We tried the great value Sunday roast at a timeless country pub run by the same family for 40 years

When you’ve run a pub for the best part of 40 years, it’s fair to say you know what you’re doing when it comes to giving customers exactly what they want.

Derek and Sue Clarke have run The Waldegrave Arms with their son, Allan, since the mid-1980s, an incredible stint for the landlords of a small village pub, especially these days when hospitality is suffering more than most industries.

Perched on the roadside in Chewton Mendip on the A39 between Bristol, Bath and Wells, The Waldegrave Arms is a pretty, stone-built pub with award-winning flower displays outside - the pub has won the ‘Mendip in bloom’ competition five times.

There’s a lovely garden at the back and two areas for drinkers and diners - the dog-friendly Mendip Bar and the 50-seater ‘Chewton Lounge Dining Room’.

Still very much a village pub with no less than four darts teams and six quiz league teams, it also draws diners from all over the area. For Bristol visitors, there's a large car park and the regular 376 bus conveniently stops across the road from the pub.

Inside, the pub has a timeless look with polished horse brasses on wooden beams, well-worn flowery carpets and chocolate brown tongue and groove panels. There are corner units packed with old china and a mantlepiece with a display of brass ducks and horses.

When we arrived for Sunday lunch, the dining room was packed for the first sitting and there was a real buzz in the air. If we hadn’t booked a week before, we probably wouldn’t have got a table.

The pub serves traditional food all week and the main menu is also available alongside the Sunday roasts.

Although that must mean a lot of extra work for the chefs, it offers plenty of choice for diners and people on other tables were tucking into homemade steak and ale pies and smoked salmon and prawn platters.

On the specials board there was also a homemade cheese and onion flan, and a cold meat platter comprising beef, ham, pork and turkey with salad, ploughman’s, pickle and potatoes.

We grabbed a table close to the bar where Thatchers and Inch’s cider seemed to be selling as well as the excellent Cheddar Ales Gorge Best ale I went for - at £4.30 a pint, it was good value, too.

The Sunday roast costs £13.95 for the regular size, £11.95 for the small one and £9.95 for a children’s portion. The choice is between beef, pork, turkey or a nut roast, all served with vegetables, roast potatoes, gravy and Yorkshire pudding. Those are almost 1990s prices and certainly a lot cheaper than many country pubs in the area.

We tried the beef and it was a generous roast with three thick slices of tender meat and perfectly cooked cauliflower, carrots, broccoli and cabbage. The Yorkshire pudding was light and airy, and the copious gravy rich and meaty.

OK, so the potatoes could have been a little crisper, but it was still a high quality and generous roast for the money.

In keeping with the traditional style of the pub, the desserts - all priced at £5.95 - are also reassuringly old-school, with options including sticky toffee pudding, bread and butter pudding, toffee teaser sundae and cheesecake of the day.

I can’t recall the last time I saw a homemade sherry trifle on a pub menu but it was clearly the best-seller judging by the number of people ordering it.

And it was as good as I had hoped - the sponge soaked in sherry and layered with thick custard, strawberry jelly and lots of whipped cream on top. It took me right back to my childhood and visiting pubs very similar to The Waldegrave Arms.

Generous and honest cooking of classic dishes, great local beer and cider, and a friendly atmosphere - The Waldegrave Arms is exactly what a country pub should be and it’s no wonder the owners have remained there for 40 years. Why would you leave?

The Waldegrave Arms, High Street, Chewton Mendip, BA3 4LL. Tel: 01761 241384.