The Kings Arms Whitchurch: Look inside pub with new landlord

The Kings Arms dates back to 1575, during the Elizabethan era, and has recently been taken over by new landlord Steve Howard.

Steve was the former landlord of The Plough, in Longparish and is now at the helm of this nearly 450-year-old establishment.Assistand manager John (left) and Landlord Steve (right) (Image: Newsquest)

"We took over on September 4 and opened on September 15," Steve told the Gazette. 

"We looked hard for a new pub, we'd been around Hampshire and Wiltshire for the last two months, and we found this pub which is just perfect."

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His initial thoughts are: "It's a cracking boozer, really lively on the weekend."

Since taking over, Steve says: "It's flying, we're using local suppliers like Bere Mill Butchers, we use Middleton Estate for venison burgers, I'd say 90 per cent of what we do is locally sourced.Inside the Kings Arms (Image: Newsquest)

"The guys that had it before us did a cracking job, they had more of a pizza menu rather than fresh food, and we thought there was just a market for fresh food and the last two weeks, we've been absolutely slammed."

While the menu stays consistent with his previous pub, there is a change in the dynamic of how Steve runs things.

Partner Lucy is expecting a baby and Steve says: "The roles have changed slightly since moving here. I always did front of house but now I'm 100 per cent in the kitchen and John, our assistant manager, is the front of house. 

"Lucy is on maternity leave just chilling out and getting ready to bring a baby into the world."The dining area (Image: Newsquest)

Speaking about the food, Steve said: "The most popular food by far is the Bere Mill burgers.

"In the first week and a half, we sold nearly 100 Bere Mill burgers, we are a big believer that locally sourced food is the way to go, and being in Whitchurch it makes sense, the Bere Mill butchers are awesome butchers.

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"It might take a while for people to get used to us doing more traditional pub food because this place had a reputation for really really good pizzas.

Steve said that dogs won't be forgotten about, as there will be roast dinners for pooches. 

"We will be doing the dog roast dinner like we did at The Plough, we haven't started doing roasts yet but they will start on the second Sunday in October."Beer pumps (Image: Newsquest)

Steve continued: "The most popular beer we have is Estrella, we try to have beers that wouldn't necessarily be in the area, I'm a massive Timothy Taylor's fan, so you'll always find a 'Landlord' or 'Boltmaker' on tap, we do also have local ales as well.

"At the moment we've also got Wainwright, Black Sheep, and Directors, we like to have a mix of some nice light beers and malty beers.

"We didn't want to come in and tinker too much because you don't fix what's not broken."The beer garden (Image: Newsquest)

Speaking about his future plans, Steve said: "We want to do 'dinner by candlelight' which is something we used to do at The Plough, which was really popular - we want to light the whole dining area with candles.

"We plan to have two-for-one offers on burgers on Mondays soon, and we have a quiz night every two weeks which is run by one of the regulars and is always done for a different charity.

"I'll also do my own quizzes which will feature my infamous 'tin-foil challenge'.The decor at the Kings Arms (Image: Newsquest)

"Every team gets a roll of tin foil, and is challenged to create a scene out of it, for example at Christmas we got everyone to create a Nativity scene.

"We get some cracking results, and the winner gets a prize."