White Horse, Sturminster Newton

Seemed very popular with diners on a Saturday lunchtime. A fancy food menu containing nothing that we fancied for a quick bite at midday. The Campaign for Pub Sandwiches starts here. Beer wise - Exmoor Fox, Gold and Butcombe on. My chosen gold aroused suspicion. I am a veteran of many a JDW, so I know what Gold looks like. I also know what Golden ales looks like. This was dark nut brown. I mentioned it to the landlady who said "Yes, the brewery told us to warn customers that it was a particularly dark batch". Ha! If this was an untruth, it was a good one. I had a Fox (and fishfinger sandwich) at our next pub. Fox, a traditional nut brown bitter. If I was a betting man, I'd say they got their pump clips mixed up.

A stone-built village pub in a quiet hamlet just off the main road. There is a small car park at the back, an even smaller garden and some bench seats at the front with views of the hamlet and the village stocks. The building dates from the sixteenth Century and there are still some architectural features on display including beams, an inglenook fireplace and an unusual brick bread oven. The décor is fairly modern, but in keeping with a working village pub, as are the tiled floors. There are two bars, both cosy and comfortable, with a mix of seating arrangements including church pews. The pub welcomed dogs, and the staff are very friendly, but there was no WiFI and the background music was a bit annoying. There is a dartboard but it doesn’t seem to have seen much action lately. Cooked food is normally on offer, but on this occasion the kitchen was being deep-cleaned so we were out of luck. There was only one ale on, Doombar, which was in perfect condition. I really like this pub and will certainly come back.