The Rising Sun, Chippenham

This is a Mole Brewery pub which had on Mole’s Bitter, Mole Catcher and Barleymole. This pub majors on food with a fairly extensive menu available every day. Main course are around the £10 - £12 mark, with for example Burger & Chips (Fries perhaps as they were skinny specimens and came in a little jug like thing) at £11.50. There were some more upmarket fish specials at £14 or so. Inside the pub is everything you expect in a country pub. It has the olde worlde charm the very best such pubs have, with a flagstone floor, original beams and all manner of interesting décor around the place. Furnishings are normal tables and chairs, and a brick fireplace sits in one corner. They've built a conservatory at the back which is furnished in a more modern style, with light coloured wood tables and chairs, all laid for diners. But it's the outside area at the back that makes this pub a bit special. There are picnic benches on a large grassed terrace, and as the pub is set on a hill they enjoy marvellous views for miles across the countryside. I was there on a beautiful warm and sunny summer’s day so I guess that I saw it at its best, but the landlady said the conservatory was extremely popular during the recent electric storms with punters coming to enjoy nature’s fabulous free light show. This pub gets a rarely given 9 from me. With a wider selection of ales and a better quality burger for the £11.50 I paid (admittedly relatively minor considerations) it would have been a contender for a 10.

A very cosy pub, small bar area. Serves food all day, makes their own fish cakes. Though they may not be available every day, but you can ring to find out. Large conservatory out the back, overlooking the rolling hillside. PS sells real ale as well.