Horse & Groom, St Leonards-On-Sea Town, St. Leonards-On-Sea

A lovely traditional backstreet pub with a couple of drinking areas inside, either side of an attractive, curved central bar. Five handpumps with three operating and a choice of Harveys Sussex Best, Dark Star Hophead and Greene King Abbott, the Harveys was well kept. The landlord was chatty and I was the only punter there just after midday opening but a couple of locals had appeared before I left half an hour or so later. A comfortable visit I would be happy to repeat.

A sign on the exterior wall of the Horse and Groom boasts that this is the oldest pub in St Leonards and I have no reason to doubt this. The bar area is small and U shaped and alongside a limited standard draught selection there are five hand pumps, one of which was unused, but the other four were drawing Landlord, Harveys Best, Broadside and Greene King IPA. The barmaid was friendly and was involved in a bit of banter with some locals, but it didn’t stop her promptly pouring me a very nice pint of Landlord. At the rear of the pub there is another room that was very dimly lit with a long table complete with chairs and a dartboard along the back wall. There is also a small outside area at the rear that seemed to be mostly used by smokers. Inside the pub there are various pictures and photos on the walls and the ceiling in the rear bar area has a few old hats hanging from it. There was no back music during my visit on a recent Saturday afternoon and I didn’t spot any TV screens. I found it quite sedate in here, but the beer was good and I would return if passing.