Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Month: August 2019

  • West Runton – Hole in One

    The Hole in One bar in West Runton, situated by the Links Country Park Hotel on the North Norfolk coast.

    The bar had one real ale which was Woodforde’s Wherry. It’s all a bit generic and bland for my liking, but it could have been worse I suppose and been a Greene King IPA.

    This is better, the Adnams Blackshore Stout which had some rich flavours, including a caramel taste. The dispense was dreadful though, there’s no need to swirl the glass to get a head on any beer, let alone this stout. The swirling simply sent the beer over the top of the glass and wasted their product.

    The menus need replacing, they’re in poor condition. And the bar has had this marvellous idea to offer a two for one deal on some of their meals, which is ideal if you’ve come to dine alone. The menu is also perhaps too big logistically for the size of the venue, it’s inevitably going to lead to service time issues.

    I noticed that the chefs hadn’t burdened themselves with the presentation of the fish and chips. And it’s evident that the fryers needed cleaning judging by the carbonised particles which came with the fish. However, the fish batter did actually seem fresh and the quality of the cod was also fine, so the core ingredients appeared to be entirely acceptable. The fries were also fine and were served at the appropriate temperature and the peas were acceptable, if rather boring. The tartare sauce may also have been homemade, or at least, it tasted fine.

    Incidentally, I’m not entirely convinced about the bar’s policy on dogs, as they have freedom to roam across the dining area and there were barking dogs during my visit.

    The service was way below standard, with a wait for food of 68 minutes, which in any restaurant should warrant a staff member alerting the customer to the problem at some stage during the proceedings. The menu size clearly caused problems for the kitchen, trying to cook pizzas, fish, ciabattas and grilled items all at the same time in a limited size area isn’t likely to really work.

    For anyone on holiday this isn’t a bad place at all, the slow service isn’t going to make much difference and I’m sure it isn’t usually that long a wait for food anyway. For individuals though there’s limited value given the pricing structure and for groups above four in size I’m not entirely sure that the kitchen could cope with the volume.

  • Birmingham – Purecraft Bar and Kitchen

    Excuse the poor quality photo, it was raining when I left the pub…. One thought about this bar is that I wouldn’t have visited it based on the exterior because the whole set-up gave the impression of a food orientated venue. The only reason that I did go in was because of their entry into the Good Beer Guide and in retrospect I’m pleased that it had that mention.

    This set me thinking as to where I had heard of the name before, and it was on my visit to Nottingham in 2017. And, I didn’t go in the pub then because I thought it was food orientated and not just suitable for a quick drink. Unfortunately, this second location from the company closed down shortly after I hadn’t visited it (I don’t link the two events).

    The industrial looking interior was on-trend and also surprisingly quiet for a Saturday night.

    Bright and cheerful, there was a surprising amount of seating downstairs as well. I didn’t order food as we were already booked in elsewhere, but looking at the menu later on I was quite impressed, there were some intriguing options. I might come again for the food, which is slightly ironic given that I nearly didn’t come in here because I thought it was food orientated.

    But, this is the main event of the pub as far as I’m concerned, the beer selection. I couldn’t read this board when I ordered because the bar was busy, but one of the team members was knowledgeable and gave me three recommendations based on my preference for dark beers. There are some really interesting options on these boards, although the ordering of the beers seemed a little random. Not that that matters…..

    I opted for the oatmeal stout from Fourpure brewery, which is based in Bermondsey in London. I’m not sure that I’d have tasted the strength of the 5.1% ABV that the stout had as it was quite drinkable and smooth, with quite a chocolatey taste to it. All very drinkable and the beer was also well kept, although just a little colder than I’d have ideally liked.

    The sign on the toilets, with the male toilets being on the left and the females on the right. Fortunately for those who don’t want puzzles and games when trying to visit the toilets, there were also more conventional signs on the doors as well.

    All in all, this was a pub almost in the style of Brewdog, although I doubt that they’d like that comparison. But, the customer service was friendly, the surroundings were industrial, the beer choice was interesting and everything felt informal and comfortable.

