Tonbridge's Nelson Arms Named CAMRA's Best Pub in the South East

The Nelson Arms in Tonbridge has been named the best pub in the South East by the Campaign for Real Ale, and is now one of 16 pubs left in the running for CAMRA's National Pub of the Year 2026.

CAMRA revealed its regional and national champions on 23 August, ahead of the August bank holiday weekend. The Nelson Arms - "the Nelly" to regulars - took the South East title to represent the region in the next round.

The judges praised "a beautifully refurbished side street local" serving up to nine cask and keg beers and ciders from national and independent breweries, in a spacious interior with a nautical theme: a ship's wheel, a barometer, naval brasses and a painting of Lord Nelson, with the bars named the Nelson Saloon, Trafalgar Snug, Hardy's Public Bar and Victory Sports Bar.

The pub, on the corner of Cromer Street and Nelson Avenue a few minutes' walk from Tonbridge station, reopened in May 2018 under owners Matt and Emma. It has been the local CAMRA branch's Pub of the Year every year since 2022, as well as West Kent branch and Kent regional Pub of the Year more than once, and in 2023 it reached the last four of the national competition.

Food is served six days a week, with pie nights on Tuesdays, burger nights on Wednesdays and Sunday roasts from noon, and the pub pours Kentish ciders from Biddenden, Turners and Dudda's Tun. Quiz nights and sing-arounds alternate on Sunday evenings, with live music once a month on a Saturday.

The 16 regional and national winners now go into a super-regional round, with the final four due to be named in October and the overall National Pub of the Year announced in January 2027. Source: CAMRA