WHEN I asked the landlord of The Ship Inn why he thought his pub was continuing to attract punters when so many others are closing, he couldn’t say exactly why, he just knew that it was.

So I asked the customers. Was it the beer? The food? The decor?

The answer, it seems, is the landlords.

“Bob and Mandy are really good with my son. And I like to bring my parents here. My husband likes it because it’s a real pub, without a TV on all the time and you can chat to your friends,” says Teresa Soul, a company director from Monkwood and a regular at The Ship.

Bob and Mandy Bennett have been running The Ship, a free house, for the past 12 years.

Teresa says they are well known in the village for fundraising and community events, inviting the vicar down for carols and a drink at Christmas.

At lunch time, while I’m talking to the landlady, Teresa’s 8-year old son Caleb, presents his dirty dish in exchange for a box of Lego.

With its log fire, bay windows and friendly atmosphere, the pub has the feel of a family dining room.

Lager is reasonably priced, with a pint of Fosters at £3.30 and a Kronenbourg 1664 setting you back £3.80.

Palmers Copper is just £3.20, and guest ales are priced £3.40.

And that’s it for the real ales. But for good reason, according to Bob.“We offer two ales because I would rather have two that I knew were in good condition. You go to some pubs with six or seven, but you can’t be sure what condition they’re all going to be in when you serve them,” he says.

The food menu is home-cooked and unpretentious. Or as Bob puts it: “We’re a pub that does good quality pub grub.”

A steak and ale pie and chips will cost you £9.20, or stop by on Wednesdays for the specials night, where you can get something a bit different to the usual pub fare, such as a curry at £5.50.

A relaxed, old school, authentic English pub.

  • The Ship Inn, Bishop’s Sutton, Hampshire SO24 0AQ.
  • 01962 732863