I’m not normally one for video, as it reminds me that my hairline is receding faster than is entirely ideal, but a few months ago Zak and I had a really rather good idea that we’d play at every bar billiards table in Norwich. The twist is that we’re only filming the first game at each venue, because Zak famously takes a while to warm up. It’s like giving myself a tiny glimmer of hope before he inevitably demolishes me. Zak has been my official bar billiards trainer since 2023 and I will one day be able to see some of the shots that he can pull off, let alone actually play them.
Pete has heroically taken on the role of cameraman for the series, and he’s done a marvellous job filming the first instalment. The next one will be along soon, assuming I can handle more video evidence of my sub-optimal playing technique. And just to be clear, it’s not meant to be a competitive series unless, of course, I happen to win. In which case, it very much is.
Unsure of where to head for an evening meal, I decided to go earlier rather than later before the crowd descended, it was a Saturday evening and I had already over-heated in the three minutes since I’d left the hotel. I’m actually not entirely sure I should have seated myself at the external tables, but some others did and it wasn’t overly busy when I arrived so all was well.
There’s no printed menu, instead the menu board is on the wall or, for the larger parties, it was brought to the table as if it was some sacred text. I’m not overly picky in general, but this menu was a delight as I would have merrily had anything on here.
The beer was Sagres, which is never going to be a drink of choice, but it was cold and refreshing, so just what I needed in the extreme heat. It looked an authentic menu with fresh options, with the on-line reviews being positive. There was no price list for the drinks, but they didn’t take advantage of that opportunity to overcharge or anything similar. I would just add that I was sitting outside as I needed to be cooled down, I won’t be changing my general habits and I was pleased to note that there were no circling seagulls, herons or storks ready to pounce on my food.
Mackerel is one of my favourite fishes and I can’t say that I get to see a mackerel salad on the menu very often. This was delicious, with the tomatoes being fresh and rich in taste, along with some salad stuff to make it look pretty. The bread came with the dish for free and it was filling, seemed authentic and had a depth of flavour.
It took something of an age to pay, which seemed slightly odd to me as there had a real pressure on tables, but the beer and mackerel salad came to around £11, which I thought was really rather reasonable. There’s something of a theatrical performance from one of the staff members, but I think that’s part of the character of the venue and although I rather got the impression he was getting annoyed at a couple of tables, the service I received was always friendly. Either way, it was all really rather lovely with good food, a decent price and only a minor wait for the bill. And in the relentless Algarve heat, I’ll take any excuse to sit in the shade with a cold, if entirely uninspiring, beer.
Arriving at Gatwick Airport on the early morning bus…. Instead of the cinematic sweep up the driveway to an impressive departures hall, you’re unceremoniously dumped at the back of the building, which looks more like the loading dock of an industrial estate than the gateway to international travel, but as it was 05:00 it was too early to care much about this. There was no queue at security, so I was left pondering slightly why I had left my hotel so early, but better to be early than late.
I haven’t flown from Gatwick Airport for some time and I wasn’t sure if there would be space in one of the lounges using my Priority Card, but it’s fair to say that My Lounge was not packed.
Lounge food and drink which was typical fare for British airport lounges, some dry and uninteresting food alongside a dreadful lager. The sausage, bacon and hash brown were OK, I poured myself just a small amount of Cruzcampo since it was still early morning, took one mouthful and realised just how dreadful it is. The orange juice was out of cheap cartons, but in fairness to the whole arrangement, the coffee, food and orange juice was all filling enough.
Mine was the 08:00 Wizz Air flight to Faro and as usual for the airline, everything was efficient, clearly signed and without delay. There were more bag checks than usual which always adds to the drama, but once again, this didn’t impact me.
It was raining when I walked to the aircraft, it always feels a shame leaving the UK when there’s weather that I like. The aircraft registration was G-WUND, the same one that took me to an icy Tallinn a few months ago. The seating Gods had allocated me a window seat, so that was a rather handy arrangement.
Nearly at Faro and the aircraft toured up and down the coast a bit before landing. We had experienced a delay on departure, the reason for which was never mentioned, but as Wizz Air pad their schedules so much, we still seemed to manage to arrive on time. The pilots were generally decent on the number of announcements, the crew members were all personable and I fell asleep for most of the flight so don’t really know much of what happened.
It was very quickly evident that it was too hot.
