We have been featured in The Independent recently as a pub bucking the current downward trend of trade. Our Knit & Wit Club and Book Club are just two ways we are trying to develop the community spirit of the pub, and support local businesses in the process. This link has the full article, there is a picture under the 'More Pictures' link also.

The Independent Magazine article.

In order to offer a reliable and cost effective food offering, we have decided to amend our food times as follows. Bar snacks are always available including our great pork pies.

We have started a regular cycle club every Sunday morning, to enjoy the local countryside (and work up a thirst, obviously!) The group will be led by Gill (shorter rides) or Martin & Ken on alternate weeks (longer rides). Do call us for more info, or pop in.

As part of our community focus, we are planning to host a book group at The Land of Liberty, meeting on the first Sunday of each month. The group will be hosted by Marion, one of our regulars, who is experienced in this type of meeting. The inaugural meeting will be Sunday 4th May, and hope to attract people who love books. All book lovers are encouraged to come along and join in. Each month a book will be chosen to be discussed at the following meeting.

If you have visited recently, you will have noticed the new bar facing you as you enter from the car park. The bar has been salvaged from the tasting room of the closed Grand Union Brewery, and we are very pleased to be able to use it. With a great deal of help from our maintenance men, the bar has been trimmed to fit, and now offers greater floor space for visitors. There is follow up work to be done on the floorboards and the glass rack above the bar, but we want to keep as many of the older features as possible.

New wall lights are also being fitted to replace the old ones, along with improved wiring!

Apologies for any inconvenience caused while the works continue, we are sure you will appreciate the benefits when complete.

Here we go again! As you may know the Old Spot in Dursley won the National title, and many congratulations to them. We have now won the local branch Pub of the Year for the 3rd year running, so the whole process will begin again. Clearly, we will continue as we have begun, and plan to improve the decor particularly this year. This photo shows local branch chairman Andrew Vaughan presenting our latest certificate. Thanks to everyone for your continued support.

It is with great pride we can announce that The Land of Liberty, Peace & Plenty has made it into the finals of the CAMRA Pub of the Year Competition. Press releases were made on 11th January 2008, detailing the 4 finalists. The news has stirred much local interest, and many messages of congratulations from regulars and suppliers. We would like to thank everyone who has supported us during our 3 years here, and assure you we will continue to keep standards high whilst developing the business over the coming years.

During the presentation of our Hertfordshire Pub of the Year Award, Andrew Vaughan announced that The Land of Liberty has been judged the winner of the next round in the competition - East Anglia Region! We were judged against 5 other county winners, and progress to the next 'super-region' round which will be judged this Autumn...

Many thanks are due to everyone who has helped us acheive this award - all of our staff, many suppliers, including the breweries, and our customers, of course, who help keep the beer flowing! Thank you all.

Duchess has come to live with us, and is learning to be a pub dog. She has spent her life looking after my sister and 2 children, so she is a great guard dog, albeit a noisy one! She has a lovely character, and is quite laid back. She happily befriends other dogs when introduced properly. If you have any concerns, allergies, etc, do let us know. At busy times and lunch time, she will be helping with paperwork in the office or stocktaking out back...so you may not see or hear her!

Duchess on a walk in the Lake District.

The Dog Show this year attracted 8 entrants, who had a great afternoon with their owners. The assembled audience were very supportive and highly amused at the proceedings. 

The dogs (and some owners!) competed in the agility course (see Tim in the tunnel below), obedience tests and the Pretty Pooch contest. Some of the winners are shown below, and congratulations to everyone who took part for joining in the event!

Mohan with Tim receiving a medal from Jack.

Nina encourages Mohan to follow Tim!

Merlin (retired Greyhound) with Nigel - both winners!

Bodger receives a 2nd place medal.

If you would like a copy of these photos or others taken on the day, please e-mail gill@landoflibertypub.com

We are pleased and proud to announce that The Land of Liberty has been voted as CAMRA Hertfordshire Pub of the Year for the second year running!

Martin and I did not expect to win this competition again, as it is unusual for any pub to win it two years running. But we are very proud it has happened. As you may be aware we do run the pub with CAMRA aims very much in mind as we aim to offer excellent quality and choice of beers, along with a traditional pub atmosphere.

We do thank all our customers and suppliers for their support and look forward to inviting you all to celebrate with us when we have a date for the Award Night.

The new outdoor area is now open behind the pub, and is ideal for groups, parties, outdoor dining and drinking. Many thanks go to Chris & Richard for building it, Tanit & Jade for assisting, Derek for lighting and opening it, and Bob for the signage. We are very proud of the excellent job they have done, and look forward to various events being staged in The Pavilion. Do come see for yourself!

There are not very many, admittedly, but it is possible to get a bus to the pub from Watford. It's not really feasible to go back by bus, but it's a downhill walk to Chorleywood Station, so that's not so bad! The link here will show you the timetable:

R4 from Watford We are in Long Lane, just past the Stockport Road junction - but if you ask the driver politely, they'll probably drop you outside our front door, as the road is wider

We are open to suggestions too, so feel free to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you.