So, what have I found out about the place?...
🠶 With a hefty population of over 113,000, Worthing is the 22nd biggest town in the UK.
🠶 There's a 10-year wait for a beach hut.
🠶 Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, and Harold Pinter wrote stuff whilst staying or living in Worthing.
🠶 Billy Idol attended High School in the town.
With a rebel yell, we were on our way to explore a pub or two.
As the picture of our first stop below shows, there was no need to pack the factor 50 or swimming shorts.
Through the gloom and drizzle we reached the Corner House on a roundabout next to Waitrose, an early Good Beer Guide tick that was also looking like a good option for lunch.
The building dates back to 1895 although it's had a 21st century pub makeover within: tiled bar counter, stylishly worn wooden floors and olive green paint job.
We received a nice friendly welcome and settled on a comfy cushioned bench to the side of the door.
Three cask ale options were on offer, all from Sussex within 35-miles of the pub: Gun 'Project Babylon' from Hailsham, Harvey's 'Sussex Best' from Lewes, or Arundel Brewery 'Service Please.' I picked the latter, a crisp pale 4.6% ale, supplementing a very tasty and filling halloumi burger.
A quick 5-minute hop around the corner provided me with a second GBG '26 tick at Wetherspoon's.
A quick 5-minute hop around the corner provided me with a second GBG '26 tick at Wetherspoon's.
Is this one that gets called 'lively' in descriptions? It certainly should have been on my visit. Busy enough that I got the last vacant table (we're not very amenable to sharing tables in Spoons, are we?). A dozen late teens trying to look menacing in Stone Island jackets. A bloke describing some sort of video game in great detail to 'enthralled' ladies at an unnecessarily loud volume. A sizeable number of empties waiting to be collected and lots of tipsy looking folk.
Double mobility scooter parking outside and handwritten "cash only" signs on the front door.
Guest beers get it into the Good Beer Guide...
Dorking Brewery had almost achieved a tap takeover with five of their beers spread across two banks of hand pumps.
The 'Misbrooks Brown Ale' for me - a fine, sensible-strength, malty brew.
The 'Misbrooks Brown Ale' for me - a fine, sensible-strength, malty brew.
The Three Fishes is housed in what used to be the Worthing Corporation Electricity Board showrooms although, as my picture shows, it's identikit Spoons towards the back. There's a small upstairs seating area, nice mural of the pier overlooking the staircase (top pic) and the smallest Wetherspoon bathrooms I can recall encountering.
I wasn't there for long. Mrs PropUptheBar had headed straight to the next pub with the hound who could never fool anyone that he's a service dog and wouldn't have liked the Three Fishes anyway.
If the weather hadn't put me off going in the water, the street art en-route did...
I wasn't there for long. Mrs PropUptheBar had headed straight to the next pub with the hound who could never fool anyone that he's a service dog and wouldn't have liked the Three Fishes anyway.
If the weather hadn't put me off going in the water, the street art en-route did...
Despite the lack of blue sky and sunshine brightening up the colourful pub (and house) frontages, the Toad in the Hole was looking good...
It's named after the traditional Sussex pub game which I've only ever seen played twice - at the extensive games section they used to have at the Great British Beer Festival and the Black Horse Inn in Lewes.
Here's the game table in the corner of the pub - not to be mistaken for a commode...
The Toad was formerly the Castle Alehouse until it was acquired by Brighton's Hand Brew Co. in 2022. So I was keen to sample one of their ales: 'Bird' or 'Cove' on offer on cask alongside an Electric Bear 'Gizmo' or Ascension cider.
The Brooksteed (38 South Farm Road, Worthing, BN14 7AE)
The 'Cove' was a lovely chocolatey dark mild packing in the flavour at 3.4%.
I arrived to AC/DC 'Whole Lotta Rosie', proceeded by foot-tappin' to Led Zep, The Doors, and the Stones.
I loved the Toad in the Hole: classic rock, pot plants, pump clips on the ceiling, and two pianos. A ramshackle local that was filling up nicely with a diverse crowd during our visit and where I'd imagine I'd spend a fair bit of time if I was a Worthing resident.
I arrived to AC/DC 'Whole Lotta Rosie', proceeded by foot-tappin' to Led Zep, The Doors, and the Stones.
I loved the Toad in the Hole: classic rock, pot plants, pump clips on the ceiling, and two pianos. A ramshackle local that was filling up nicely with a diverse crowd during our visit and where I'd imagine I'd spend a fair bit of time if I was a Worthing resident.
We had a half-mile walk to reach the next place on our list - up past the railway station, over the level crossing at South Farm Road, and onward to the Brooksteed micro.
This current CAMRA regional pub of the year has been open since 2014 at which point it was the second micro to open in the town.
