AN INSPECTOR CALLS

THE Halfway Bridge is on the busy A272 between Petworth and Midhurst in West Sussex. It’s going to be noisy, we tell ourselves, but thankfully, the seven rooms are in a converted stable block 100 yards or so from the pub. It’s wonderfully lly quiet.

We’re paying £132 for bed d and breakfast. That’s pricey y for such a small room with a dreary bathroom.

Even so, there’s no faulting - the generous welcome. . Dogs are well-catered for, , too, with a jar of helpyourself doggie biscuits sitting on the bar.

It’s the sort of place where e you can have dinner in your wellies lli without eyebrows being raised. It’s also where you expect to find a prawn cocktail on the menu.

Sure enough, it’s there, but turns out to be three prawns spilling out of their shells and a smear or two of Marie Rose sauce. Why mess with such a favourite? Before B breakfast, we head h up the grassy track behind the stable block and reach the delightful church of Lodsworth. On our return, newspapers are laid out, and I can recommend one of the specials: fried eggs and sausages on chunky fried bread. Not exactly tl h healthy, lth but thoroughly in keeping with the Halfway Bridge vibe. The Halfway Bridge Lodsworth West Sussex GU28 9BP Tel: 01798 861281 Doubles from £145 B&B