Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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  • Ashby-de-la-Zouch – The Shoulder of Mutton

    Ashby-de-la-Zouch – The Shoulder of Mutton

    This JD Wetherspoon outlet in Ashby-de-Zouch has been a pub since at least the early eighteenth century and it takes its name from when an early landlord was also a butcher.

    There are many complaints that could be levelled about JD Wetherspoon, but there are many positives, such as their sensitive restoration of older buildings.

    There’s more of a cafe bar feel to the main serving area of the pub.

    The traditional breakfast, which pleased me by having a runny egg and is a cheap and cheerful option. The coffee was their usual unlimited hot drinks option, although they only had one machine and this was an older-style one. The wait for coffee was a little bit excessive, they probably do need to get another machine in operation to speed this up a little.

    Reviews for the pub are a bit mixed, mainly complaining about it being unclean, although that wasn’t a problem when I visited. A customer did complain on-line about the pub serving off-beer, which is interesting as JD Wetherspoon are usually on top of this. I assumed the customer was referring to real ale, but then I saw he was commenting on Stella.

    This incident sounds exciting though….

    “In regard to bar staff being told a tree in a planter had fallen over and hit a customer, my partner had to remind the staff on 2 further occasions that this had happened for a staff member to make an effort and ask me if I was ok and offer a drink as way of an apology. My partner had to move the tree himself to prevent this happening to any other customers, with staff members making no attempt to secure the tree. Unfortunately the tree blew over again and hit another customer before we left.”

    And not long before that this happened:

    “The seating is in a poor condition. A lot of the single stools are splintered. I had the misfortune of learning about this too late and suffered a leg full of splinters which were so deep and numerous they had to be removed by the NHS. Despite raising this with management the next day as the bar was 3 deep on the night, the approach seems to be one of denying responsibility rather than sorting out the problem as the poor condition chairs remain in place.”

    And, not long before that they had this excitement:

    “Popped in for a bit of food with my husband and daughter half way through my loaded chips i found a metal nut!! Told the waitress who was shocked like us and she went straight away to fetch the manager.”

    Anyway, we didn’t experience any of this drama. As JD Wetherspoon outlets go, this was perfectly acceptable and was clean, organised and the member of bar staff was particularly friendly and engaging. All very lovely.

  • Burton upon Trent – Last Heretic

    Burton upon Trent – Last Heretic

    To provide a little context, we visited this pub in Burton whilst on our sixth LDWA 100 training walk.

    This was our first Good Beer Guide pub of the day and, to be honest, the Last Heretic was a joy to behold. It’s a micro-pub that was formerly a commercial shop and it opened here in May 2016. Whatpub gives the explanation of the pub’s name, which is:

    “The pub is named after Edward Wightman, a resident of Burton but born in Burbage (near Hinckley, Leicestershire), who was the last person to be executed for heresy in England. He was burnt at the stake in Lichfield in 1612, where a plaque commemorates the event.”

    This is the sort of well-balanced beer selection that I like, with two dark beers available, the Antracite from 3 P’s brewery in Woodville and the Plum Porter from Titanic. Titanic are one of my favourite breweries and it’s always a delight to see their products available.

    But, the chocolate mint chip flavoured Antracite was the intriguing one here. The situation was a little confusing as the beer didn’t appear on Untappd, but some Googling suggests that this is a new local brewery and there’s an air of mystery about it. It’s clear though that it’s producing some rather excellent beers. The beer had a beautiful flavour of the promised chocolate and mint, although it perhaps could have been just that bit richer with a fuller aftertaste. Anyway, that sounds critical and it isn’t, as this beer was way towards the higher end of the scale. And, I would have given it that if I could find it on Untappd, as well as certainly ordering it again if I see it.

    The service was friendly and the surroundings were clean, well maintained and organised. There were numerous ciders to choose from and some well thought out craft beer options in cans. The pub is offering a takeaway service, and indeed even some delivery services, a proper contribution to the local community. I only noticed after leaving, when looking at a photo of their blackboard, that they sell locally produced pork pies as well.

    The pub’s entry into the Good Beer Guide is absolutely and entirely justified, this is a beautiful piece of micro-pubbing and I very much liked their efforts to source locally where they could. It was tempting to stay for longer, but we had limited time and numerous other pubs to investigate. But, it’s a pub to return to.

