White Buck in Burley up for Best Pub Garden in Great British Pub Awards

A NEW Forest pub has made it to the finals of the Great British Pub Awards in the category of best garden in the country.

The White Buck in Burley is one of six finalists in the prestigious competition.

Manager Thomas Tomlinson told the A&T: “We are absolutely delighted to have made it to the last six. There were hundreds of entries. We are rightly proud of the garden, and this is recognition of all the hard work the team puts into keeping it looking good.

“The garden has a bit of everything - there is a terraced area offering fine dining, a big beer garden and a kid’s section with games. There is also a garden bar outside and a pizza oven, which we use at weekends.

“There is also a woodland walk that you can get to through the garden and I think the whole garden feels as if you are in the Forest. We often have New Forest ponies at the gate and we even have a dog shower so people can wash their muddy pets before having a drink.”

Thomas says there is a full menu offered in the garden of the Fuller’s pub.

The venue hosts special events like the recent Shakespeare in the Garden performances, which had an audience of 120 a night.

He said: “We put on quite a few events which are always very popular. On the 22nd August we have Italian-themed food and drink with live music. Our beer garden is very popular, and we look after it really well.”

The pub nominated itself for the award and made the finals after a secret visit by a Time Out judge.

Thomas will now be taking a group of staff to the award ceremony in Manchester on 17th September.

He said: “Its to thank them for all their hard work in the pub and keeping the garden looking lovely. We are all excited and quietly confident, but there is a lot of stiff competition. We are just so pleased to be finalists.”