The border control process felt a little chaotic, but these new machines for UK passports seemed interesting, but I wasn’t called to try them. The whole queueing arrangement was a little chaotic in places and it felt like a long wait, but it was 31 minutes in the end, which isn’t entirely unreasonable given this is a busy time of year for the airport. It does feel though that the airport in general is creaking in places with passenger numbers, so yet another extension to the building seems likely for future years.
Anyway, this was another very satisfactory experience given that the flight cost £8.99, the flight was comfortable, the boarding process was efficient and the crew were friendly. I am though getting the creeping sense that most airports in Europe are about five million passengers beyond what they were built for.
The below article is from the Norwich Mercury 200 years ago this week and it notes those people who donated money towards the construction of a new church. This was a little rare for the time in terms of the Anglican Church, although it was to become much more common later on during the nineteenth century. The money was being collected to fund what became St. Mary’s Church in Southtown, which opened in 1831. I rather like that it’s still there, as it seems to be a little sad that so many people donated for a project which ultimately didn’t survive in the long-term. The article is also an interesting list of the generous nature of various people and institutions of the time.
“Subscriptions:
The Corporation of Great Yarmouth: £500 0s. 0d. The Hon. G. Anson, M.P.: £100 0s. 0d. C. E. Rumbold, Esq. M.P.: £100 0s. 0d. Lord Viscount Siduey: £50 0s. 0d. Aldred Mr. S. H.: £2 2s. 0d. Atkinson Mr. J.: £2 0s. 0d. Baker Rev. T.: £20 0s. 0d. Baldry Miss: £1 0s. 0d. Barchard Mr.: £1 0s. 0d. Barmby Mr. W. H.: £5 0s. 0d. Barber Mr.: £0 5s. 0d. Beckett Mr. John: £1 0s. 0d. Beckett Mr. G. W.: £1 0s. 0d. Bell J. M. Esq.: £10 0s. 0d. Blomfield Mr.: £1 0s. 0d. Blomfield Mr. H.: £2 0s. 0d. Bolton Mr. G.: £2 0s. 0d. Bracey Mr. John: £1 0s. 0d. Brand Mr. W.: £1 0s. 0d. Breeze Mr. Jas.: £1 0s. 0d. Broadbank Mrs.: £10 0s. 0d. Brown Mr. John: £1 0s. 0d. Bunn Mr. James: £10 0s. 0d. Burton C. F. Esq.: £20 0s. 0d. Burton T. Esq.: £10 0s. 0d. Burton Mr. S.: £10 0s. 0d. Chambers Mr. W.: £5 0s. 0d. Child Mr. John: £0 2s. 6d. Christmas Mr. J.: £5 0s. 0d. Christmas Mr. S.: £2 0s. 0d. Clark Mr. Jas.: £50 0s. 0d. Clarke Mr. F.: £10 0s. 0d. Clowes Mr. T.: £2 0s. 0d. Cole Mr. R.: £1 0s. 0d. Cory R. Jun. Esq.: £21 0s. 0d. Costerton C. Esq.: £15 0s. 0d. Cox Miss: £1 0s. 0d. Cracknell Mrs.: £1 0s. 0d. Crisp Mr. F.: £1 0s. 0d. Crovitlier Mr. S.: £5 0s. 0d. Cubitt Mr. R.: £5 0s. 0d. Diver Mr. W. H.: £2 0s. 0d. Diver Mr. R.: £2 0s. 0d. Docking Mr. G.: £1 0s. 0d. Douglas Mr. T.: £1 0s. 0d. Dowson B. Esq.: £21 0s. 0d. Drake Mr. Jas.: £1 0s. 0d. Draper Mr. J. sen.: £10 0s. 0d. Draper Mr. J. jun.: £0 10s. 0d. Duncan Mr. A.: £0 10s. 0d. Ellis Mr. C. T.: £2 2s. 0d. English Mrs.: £2 0s. 0d. Fear Mr. John: £10 0s. 0d. Ferrier Mr. R.: £10 0s. 0d. Fielding B. Esq.: £21 0s. 0d. Fiddis Mr. T.: £10 0s. 0d. Fisher W. Esq.: £50 0s. 0d. Fisher Jas Esq.: £25 0s. 0d. Fisher J. G. Esq.: £25 0s. 0d. Fisher Mr. T.: £2 0s. 0d. Friend, by Mr. Glasspoole: £5 5s. 0d. Friend at the Bath