The Eight Bells, Polegate

The Eight Bells has a lovely setting in the middle of the South Downs. It has a single room with the bar towards the centre. Drinkers appear to congregate on one side, with diners preferring the slightly larger side which contains an impressive fireplace. The interior has quite a modern design and funky music was playing. An old till on the bar provided a nod to times gone by, but the digital one underneath it soon destroys that illusion. I felt like the pub was trying to go down the gastro route and all other customers present were there for the food. It looked like everybody present (including ourselves) were visitors to the area. One couple arrived by bike. It got me wondering if the pub is used by locals at all. If the beer quality is anything to go by, I'd probably shun it if I lived locally. The cask ale I tried was undrinkable with my drinking partner's not much better. I took mine back and after a little was pulled through, the second half I was given tasted a little better. It seemed like they didn't really know how to keep and look after their beers. For the record, there were 4 cask ales. Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter & Long Man Best Bitter are regulars. Guests were Gun Scaramanga & Lakedown Spring Ale. Craft beers were Abyss Super Fizz & Burning Sky Arise. The cider was Ascension Pilot. Not quite sure what to make of this pub. It has a lovely location (a garden to the rear would be very nice during the summer), but it appears to be straying too much towards food and despite having 4 cask ales on the go, the beer quality is lacking.

Nice old pub, tucked away in a quiet dry valley through the South Downs, and understandably very much a dining place these. The refurbished staple-shaped layout perhaps looks more modern than the traditional exterior might lead you to expect, but it is pleasant enough and the south-facing windows let in plenty of light during the day. Harvey's, the very local Long Man Best Bitter plus Gun Brewery's Scaramanga and Lakedown's Fireball red ale (£5.00) from elsewhere in East Sussex complete the line-up on the four handpumps.

Official site of The Eight Bells - eightbellsjevington.com

Official site of The Eight Bells - eightbellsjevington.com

The Eight Bells is a U shaped pub in the heart of horseracing country so the walls are adorned with an assortment of all things equestrian. A limited standard draught range is available alongside Leffe and the bar supports four hand pumps. One of these was unused leaving Landlord, Broadside and Harvey’s Best as the ale options. Food is served during lunch and early evening periods and the mains are priced around the £10 mark. This is one of the more pub like venues in rural Polegate and the large inglenook around to the right of the bar adds a nice touch. There is a quiz every Tuesday evening and live music was advertised for the last Saturday of this month so it is not a regular occurrence. There is no television, but some background music was playing. There is a car park to the left of the building which probably gets very full during the summer so parking may be a problem at busy times. There is a tiered beer garden at the rear that is split up with hedges and trees with lovely views of the downs and grazing horses. My only complaint would be that many of the tables had dirty plates on them and no attempt was made to clean them during my forty-five minute stay on Monday. I could understand if the pub was heaving and staff had failed to show, but it really wasn’t that busy. That said the two people on duty were polite and friendly. All things taken into account I found this place to be pleasant and I wouldn’t be upset if I found myself in here again. There is even a bus stop directly outside, but I’m not sure how regularly the public transport graces this area with its presence.