A proper pub with a friendly welcome and great atmosphere. Lovely place to stop for a few drinks and also cosy enough to stay all night! Last night I took a big group of friends there for my hen do and we all had a wonderful time - thanks to Rich & Sarah for a top night!

I have a new favourite pub. Now, this is a rare thing, because this isn't just a new pub to me, it's a new pub to the world. And it's a new pub the world needs. For a start, it doesn't look from the outside like it's been bought up by someone who made a lot of money and "wanted to own a pub". No. frankly, it's never looked like that. For the past year it's looked like a building site asking the local village for a fight. The exterior is delightfully average. No neon. No gold embossed nonsense. Just a plain and rather large sign for the "pickled inn". The name had me baffled. That the name appeared suddenly two weeks ago had me intrigued. Unable to make the opening night, I took a wander down earlier. I was not greeted by many pot plants, an A-board advertising "quality food" (my hatred for that phrase is bottomless), or even a hint of cunning. Basically, the door was open. The door. That was it. So in I wandered. And I think I may never leave. Evercreech is a wonderful village. It is alive. It has a factory that gives it a heart beat, a co-op that keeps it fed, a hair dresser that makes it look respectable, and a vicar who doesn't half give it some soul. And now? Now it has some heart. Two, actually. The other pub in evercreech is the bell. I've never had better food in a pub. The duke box is so random it makes me grin every time I wrestle with its controls. It serves Hecks cider in the same manner as a child daring you to staple your hand while teacher isn't looking. And now it has one of its own recently moved in. The pickled inn is a joy. The interior is clean, bright, simple and cosy (no, I don't know how they did it either). There is a wood burner, some utterly wonderful furniture, and a turtle on the ceiling. It has no fruit machine, no juke box, real ale and - quite fantastically - a chance that a certain local AWESOME cider will be on tap rather soon. Throw into the mix a landlord who doesn't want the pub to be anything other than at the heart of the village, then what more could you want? Yeah, if you want over priced food, a carpark filled with range rovers, folk ordering lattes at the same time as you request some pork scratchings? Then you know where to look. However, if you want a gentle, modern take on an old pub, good service, comfort, a welcome ... then welcome to the pickled inn, evercreech. Oh, and the name? Well, I'm sure at some point, I too will be able to say that I got "pickled inn..." An absolute joy.