Tipple from the trail

Larkin’s Alehouse, Cranbrook

Fast becoming a favourite watering hole of craft beer connoisseurs, Cranbrook’s first micropub specialises in cask ales and local ciders. There’s also a choice of local wines and spirits on the chalkboard, with a tapas night every Thursday. Mobile phones are frowned upon and there’s no piped music; just great booze and a convivial atmosphere. This former florist’s shop won Mid Kent CAMRA Pub of the Kent in 2019. larkins-alehouse.co.uk

The Old Dairy Brewery, Tenterden

Established ten years ago in an old milking parlour, this local enterprise now brews a flavoursome assortment of beers in two Second World War Nissen huts behind the Tenterden terminus of the Kent & East Sussex Railway. Brewed using hops grown just three miles away, beers include a rich Red Top best bitter and a refreshing Blue Top IPA. There’s usually one on draught at The Woolpack on the High Street and a wider choice of bottled beers in the brewery shop. olddairybrewery.com

Chapel Down Vineyard, Small Hythe

Hop bines have made way for grape vines just south of Tenterden, where the High Weald Landscape Trail meets the Rother Levels. Pioneers of English wine, Chapel Down have their winery and shop here, where you can break from the trail for a spot of wine tasting or a vineyard tour (best booked in advance). Stocking a range of wines, spirits, beers and ciders, the shop is open Weds to Sun, 10am to 5pm. chapeldown.com

The Mermaid Inn, Rye

Slaking thirsts since the 1420s, Sussex’s oldest hostelry today serves its own ‘Mermaid Ale’ (brewed by Old Dairy) alongside Harvey’s Best Bitter and a selection of spirits – not just the alcoholic kind. This half-timbered time capsule on the steep, cobbled street sharing its name is also one of England’s most haunted pubs. Its cast of ghouls include dueling Elizabethans and a bathroom intruder. Secret tunnels connecting the Mermaid with other pubs in the town were reputedly used by the infamous Hawkhurst Gang of smugglers. mermaid inn.com