  • Birmingham – Wellington Pub

    Before walking the Birmingham Canal Canter, it was necessary to visit a few pubs mentioned in the Good Beer Guide. This was one of the pubs en route, the Wellington, which is seemingly well known locally for its range of beers, ciders and whiskies.

    Above is the ‘beer board’ which changes regularly depending on which beers are available, with this list also being available on-line. This is perfect and if I ever become King (I admit that this isn’t likely), every pub should have to install something like this. The beer name is clear, the type of beer is clear and the pricing is clear. Marvellous.

    I didn’t order the Piffle Snonker from the local Froth Blowers brewery, but I very much liked the beer name.

    I went for the Créme Bearlee from Beartown Brewery who are based in Congleton. This sweet and milky stout did have the taste of the dessert it was named after, with flavours of coffee and caramel, but it was also smooth and very drinkable. The taste wasn’t too harsh and was more of an afternote, I thought that this was a really decent beer.

    The interior wasn’t exactly modern, but there was a contemporary feel to the running of the establishment. There was another bar upstairs which was card only, with an external seating area which offers some views over the local, well, street. Unfortunately it started to pour with rain when we were there, but the surroundings were clean and comfortable with a laid-back and informal atmosphere.

    One negative. The web-site says that they sell snuff and Bev marched straight to the bar to acquire some. Unfortunately (or fortunately for everyone else) they don’t sell snuff any more. However, it’s clear why this is one of the best rated pubs in Birmingham, it’s excellent.

  • LDWA Advertising

    Marvellous to see this advert being run in The Great Outdoors magazine, the LDWA is an excellent organisation to join!

  • Norwich – Benoli

    Benoli is an Italian restaurant which opened a few weeks ago in Orford Street, conveniently (well for me anyway) opposite the entrance to the Bell Hotel. It’s run by Oli Boon, who was a finalist in Masterchef the Professionals and who was also previously Head Chef at Roux at the Landau, a role he held in his mid-twenties.

    Anyway, although Norwich isn’t necessarily short of fine dining options, I’m not sure that I can think of another chef in the city with such a glittering CV. I’m sure that Greggs will soon be listed in the Michelin Guide and Norwich will then have several top-rated restaurants, but until then, Benoli is a marvellous addition to Norwich’s dining scene.

    The starter, or to be more accurate, the snack before the starter. I was at the restaurant with eight other people in the private dining room, but I won’t bore everyone with the gossip from the other members of Hike Norfolk, some of which would be unwritable (untypeable) anyway.

    The pre-starter was Pagnotta bread, which has evolved from being a rustic loaf cooked by working classes in Italy. The exterior is dark and firm, whilst the interior is soft and just a little fluffy. Served with oils, I could have perhaps just have had three courses of this. Rather lovely.

    I had to ask the waiter, who incidentally was engaging and competent, what the ‘baccala mantecato’ was. It’s apparently a Venetian dish of salt cod which is mashed and served with the consistency of a pate. At Benoli, this is then served with grilled onions on a sourdough bread.

    I can’t say that I’ve ever eaten anything similar to this and I’m not sure that I would have guessed what the dish was if it just presented to me. However, the mashed cod was light in texture but had a rich and pleasant flavour. The onions added texture and the sourdough bread was softened slightly by the cod, but it remained crisp. Again, quite marvellous.

    For main, I went for the bucatini pasta served with octopus and flavoured with lemon and oregano. Again, I didn’t know what bucatini was, but the waiter patiently explained that it was spaghetti with a hole inside it. That hole running through the centre means that the pasta picks up more of the sauce and it also makes for a softer taste.

    The octopus, and indeed the pasta, almost melted in the mouth and the pangrattato (or bread crumbs) added texture to the dish. The flavours were strong, but the dish was simple in its make-up and tasted freshly made. Perhaps there could have been just a little more octopus to balance the pasta, but I certainly have no complaints.

    On which point, the prices. This pasta dish came in at £12, which seems to me, when taking into account the experience of the chef and the quality of the dining environment, perfectly good value for money. Other mains were a little more expensive, with starters around the £8 to £9 mark and desserts were mostly £8.

