LET’S GET A ROUND IN
Six special beer gardens CROSS GUNS
Avoncliff, Wiltshire
Four options for arriving at this singularly reachable, steeply tiered beer garden in the bucolic Avon valley. You’re no more than 200 yards away no matter whether you arrive via the tiny Avoncliff rail station, the Georgian aqueduct carrying the Kennet & Avon Canal, a single-track road, or the river rippling at the garden’s end.
THE OLD NEPTUNE
Whitstable, Kent
We could have selected from a goodly number of beach-adjacent pubs with beer gardens. Pubs
(as opposed to bars) actually on the beach? Probably only this nautically themed Victorian gem.
BEN NEVIS INN
Claggan, Lochaber
It was in 2001 that a 200-year-old barn was converted into this gracious pub and bunkhouse, an oasis in the foothills for walkers returning from climbing these isles’ highest peak. Depending on the direction of your gaze, the glorious garden views range from steepling to sweeping.
FREE TRADE INN
Newcastle upon Tyne
The rural world doesn’t hold a monopoly on dazzling drinking views. Here, you’ve a view of the spectacular urban quadrumvirate that is the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Tyne Bridge, Sage Gateshead and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. See also the terrace at Bristol’s Avon Gorge Hotel, Cary Grant’s dwelling of choice when visiting his mum, offering a matchless view of Clifton Suspension Bridge.
THE FERRY INN
St. Dogmaels, Pembrokeshire
Built in 1833 to quench the thirst of ferry users, and boasting a rooftop terrace overlooking the Teifi estuary, before it rolls into Cardigan Bay. That service might be long gone, but there’s still a private pier for river-arriving drinkers.
THE DRUIDS ARMS
Stanton Drew, Somerset
A must visit for the parched lover of prehistory. Not only is this pub adjacent to the Great Circle, one of the largest neolithic monuments, but the smaller, older part of the three-circle complex – The Cove
– is actually in the beer garden.