Fox & Badger, Bath

A brilliant, brilliant pub. Treads the tightrope between more upscale, Bath-area foodieness and shabby chic local with aplomb. Nicely shabby furniture, huge log piles, open fire, lovely looking menu, great ciders on tap. Long may she reign.

A fantastic, unspoilt country pub in the middle of an attractive village. Clientele seems to be pretty much all locals who knew each other, but this is only to be expected in such an out of the way location, and they all seemed friendly enough. It’s a single room, U-shape bar with old wooden boards on the floor, some painted plasterwork and exposed stone walls elsewhere, plenty of horse brasses, plates, etc., and several black and white pictures of the pub and village from years ago. There was a big stone fireplace at one end, a wood panelled bar and several specimens of stuffed birds and animal heads. We didn’t try the food on this occasion, but there was a reasonable looking specials list chalked up on a board. On a recent Friday evening visit, the main attraction was what I can only describe as a mad organ player. Even the friendly landlady warned us about him before we went in! He was an old guy, playing tunes on an old electronic organ, extremely badly and out of tune, and with various different instruments selected. The punters all seemed to enjoy trying to guess what he was playing though, and singing along once they had worked it out. All in all, a great atmosphere and clearly the social hub of the village. Beers on tap were London Pride, Butcombe, Doom Bar and Titania Golden Ale, which I’ve not come across before. Ciders were also well represented with Blackthorn, Thatcher’s Gold and Cheddar Valley.