The Lord Nelson, Stoke-Sub-Hamdon

A quaint village local described below, still owned by Wadworth. It dates from the 19th Century and is built from hamstone from the nearby Ham Hill Quarry. The single L-shaped bar has a brick chimney breast and a brick pillar showing where the original internal supporting walls once were. There is a skittle alley behind, and one end of the bar is a part-time games area with a dartboard, TVs and gaming machines. The staff were pleasant, the locals civilised. The food is fussy, tries to be trendy but just comes across as faddy. As a species we’ve been eating bread for 8000 years, so why we suddenly need everything to be gluten free is a mystery. And again, those silly wire baskets with three chips in. Why? Three ales on: 6X, IPA and EPIC, all just a bit over-chilled and unexciting. What really puts me off is the unnecessarily high prices – 20-25% higher than other pubs in the area for beer, and tiny portions of food for too many pennies. It’s a good pub but not good enough to warrant making an effort to find, so I’ll probably turn a blind eye next time I’m passing.

Lovely welcoming village pub, good food but shame about the beer. Set on a street corner the entrance is via a raised paved area. Lovely old hamstone building inside, with a central bar servery directly in front, tables set out to both sides of the pub. What lets the pub down is the Wadworths beers, nothing wrong with the way they are served but in this day and age of crisp well hopped beers they seem increasingly dated. On a Tuesday night it was busy with locals and skittlers. Come on Waddies, sort your beer out as this could be a cracker.

Welcoming and comfortable village pub - warm welcome, friendly staff, well-kept beer although limited range and modest range of good food at fair prices. Can get busy at weekends. Above average.