4:21pm Monday 9th October 2006
A WATERING hole near Winchester has retained the crown as Hampshire's top food pub.
It's the fourth consecutive year that the The Plough, Sparsholt, has won the Good Pub Guide accolade.
Said Kathryn Crawford, who runs the pub with husband, Richard: "We're just overjoyed. When we won it three times, that was a record, so four times certainly hasn't been done before."
She added that their success would not have been possible without the "dedicated and hard working" team at The Plough - or its customers.
The pub, which the Crawfords took over 11 years ago, has also been saluted by the Automobile Association, being regularly praised in its guidebooks, especially for its food.
The Plough, which has also been named by the magazine, Hampshire Life, as the county's Dining Pub of the Year, offers a menu that includes old favourites and more modern offerings.
Mrs Crawford added that head chef, Mark Goodman, produced the menu in consultation with herself and her husband.
Several other Hampshire hostelries have found their way into The Good Pub Guide - including the Running Horse at Littleton, which Mr and Mrs Crawford took over in May.
Other recommended pubs include The Fox, Bramdean; The Wheatsheaf, Braishfield; The Flower Pots Inn, Cheriton; The Chestnut Horse, Easton; The Shoe, Exton; The Vine, Hambledon, and the Peat Spade, Longstock.
Judges also liked the Yew Tree, Lower Wield; The Bush, Ovington; The Grosvenor Hotel, Stockbridge, The Tichborne Arms, Tichborne; The White Lion, Wherwell, and The Mayfly, Chilbolton.
Winchester has two recommended pubs in the guide - The Wykeham Arms and The Black Boy.
* The Good Pub Guide, edited by Alisdair Aird and Fiona Stapley and published by Ebury Press, is on sale at £14.99.
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