“Let’s go to the Holmfield Arms for lunch one day !” he said. Should I have been surprised? No! Those of you who know Bob will also know of his devotion to Hardys & Hansons beers and this pub just happens to be one of their tied houses. To quote from the Branch Database “Built 1833 as Holmefield House , home of Thomas Foljambe, later acquired by the Corporation, housing for a time a museum and park restaurant , then the Holmfield Arms Beefeater with a Travel Inn attached, listed as a Building of Local Interest”.

The setting is superb, just inside Thornes Park surrounded by trees with a large but private garden. The busy main road could have been miles away! You do feel as if you’re in somebody’s stately home. It is a large building. It can seat 180 diners and the brewery spent some £½ million on its refurbishment.

Although there were quite a few people in when we were there the place is neatlydivided up to give maximum personal space. Three Hardys & Hansons beers were on (much to Bob’s delight!) We started with a half each of Kimberley Bitter 3.9% which was in superb condition. Later we tried the richer Olde Trip 4.5% with equal enthusiasm and with the added bonus that it only cost £1.11 per half which we felt was really good for a premium beer. Bob also tried the seasonal mid-amber citrus hoppy 5% Druid’s Droop .

The food menu is equally impressive. All tastes would seem to be catered for (including vegetarian). You could pop in for a snack e.g. salads, baguettes, wraps, paninis, jackets or burgers nearly all for under a fiver or you could have a more celebratory meal with beef ribs in a cracked black pepper gravy or half a duck! There’s a 2 Meals for £9 offer, which operates all day Monday to Friday and Saturday 11-5, but Bob went for their Kimberley Pie (beef in a gravy made with Kimberley Bitter) and was most impressed. They also do pork sausages flavoured with Old Trip Ale! a nice touch, available with mash or in a panini! I like to think of myself as a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to omelettes and mine, with mushroom and cheese filling ranked with the best. We should have stopped there but there was also a special offer on certain of the sweets @ 2 for £3.50 again excellent value! I had two pancakes with maple syrup and vanilla ice cream. Even the waitress described it as “yummy”. Bob went for the St Clement’s Pavlova, meringue, cream, ice cream, oranges and lemon sauce, refreshing after that pie. Again he was well pleased.The service through-out was swift, efficient and very friendly.
They provide a Children’s Menu which includes many healthy options, plus a Golden Years menu for Seniors (Mon- Sat 11-5) and of course traditional Sunday lunch. Hardys & Hansons say they want to make it “a pleasant dining experience” and this it certainly was!

Purely by chance we dined on the very morning that it was announced that Hardys & Hansons had been the object of a £271m. take over by Greene-King. Fingers crossed that quality beers will continue to be brewed at Kimberley and that G-K will appreciate what a treasure they have in this particular dining experience ! PW