The Nelson Arms, Farnham

Historic pub on the road leading up to the castle, with a pleasingly traditional look to the opened out room, with the entrance and bar at the left-hand end and further tables in a two-part area beyond to the right. Landlord, Golden Best and Tongham TEA (£2.90, half) from three of the four handpumps on the counter.

Fairly cosy black varnished timbered interior with a bit of character. Due to some large, jovial and well-oiled local gathering taking place I wasn’t able to get a quiet seat inside, so spent most of my time out the front but the review below captures the interior as I recall it from ordering a pint. Three cask options in Hogs Back TEA, TT Landlord and a perfunctory Taylor’s Golden Best (NBSS 2.5). Caught the place at a sub-optimal time and I wouldn’t mind trying it again in order to sit inside and see if it’s enough to push it up a notch.

This is a cosy, historic pub with a decent location close to the castle. Entering through the corner door, you find yourself in a fairly small front bar, which has been opened up a fair bit into the larger left-hand side of the building, but still retains the sense of being a separate area best suited to drinkers. There’s still some degree of partitioning thanks to a whitewashed wall with a lit fireplace to the left – a spot proving popular on a cold Winter evening. The room is bare boarded and sees the servery run along the back wall with a series of padded banquettes serving a few tables along the front wall. The bar has a tongue and groove panelled counter front, broken by a couple of brick pillars, whilst the bar back includes a few open-ended barrels nailed to the wall and used as shelving units. Moving through into the larger left-hand side of the pub, you find yourself in what amounts to a good-sized dining room which is also bare boarded and has all manner of dark wood beams, posts and pillars throughout, contrasting the cream painted walls and rough bare brick left-hand end wall with its disused fireplace. Three rows of tables and chairs through the centre are supplemented by a row of pews around most of the perimeter. The reverse side of the main bar’s fireplace is a large inglenook affair sharing the same lit fire beneath a curved mantel beam. A few old seafaring paintings dot the walls and there is a large model ship in one of the front windows, all presumably tying into the pub’s name, which is further enhanced by some very nice stained-glass panes bearing Nelson’s coat of arms. A corridor to the rear left leads to the toilets and also out to what looked like a pleasant rear courtyard, although it was too dark to fully appreciate. Three cask ales were available on this visit – Taylor Landlord, Andwell Gold Muddler and Hogs Back Tea. In order to enjoy a pint of the Gold Muddler, I first had to order some food, opting for a full Sunday roast which came with all the trimmings and was delicious. The Gold Muddler by comparison, was a bit disappointing, although the beer was in good nick and the lone barman/waiter was doing a sterling job seating and serving everyone until back-up arrived later on. This is a very pleasant traditional pub that felt like it had too much of a food-led approach, although I suspect that this was mainly due to the Tier 2 rules that forced everyone to order a meal with their drinks. Assuming the pub has more of a drinker’s vibe in ‘normal’ times, this is well worth checking out for the well-kept beer, diligent service and attractive historic interior.