The Horseshoe Inn wins South Wiltshire's CAMRA Pub of the Year

The Horseshoe, in Ebbesbourne Wake, was selected by the Salisbury and South Wiltshire branch of CAMRA as the Rural Pub of the Year.

An independent panel from a neighbouring branch then chose it as the overall South Wiltshire title winner.

Tony and Pat Bath, who have managed The Horseshoe since 1986, and their daughter Jayne Sanger, were presented with the Pub of the Year certificate and the Derek Blackshaw Trophy for winning Rural Pub of the Year.

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Pat and Tony Bath behind the bar at The Horseshoe with their award certificates. (Image: Salisbury CAMRA) The presentation was made by Chris White, chairman of the Salisbury and South Wiltshire branch of CAMRA, and Keith Foster, the local Pub of the Year competition co-ordinator.

Tony, 83, said: "I am very pleased to be Pub of the Year, it is very kind of everybody who voted for us.

"We are an old-fashioned pub, a rural pub and we provide good food and real ale out of a barrel not out of a pump.

"We also have wonderful staff."

Keith said: "The Horseshoe Inn is a quintessential rural pub at the heart of its village community.

"There is a warm and friendly welcome to all, and a wonderful choice of well-kept real ales fresh from the barrel.

"All can be enjoyed in a cosy setting surrounded by an extensive display of farming memorabilia."

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Pat and Tony Bath behind the bar at The Horseshoe with staff member Sophie Phillips. (Image: Salisbury CAMRA) The panel which made the final decision was led by John Buckley, from CAMRA’s North Hampshire branch, who said: "A decision had to be made, so by a whisker it came out as The Horseshoe.

"No one will be disappointed by either pub and it was an honour to oversee this round of judging."

The Bath family has been running The Horseshoe for more than 50 years.

Tony’s parents, Tom and Glad, took over The Horseshoe in 1971 and 15 years later passed the reins to their son, a former Royal Air Force bandsman, and his wife Pat.

They have now been joined by their daughter Jayne, who does much of the work in the kitchen.

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Tony is passionate about real ales, sourcing his beers from breweries in Dorset and Devon, and the food is home-cooked.

He said: "We try to keep it as a traditional old pub with a twist to it, the twist being food.

"We have no television, no fruit machines and no music."

The history of the building, parts of which go back to the 13th century, is shrouded in mystery.

It probably became a pub about 150 years ago, which means that the Bath family has been behind the bar for more than one-third of that time.