The Duke of Cumberland Arms, Haslemere

The Duke of Cumberland enjoys a delightful location on a hillside, with a beautiful terraced garden featuring lots of nooks and crannies. The interior of the pub is fairly small. There is a small sub-divided bar area to the front which possessed plenty of character, with another small room up some steps to the rear. Beers are dispensed by gravity with the casks being found in the right-hand section of the bar. We were served in the left-hand section, where there were no pumpclips, just a blackboard listing the beers and other drinks were available. Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter & Langham Hip Hop are the 2 regular beers. I'd just had the Hip Hop at the Langham Brewery itself and I'm not a fan of Harvey's. So I enquired as to what the guest beer listed on the board was. The barman simply said they didn't have one and was quite curt about it. So, I ordered a soft drink instead. I did also note Tiny Rebel Clwb Tropica on keg. This seems like quite a popular pub. It was mid-afternoon on a Saturday. So, I think food service hadn't long ceased. I got the impression that food is its mainstay. Although there were also a few young, local drinkers present. Lovely pub where you could probably while away many hours relaxing in the peaceful garden. Just a shame about the service. It's probably one of those places that has become a victim of its own popularity, where they can get by without pandering to passing drinkers.

A 15th century building (three old cottages knocked together I understand) nestled in the hillside. Amazing hillside gardens with streams and ponds affording magnificent views over the valley. Has long been under the threat of redevelopment but thankfully a locals buy-out in 2007 appears to have secured its long-term future. The rambling ancient interior has log fires though no toilets – outside for those! Three ales straight from the barrel – Harveys and two from Langham. We were fortunate enough to visit on a sunny day and it’s the kind of place you could stay in all day during the summer. Food is a mainstay here and the place apparently gets packed on weekends so beware the casual drinker! Overall this is a must-visit – you can sup your pint and feel like it is 1910 rather than 2010. Excellent.