Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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  • York – Brigantes

    York – Brigantes

    I’ve walked by this pub on many occasions in the past (well, obviously not in the future), but I don’t recall ever going in, but since it’s in the Good Beer Guide I had a moral duty to change that. It was all very comfortable and relaxed when I visited in the afternoon, a nice separate area for diners and a friendly barman who was keen to engage about the selection of dark beers. It’s operated by Market Town Taverns, a small local chain who specialise in pubs with a strong food offering.

    A decent selection covering various beer types, with the prices being reasonable. Although it’s clear that there is a food orientation to this pub, well – bistro, they still seem very welcoming to drinkers and there are seats at the bar to cater for this.

    My half pint of the Brass Castle Bad Kitty beer, which doesn’t have huge initial flavours but there are some pleasant afternotes of vanilla and chocolate. I liked it, especially as it’s a local beer to here, with Brass Castle being located at Malton.

    The reviews of this bar are positive, other than when the chef forgot to put someone’s chicken burger in the, well, chicken burger meal. No doubt a genuine mistake, but the reviewer rushed to give them a 1/5 rating because of it. Mind you, one person left a 1/5 rating with the review:

    “There were no pies. At 7:30pm. Enough said.”

    It’s not exactly the fall of the Roman Empire is it?

    Or this review, which I copy in its entirety:

    “I have no idea why they are so slow with bangers and mash but I have been waiting for 50 mins now with no explanation. It is appalling.”

    How do people possibly cope with such trauma?

    Anyway, I didn’t order any food here, but I’m confident that it would have been of a decent quality. The staff were friendly and I liked that I was thanked when I was leaving, always nice to get some form of acknowledgement. I’d say that this is a very deserved entry into the Good Beer Guide.

  • Chesterfield – George Stephenson Statue

    Chesterfield – George Stephenson Statue

    This bronze statue of the father of the railways, who is buried at Holy Trinity Church in the town, was placed outside Chesterfield railway station in 2005. It was designed by Stephen Hicklin, a sculptor incidentally who had his studios in Saxmundham, Suffolk vandalised last year.

    The sculpture reads “Discovery, Vision and Invention” in the centre, and “George Stephenson 1781-1848. Locomotion, the conquest over space and time” around the outside.

  • Chesterfield – Greenery

    Chesterfield – Greenery

    I wasn’t entirely impressed at the green wall at the rear of McDonald’s in Chesterfield, it looks like my attempts at horticulture….

  • Chesterfield – Holy Trinity Church

    Chesterfield – Holy Trinity Church

    This church is a short walk from the centre of Chesterfield town centre and is nearly always shut, which is rather unfortunate. From reading reviews though, this appears to be for the security of the building than out of any desire to keep people out.

    The church was built between 1837 and 1838, being designed by Thomas Johnson and, to be honest, it’s not a particularly innovative building, especially how bits have been shoved onto it. But it still felt dignified in the afternoon sun, with the churchyard appearing well kept.

    There’s a memorial outside which is to the family of George Stevenson, not to be confused with George Stephenson, the father of the UK railway network who lived nearby at Tapton House.

    This is an unfortunate coincidence, as the great George Stephenson is buried inside the church, with a very simple tomb just with the initials GS. The confusion about his burial location isn’t recent, as in 1876 a reader wrote to the Derbyshire Courier questioning an article which had mentioned that he was laid to rest in the churchyard. The reader wrote:

    “For those who are interested in local worthies, I beg to state that I attended George Stephenson’s funeral and his remains are deposited on the right hand side of the communion table, inside the rails of Trinity Church”.

    Stephenson died in August 1848 and the relatively basic burial was deliberate, a newspaper at the time mentioned “it is in keeping with his life”. On the day of the burial the shops in the town were closed and the streets were busy with people, wanting to see the funeral cortege of the great man.

    The inside of the church would have had box pews when it opened, although these were removed during the late nineteenth century. There is stained glass in the east window which was placed there by his son, Robert Stephenson in his father’s memory. Much in the church is original, not that I got to see it, such as the 1838 font and pulpit. It’s a shame that there isn’t a way for the church to open a little more frequently though.

  • Chesterfield – Market Pub

    Chesterfield – Market Pub

    This pub near the market, hence the name, has won numerous awards in recent years for its food and real ale. I can’t find much history about the pub itself though, there’s nothing obvious on-line and the pub don’t have any information on their web-site.

    All clean and comfortable inside the pub, lots of wood to give a traditional feel. CAMRA note that this is a Greene King pub, something which if true they certainly keep hidden as there’s no branding or dull beer selection on offer. The service was prompt and efficient, with the prices marginally towards the higher end of the real ale scale.

