Victory for Diggers

Ted Whitcomb has scooped first prize in the MA's hunt for the trade's Classic Host 2004. Nigel Huddleston meets the man whose prize includes a whopping £500 from award sponsor Imperial Tobacco

There's a sign outside the Well Diggers Arms which reads: "small selection of alcohol, large selection of insults". It is, insists licensee Ted Whitcomb, a joke ­ at least as far as strangers are concerned.

There's actually a friendly welcome at the pub, the sort where an open fire crackles inside while the smoke outside twists up to the cawing crows that circle above neighbouring fields.

Whitcomb took over the Well Diggers, justoutside Petworth in East Sussex, from his father 48 years ago and ran it for most of that time with his late wife, Pat.

"I was 26 and my wife was 22, which was very young in those days because pubs were all run by retired policemen or army officers. One of the brewery directors at the time said you'll probably outlive us', and I probably have."

After Pat died two years ago it was a toss-up between retirement and carrying on towards the half-century. In the end, there was no contest.

"I decided to keep on going. I'm glad I did. There are two parties a day, every day, here. You can't go from this sort of life and sit in a house on your own ­ it'd be a shock."

The Well Diggers takes its name from the days when it was two cottages occupied by families whose trade was creating wells for new houses. "I tell customers it's the only one in the country and they say I'm glad it is the only one in the country'," he jokes. "I like the life and the people you meet running a pub," adds Whitcomb.

One of his favourite regulars was the late Polish artist Stefan Knapp."He was taken prisoner by the Germans when they invaded Poland, then fought in the German army and the Russians captured him. He was released to us and became a fighter pilot and fought in the Italian campaign. He died of a heart attack at a wedding at Château Margaux."

Others have included Dame Maggie Smith, David Jacobs and Daily Mail TV critic Peter Patterson, while Bryan Ferry used to come in and bring his son Otis, whose Commons-busting exploits Whitcomb declines to take credit for.

Most licensees you speak to these days can point to the rise of food and all-day opening as major impacts on trade during their time, but Whitcomb can remember other forgotten revolutions.

"Television was a big one," he says. "There was a period of three years where it hit badly. There was a programme called Sunday Night at the London Palladium, and the pubs were practically empty ­ wipeout. People would think it laughable now."

Food has been a factor in the Well Diggers' survival, with the product split moving from nearly 100% beer to 80:20 in favour of food, with wine the biggest part of wet sales these days.

However, this is no renaissance gastro pub, but a haven of rural tradition and conservative values. A sign above the bar professes "bullocks to the EU" superimposed on a prime piece of English cattle. Another says "English spoken here", alongside an explanation of the pub's preference for imperial measurements over metric.

You get the feeling that not much has changed in the fabric or feel of the place over half a century. There's a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill in charcoal, alongside a photo of the wartime leader on horseback at Chartwell.

It had hardly been up for two weeks when a customer who'd never been in the place volunteered the information that it had been taken by his father, adding to Whitcomb's stash of anecdotes.

Winnie is kept company by photos of family members, fond-remembered pets and dear-departed locals, adding to the place's intimate feel.

Little wonder that issues of binge drinking and the Licensing Act are likely to have minimum impact. "There's no-one to disturb out here anyway, apart from the owls and pheasants," he says.

There's still the odd occasion when the licensee's discretionary powers have to be wielded, however, particularly when there's racing at Goodwood.

"At Goodwood, you get a rough old mob turning up these days. They come here after a day on the booze, but I have two chuckers-out to stop them coming in. I used to do it myself, but I can't anymore. Other than that, you get the odd twit, like anywhere, but you don't get too much of it out in the country."

Whitcomb still sometimes takes trips to London, where he has a ratherdifferent and unexpected hangout.

"I like to go to the Fifth Floor [a highly-ranked cocktail bar] at Harvey Nichols, to see the money flowing there. They take more in there in an hour than I do in a week."

After so long at the helm, the Well Diggers is clearly a pub in Whitcomb's own image, although he jokes: "It runs me, I don't run it anymore".

He adds: "I like a country pub atmosphere. The beauty is they're all individual and individuals run them. That's their great strength." After 48 years, and counting, Whitcomb's the living proof.