at the request of a group of customers who wanted to watch their horses lose miserably in the Grand National. There is also a collection of board games and what I presumed to be a book swap. The right hand room has one banquette and a lot of low stool seating. There’s plenty of interesting brewerania dotted around the place including a beer bottle collection above the servery, some wonderful brewery posters in the gents and a series of pictures showing the pub’s former link to Harman’s Brewery. There is also a large map of the M25 on the wall near the rear door, which seemed appropriate given the pub’s location, as well as a dartboard in one corner. The ale line up was focused on micros, some of which are local – Tring Liberty Ale, Mighty Oak Addled Adder, Tunnel Shadowweaver, Pitfield Eco Warrior, Moorhouse Witch Hunt and Great Newsome Ploughman’s Pride. Tring Mansion Mild went off as I arrived, but it was replaced straight away by the Shadowweaver and the obliging landlady went down to the cellar to pour me a pint straight from the barrel before she changed them over. One lager is available (Kaltenberg) as well as Millwhites cider and perry. The owners look after the pub really well and take pride in the cleanliness of the place which was evident even before the landlady started polishing the hand pumps. I thought this was an excellent rural pub offering a really friendly welcome in cosy and comfortable surroundings. It took me an age to get there and back but it was well worth the effort and I would gladly make the trip out here again for another look.

Located down a narrowish, but busy, country lane and approx a 20 minute walk from Chorleywood Station ( London Underground and Chiltern Rail ) is The Land of Liberty, Peace and Plenty, a multi award winning real ale orientated free house. A blackboard above the entrance tells us that a total of 1259 real ales have been sold to date. It’s a single, small L shaped bare boarded bar, well decorated with brewery mirrors, posters etc. An old photograph tells us that this was formerly a Harmans of Uxbridge pub. We also see an old Ind Coope price list dated 1966 with the notorious Draught Double Diamond selling for 2s6d. A prominent notice tells us that there’s a 50p fine for mobile phone use. In true English pub tradition, dogs are positively welcomed, unfortunately, but children are banished to an outside covered wooden seating area – “The Pavilion”. Past this area is a boules pitch ( boules available for hire behind the bar ) and, beyond that, a pleasant grassy garden, but with a notable lack of seats and benches in relation to its size. On a lovely late summer’s afternoon, a cloudless sky encouraged me to lounge outside on the grass until early evening. A bar snacks menu offers basic fare such as crisps, nuts, pork pies, pasties etc. On this menu, we are told, with no obvious sense of irony or attempt at humour, that “pots of nuts will contain nuts”. Yesterday’s Sunday afternoon visit founds all beers sampled ( served in oversized glasses ) to be in excellent condition, which included Red Squirrel Conservation Bitter ( £ 3) , Tring Liberty Ale and Windsor and Eton Knights of The Garter. The real highlight for me, however, was a splendidly dark, chocolatey flavoured beer – Box Steam Funnel Blower ( £ 3.20p ). Also on was Orkney Dark Island and a beer from Brew Dog, plus several others. Regular beer festivals are held- unbeknown to me in advance – one had finished the previous day. The pub has been in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide for a good number of years now ( Heronsgate - Hertfordshire ) and was a National Pub of the Year finalist several years ago. It advertises regularly in CAMRA's London Drinker This is another pub that is well worth making the effort to visit.

I pulled this place out of the Good Beer Guide due its proximity to where we were on the motorway at the time and it turned out to be an exceptionally good choice. Despite being just a few minutes drive down a narrow lane from the M25 (Junction 17), it is a quite tranquil, secluded village pub with an excellent reputation for its Real Ales. Dating from 1820, it was originally a beer house, becoming a 3 room pub in the late 19th Century. It is now a simple L-shaped single room with bare floors, unassuming furnishings and displays of beer clips, brewery mirrors, glasses, tankards and bottles/miniatures that give the visitor a good clue as to wehre the pub priorities lie. On my visit I was confronted by 6 Ales, largely from micro breweries (Red Squiirrel being particularly well represented), 3 ciders and a Perry although as I didn’t note them all. They also steps in for the lack of a village shop so don’t be surprised to see a few non-pub related essentials for sale. On the downside, service wasn’t exactly done with the friendliest of smiles. Drivers that bring 3 Real Ale drinkers are offered free soft drinks and, given that the pub is quite isolated and a car is the best way of getting there, that seems like a pretty good deal if you can find a nominated driver. Mobile phones are frowned upon and there is a 50p fine that goes to charity although the notice is quite small and I gather this has caught a few people out in the past and led to some bad feelings. There is a good community presence with regular meetings for the local book club, film club, knitting cicle and even a chocolate tasting club. It is a very good pub that is slightly held back by its isolated position but well worth the effort to make the trip.