    And, finally, the dessert which was morello cherry sorbet served with an amaretti biscuit and garnished with fresh almond. The flavour of the sorbet was intense and the cherry was very much in evidence, with the texture being soft and not grainy. The biscuit is one of the largest of its type I’ve seen served with a dessert and it had a subtle flavour of almond and a suitably crispy texture.

    Partly, writing this post is a bit pointless insomuch as the chef is clearly an expert in his craft and I had to have a waiter explain some of the dishes to me. However, since my only perspective is whether it tastes good, I can confirm that it does. And it was all well presented and at the appropriate temperature.

    The service was attentive and professional throughout, with the dining environment being clean and comfortable. In terms of negatives, I’m hard pushed to find any. Perhaps some of the seating in the restaurant is a little exposed and there’s a traffic of customers going by, but there’s still an authentic feel to the whole arrangement. I also like the bar section at the front of the restaurant, so those just wanting a quick snack can easily pop in.

    There has unfortunately been a lot of rubbish served up as Italian food in restaurants in Norwich and across the country over the last few years. Mid-market restaurants have opened up, and in some circumstances served some really low quality fare and then tried to get customers in by cheap and even slightly squalid Groupon offers. Fortunately, Benoli appears to be authentic, genuine and informal, based on quality and not generic mass produced pasta dishes. So, how lovely.

  • Thetford – Spring Walk

    Just a short walk from Thetford town centre is this interesting and peaceful riverside path, known as Spring Walk. It takes this name from when the walk was laid out as part of a project to make Thetford a spring, or spa, town. This effort wasn’t really successful, lasting for under twenty years, but this path is one legacy of the project.

    One of the interesting heritage walk boards which have been placed around the town, giving more information about the history of the spa town project.

    There is some sad history to this location though, as in September 1911 a 13-year old boy, Arthur Robert Tuck, fell into river at this point. Arthur died from drowning, but the inquest noted with “astonishment at the action of three unknown men who were told of a lad falling into the water just after the accident, but they walked away”. The boy lived on Old Market Street and sadly drowned in just five feet of water.

    The local newspaper, the Bury Free Press, reported that:

    “The funeral of the deceased took part with five of his companions acting as bearers”.

    I’m not sure we’ll ever know who those five were, but I do wonder if any of those fought and died in World War One.

    Above is the census record which was taken just a few months before the boy died, with Arthur Robert Tuck having exactly the same name as his father. His mother was Bessie Tuck and he had two sisters, Gertrude Tuck and Mabel Gladys Tuck, as well as a brother, Charles Bertram Tuck.

  • LDWA – President’s Walk

    Every year the Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA group have a lovely long walk and then a BBQ at the end, a joint social and walking event. The walk was 22 miles long and was expertly led by Cas, who was also able to reduce the distance a little when some of us were just too keen to get to the food.

    The walk started at Thorpeness where the bus dropped us off, with the intention of walking back to near Brampton. The walk goes by Sizewell power station and onto the beach above, where fortunately this year we didn’t encounter any adders. There were just over twenty people on the walk and the pace was designed to be relatively brisk, ensuring that we didn’t have to wait too long for our sausages….

    Just to the north of Dunwich is this colourful sight.

    Jayne was really pleased when she discovered a Greggs wrapper on the verge, she was desperate for a vegan sausage roll. Well, that might be a lie, I was desperate for a chicken bake, but that’s sort of the same thing….. Unfortunately we didn’t go by a Greggs on the walk, but you can’t have everything. But, at the pace that Greggs are expanding, I’m hopeful that when we walk this route in the future that there will be a whole host of these artisan bakers to visit during the walk.

    Walking towards our lunch stop. It was shortly after this photo was taken that the rain came pouring down, although not for an extended period. Not wanting to sound obsessed with food, but there were some rather nice blackberry bushes around this point.

    Both the above photos were taken from the bridge near Walberswick, near to the start of the Flower of Suffolk walk.

    St Margaret’s Church at Reydon was the lunch stop, just over half way through the walk. I didn’t spend much time investigating the church, but the current building is primarily from the fourteenth century with a modern – and quite recent – extension.

    The group enjoying their lunches.