  • Branston – Blacksmiths Arms

    Branston – Blacksmiths Arms

    To provide a little context, we visited this pub in Branston whilst on our sixth LDWA 100 training walk.

    It’s a fairly large pub, built in the 1940s and now part of the Star pub estate.

    There was a choice between Robinson’s Dizzy Blonde, or what would have been our third pint of Marston’s Pedigree. For variety, we went for the former, which is a slightly controversial beer given its previous branding and it has certainly caused Robinson’s some issues over recent years.

    The beer was appalling as it was some way past its best. These things shouldn’t really happen in an ideal world, but the staff member was prompt at resolving the problem. Well, he resolved the problem by replacing the pints, but he said he didn’t drink ale and so wouldn’t know what had gone wrong. So, that’s all well and good, although it meant that we ended up with Marston’s Pedigree, again. Although, to be fair again, this was well-kept and tasted as it should.

    As an aside, I do hate returning beer as it’s always inevitably awkward. Although, as a positive, it’s becoming really rare that I need to do this and it’s the first time this year. And, I do hope that customers do return beer, as otherwise a pub will keep serving something from the barrel which isn’t of a particularly great quality and that doesn’t help anyone….

    The pub was a community type affair that seemed to be trying to appeal to as much of the local community as it could. It was showing football on its screens and it appeared to be pretty much a lager-based pub, but it did have a sufficiently friendly and comfortable feel to it. Perhaps it was all a bit generic for my liking, but since the staff were warm and engaging, it was a perfectly sufficient place to shelter from the rain.

  • Walton – Bailey Bridge

    Walton – Bailey Bridge

    To provide a little context, we walked over this bridge in Walton whilst on our sixth LDWA 100 training walk. It seemed a strange bridge to me, clearly something else had once been here and the current situation looked just a little temporary. The map above, which is from around 1900, shows where the bridge was and nothing much has changed with regards to its route.

    This is the bridge from the Staffordshire end, looking into Derbyshire and the village of Walton.

    And, this is from the Derbyshire end, looking into Staffordshire. The first bridge here wasn’t constructed until 1834, when it was a toll arrangement with a separate toll house, something which put paid to the ferry service which had operated from near here. This bridge served the needs of the locals sufficiently well, especially as it became free and the toll house was demolished in the early part of the twentieth century.

    The whole arrangement worked well until the floods of 1947, when the bridge was badly damaged and became unusable. The military came along to build a temporary bridge over the top, which in turn was replaced with another temporary bridge in 1974. To cut a long story short, that bridge is still there today despite many plans to replace it.

    It appears that there are a lot of breaches of the rules on weight restrictions (which is just three tonnes at any one time), which doesn’t bode well for the bridge, although it has remained standing for a long time so perhaps there’s no need for any immediate concern.

    There’s a pedestrian bridge alongside the main part of the structure. The plan is that if more housing is going to be built, then this bridge will need replacing in the near future, although whether or not the council ever gets round to that is another matter…..

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 163

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 163

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….

    Hulver-Headed

    Grose goes back to Norfolk with this definition, which is “having a hard impenetrable head; hulver, in the Norfolk dialect, signifying holly, a hard and solid wood”. The word ‘hulver’ did indeed mean holly, although also an evergreen shrub or tree and it’s likely how Hulver in Suffolk got its name. So, the term ‘hulver-headed’ is quite a beautiful one in many ways, meaning muddled or having an addled brain. The phrase was in use from at least the seventeenth century, but started to fall out of usage by the middle of the nineteenth century.

  • Walton – Swan at Walton (White Swan)

    Walton – Swan at Walton (White Swan)

    To provide a little context, we visited this pub in Walton whilst on our sixth LDWA 100 training walk.

    The pub is operated as part of the small Chilled Pub Company estate, which seems to focus on providing a strong food offering. The pub has traditionally been known as the White Swan, but has recently been rebranded as the Swan at Walton. It first opened in the 1820s and it feels like the sort of pub which was targetted at the agricultural labourers of the period.

