The Highwayman, Tonbridge

I regularily pass this pub twice a month, and have heard good reports, but have only gone in today. It is not, in all honesty, the sort of pub I would seek out for a family treat, but is, probably, the sort of pub I’d use if I lived in Horsmonden. Traditionally laid out, with a saloon are to one side of a small serving area, and a public bar further to the right as one comes in. I was pleased to see a dart board and pooltable. A Shep’s pub, it offered Kent’s Best, Late Red and the world cup seasonal 4:4:2 a “ten hop ale”. I’d been looking out for this for a while, and was pleasantly impressed, though I’m not sure that I could differentiate between the ten varieties of hops! From the notices of forth coming events, the pub seems to support the community, and the food seems good value, though we didn’t eat there. Certainly,a good number of people from the village fete on the Heath outside made use of the pub on a scorching July afternoon.

Nice position overlooking the village green (the Heath), and much more of a village local than the nearby Gun & Spitroast. Nice pint of Kent's Best.