The White Bear at Fickelshole

Old pub with The White Bear written above the door — The exterior retains all of its charm.

This quintessentially English country pub is only 3 miles from our house, yet is surrounded by farms and fields, and is a firm favourite with cycling clubs as an en route watering hole.

Child sitting astride a white bear — Sometime in the 1960s!

I've been coming here since I was a child, and we missed it whilst it was closed due to undergoing a major refurbishment by Brakspear Brewery.

It reopened late last year and we couldn't wait to visit to see what had been done to it.

This was a very cute finishing touch on the table

We've now visited a couple of times in the evening. From what we could see the garden is going to be amazing in the summer.

Large inglenook fireplace in an old pub — That huge fireplace must be amazing when it's lit

Inside the little crooks and crannies remain, but the bar has moved and a large new dining space has been created. If I'm honest, the main restaurant did feel decorated 'country pub by numbers', but it was spotless and a much easier space for the staff to manage.

Small wooden white Bear with table numbers painted on the side — I did like the white Bear table numbers

We preferred our second visit when we were seated in one of the smaller original old rooms.

The young staff have obviously been well trained and are eager to please. The food itself was good pub fare; pies, fish and chips, Sunday roasts etc. You certainly wouldn't go hungry here as you can see from the photos above.

The only disappointment was in the range of craft beers available; with some great breweries locally such as Westerham, Cronx and Titsey it seemed a little strange that the only craft beer was Brixton (as fine as they are).

Welcome back to the White Bear, we will be back.