The Cricketers Arms, Polegate

The Cricketers Arms is located just off the A27 and is a village pub with a leaning towards food. Granted my visit was on a Sunday afternoon when diners are more likely to be found in a pub, but everyone was eating and it was busy. The pub is split into three areas as the central bar area is flanked either side by seating areas. I was a little disappointed as I approached the bar as I could only see four draught taps that were drawing Amstel, Kronenburg, Guinness and Thatchers Gold. Thankfully after asking the barmaid where the advertised fine cask ales were she closed the door of a room behind the bar revealing the ale list of Harveys Best, Armada, Tom Payne and a pale ale. I opted for the Tom Payne which was well served from the back room. Whilst waiting at the bar I had a gander at the menu and noted that the mains ranged between the £9.50 and £15 mark and the kitchen is open daily from midday until 21:00. There are no noise distractions as there is no TV or Music and a sign at the door requests that mobile phones are switched off. Children are permitted in the pub, but not in the bar area and standard licensing hours are in operation. There is a large garden at the front of the pub that has plenty of picnic tables and a lawn area at the rear has some more picnic tables. There is parking down the side of the pub and the rear car park separates the back garden from a large empty field that is signed as the Cricketers Arms Underground Sewage Treatment Plant. Being underground I saw no signs of any treatment plant and the beer certainly didn’t come straight from a sewer as it was on good form. There is more parking down the road if the rear car park is full. This is the sort of pub I would earmark for a family day out on a sunny afternoon, much like all the other village pubs of this stretch of the A27.

A pair of knapped flint cottages in a small village at the foot of the South Downs. In front is a pretty garden, well planted. Mercifully, cars are relegated to the side and back of the pub. A slightly confusing choice of front doors leads into a flag stoned floored bar, with extra rooms to right and left. In fact, the room to the left of the bar is fairly recent, but in keeping with the rest of the pub. A fire in the hearth, and chalk boards advertising the days’ specials. This is a Harveys tied house, with the added bonus of serving its beers by gravity.This, alongside the use of sparklers, is a divisive and contentious issue, but to my mind, Southern beers, such as Harveys, are infinitely better served direct from the cask. Here, the beers are on stillage in a cellar off the bar, away from the heat and bustle of the servery. Today, Sussex Best Bitter, Armada Ale and Sussex xxxx Old Ale were available.I’m a great fan of Sussex Best Bitter, but tend to shy away from it in the free trade, as I fear it is often the token real ale. Here one need have no qualms:my pint was presented in perfect condition. I’d not tried Armada ale before:appley and marmalade, it’s SBB’s suave elder brother. However, the star of the lunchtime was Sussex xxxx Old ale:black, luscious and reassuring. Our visit was on a sunny early spring lunchtime, with a good number of families, couples and convivial groups of comfortable looking folk. As is the way of things,much of the pub is given over to dining, but I would not have felt out of place if I’d popped in for a pint on my way back from work.Reading the Good Beer Guide, the pub is credited with the sought after “Q” sign, meaning it’s a quiet pub:looking around, I couldn’t see any machines, and musak was mercifully absent.Conversation (and laughter) reigned. I was in a sausage mood, and found the herby local bangers on top form. The food didn’t look fussy-decent chips and plenty of veg, and not overly dear for the area. The girls behind the bar were welcoming and quietly efficient,and my tab was corrected, in my favour, before I’d had time to study it. I’d been meaning to come here since about 1975,but events had precluded it: I don’t plan to wait so long until my next visit. An excellent pub,it has a good chance of being our pub of the year.

Official site of the Cricketers Arms, includes menus - www.cricketersberwick.co.uk

Official site of the Cricketers Arms, includes menus - www.cricketersberwick.co.uk