House: £1 0s. 0d. Gamble Mr. Win.: £1 0s. 0d. Garwood Mr. T.: £5 0s. 0d. Gill Mr. W.: £1 0s. 0d. Giles Mr. Charles: £1 0s. 0d. Glasspoole Mr. H.: £10 10s. 0d. Gooding Mr. J.: £1 10s. 0d. Gourlay Mr. D.: £1 0s. 0d. Green Mr. J.: £1 0s. 0d. Greenwood Mr. E.: £1 0s. 0d. Groome Mr. E.: £1 0s. 0d. Grout, Baylis and Co.: £20 0s. 0d. Gunthorpe Matthew, Esq.: £50 0s. 0d. Hallmark Mrs.: £50 0s. 0d. Hamment Mr. R.: £1 0s. 0d. Harmant Mr. Jes.: £10 0s. 0d. Harley Mr. Geo.: £0 10s. 0d. Hart Mr. Wm.: £0 10s. 0d. Haynes Mr. Wm.: £1 0s. 0d. Hook Mr. Dan.: £10 0s. 0d. Hume Mr. Wm.: £0 5s. 0d. Hunt Mr. A.: £1 0s. 0d. Jefferies Capt.: £5 0s. 0d. Johnson Mr. C.: £5 0s. 0d. Johnson Mr. J.: £1 0s. 0d. Johnson Mr. Wm. J.: £1 0s. 0d. Kenworthy Mr. J.: £1 0s. 0d. Kelly Rev. S.: £5 0s. 0d. Lacon, Youell, and Co.: £100 0s. 0d. Lahy Mr. James: £1 0s. 0d. Lane Mr. J.: £0 10s. 0d. Libbis Mr. R.: £0 7s. 0d. Lott Mr. J. H.: £1 0s. 0d. Lubbock Mr. R.: £1 0s. 0d. Lubbock Mr. C.: £1 0s. 0d. Lucas Rev. G.: £15 0s. 0d. Luson Miss: £1 0s. 0d. Mann Mr. R.: £1 0s. 0d. Mackland Mr. E.: £5 0s. 0d. Mason Mr. J.: £2 0s. 0d. Meggy Mr. Wm.: £1 0s. 0d. Meyrick Mr. Wm.: £1 0s. 0d. Minter Mr. John: £2 0s. 0d. Miller Mr. Wm.: £1 0s. 0d. Miller Mr. Step.: £2 0s. 0d. Moore Mr. P.: £1 0s. 0d. Moon Mr. S.: £2 0s. 0d. Morgan Mr. E. W.: £10 0s. 0d. Moxon Mr. John: £5 0s. 0d. Moyse Mrs. Jane: £10 0s. 0d. Nicholls Mr. C.: £10 0s. 0d. Nolloth Mr. Jas.: £1 0s. 0d. Norman Mr. Jas.: £2 0s. 0d. Nuthall Mr. P.: £2 0s. 0d. Offord Mr. D.: £1 0s. 0d. Paget S. Esq.: £25 0s. 0d. Palmer W. D. Esq.: £100 0s. 0d. Palmer G. D. Esq.: £21 0s. 0d. Palgrave W. E. Q.: £21 0s. 0d. Pope Mr. J.: £1 0s. 0d. Poppy Mr. J.: £0 10s. 0d. Powell Mr. J.: £0 5s. 0d. Preston J. Esq.: £20 0s. 0d. Preston I. Esq.: £25 0s. 0d. Preston E. Esq.: £25 0s. 0d. Preston J. Esq.: £10 0s. 0d. Preston Mr. J. K.: £3 3s. 0d. Preston Mr. A.: £3 0s. 0d. Preston Mr. G.: £2 0s. 0d. Pulford Mr. G.: £2 0s. 0d. Ranney J. Esq.: £15 15s. 0d. Reeve Mr. W.: £1 0s. 0d. Reynolds F. R. Esq.: £50 0s. 0d. Robinson J. J. Esq.: £10 0s. 0d. Roe Mr. T.: £2 2s. 0d. Ruzby Mrs.: £1 0s. 0d. Saunders Mr. W.: £25 0s. 0d. Sayers and Son: £20 0s. 0d. Seaman Mr. F.: £2 0s. 0d. Searum Mr. R.: £1 1s. 0d. Sharman Mr. E.: £10 0s. 0d. Sherrington Mr. S.: £10 0s. 0d. Short Mr. J.: £1 0s. 0d. Shreeve Mr. H.: £2 0s. 0d. Sloman Mr. Chas.: £1 0s. 0d. Smith Mr. R. C.: £1 0s. 0d. Smith Mr. J.: £2 2s. 0d. Smith Mr. R.: £1 0s. 0d. Springall Mr. T.: £0 10s. 0d. Steele Miss: £0 5s. 0d. Stevenson Mr. J.: £5 0s. 0d. Sutton Mr. S.: £0 10s. 0d. Swirles Mr. D.: £1 0s. 0d. Thacker Mrs.: £0 10s. 0d. Thompson Mrs.: £5 5s. 0d. Thompson E. Esq.: £20 0s. 0d. Thrower Mr. A.: £1 0s. 0d. Toluer & Preston: £25 0s. 0d. Townshend Mr. R.: £1 0s. 0d. Turner Rev. R.: £50 0s. 0d. Turner D. Esq.: £25 0s. 0d. Turner Mrs. M.: £0 10s. 0d. Veal Mr. R.: £1 0s. 0d. Vardon Mr. John: £0 5s. 0d. Warren Mr.: £1 0s. 0d. Watling Mr. F.: £3 3s. 0d. Watson J. Esq.: £20 0s. 0d. Watson Mr. T.: £5 5s. 0d. Watson R.: £1 0s. 0d. Williams J. H. Esq.: £25 0s. 0d. Wright Mr. E.: £1 0s. 0d. Yette Win. Esq.: £20 0s. 0d. Youngman Mr. T.: £1 0s. 0d.
And a Site of Ground on which to erect a Building, Subscriptions are received at the Town Hall, the Banks, the Subscription-Room, and at the Bath Rooms, in this Town.
