The Spring Head, Sutton Poyntz is our pub of the week

The Spring Head, located in the picturesque village of Sutton Poyntz, near Weymouth, is an idyllic venue overlooking a beautiful pond which is often full of ducks.

(Image: Hollie Carr)

Landlady Jo Parker took over the pub 12 years ago when she moved to the village from Portsmouth to be closer to her family.

The Spring Head (Image: Hollie Carr)

This is the first pub that Jo has ever run, and the publican explained that she has huge support from her mum and sister.

The venue itself is extremely cosy, complete with log burners and fairy lights which are draped from the ceiling.

(Image: Hollie Carr)

Jo said: “I love the village, and my family is so close, it’s a beautiful area and the pub has a really nice family feel to it.

“On the whole I love it – I have got loads of support and I am very close with my family.

“The customers are just amazing Our locals are great and we get a lot of support from them – it’s been a good 12 years - I love the fact that it doesn’t feel like work – every day is different.”

The river (Image: Hollie Carr)

The Springhead is also the setting of a number of major summer events including Ska Fest and The Dog Sausage and Cider Festival, which the landlady described as ‘such a great day.’

Additionally, the pub is home to around 140 different flavours of gin and they host gin tastings as well as a ‘Gin O’clock’ which takes place every Saturday between 3pm and 6pm with shots starting at just £2.50.

(Image: Hollie Carr)

The Springhead is rich in history and was built as the Springhead Hotel in 1897 in order to serve the growing tourist trade.

During this period, it had a garden, with a pavilion, for quoits, tennis and croquet, and it even served lobster teas.

(Image: Hollie Carr)

Although the tennis court may no longer exist, there is a vast outside space, complete with a beer garden, a children’s play park, a function room and a marquee – perfect for weddings.

(Image: Hollie Carr)

The landlady explained that the pub hosts around 10 weddings per year and that they are licensed to perform the ceremony at the venue.

Jo says that she has some ‘brilliant’ locals, as well as a ‘brilliant team.’ They also have a good trade from guests staying at the nearby holiday parks.

(Image: Hollie Carr)

She also tries to host plenty of events including live music nights, comedy nights and ‘Beat the Barman,’ and of course – the pub is very dog friendly in most areas.