The Jolly Waggoner, Stevenage

A proper country pub.Now owned by Church Farm over the road,itself a Community Interest Company raising heritage varieties and rare breeds,organic vegetables & herbs,all of which find their way onto the pub's food menu.Proper local sourcing. The building itself is clearly old and the interior is divided into the bar to the left of the front door,with a restaurant to the right all startched linen and beautifully laid out .As is my wont I headed left into the wooden floored bar with a real fire crackling in the brick fireplace.The furniture was in keeping with the area,rustic without being a cliche.The bar room has two sections divided by old wooden struts.Outside at the front there are a few picnic benches,there is a more substantial beer garden at the rear. The polite barmaid apologised for a problem with the sound system,no problem for me as I like quiet boozers.No fruit machines or other modern distractions,save for terrestrial screening of the Six Nations from a tv I assume that is wheeled into the bar,no sign of a flatscreen on the wall.Free newspapers another nice touch. At the bar the three handpumps serve London Pride and Buntingford Highwayman as regulars,with Buntingford Voyager the guest on my trip (£3.50,decent shape)Looking at the display of pump clips ,the guest is likely to be from a well regarded micro such as Red Squirrel,Dark Star,Ilkley,Thornbridge etc. The menu is quite short but high on quality,my bangers and mash (£8.95) contained some of the best sausages ever tasted. The pub has made it's way into the 2014 GBG,and is a fine example of what can be achieved in a modest sized rural pub.Definitely on the list for a revisit,worth hunting out.