    We didn’t get to see much of the inside as we remained outside in the rear beer garden, which was our plan initially given the slightly muddy fields we had just traipsed across. Not that we would have had much choice, the pub was clearly popular and they were fully booked for the next 90 minutes inside, as we discovered when some other customers tried to get in.

    The staff here were welcoming and friendly, offering a prompt greeting at the door and explaining that there was table service. The beer selection was a little limited, so there was a choice of Fuller’s London Pride or Marston’s Pedigree. Despite the impressions above, we opted for the latter and it was well-kept and at the appropriate temperature and all that.

    Actually, on the beer selection, looking back on Untappd it’s clear that the pub can come up with some decent craft beers. Although on our visit, the only dark beer listed on their extensive on-line database was Guinness, which was disappointing given some of their marketing. But, perhaps things will improve when some form of normality returns.

    We did consider for a while waiting well over an hour as the food coming out, such as the pizzas, did look rather lovely. However, we were meant to be walking over 20 miles (which we did) and would have struggled to justify waiting around for that long. But, the food did look good and the reviews are positive. Well, mostly positive, but I quite liked this one:

    “They have a loyalty app where you can collect points. I sent a simple email to the pub asking how I transfer the sale from this night on to the points. 4 days later I get a reply from the manager giving great instructions but also telling me I have lots the points because they need to be actioned within 48hrs. So my response was I have lost them due to the delay in reply from the email. I then get an email from the owner Loren actually telling me she doesn’t pay her manager to sit answering emails. So you could imagine my reply why have an email system if no-one replies and why have a point system which has a time period of 48hrs. Loren then sent me an email that wasn’t meant for me but was about me basically this was to her manager ditching me..this was so unprofessional of an owner of at least 3 establishments in the area none of which I will ever attend again.”

    This does have a ring of truth about it, it’s a shame that the pub doesn’t reply to reviews as I would have quite liked the answer as to what happened here…. Anyway, I digress.

    The pub felt well-run and organised, customers seemed quite content and the beer was reasonably priced. One group of customers took a table outside (took as in sat down, they didn’t pinch it) which didn’t have a parasol arrangement, with the staff commenting they weren’t coming inside if it rained. The staff were being helpful, but I was amused by the image of this group just having to sit there in the rain.

  • Cromer – Sunset Photos

    Cromer – Sunset Photos

    Just photos…. From Bank Holiday Monday evening in Cromer.

  • Rosliston – St. Mary’s Church

    Rosliston – St. Mary’s Church

    St. Mary’s Church in Rosliston doesn’t look at first sight the sort of place where a huge controversy took place at the end of the nineteenth century, when the Bishop called his own vicar “cruel and wicked”.

    There has been a church here since either the late Saxon or early Norman period. The current structure partly dates to the fourteenth century, although it was restored in 1802 and the nave and chancel were then rebuilt in 1819 using some of the same materials. There was an advert in the Staffordshire Advertiser in early January 1820, which offered two pews, in the eastern corner of the church, for sale at auction which is a rather different situation to religious services today.

    Most of the tower, including the doorway and steeple, date to the fourteenth century.

    Unfortunately, the interior of the church was closed, although most of the contents appear to date from the late nineteenth century. It does feel peaceful today, but I can imagine the build-up of anger towards the rather wayward vicar which the parishioners once had to deal with.

  • Rosliston – The Strange Case of John Vallancy

    Rosliston – The Strange Case of John Vallancy

    It’s hard to find a history of St. Mary’s Church in Rosliston which doesn’t mention John Vallancy (1843-1906), the village’s vicar at the end of the nineteenth century.

    It was reported by the Reynolds’s Newspaper in July 1894 that:

    “The Rev. John Vallancy, the representative of Christ at Rosliston, near Burton, teaches us the meaning of Christianity as interpreted by the Church established by Parliament in that part of the kingdom called England. Miss Mary Wright and her father placed flowers on the grave of a relative, after being warned by the state-manufactured ‘reverend’ against this display of affection. The representative of Christ swept the tributes away from the grave and brought an action for trespass against the lady, claiming 1s 6d in the special ‘mansion’ in the Father’s House which will be allotted to the Rev ‘Vallancy’, he is likely to be the sole tenant. Boarders will not stay, and in vain will be exhibit a notice ‘apartments to let’”.

