The Richmond Arms, Godalming

I made a return visit to Godalming for the first time in almost 14 years to visit the Good Beer Guide-listed Richmond Arms. The pub has cosy rooms to the front and rear. We stayed in the front room, leaving the rear unexplored. The front room is carpeted and real fires at either end. Despite being a spring day, it was quite chilly outside and both fires were lit, which was well appreciated. Horse brasses on the beams help create a traditional drinking environment Decent music was being played. There is also an outdoor drinking area to the side, created from the former car park. St Austell Tribute & Young's London Original are the regular cask ales. A guest beer was Celebration Ale. With no clear indication of the brewery, I asked the young bartender if he knew. He didn't and neither did his off-duty colleague sat at the bar. Neither had the inclination to investigate any further. A guest lager was from Laine's, which leads me to believe that the Celebration Ale was another generic beer from that brewery. So, I thought it was best avoided. Ciders were Thatcher's Haze & Old Mout. Despite the basic cask ale choice, I thought this was a nice and cosy pub and would gladly have spent more time in here had the drinks selection been better.

A basic old style pub , carpet on the floor and normal tables and chairs, I only drank in the main lounge bar,there were four handpumps all in use, Youngs Original, St Austell Tribute, Black Sheep Holy Grail and Laines Factor 50, normal keg offerings. It's ok but nothing special.

The Richmond Arms is a stand alone pub that gets lots of traffic going by it,handy for the train station. Once inside the bar faces in an oblong shaped room which runs the width of the pub,the floor is carpeted,the seating is normal tables and chairs,the rear right side is up steps. There were four real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Otter Bitter,which was a decent drink,the other real ales were Sharps Atlantic,St Austell Tribute and Youngs Bitter. Background music was playing. I thought this was a decent pub to have a drink in. Pub visited 13/5/2017

This is a proper, old style traditional pub of a type becoming increasingly rare. Two rooms, the main bar is at the front, a carpeted room with standard seating at chairs and tables, there is a fairly low Lincrusta papered beamed ceiling, maroon and cream tongue and grooved boarded walls and a pair of exposed brick fireplaces, one each end. Various bits and bobs of interest, hunting horns, horse brasses, a framed case of clay pipes, an old map of Surrey, pictures of military men from days long gone wearing red tunics plus the usual local pictures and a drawing of the pub. A customer's dog sprawled on the carpet, tail wagging and thumping on the floor, there were a small group of regulars sitting on bar stools and chatting together with the landlady. The other room is reached up a few stairs behind the bar off the lobby, no one was in here on Saturday afternoon and the wall mounted TV was off so I'm not sure if sports are shown or if TV is on demand. There is a dartboard in here. Outside at the back up more steps is a small gravel walled garden that catches the sun. There are four handpumps, St Austell Tribute and Proper Job (£4.10), Young's Bitter plus one that was not clipped. Food served, the menu is listed on a chalkboard and is very traditional, chicken pie with chips and veg £8.90, Macaroni cheese £8.50, full English breakfast £6.90. There is a beer festival advertised for the August Bank Holiday weekend together with live music. I liked this pub a lot, despite the beer being the wrong side of four quid, comfortable, traditional and homely, certainly one of the better pubs in the area.