I’ve touched on this issue before, but the newspapers from 200 years ago are littered with suicides and this often seems to be underplayed throughout history. This article in the Norwich Mercury from 200 years ago this week noted:
“And the same day, at the Workhouse, in the parish of St. Andrew, on the body of John Gowing, aged 35 years, who, in a fit of insanity, threw himself from his bed-room window into the stone yard of the said Workhouse. Verdict accordingly.”
The reason that it mentions “the same day” is that there was another suicide reported in the weekly newspaper.
The workhouse in question here is in St. Andrew’s and it was located in the cloisters of St. Andrew’s Hall, best known today perhaps as the home of Norwich Beer Festival. In the above map from the 1880s, the site of the workhouse was the King Edward VI Middle School.
John Gowing was baptised on 29 December 1793, the son of Robert Gowing and Martha Tutthil, and it appears that the age in the newspaper article was wrong, he died at the age of just 31. I can’t be sure that this is the same John Gowing who committed an appalling crime in 1817, but the details provided do fit although I can’t find the transportation record.
“John Gowing and Daniel Thorpe, the latter only 13 years of age, were indicted for feloniously stealing and carrying away out of the house of Wm. Thorpe, linen-draper at Langley, a quantity of gold and silver coin, his property, on the 10th of April last. This case excited considerable interest. The youngest prisoner, who was admitted King’s evidence, was the orphan nephew of the prosecutor, and had been brought up and educated at his expense; the other prisoner was his servant; and, from the testimony of the child, corroborated by other evidence, it appeared that Gowing had for some time past been urging the boy to rob his uncle, and that he had frequently done it, giving what he had got to Gowing, and receiving, as his portion, whatever part he was pleased to give him. The prosecutor was in the habit of keeping a quantity of guineas and other gold coin by him in a small spice box, which had a lock and key to it. Gowing had procured a key which fitted it, and repeated visits had been made to the old gentleman’s magazine without his suspicion being excited, as whenever his nephew made his attacks, Gowing stood sentinel to prevent a surprise. At length the key accidentally breaking in the lock, Gowing persuaded him to take away box and all. This was done, and the whole booty was delivered to Gowing. The box was broke open, and the contents shared between them in such proportion as Gowing thought fit. These facts being fully proved, the Jury found the prisoner, Gowing—Guilty.—Mr. Justice Abbott, in pronouncing sentence, animadverted in severe terms on the prisoner’s conduct: first, in having seduced a child of the tender age of Thorpe to rob his benefactor; and next, in having himself become a party to rob his employer, who had placed a confidence in him. The humanity of the prosecutor had induced him to prefer this indictment in such a form as did away the capital part of the offence. The Court, however, felt itself bound to inflict the severest punishment in its power upon him. That punishment was, that he should be transported beyond sea for the term of seven years.”