    This was a devastating attack on Vallancy, but matters were to get worse. The Derby Mercury reported on 13 May 1896:

    “At the Swadlincote Petty Sessions on Tuesday before Mr. L Barber and a full bench of magistrates John Holden, of Rosliston, appeared in answer to a summons taken out by the Rev. John Vallancy, perpetual curate of Rosliston, who complained that he was in bodily fear of the defendant, and asked that he should be bound over to keep the peace. Mr. Vallancy conducted his own case, and Mr. Capes represented the defendant.

    From the evidence, it appeared that on the 18th April the defendant went to the complainant’s house and asked Mr. Vallancy where the cross had gone that had been placed on his brother’s grave, and why it had been removed. Upon that the complainant ordered him off the premises, but defendant refused to go until he got the information required.

    Complainant said that the defendant threatened to “do” for him, that he had “one wing broken” and that he would break the other. He also stated that the defendant threatened to strike him with a stick which he carried. Mr. Vallancy called four witnesses, whose evidence was most contradictory when under cross-examination.

    Mr. Capes submitted that there was no case for him to answer, but the Bench decided that he must proceed. Mr. Capes then addressed the Court, and called a witness and the defendant himself, who denied either threatening the complainant or using bad language.

    The Bench retired, and after a brief absence, Mr. Barber said they had come to the conclusion that the case must be dismissed for they did not think Mr. Vallancy was in need of any protection.”

    The church authorities had to act as allegations against Vallancy started to pour in and the Bishop of Southwell summoned Vallancy to the consistory (or church) courts in April 1897. The vicar had been accused of holding a revolver in the air against a parishioner, which he denied and said “it was a large church key”. Some parishioners responded by burning an effigy of their vicar outside the church, which isn’t really an ideal state of affairs.

    Vallancy had been so incompetent in role that he was starting to threaten the church’s reputation in the region, with the Bishop noting that:

    “He has been cruel and wicked, utterly unworthy of his position and fatal to any usefulness in the parish of which he was at the present moment the incumbent”.

    There’s no easy way of coming back from that allegation from the local Bishop and Vallancy was suspended from his position for eighteenth months. Vallancy was fortunate that the tabloids didn’t exist then in the same way that they do today, he would have found himself getting international attention.

  • Rosliston – Bull’s Head

    Rosliston – Bull’s Head

    To provide a little context, we visited this pub in Rosliston whilst on our sixth LDWA 100 training walk.

    We didn’t want to look eager, but we had arrived in the village before the pub opened and we faffed about a bit, so were pleased that they opened on time. The pub is operating on slightly reduced opening hours at the moment (late August 2020), 14.00 until 23.00 on Mondays to Thursdays and 12.00 until 23.00 on Fridays to Sundays.

    There were two real ales available, Pedigree from Marston’s and Bass from, well, Bass. For a country pub, especially given the current crisis, this was an entirely suitable proposition for us. For those who prefer ciders, they had Happy Daze and Yuzu Marmalade on, along with some lager things.

    The Pedigree. The pint wasn’t served like this, I just liked the glass and only realised that after drinking some of the beer….. It was at the appropriate temperature and tasted well-kept. We seemed to be the first customers of the day and there’s always a danger that a pub won’t have pulled through the beers, but they had here.

    One side of the pub, which might not be exactly on-trend, but it looks warm and comfortable. It was notable that they hadn’t had to nail (or glue) all of the items on display down, which says something positive about the pub. Well, it also says something about a number of the pubs that I go to as well…..

    And the other side…. There’s a real fire on each side of the pub, which must make it a homely place during the colder months of the year.

    This is a free house and they look like they try to please as much of the local community as they can, with darts, pool (currently suspended), food, entertainment and a range of drinks. The service was friendly and this felt a welcoming place to be, with the pub being clean and organised. The pub does probably need to bring its web-site back on-line, although their Facebook presence has been kept updated.

    So, as country pubs go, this was a convenient mid-day stop for us and it’s worth a little trip for anyone visiting the nearby Rosliston Forestry Centre. Or indeed, anyone walking along the National Forest Way, as this goes by the front of the pub.