Aah, the local pub. Much ink has been spilled over their decline – most recently by Mr Clarkson when seeking his next cow-shed-cum-taproom – but occasionally, happily, the tide turns. And when it does, it looks a lot like The Merry Harriers in Hambledon, Surrey.
Hambledon itself is straight out of central casting. One of those Surrey Hills villages with a cricket green, a church spire and village shop, it sits tucked away in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The sort of place you can easily miss unless you’re looking for it, which makes the discovery of a proper, thriving pub here all the sweeter.
The Harriers has always had a certain reputation. Old-timers will recall llama walks and shepherd stays, alongside Sunday roasts served in surroundings that leaned a little too heavily on ‘character’ rather than quality (read: drafty doors and chairs that had seen better days). But in late 2023, two enterprising gents – chef Sam Fiddian Green and front-of-house maestro Alex Winch, already known for the excellent Hilltop Kitchen in Godalming – took over. And what they’ve done since should make every weary landlord take note.
Walk in today and it’s as if someone has waved one of those TV-makeover magic wands. Huntley & Humm, the design team (helpfully, also Sam’s cousins), have transformed the interior into warm, heritage-toned snugness. Handmade pew benches and comb-back chairs have replaced the jumble-sale seating of old, and the bar, lovingly carved by Sam’s brother-in-law, is now the beating heart of the room. Even the gents’ loos have had a glow-up: gone is the barracks-style trough, replaced with something almost…inviting. (There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.) It’s sympathetic, it’s tasteful, and crucially, it still feels like a pub.
But the real revolution is on the plate. Sam, who trained under Sally Clarke, put in a stint at The Harwood Arms and even sharpened his knives at a two-star in Denmark where nose-to-tail cookery was religion, has built a menu that straddles pub and restaurant with aplomb. Yes, you can perch at the bar with a pint of Shere Drop from Surrey Hills Brewery and a scotch egg (with homemade brown sauce that should be sold by the bottle). But you can also sit down to cured stone bass with truffle dressing, or a pork chop so perfectly paired with corn and black garlic that I found myself murmuring approval like some culinary Dirty Harry.
It helps that the meat comes from Sam’s own family farm, Wintershall Valley, where Sussex cattle, Herdwick sheep and Oxford Sandy & Black pigs roam happily until they reappear on the menu. His sister Goldie supplies much of the fruit and veg, and Sam butchers everything himself. That provenance isn’t some PR afterthought; it’s printed proudly on the back of the menu. “Farm to fork” gets bandied about with the regularity of “hand-cut chips,” but here it’s quite literally true.
From this provenance, you’d expect the dishes to shift with the seasons. Hilltop salami and smoked mackerel pâté on hot buttered crumpet; roast Wintershall lamb with wild garlic and English asparagus, sharing plates such as Mrs Green’s steak & ale pie (a thing of majesty) and whole line-caught sea bass with caviar beurre blanc. And puddings — a Jamaica ginger sticky toffee with whisky sauce, or a foraged blackberry and amaretto trifle — are enough to have you plotting your next visit before you’ve paid the bill.
And lest you fear this all smacks of gentrification, think again. The Merry Harriers remains resolutely a “local’s local.” The bar is still the hub, where ale drinkers rub shoulders with cocktail-sippers (Alex’s Sipello spritz with homemade elderflower cordial is dangerously quaffable). And on Saturdays, they even host a meat raffle — yes, an actual meat raffle — raising funds for village charities.
Accommodation has had a dusting of stardust, too. There are shepherd’s huts with firepits, snug Inn rooms above the pub, and even a Record Room with a turntable for private dining. It’s the sort of detail that will have Londoners flocking down the A3, eager for a slice of “authentic country” with just enough mod cons to keep them happy. Give it a month and Chelsea dinner parties will be awash with “Have you been to The Merry Harriers yet?”
It hasn’t taken long for the wider world to catch on. Within weeks of reopening, the pub shot straight into the UK’s Top 50 Gastropubs list at number 44 – not bad for a place that, twelve months ago, was trading mainly on llama treks. And with Sam already on CODE’s ’30 under 30′ list of young culinary talents to watch, and Alex declaring confidently, “we’re here for twenty-plus years,” you get the sense this is only the beginning.
Since moving out of the Big Smoke, I’ve been searching for my Goldilocks pub. Too many out this way are either chained-up, too chi-chi, or just plain tired. But this? This is just right.
The Merry Harriers, Hambledon Road, Hambledon, Surrey GU8 4DR. For more information, including details of accommodation, and for bookings, please visit www.merryharriers.com.
