The Fighting Cocks in Godshill is owned by Debbie and Duane Lewis, who have 16 years of experience running eight pubs across the area - including The Fighting Cocks which they took over from its previous owners in 2023. Surrounded by picturesque scenes and roaming New Forest animals, the Fighting Cocks offers dining and accommodation, catering for small to large groups every day. An extensive makeover of the pub in November 2024 saw a full upstairs refurbishment, opening up previously unused rooms for holidaymakers, named A "snug" room has been transformed and named The Churchill Room, connecting it with the fact Churchill and Eisenhower used to meet there for meetings during the war.
Diners and drinkers can also use the new entrance which takes them straight into the bar. At the time of Rachel Reeve’s latest budget, which includes increases in National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage, The Fighting Cocks is faced with an increase of approximately £28,000 on their usual costs this year - something that businesses up and down the country are dealing with. Debbie said: “We’ve been doing this for 16 years - we’ve been through a pandemic and we would say this is the hardest time; we’ve found it to be the most worrying time.
“What we will do is keep to our core values, which is [serving] fresh, homemade food using local suppliers where possible and also to offer the best possible customer service. “People come to us for good, old-fashioned homema.