John was buried at St. George Colegate on 23 July 1825, which is a church that I walk by frequently. I can’t find him listed in any family trees or referred to online, which made me wonder how many people have thought about him over the last 200 years. Either which way, it’s all really rather sad.
This is the Island in the Tiber by Gaspar Adriaensz van Wittel (1647-1736) and there’s a romanticised serenity that might make someone forget the Tiber was, in reality, a rather murky and unpredictable river. Adriaensz has gone full atmospheric here with soft golden light, a gentle sky, calm waters and not a whiff of disease, sewage, or the occasional Roman mischief that the island would have actually witnessed. It’s a cityscape where everything behaves itself, the domes stand proud in the distance, the bridges look sturdy, and the locals potter about at the water’s edge like they’ve got all the time in the world. But there’s meant to be, and indeed is, some element of realism here as this is a veduta, or cityscape, and the artist was one of the first to paint in this style, no doubt inspiring later painters such as Canaletto. One of the biggest collectors of van Wittel’s works was Thomas Coke or Holkham Hall in Norfolk and there are still five of the paintings at the hall.
Assuming that my friend would come and organise this, would I have it on my wall? Definitely and not just because it’s likely worth quite a lot. It’s the perfect illusion as it’s Rome without the traffic, the chaos or the occasional whiff of the Tiber on a hot day. It’s really rather lovely, and a nice reminder that even in the seventeenth century, artists were basically curating the Instagram version of life.
I’m going to be honest, this bar isn’t likely to win many awards for being the best advertised and signed, although that gives it something of a speakeasy feel which adds to the excitement of proceedings. Although this was the eleventh and final venue of the day, it was the one that we were most looking forwards to, it’s a cellar bar with micro-pub vibes. I decided that Julian was the most social (and ultimately the most expendable if it was the wrong door) and he tried the door of what we really weren’t entirely sure was the right place, but it’s that door marked with “cash only” which is down the steps.
The indoor signage is really rather good though even if it’s rather more anonymous from the outside.
The inside which was a little dark, but that added to the atmosphere and the welcome was immediate and friendly from the team member. It was also good to see James in the pub, it was his check-ins on Untappd which had caught my eye about this place. This is evidence indeed that social media can lead to right decisions.
The beer list is on Untappd and there’s a particularly strong list of cans that are available. There are three cask beers and seven keg beers and I was slightly disappointed we didn’t have enough time before our train to fully investigate these. It’s a well-curated beer list and there are some really tempting options on there.
I went for the Aeronaut from Abbeydale Brewery and it had a rather pleasant flavour of stone fruit and it was smooth, rich and really quite decadent. A very decent little number and Julian went for the same, noting on Untappd that it was “very tasty”, which is great praise indeed.
Also, Julian produced, like a proud Victorian inventor, his latest acquisition from John Lewis, as he’s really rather middle class, a foldable fan which can be charged via USB. I was a little tempted by it, I’ll wait until there’s a cheap one though as I get muddled up in decadent department stores, but it was very useful given the extreme heat of Lowestoft.
Anyway, I’ve digressed into shopping related items and away from just how good this bar is. The beer selection here was the best of the day, the atmosphere was certainly up there and the engagement from the team member was the best of the day. It’s fair to say that I very much liked it here and I’m also going to see if Julian can be tempted to go there again when we visit again for part two of our Lowestoft study tour. It was really all rather lovely.
The Oxford Arms was our tenth visit of the day to a venue selling alcoholic beverages and I can already hear my two loyal blog readers bemused to where eight and nine have gone. So, eight was the Lowestoft Tandoori and I’ll come back to that in another post as it’s not really a pub, with number nine being the Falcon. Unfortunately, I was in some sort of food coma by then due to the portion sizes at the Indian, so I sat in the garden with a rum, which was Julian’s bright idea to ‘settle my nerves’, meaning I didn’t really look around inside. To be fair to the Falcon, and we are rigorous in our study tours, we’ll revisit it on the next trip.
