The Bricklayers Arms, Sevenoaks

Chipstead is now part of the wider Sevenoaks conurbation, although nobody here would thank you for saying that, but the streets are so narrow that it manages to retain its village character. Not quite sure how Harvey's managed to pick up this terraced pub, but it's in a nice spot opposite a green and the large lake beyond. The interior has been opened out to form a L-shaped seating / dining area around the central bar counter, and there is another room for diners off to the right. Also has a few tables out front, but understandably there is a prohibition about taking glasses across the road to the open area beyond. Sussex, Old (£5.20) and IPA available from the three handpumps, and there is a stillage on the bar-back for three more casks for special events.

This is a very pleasant Harvey’s pub with a nice location opposite the village green and close to a large lake. At the front of the pub, there is a small garden area with picnic benches either side of the entrance, which has been squeezed under a tent-like structure – perhaps added during the period when drinks could only be served outdoors – which makes for a bit of an odd entry to the pub itself. Once inside, you find yourself in a smart front bar area, with tidy modern floorboards, half panelled walls with plain upper sections and a servery to the rear right. The bar has a brick fronted counter and matching bar back, with the casks all racked up on a shelving unit at the rear of the servery, allowing for the beer to be poured straight from the barrel. There is a decent amount of table and chair seating space along the front and left-hand walls, which have been decorated with a mixture of photos, brewery mirrors, posters, paintings, and a TV screen showing muted Six Nations rugby. Passing through a brick archway to the rear left, you reach a further seating area under a skylit ceiling, with comfy button backed banquettes to the rear and simple table and chair arrangements elsewhere. The right-hand side of this space, partly screened from the left side by some retained partitioning wall, has been kept clear and acts as the passageway to the toilets. This space has been lined by a great many photos and paintings of eclectic subject matter. There’s one final room, to the right of the bar, which seems to act as a formal dining space, with tables and chairs in formal rows under various portraits. There were three Harvey’s beers available on our visit – Sussex Best, Old Ale and IPA – all clipped on handpulls but seemingly poured from the casks behind the bar. I had a pint of the IPA, which is nothing like the modern IPA’s that flood the craft beer market but was nevertheless a very well balanced and enjoyable brew. The pub was doing a roaring trade, including a lot of family groups with children, which made for a lively atmosphere and the friendly barman was most helpful in finding us a table we could use for our quick drink in between sittings. I thought this was a cracking little pub, easily reached from Sevenoaks and the M25, with some well-kept Harveys beer, friendly, helpful service and popular food. The place felt a little more modernised than a lot of the other Harveys pubs I’ve been to, which tend to be very traditional and down-to-earth, whereas this seemed able to attract a broader range of customers without really compromising on the traditional village pub feel. We stopped here on a bit of a whim and I’m very glad we did, as it’s well worth seeking out.

On the face of it this is an old pub in a quiet rural lakeside village. It's all a bit of an illusion as the pub to the best of my knowledge was opened by Harvey's Brewery in the mid nineties, the lake is the result of mineral extraction and the rural location is only a short walk from the junction of the M25 and M26 or the M25 itself. The pub itself is a conversion of three terraced houses. There is a small garden area at the front which is usable as it isn't a busy road. As you enter the bar is in front of you to the right and there is a small wooden floored area to the left with a couple of sofas. Over to the right is the restaurant where most of the people eating went and past the bar on the left is a room with tables and chairs. There is a newspaper rack near the bar which unsurprisingly in this area only had the Telegraph and Mail! I noticed a couple of pictures of Churchill (no not the toy dog on the TV ad!) on the walls and he also features on the pub sign. I arrived here just after 12:00 on a Friday and was surprised to find a fair crowd already in as the village itself seemed very quiet. Unusually at the back of the bar were four casks of Harvey's Best with cooling jackets. The bar has three hand pumps with Harvey's IPA and St Austell Proper Job & Tribute. This is the first Harvey's pub I have ever been to that had guest beers. I tried two pints of the Harvey's Best (£3.60) snd a Proper Job (£3.80) both of which were in excellent nick. The gravity dispense didn't seem to have the problems that can come from this dispense method but I wonder if the Best could sustain a lengthy heatwave. It's expensive but not outrageously so. Whatever one may think about Harvey's beers you have to admit they are very good at setting up and maintaining proper traditional pubs. This place strikes just the right balance between a village local and a food pub. In almost anyone else's hands down South this would have been a gastropub. It's well worth getting the hourly bus from Sevenoaks station to visit it.