    And this was what we spent all day walking for (as well as the joy of walking and the lovely views of course), the BBQ at the end. Endless sausages, burgers, salad and there were also some wonderful cakes made by Jayne as a dessert. As usual, Martin and Fran were excellent hosts and fears about the rain during the BBQ didn’t come to pass. There was also all sorts of gossip, but it wouldn’t be for me to post about that here on a public platform.

    All told, it was a beautifully led walk along some of the most beautiful Suffolk coast, with some inland elements towards the end of the walk. It’s a similar route to the equivalent walk that I led last year, just without seeing any snakes this year which was a complete bonus.

  • Greater Anglia – Stadler Trains

    ** And an update on the below, a few months on and many more journeys into using these trains. I must admit that I like seeing them on the network, primarily as it means that there’s more space on them so I can get a seat. I also like their multi-level structure, it adds some character. I’m still not sure I like the single power point between two seats though, and the heater on the floor is a minor obstruction and can be quite hot. Having seen the Azuma trains operated by LNER, they seem to be better designed in terms of at-seat customer comfort, something I’d hoped that these trains would be as well. So, I’m growing to like these trains, but I’m still not entirely sold on them. But I keep doing my best to like Greater Anglia as so often they can be brilliant. And at other times, perhaps they’re not quite as good as I’d like. If it was a choice of reversing the huge price rises on Anglia Plus Rover tickets and having the old trains, or paying the extra and having these new trains, I’d rather return to how things were.

    I hadn’t expected a Stadler train to appear at Wymondham railway station, hence my not very impressive photo. Anyway, this is my first time on board one of Greater Anglia’s Stadler trains, running from Norwich to Cambridge.

    And, I declare a slight bias that Greater Anglia were one of my favourite companies. But this train is nothing like what was promised to me a few years ago by staff. There were going to be no price rises, there was going to be excellent wi-fi, plugs at every seat and more tables.

    On the plugs at every seat, there’s one wi-fi and one normal plug socket. That’s not ideal and isn’t what I’ve seen on other trains across the European Union.

    I got a table, but there don’t seem to be any more on board than before. I suppose technically there will on average be more carriages, so by default more tables, but it’s not quite what I was led to believe.

    The seat heads are cheap and have already become stained.

    I do like this though, very clear.

    The seats are worse than the previous ones, the armrest has been shrunk in size and there’s a plug socket behind my knee on one side and a large air conditioning / heating block by my other knee. It seems a really clunky design, a beautiful train technically let down by some really cheap interior fitting quality.

    I will though credit Greater Anglia with the investment, as technically these seem to be decent units and so punctuality will improve. That is an appealing thought, as the delays were becoming too frequent across the Greater Anglia network.

    The train at the station. I will also say that I think disabled access has been hugely improved, which is a big advantage for many people. The current trains were quite difficult to manoeuvre around, so the accessibility improvements are notable.

    Technically, the train’s wi-fi isn’t functional and I can’t see any improvement in phone signal, which the meshed window is meant to deliver. I do though note that the tickets I buy have gone up 24% in price since last year and I’m unsure what extra benefit I’m getting from that. I’m a little disappointed in Jamie Burles if I’m being honest about a whole host of things about Greater Anglia, a company which seems in decline from my experience as a passenger.

  • Thetford – Tank Track Marks on Bridge

    I would have never noticed this, but there’s a wonderful Heritage Trail board nearby which explained what these marks are. They’re from a tank which drove down here, which is Nuns’ Bridges Road, during the Second World War. I can imagine the concern of the tank driver when he realised that his vehicle had damaged the bridge and perhaps threatened to knock the entire wall down into the stream below.

  • Thetford – Thetford Priory (Gatehouse)

    I’ve never visited this gatehouse before, which is accessed from the main priory site by using a path across a private garden. I was having a little rummage about the area ready for my heritage walk this weekend and was surprised at just how impressive this gatehouse is. The above photo is taken from the priory side of the gatehouse, so it was the other side which would be visible to the townspeople.

    The gatehouse is the best preserved of any of the priory buildings and was first constructed in the late fourteenth century. It is well built and that is at least evident by the fact that it hasn’t fallen down over the centuries. Any travellers visiting the priory, or indeed anyone wanting food, would have knocked on the door of this gatehouse to ask for assistance.