The Bridge House Inn ... Copsale
Map | Reviews
OS Map : Landranger 187 · Map reference TQ 171 249
Description
The Bridge House Inn sells Hall and Woodhouse beers including Sussex Bitter, Mild Ale and Tanglefoot. Seasonal beers are also featured. There are two bar areas, one with painted wooden panelling, log burning stove and bar billiards table, while the other has more of a restaurant feel to it.
The Bridge House Inn is in a great location for walking and cycling because it is next to the Downs Link bridlepath. The garden is great in the summer - for watching other cyclists and walkers go by!
How to get there
By car
The pub is a mile [1.6 km] from the A24, between
Southwater and the A272 junction.
Cycling
The best mixed off/on-road cycling route form Horsham
is via Pedlars Way [end of Queensway]. From Brighton Road in Horsham,
cycle down Queensway to the end of the road. Turn left down a dip, under
the railway bridge and up the track towards Chesworth Farm. Pedlars Way
bridleway goes through the farm and then uphill to Southwater Street.
Turn right at the top of Pedlars Way and then almost immediately left down 'Narrow Road'. After a short distance, take the first road left. Do not miss this turn or you will end up near the A24. Continue along quiet roads past a caravan park on the right. At the next T-junction, turn right - then another right at the next T-junction. You will see the pub after the last right turn.
Alternatively, from Southwater, the pub is 1.25 miles [2 km] along the Downs Link trail heading south towards Partridge Green.
Suggested cycling routes from here
With your back to the pub, go left and then left again after a few yards. Continue along the road to Maplehurst and the White Horse. Maplehurst is about 1 mile [1.6 km] from the Bridge House Inn. From Maplehurst, continue northwards to Nuthurst and the Black Horse. Return to Horsham via Monks Gate and the Dun Horse Inn at Mannings Heath.
or with your back to the pub, turn right along the Downs Link path [past the pub garden] towards Southwater and the Hen and Chicken.
or over the road from the pub, the Downs Link bridlepath continues south towards the Windmill in Littleworth, Partridge Green and Henfield.
Your reviews
KF says: 
| 18-April-08
This pub is fantastic, you couldn't ask for more welcoming staff. They are concentrating on music, but it is still a lovely place to go when out and about on a summer day. What other pubs in the area can you go to where the landlord can just pick up a guitar, start singing and everyone enjoys it??! If you want a great atmosphere, then I'd highly recommend this pub.
d-dog says: | 21-August-07
This pub is ace! You will always get a friendly welcome from staff and customers It's THE best live music venue in the Horsham area, catering for every musical taste. The food is really good, even though they don't bill the pub as an 'eatery'. Families can feel at ease here too, as all customers are cool and there is never any trouble. The pub is being refurbished at the moment, and they're getting a pool table in the other bar!
David says: 
| 31-July-07
I have to agree with Sarah W. It's not that this is a bad pub, it's just that it has changed it's primary audience and, as a result, it is less suited to families, hikers and cyclists on the Downs Link. We used to stop here on a regular basis, but now tend to pop into the Bax Castle if we want to grab Sunday lunch on the Downs Link.
Jim Fiels says: | 5-July-07
I was just reading the comments below and felt I had to make my point. This is a great great pub. The atmosphere is so friendly and inviting. If you are out for a good time, then you will love this place. Go to this pub! It is not a restaurant, it is a pub and one of the best live music venues in Sussex. One of my fave places to go!
Sarah W says: 
| 7-June-07
Have been to this pub a number of times because of its location on the Downs Link. Disappointed with it in recent times and rarely stop there now. The landlord is friendly and is obviously concentrating more on the music scene, which is fair enough. However, the place is not as clean as it used to be and the food is poor. We had a very long 45 minutes wait, just for sandwiches!
Claire Harris says: | 30-April-07
This is such a great little pub, tucked away in the countryside. Myself and a friend went there one evening and everyone we spoke to was friendly. I spoke to the landlord and landlady and they were so lovely. Very inviting, easy to talk to, and the atmosphere was great. There are very very few pubs that I would feel comfortable going to on my own but the Bridge House is now one of my favourite pubs. I recommend it to the true pub lover.
Don Hutchinson says: 
| 19-April-07
While on a cycling tour in that area, we stopped at the Bridge House in Copsale for some refreshment. The place is old, but clean. The staff were extremely friendly and were very helpful with local information I required. The landlord seemed very cheerful and chatted to all the customers in the bar (most of which he knew on a first name basis) including us. The food was very acceptable for the price, as was the drink.
Older reviews
Dion Williams says: | 4-April-07
Hey, this place is 100% the place to be. I have been round many pubs in Sussex and never found one like it. The landlord is a very nice guy, ok the place looks a little old, but you feel safe, it attracts good people with very good music, and good drink and food.
Rob Jones says: | 22-March-07
The Bridge House is a great little pub. The landlord has really concentrated on the live music scene and it is now one of the best venues in the South East. I visit regularly, they are getting more and more people there and the quality of bands are just amazing. If you want a restaurant then don't come to this pub.. it is not a restaurant but a proper pub in every sense of the word. With most of menu under £5, it is one of the best priced in the area too. Live music, big garden, great atmosphere - what more could you possible want?
Jill Robertson says: | 21-March-07
I disagree with the comments below. The landlord is very jovial, you just have to know him. The pub has been rejuvenated for live music with celtic, organic, musical vibrations - none of the plastic 70's synthetic pop. The place is due for some aesthetic revitalisation but for the honest, pure ethnic country/folk roots of West Sussex (and Ireland), this is the place to visit. In the summer, with the combination of live music and hot sultry country evenings, this pub is hard to beat.
Ray Jones says: 
| 16-March-07
Myself and partner called into The Bridge House in Copsale West Sussex to revisit the pub as I lived in the area 30 years ago and wanted to see if it had changed much.
To my surprise, it had changed for the worse, the outside looks run down and frankly uninviting but the inside was the biggest let down, mainly because of the staff. We ordered some coffee and some sandwiches which to me were overpriced. In particular, when the coffee came, it was cold, the crockery was not clean, and the food was very basic to say the least. The landlord made no effort to make us feel welcome in his, all I can say, very shabby pub.
I have visited many pubs in my time and you can excuse the decor if the service is up to scratch. The brewery for this pub should keep a close eye on this place because, if it were improved visually and had welcoming staff, the turnover would increase. I remember the pub all those years ago and it was a pleasant village local with friendly staff. I wish I had not revisited.
Brian L says: | 26-July-05
Excellent pub with friendly landlord and landlady and locals.
Steve R says: |
12-April-05
Excellent and totally unspoilt proper pub. Beer is perfect as it is taken straight from the barrel. Food is good and reasonably priced. All this and a very nice landlord and landlady.
Martin B says: | 31-March-05
Bloody good place, dogs welcome, food is good pub grub, all welcome. Never had a bad pint, landlord and landlady know what they are doing. Good pub to visit, beer not too expensive, have trouble getting home!!
Pub score - No Good · - Excellent
