There are few better places to be when the sun comes out as one of our large British unsung institutions – the traditional bar beer garden.
During a career as a British travel and car writer, I crossed the country on the road. Often, however, the places I remember most are not the beauty or large attractions – these are the leafy barter breeds that combine the perfect pint with a perfect view.
From the Scillies to the Shetlands I was hundreds of publishers in my time. My tip on finding the best wherever you are in the UK is to ignore the ads and social media hype, ask a local.
This is what I have done all over the UK, and now here is my best. It’s not just a list, it’s a love letter to a large British institution chosen by someone who has done the leg work for you.
South-west
Gaggle or geese, dorset
There are ordinary beer gardens, then there is the gaggel of geese, a fantastic five hectares of grassland and wildflowers stretching from a classic bar in the countryside. There is plenty of room for crazy golf, shit, pygmy goats, shepherd shuts, a small campsite, wooden fire braai and even a few garden tables.
Pandora Inn, Mylor Bridge, Cornwall
It is a world -class view: The tables on a long wooden ponton offer views of the yachts that are in this beautifully sheltered forested creek near Falmouth maneuver … and if that is not enough, the antique thatched -whitewashed inns are surrounded by trees and beautiful flowers. It is impossible not to take pictures of the scene.
Nobody Inn, Doddiscombleigh, Devon
You need to find your way with highly-versed narrow winding lanes west of Exeter to reach the old whitewashed stone dating from the Domesday book. Today it is known for its homemade pies – and the best place to eat it is in the traditional rural garden with views of agricultural land.
The south
The Pear Tree Inn, Whitley, Wiltshire
In Rolling Hills east of Bath, this sweet village of Gastropub is surrounded by trees and shrubs that create smart ‘rooms’. There is also a thriving kitchen garden to explore, which provides many of the restaurant’s ingredients.
The Thomas Lord, Hampshire
The old bar is named after the founder of the famous cricket soil, and is full of sports nods. Maybe you may not play cricket outside, but the glorious large, leafy gardens will definitely overtake you.
The seat, Oxford
Inspectors Morse and Lewis (and I as a student journalist) were regularly at this thatched bar that is even as old as the university. The grassy gardens are large with tables overlooking the crying willow trees overlooking the river isis.
London and the southeast
The shaky fullback, Finsbury Park, London
Do you want a rural vibe in the busy heart of North London? Step out of the lively pubs of this Irish bar in a surprisingly large maze-like four-level beer garden.
The new flying horse, wide, kent
The massive garden at this rural inn on the edge of Kent’s Downs near Ashford contains its own vegetable allocations. A portion of the garden once won a gold medal on Chelsea Flower Show.
The Star Inn, Old Heathfield, East Sussex
At the back of this Creeper-Covered Village Pub is one of Britain’s best beer gardens. There is a wide rural view, water functions, classic herbaceous boundaries – and it’s all big enough to sit 80.
Midlands
Tamworth tap, tamworth
The former tourist information center has been transformed into a bar and brewery that seems to have been there for centuries. From the back door is an incredible atmospheric garden right under the tower -like Norman castle walls that after darkness are a spectacular flood light.
Night’s Head, Malvern, Worcester
This loving, peculiar flower behavior bar has the dramatic malvern hills that are steep behind and charming lounge areas between overflowing pots, baskets and flower beds on the outside.
Meynell Ingram Arms, Burton-On-Trent, Derbyshire
Five cozy heated pods in the leafy gardens and courtyards make the garden’s garden attractive all year round. Each of the heated bookable pods can sit six.
East
Brisley Bell, Norfolk
Al Fresco eating and drinking is especially popular with this Ivy-covered inn along the Village Green. There are two hectares of herbal gardens, pergolas with climber-covered, adult borders, wildflowers and lawns to enjoy.
Queens Head, Bramfield, Suffolk
The walled garden of this 16th-century wattle-and-Daub Inn overlooks the village church next door. It is a tranquil and sheltered place to award award -winning bar foods under mere flowers.
The Plough, Fen Detton, Cambridgeshire
Picnic tables are placed here under the trees along the grassy Nok River bank. It is a wonderful location for a glass of pimms that regularly look at the rowers known locally as ‘the bumps’.
Wallis
Bell at Skenfrith, Monmouthshire
The beautiful beer garden behind the bar extends to the fields that have become their own extensive kitchen garden, with increased vegetable beds, espalier fruit trees and flowers grown to decorate the bar, irrigated everything through the bar’s own spring.
Stackpole Inn, Pembrokeshire
In the summer, the inn is almost plunged under the climbing plants and its sheltered sunny garden is a wonderful place to enjoy food and drink – all with the scent of honeysuckle in the air.
Ty Coch Inn, Morfa, Northern Wales
There are only tables under an old canopy and a bare stone wall to put on -but that’s all you need if your bar stands right on the banks of a remote Sand Bay on the Llyn Peninsula of Northern Wales. What is missing from horticulture, Ty Coch compensates with a panorama from far mountains, yachts and the sea.
Northwest
The drunk duck inn, ambleside
The view is the most important ingredient here: Only eight simple tables stand on a small grassy shore on the other side of a lane of the bar. They overlook the Lake windmills and the mountains out there. It is spectacular enough to repeatedly assess this humble place one of Britain’s best bar gardens.
The ship at Freckleton, Lancashire
There is a simple charm in the garden with two floors at this estuary: the upper terrace has better views, but the lower garden has more flowers. Bird spotters especially like the uninterrupted views of miles of marshes.
Swettenham arms, Cheshire
This historic bar is once a nunery, between the village church and an arboretum. The incredible unique function is today a large field of swinging fragrant lavender leading some of the bar’s garden tables.
North-east
Pipe and Glass, South Dalton, East Yorkshire
The beautiful Gastropub with Michelin star has created a wonderful new garden-and claims that everything that grows in it is edible. This means that the kitchen staff attack the herbs, vegetables, shrubs and even flowers for fresh ingredients, while customers can sit in the midst of fragrant plants and giant garden sculptures.
Black horse, Beamish, Durham
This bar is part of a 300-year-old estate-dus its outdoor tables are surrounded by a ten hectare of large landscape of vegetable gardens, lavender and lavender and rolling orchards.
The beehive, Oredon
Under thick bushes and through a curved gate on the side of this 18th-century Whitley Bay Inn, you discover a completely fenced one hectare of large area they call the secret garden. There is an outdoor bar and raises for performances here, but usually it is a leafy sun lane to escape completely.
Scotland
The Taybank, Dunkeld, Perthshire
The riverbank of the bar is where the chef feeds wild garlic and flier flowers and where dinners sit across the river the river. In the summer there is seafood roast and an open-air theater, while the most adventurous wildlife wants to swim.
The Bridge Inn, Ratho, near Edinburgh
Serve between the flowers and shrubs on lawns and terraces overlooking the Union channel – or eating on a restaurant cruise moored next to it. This former farmhouse became a bar to serve channel builders 200 years ago – it has been a popular Boozer ever since.
The Black Ivy, Edinburgh
The ultra-cool out-of-terraces of this boutique restaurant and bar in the trendy Bruntsfield of Edinburgh may not be the traditional grassy bar garden non-but they have been judged as one of Scotland’s best beer gardens. Expect a vibrant atmosphere and a stylish mixture of plants, carports and heaters overlooking the glorious park opposite.
