The 11th edition of Sawday’s best-selling Special Places Pubs and Inns of England & Wales goes on sale on 15 June. Now in its 11th year, Sawday’s Special Places Pubs and Inns of England & Wales now comprises more than 1000 of Britain’s very best pubs. From old-school inns with an array of ales, and bright boozers with gastro gurus, to modern pubs with boutique beds, over 100 are new additions all of which are available using the Sawdays Pubs and Inns app (app store £4.99).
Fifteen award winners
Fifteen favourites have been handpicked to receive an award in one of five categories: authenticity, commitment to the community, local, seasonal & organic produce, pubs with rooms and – beginning this year – an award for the best newcomer. This edition features the highest number of inspected and selected pubs yet so to be chosen for an award is a real achievement.
Many pubs are dazzling
Alastair, Founder of Alastair Sawday’s says:
“The destruction of our pubs represents the atomisation of society, and a loss to our communities. Yet many pubs are dazzling us: re-introducing tea-rooms, offering bookbinding courses, supper clubs and master chef classes. They buy land to rear their own meat, raise veg in polytunnels, plant trees. City pubs are equally animated, offering breakfast through to dinner, busy with laptopped business folk, dog-walkers, coffee-drinkers and takers of tea. So pop down the pub and join the celebration.”
David Hancock, Editor or Sawday’s Pubs & Inns of England & Wales:
“These are pubs at their best: always evolving; always attuned to guests’ needs and wants. We’re bowled over by the range on offer in this edition, and know you will be too.”
Newcomer
The White Hart, Somerton, Somerset: The perfect rural market town setting for a stylish yet unpretentious pub with a highly original series of rooms. The upbeat dining space provides a cool backdrop for modern pub food cooked by an ex-River Cottage chef.
Shipwright’s Arms, Helford, Cornwall: This pub has a big sense of fun, a welcoming vibe that draws the summer crowds, and possibly the best waterside location in Cornwall.
Glynne Arms, Hawarden, Flintshire: Something to intrigue at every turn in this revamped retro-quirky Georgian coaching inn, with charming staff and fresher-than-fresh produce from their own farm shop on the Hawarden Estate.
Pubs with Rooms Awards
The Gunton Arms, Thorpe Market, Norwich, Norfolk: Bedrooms ooze country-house charm at this stunning inn overlooking 1,000 acres of historic parkland. Come for chic hunting lodge style, a rib of beef cooked over the fire, and atmospheric antique-filled rooms with parkland views.
The Wheatsheaf, Brigsteer, Kendal, Cumbria: A converted a chapel made into a quirky and comfortable bunkhouse barn. Overlooking the Lythe Valley with taxi service to the pub.
The Royal Oak Tetbury, Tetbury, Gloucestershire: A cracking new Cotswolds’ inn with stylish, uncluttered rooms across the cobbled yard. Three are dog-friendly.
Authentic Pub Award
The Boat Inn, Ashleworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire: “A peaceful, unspoilt red-brick cottage on the banks of the river Severn. It’s an ale lover’s paradise and a gem.
The Sun Inn, Leintwardine, Shropshire: An outstanding example of a heritage parlour pub with huge community commitment and a foot in the 21st century.
Broadfield Ale House, Sheffield, Yorkshire: An old city pub with Art Deco etched glass, planked floors, glowing fires, and a cosy rusticity. The bar is crammed with Yorkshire ales, world craft beers and a mind-boggling choice of whiskies.
Community Pub Award
The Eagle & Child, Ramsbottom, Bury, Lancashire: From a boarded-up boozer to a thriving community pub in two years: disadvantaged young people are trained in the kitchen, and, along with community group Incredible Edible Ramsbottom, the owner has transformed former waste ground into a beer garden with raised beds, a polytunnel and chickens.
Ring O Bells, Compton Martin, Bristol: Not only did the team save their own village’s local but there’s a bar for the next (pub-less) village along. Community get-togethers are hosted with relish and joy.
George at Burpham, Sussex: On the brink of closing in 2012, the freehold was bought by three local businessmen and shares offered to the community. Doors opened in May 2013, with a new name and a new look. The pub is now thriving.
Local, Seasonal and Organic Produce Award
The Three Daggers, Westbury, Wiltshire: Superb produce, including vegetables from the owner’s kitchen garden, delivered to the pub kitchen and sold in a beautiful green oak barn that makes shopping in the farm shop a total pleasure. There’s also an adjoining brewery.
The Pointer, Brill, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire: Delicious produce comes from the kitchen garden as well as local markets and suppliers, and the meat from the owner’s own herds and the neighbouring farms. You can buy meat, charcuterie and just-baked bread from the butchers and delicatessen.
Jolly Waggoner, Ardeley, Hertfordshire: The owners run Church Farm in the village, where they have a farm shop, a café, a butcher’s and a greengrocer’s, so the pub’s ‘one mile menu’ brims with traditionally reared meat and over 100 varieties of herbs, vegetables and soft fruits.
Sawday’s Special Places Pubs & Inns of England & Wales is on sale on from all good bookshops or online directly from Sawday’s priced at £15.99.
For more information on the book or any of the places featured click here
A celebration of the wonderful inspected and selected pubs and inns now also exists in digital with Sawday’s app! For far less than the price of a round (£4.99), find over 700 handpicked pubs across England and Wales.
The 11th Edition of Sawday’s Special Places Pubs & Inns of England & Wales guide book is on sale on 15 June, priced at £15.99.
ISBN – 13: 978-1-906136-68-0