The Five Bells awarded with Country Pub of the Year title

Bill and Joan from the Five Bells pub in West Chiltington with their award J3JU4GRi-9k0ZJ_eOAPj

Members of the Arun & Adur branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) have voted the Five Bells at Smock Alley, West Chiltington their Country Pub of the Year 2016.

On Saturday June 18, to the great delight of a packed bar, Mike Taylor, the local CAMRA Arun & Adur branch Chair, presented hosts Bill and Joan Edwards with the Country Pub of the Year award for 2016.

The Five Bells is a traditional pub, highly regarded by locals’ and visitors alike for the quality of its ales, the food which is always freshly cooked and the genuine warmth of the welcome.

Bill and Joan have been at the pub, situated a mile south of the old village centre, since 1983 – firstly as tenants of the former King & Barnes brewery – then, after a brief stint at another of that brewery’s top pubs in Horsham, they returned in 1989 having purchasing the freehold.

Ever popular with CAMRA members and thus a regular in the Good Beer Guide, Bill offers five ales – always including a mild and a range of bitters – and a traditional cider. This 2016 award is not the first that Bill and Joan have received from CAMRA, whilst Bill won the prestigious K & B ‘best kept cellar’ award in consecutive years at both the Five Bells and the Rising Sun.