I used to like beer

Yes, there was indeed a time when I drank beer.  Proper beer, not that nasty chemical stuff the brew on the continent which seems nowadays to be all the rage but good old English ale.  Unfortunately I developed a sort of allergic reaction to it.  Just half a pint would give me a splitting headache, so I switched to Scotch and now I tend to drink wine.

But whether I'm drinking wine or, on a hot day, a bitter shandy, I do like an English pub, especially a village pub.

The Old Bat and I were in just such a one last night.  Not that one in the picture; I haven't been in that one for quite a while and it does tend to be a bit touristy for my liking; the ratio of visitors to locals is too high for it to really qualify as a village pub in my opinion. No, we had a meal in the Abergavenny Arms in the village of Rodmell.  Like all good village pubs, there were a fair number of locals drinking.  Both the staff and the locals were friendly and chatty, quite happy to include us in their conversations.  And also like all good village pubs, dogs were welcome.

If I were asked to list things things that I like about living in England, village pubs would be high on the list.