Next to the entrance was an electronic beer board, just missing the feature of your Untappd check-in appearing, and - perhaps more importantly - prices.
Cask and cider were fetched from a chiller room located just behind the bar - a Loud Shirt 'Small Batch 09' for me, please.
This pleasant place was nicely busy, Mrs PropUptheBar nabbing the last available table, reserved for someone's birthday well after we'd be on our way. There was a mix of high and low seating, plus a nice covered back garden and proper outdoor gents WC. A hubbub of conversation and happy folk.
I discovered that Worthing Town were playing a local fixture with Eastbourne Borough that afternoon. Rank amateur timing on my part as we walked down Pavilion Road, right past the ground just as the match finished.
Okay, so it's not quite walking against the tide of an Old Trafford crowd making their way to the metro stop, but Eastbourne Borough did warrant a police escort.
And several of the crowd headed straight into our next micro ensuring it was standing room only.
Okay, so it's not quite walking against the tide of an Old Trafford crowd making their way to the metro stop, but Eastbourne Borough did warrant a police escort.
And several of the crowd headed straight into our next micro ensuring it was standing room only.
As with the last pub, beers were racked in a glass-fronted chiller room and served on gravity by the friendly owner. It's an old-school 'proper' micro with no bar counter and drinks brought to your table (or perching spot). A good selection of ales on our visit from Firebird, Burning Sky, Howling Hops, Downton, Hopback, and - my pick - Rother Valley. Hailing from Rye, the 'Storm Surge' was £5.20 a pint for your 5.4% deep dark Sussex stout.
The owner found time to check if I was enjoying the stout. The dog barked at him. Irritable, as he likes a table in the corner, regular height seating, and a treat.
We planned to call in to the Foresters nearby to make it three-in-a-row for micro pubs. But a post-footy crowd spilling out onto the street convinced us we should try again another day when it was quieter.
We now found ourselves beyond Worthing West station, realising it was a mile-and-a-half trek back to the town centre.
That mile-and-a-half took us past the Brewhouse and Kitchen (I seem to have lost my enthusiasm for them) and into neat side-streets with too many parked cars in front of the pub.
We planned to call in to the Foresters nearby to make it three-in-a-row for micro pubs. But a post-footy crowd spilling out onto the street convinced us we should try again another day when it was quieter.
We now found ourselves beyond Worthing West station, realising it was a mile-and-a-half trek back to the town centre.
That mile-and-a-half took us past the Brewhouse and Kitchen (I seem to have lost my enthusiasm for them) and into neat side-streets with too many parked cars in front of the pub.
The Hare and Hounds is a timeless proper pub, complete with red carpet, beamed ceiling, wood panelling, and plentiful black & white pictures of the town on the walls. It dates back to 1814 when it would have been a lot smaller - an extension into the ground floor of the adjoining building happening in the 1990s. The U-shaped bar serves front and back areas, both pleasantly busy (but not grab the last table busy) with a crowd of all ages.
Cask ale on offer was Gun 'Babylon', a St Austell rugby special 'Ruck and Roll', or Harvey's 'Best Bitter'. About time for a Harvey's, I reckoned, on great form here.
No mild smut in a picture-heavy gents WC, but you do get a mild bit of Del Boy...
The final venue on our list was completely different to anywhere else we'd been, promising us craft beer in a town centre courtyard.
This small bar was opened with the help of crowdfunding in April 2023 by the folks behind the local Merakai Brewing Company. They concocted their ales at Uckfield until recently, but have now moved the kit to a space at the side of the Tasting Rooms, ensuring we got our Untappd 'At Source' badge.
Six taps: a house lager by Arundel, a strong pale from Loud Shirt, and a couple their own on offer. The coffee stout for me, 'Espresso for my Depresso', a tricky beer to look up online being as a similarly named company called Meraki actually make an espresso machine.
The Tasting Rooms was a very civilised place. Bar snacks were delivered from a smart restaurant across the road and were ambitiously-priced but tasty.
As the dark was descending on Worthing it was time for us to head back to the low ceilings of our micro-cottage lodgings. Mustn't get too carried away, so as to leave the energy and enthusiasm to explore a bit more of this coastline the next day.
I'd be all right just as long as I could get past the Egremont without being tempted in by Harvey's Old Ale...
As the dark was descending on Worthing it was time for us to head back to the low ceilings of our micro-cottage lodgings. Mustn't get too carried away, so as to leave the energy and enthusiasm to explore a bit more of this coastline the next day.
I'd be all right just as long as I could get past the Egremont without being tempted in by Harvey's Old Ale...
...doh! Of course I was.
But we still managed to explore further afield the next day and even saw a bit of sunshine. More waffling about West Sussex in the next post
But we still managed to explore further afield the next day and even saw a bit of sunshine. More waffling about West Sussex in the next post
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