The pub was built in the late nineteenth century and it was formerly known as the Oxford Stores and I’m starting to wonder if there’s a single pub in Lowestoft that hasn’t changed its name at some point. The above map is from the 1880s and it shows that at the time the area was fields, the pub is in the centre-right of this white space. The pub was built by Youngman & Preston and there was an application made in September 1897 to change the licence from George Henry Read to James Charles Butcher, so I’m guessing that the pub first opened in around 1890. Tragedy struck just weeks later as the Evening Star reported:
“On Sunday evening Mr. James Butcher, landlord of the Oxford Stores, at the corner of St. Margaret’s and Oxford Roads, Lowestoft, died suddenly. The deceased, who was married, and about 33 years of age, was well known and popular. He formerly kept the Waggon and Horses, on the Beach, and on the licence of the High Street house being removed during the widening of that thoroughfare, he went to the new house. The cause of death was an affection of the brain, from which he suffered during the summer, but apparently recovered. He was taken ill on Wednesday night, and though attended by Dr. Bell, the seizure terminated fatally.”
All rather sad, especially as in 1911, the landlord William Butcher died at the pub aged just 39 years old and William’s wife had died at the venue the year before. They don’t sound like the most uplifting first few years of opening.
Julian came here over fifty years ago, which is quite a sobering thought. Today, the venue shows live sports and there are some occasional music events to excite and delight the local denizens.
Inside the pub, there’s a pool table and general games area. As an Everton fan (I say fan, that is a rather aspirational way of saying that I sort of look at the league tables every week) I’ve mentally blocked out something in the photo.
The main bar and my legs.
I mentioned sobering thoughts earlier on in this post and that’s evident here, with Julian opting for a delicious lemonade. Or at least until he realised these things no longer have sugar, just a heap of aspartame which I personally think is likely potentially more dangerous than the sugar that the authorities have obsessively removed, but there we go. There weren’t any real ales here and the drinks selection was quite limited, which was the main reason for Julian’s less than decadent choice.
I wasn’t having sobering thoughts, I had half a pint of Guinness and it tasted as expected and was at the appropriate temperature.
There’s a breakfast menu and the venue also sells food at lunchtimes.
This is a good idea in the toilets given the ridiculously hot weather that we’ve been having recently.
Overall, this felt like a traditional community pub and it offered a friendly welcome and some minor interest from locals on who these new customers were when we entered. The service was efficient, the venue was clean and I rather liked the heritage of the pub, although the separate rooms of the lounge bar and the saloon that once existed have all been knocked through. The drinks selection here isn’t really something that I’m personally looking for, although Guinness is always a decent fall-back arrangement, but the pricing was low. The online reviews are very positive and I’m fairly confident that this is the sort of pub that will be here for generations to come.
This is week 22 of James and I eating at every food stall at Norwich Market, with this one being a new venue so we haven’t visited it before. Actually, as a side note, we actually checked the market today for other new openings or venues we’ve missed and we have eight more stalls left to visit this year. There are a couple in there that I really like, with none that I’m sceptical about, so the run-in to this year’s awards ceremony is getting rather exciting. I guess that I should get out more….
The food options are regular and large, which makes matters easier in the menu selection process. I decided that this lunchtime I wouldn’t be greedy, which isn’t a decision that I always make as I can go for gluttony given half a chance, but today I just went for regular.
There was a friendly welcome and lots of engagement with customers, with a feeling of real enthusiasm about their whole operation. The service was efficient and the venue takes both cash and cards.
Firstly, I think I made the correct decision in just opting for the regular choice, as it was a generous portion and we saw how much food was in the large bowls that some other customers ordered. I very much like the variety of tastes and textures here, there’s plenty going on with the guacamole adding smoothness, the cheese adding flavour and the nachos adding texture. There’s mojito slaw on the top and rice underneath, with the beef pork mix having a richness to it with plenty of large pieces of meat. This did surprise and delight me, high quality, freshly prepared and reasonably priced.
There is a small seating area at the end of the stall, although we just propped ourselves up against the side as the seats were taken when we arrived. Everything was clean and organised, with the surfaces being dry and not sticky.
James had the same as me, although he didn’t really have much choice at this stall. I think it’s fair to say that he was also happy with the tastes, textures, flavours and the portion size, when he noted:
“The palate, the interplay of textures, the nuanced flavours, and the generosity of the portion pleased me”.
