Farnham Pub Explorations

Back at the end of July, our intrepid posse of pub researchers were en-route to Farnham by train, having completing part one of the day's itinerary in neighbouring Alton.

Farnham is home to around 40,000 folks (making it around twice the size of Alton).  It's situated within the Surrey Hills in countryside that offers lots of walking opportunities, so I'm feeling a little guilty now for doing nothing but traipsing around five pubs.

The first of these was on the main thoroughfare through the town centre, a street that would be charmingly picturesque if not for half of Surrey trying to drive down it on this afternoon.
We were on our way to the 2022 Fullers Pub of the Year...

The Queens Head (9 The Borough, Farnham, GU9 7NA)
The cask hand pumps take pride of place in their own section of the bar directly in front of the entrance.
Serving a trio of beers from the greater Fullers empire - Dark Star 'Hophead', Gales 'ESB', and 'London Pride'.  I went for the one of the three that I see least frequently, the 'HSB', which was on good form without being a beer you'd get overly excited about.

This was originally a timber-framed building which served as a coffee shop from around 1735 onwards.  It was given a 19th century modernisation with a red brick frontage and transformed to an inn.
Fullers seem to have done a good job of making this appeal to a wide range of customers.  It's comfortable to eat in without food dominating, has some snug spots to take your drinks to, and puts on regular live music (Dahlia's Comet and Beatroot appearing soon).  

My photography in the Queens Head was somewhat random.
I bring you my Queens Head gallery: her majesty's neck tattoos, barstool reading material, and tiffany lamps.

 

The local CAMRA folk in our group were discussing policies and governance.
Kentish Paul was being served a Club Ciabatta in the front room, because he's sensible.  We can't all forego food until the end of the day, then sit with Chinese takeaways in Retired Martin's hotel room.

You can get a full ciabatta review on Paul's blog.  In fact, what are you even doing here?  Paul provides all the pub background you need without any of my spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.

I finished my half pint quickly and headed around the corner to get some lunch of my own.  After some nourishment I was found by one of our pub tour's stragglers who'd split from the rest of us and come to Farnham by bus.  Together we made our way through peaceful backstreets to the Hop Blossom pub.

The Hop Blossom (50 Long Garden Walk, Farnham, GU9 7HX)
This was built in 1864 and named after the hop fields which were once opposite this site.  No fields these days, but the outdoor seats by the flower tubs were a good spot to relax with a beer in this quiet location in the warm weather.

Inside, the pub is L-shaped with a bar counter straddling the corner, seating to either side and a bright conservatory added to the rear.
More Fullers fare on the handpumps, with the addition of a St Austell guest.

I ordered a half of the 'Anthem', St Austell's summery session beer, brewed with four English hops with some Cornish Gold malt thrown into the mix of grains.
The Hop Blossom was a pleasant little gem slightly off the beaten track, a wet-led town pub which is one of Farnham's two current 2025 Beer Guide entries.

There was little distance to cover between the pubs, our next destination being no more than a couple of minutes walk.
This was located on Castle Street, heavy on the parked cars, but saved from the traffic horrors of the main road and home to some lovely buildings.

The Nelson Arms (50-52 Castle Street, Farnham, GU9 7JQ)
This building was originally three 14th century cottages, parts of which became the Hand and Pen pub in the early 1600's.  It appears to have had a couple of name changes since, now named after Admiral Horatio Nelson who had a fondness for Farnham (or at least for a lady here).

Our beer choice came in the form of local Hogs Back 'T.E.A' or Timothy Taylor 'Landlord' or 'Golden Best'.
A lesser-seen Golden Best for me, right at the end of the barrel, although the landlord diligently came and replaced these with a new cask freshly tapped.

The internal beams are apparently original old bits of wood and are reputed to have come from a Tudor warship. One beam is said to once have Lord Nelson's eyeglass lodged into it, but someone half-inched that years ago.

A thoroughly pleasant pub with a bit of a shortage of mid-afternoon punters.

Right, onward, to a recent addition to Farnham's pubs that turned out to be a bit of an unexpected delight...

The Tellers Arms (75 Castle Street, Farnham, GU9 7LP)
This new Youngs pub opened in October 2024 after conversion from its former incarnation as Lloyds Bank.
The building dates back to the 1930's when it replaced an earlier bank with Tudor frontage which wasn't deemed to fit in with the surroundings.  Remarkably, it became a listed building just 19 years after being built.

It's a pretty impressive place...

The front is made up of a variety of seating options with lots of nooks and crannies.  A large U-shaped bar in the centre with eye-catching old bank clock cantilevered over it.  Beyond the bar the pub stretches on into a low-ceilinged parquet-floored lounge area, ideal for dining, sprawling on chesterfields, or hiding in the depths of some ginormous chairs.  

Ales on the bar were Young's Original, Hogsback 'T.E.A', and Surrey Hills 'Shere Drop'.  Gotta be the Shere Drop when in Surrey - an enjoyable beer, but the priciest of the day.
We stuck to propping up the high table in front of the bar, a table which continued the banking theme... 

A truly impressive pub conversion, which must have set back Youngs quite a few more pennies that make up that table top. Good luck to 'em - I hope it does well.

Talking of impressive pub conversions, onward to our final destination...

The Borough Beer House (6 Town Hall Buildings, Farnham, GU9 7ND)
Opened in 2023, this is the recipient of CAMRA's Pub Design Award in 2025 for conversion to pub use.  We were doing well in Farnham for award winners and Grade II listed buildings.
The Bailiff's Hall dates back to 1674 and is full of character...

The six cask handpumps served five beers on this occasion, a mild, a bitter, and three pales.  I opted for the murky Nightjar 5.1% 'Dua NEIPA', £5.20 a pint.
With all seats occupied downstairs most of us gravitated to the larger upstairs room.

Beyond the cask there was a superb offering of proper cider and 18 keg lines, all displayed on neat clipboards...

With third-of-a-pints on offer I indulged in a Vault City pear, chocolate and vanilla sour and a marvellous Yonder 'Mini Battenburg'.
Plenty more interesting beers in the Borough Beer House whose consumption would have made successful navigation of all those changes on the journey home challenging.

Just don't make any unnecessary stops in pubs on the way.
Doh!

The Old Ford (Lynchford Road, Ash Vale, GU12 5QA)
Well, it was right next to North Camp station and it was ten minutes until the next train to Reading.
The Old Ford is a Victorian pub that was built at the same time and in the same style as the station.  The outdoor seating behind the picket fence was proving popular, less folk within the crisply white and airy interior.

And you're possibly not allowed to leave Surrey without partaking in a Hogs Back TEA.

A lovely day out taking in a good selection of Alton and Farnham pubs.
Big thanks to Mick for putting the itinerary together, guiding the group around the route, and not diverting us into a wild-card shisha bar at any point.