The Bear, Horsham

Located in Horsham’s Market Square, this is a decent sized pub that reopened in 2023 after a period of closure and a refurbishment. The pub has a fairly simple layout, as the front door leads you into the main bar area with the servery along the back wall. Seating is available to either side, including some tightly fitted banquettes in booth-like spaces created by the front window bays, whilst a few regular tables and chairs fill the rest of the space. There’s a small brick fireplace to one side and the walls have three-quarter height wood panelling with plain uppers and a few uninteresting bits of décor. The servery has a smart wood panelled counter front and a rather uninspired bare brick bar back with glass shelves. The room extends into a rear left space that had three or four more tables with high stools and not a great deal of natural light, although the door to the beer garden had been left open, which helped brighten things a little. The garden isn’t much to write home about – it’s essentially just a concrete strip with limited seating and high walls on both sides. Perhaps the pub’s biggest draw is its ale range, which comprised Firebird Parody and Two Horses, Harveys Sussex Best and Surrey Hills Shere Drop. I thought this was a pretty decent selection of local brews and opted for the Two Horses, which was in reasonable nick and served to us by a pleasant barman. The pub had an eclectic mix of customers on a Friday evening, ranging from a group of old dears huddled under the leaded front windows, to some dolled up young ladies filling most of the rear room. I can’t say there was much here to make this place stand out from the rest in Horsham’s surprisingly crowded town centre pub scene, but the presence of some well-kept local ale was definitely a real bonus point. The refurb has potentially robbed the place of some of its character, as it feels a bit empty and ill defined, but it’s a solid enough option to try if you fancy a change from the town’s more established pubs. Date of visit – 12th July 2024

Facebook page of The Bear - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Bear - www.facebook.com

Pleasant looking pub bedecked with its summer flower display. Inside it was just a basic locals pub with three Hall and Woodhouse beers on, Tanglefoot, Badger Best and Furstey Ferret. Nothing much seems to have changed from the previous reviews and I found the pub to be nothing special.

The Bear is a small pub in a pedestrianised area of Horsham Town centre. The interior consists of a small front area with a bar that faces the entrance. There are standard and tub chairs at a few tables and the two plasma screens were off during my recent Saturday afternoon visit. However, Six Nations rugby was advertised for later in the day. To the left rear is another small room with some seating and a door that leads to a back yard with more some seating. The bar supports three hand pumps that, unsurprisingly for a Hall & Woodhouse pub, were drawing Leaping Legend, Tangle Foot and Sussex. A small range of standard keg products were also available. This pub opens at midday and closes at midnight Sunday to Thursday and 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. I found the service to be polite, but I found this pub to be a bit bland. Because there are better pubs in the immediate area I doubt that I will return here anytime soon.