He’s getting positively lyrical now. We spent much of the walk back bumping into people that James knew, he’ll be signing autographs if this trend continues, he’s becoming the new Spudman….
Anyway, this is a contender for one of the top three spots I think, a combination of a great welcome, friendly service, decent value for money and high quality food. All really rather lovely.
The seventh pub on the study tour that Julian and I took part in last week in Lowestoft was the Triangle Tavern. This is located on St. Peter’s Street, next to the Triangle Market and it’s also the brewery tap for the rather wonderful Green Jack brewery. The brewery was founded in 1993 by Tim Dunford and they moved to larger premises in the town in 2009.
The pub was trading from at least the 1860s, although I’ve struggled with the history of this venue and I think it’s something that I’ll have to return to. The pub isn’t marked on either of these maps from the 1880s and the road layout has changed here a bit, with Arnold Street not being cut off to build a road, Artillery Way, through the middle of the town. The pub is located just to the right of where ‘pump’ is mentioned on the lower map (the left hand one on the bottom map) and you’re welcome for that entirely useless cartographic lack of precision…..
The below article from 1909 isn’t about the pub, but about the Triangle Market located just in front of it, and I was amused that the council spent a fortune doing it all up and demanding everyone now pays a rent, only for stall holder to tell them “you do what you like, and I shall do as I like”, which evidently annoyed the town clerk.
“It will probably be remembered that some months ago Lowestoft Corporation decided to lay out the Triangle—which has been an eye-sore for some time—as a garden or open space. There was at once strong opposition, and sundry public meetings held to denounce the Corporation, and to suggest the conversion of the spot into a proper market place. A deputation of shopkeepers in the vicinity waited upon the Council, to urge their preference for a market, and in deference to the wishes expressed, the Triangle has since been paved and drained, at a cost of £180, properly prepared for a market, and stallage spaces marked out, with a reserve price upon each. For one 12-foot space next High Street, the reserve was 8s. for use two days a week.
On Wednesday night, at the Town Hall, Alderman Notley attempted to let by auction the stallage spaces and one or two advertising spaces on the hoarding which adjoin, but only received one bid, (£4) by Councillor E. Tuttle for one of the spaces on the hoarding. Certain conditions and stipulations as to the user of the Triangle, with a view of keeping off cheap-jacks and other “shows,” had been drawn up by the Council, and at the conclusion of the “letting” Mr. Notley remarked that it did not appear that the market was wanted very much. The Town Clerk remarked that it must be clearly understood that nobody would be allowed to go on the Triangle unless he hired stallages, under the conditions and stipulations laid down.—Mr. Mack (an old stall-holder) said he should be there on Saturday. The rules and regulations were made by the Town Council, but he had paid his way there for 20 years. “You do what you like, and I shall do as I like,” he added.—The Town Clerk: I have no doubt that if he goes on the Triangle, legal proceedings will be taken against him.”
Oooh, free books. And I liked the annotation of “where?”…..
The beer board and that’s a fine choice of beers from Green Jack with the pricing all being reasonable. I hadn’t actually realised that Green Jack did as much as keg beer either.
The bar area with the service being prompt, friendly and engaging. The pub accepts cash and cards, with the selection of bar snacks being reasonable. The general atmosphere was welcoming, the customers here always seem relaxed and calm (well, in the front bar) and it’s I think one of the best pubs in the town.
There was no doubt that I would have a half pint of the Ukraine, a 7% traditional ale that was brewed as a one-off to support the country. And the beer quality was high, one of the better real ales that I’ve ever had, there was a toffee flavour, it was malty, bitter and beautifully rounded. The ABV was rather hidden and there was a fruity element to the whole arrangement, a most marvellous beer.
One long bar and I was standing in the front bar to take this photo and this section of the pub used to be the Oddfellows. I’m unsure at the moment about this, it’s possible there were two pubs next to each other, that isn’t ultimately that rare, but I can’t find any source for this other than CAMRA and it might be something I have to investigate at a later date. Unfortunately, my ‘investigate later’ pile is quite substantial.
The back bar and this was the original part of the Triangle pub and I always think it’s a little more lively back here. There’s a pool table, as eagle-eyed readers would have noticed, with another seating area off to the left of this photo.
Overall, I have visited this pub rather a lot of times in the past and it’s a welcoming and warm environment, with two very distinctive bars. It is popular, well-used and frequently in the Good Beer Guide, just as it deserves to be.