    The Portland Black from Welbeck Abbey Brewery, a local brewery I hadn’t heard of until earlier today when I had another one of their beers in the nearby JD Wetherspoons. Not sure that I got the promised vanilla aroma, but the beer was served at the appropriate temperature and had a rich smoky coffee flavour.

    This is more of a food venue, but they didn’t seem to mind a few drinkers in the front area of the pub. The food also looked of a decent quality and it seemed to be a popular location given how busy it got, with the streetfood menu and selection of pies all looking rather on trend.

  • Chesterfield – Chesterfield Alehouse

    Chesterfield – Chesterfield Alehouse

    This micro-pub is listed in the Good Beer Guide and has won numerous CAMRA awards over the last few years. It’s the first micro-pub to open in the local area and I’m very much a fan of these small and quirky locations, they’re nearly always unique in their style.

    I have little to say about this other than it’s as near perfection as I could want, with some beautiful options. Quite magnificent and I’m struggling to remember a selection as good as this.

    I went for the Moncada Impy Pudding, which was probably a stupid decision given that it was late afternoon and I have other pubs to investigate. I had a half of this imperial stout and it doesn’t come cheap, but this beer was, well, exceptional. The beer was rich, decadent with its richness, with subtle initial flavours of rice pudding and then an aftertaste of cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate. That taste of rice pudding was ridiculous, absolutely beautiful and it was so rich that my half pint took the best part of an hour to get through. I may comment about this beer for a while.

    As for the pub, the service was polite and authentic, if not particularly deep in engagement. But, I don’t much care, that beer selection….. And apologies to the bar that I put a copy of the local CAMRA magazine on the table to take away (the magazine I mean, I wasn’t taking the table), and it managed to stick to the table and some of the front cover is still there. I don’t know what cleaner they’re putting on the table, but it’s quite powerful.

    Anyway, as a pub this is lovely. Absolutely bloody lovely.

  • Chesterfield – Cannon Mill

    Chesterfield – Cannon Mill

    I managed to stumble on this mill building (not literally) whilst meandering around Chesterfield, and it’s one of the oldest industrial buildings in the town. Formerly part of the Griffin Foundry of John & Ebenezer Smith & Co, it’s now standing looking a little redundant and not particularly in keeping with the local area.

    Just to confuse matters, this building was constructed prior to 1788, but there’s a date of 1816 on the front and a cannon design. Apparently this relates to the period when the building was used as part of a cannon foundry, which was a key part of the site’s role as they made cannon balls and ordnance for the Napoleonic Wars. The site was later sold to Chesterfield Gas & Water Company and then there were numerous other owners, with nearly all the buildings on this site demolished except for this former mill.

    An overshot iron water wheel (I copied that from the listed building record, I’m not a water wheel expert). The building was restored in 1957 and given the area is now being redeveloped for housing, another restoration is planned to ensure this piece of heritage remains intact.

  • Chesterfield – The Portland Hotel

    Chesterfield – The Portland Hotel

    This hotel was constructed in 1899 and it was designed to serve the new Market Place Railway Station which opened in the same year, the third station to be built in Chesterfield. Unfortunately, the railway station was entirely demolished in 1973, with rail services having long since been stopped to passengers in 1951 and to freight in 1957. It’s a JD Wetherspoon venue now, perhaps one of the few pub operators who can fully utilise a building of this size.

    The real ale selection is extensive, as I’d expect from JD Wetherspoons, with this being a rather lovely beer and from a brewery that I haven’t seen before. It’s from the local (well, local to this pub) Welbeck Abbey Brewery in Worksop and the beer is named ‘Wake Up and Smell the Coffee’. The beer doesn’t taste particularly rich, but it has deep aftertastes of coffee and I like that very much. Apparently they use the coffee grounds from the Harley Cafe in Worksop, a little bit of a back story for the beer.

    The service in the pub is friendly and everything seems sort of clean and organised, so it’s all comfortable. There are also numerous people tapping away happily on laptops, this must be an ideal location for those who fancy working from home. Well, not so much at home as in a pub, but it’s the same principle as far as I’m concerned.

  • Chesterfield – Greggs (Burlington Street)

    Chesterfield – Greggs (Burlington Street)

    It’s true to say that I talk and write quite a lot about Greggs, it’s certainly my favourite chain.

    So, I was pleased to be given this free savoury item from Vodafone Rewards. Actually, I think this is a stupid promotion for Greggs, it’s unusable for people who don’t live near a Greggs (although I accept that isn’t many people) as it has to be claimed within an hour and the codes frequently get used up quickly. It’s a strange way of rewarding non-customers over customers as well, I suspect that this has a negative overall impact on Greggs. But, since Greggs seem to know what they’re doing, I’ll just carry on accepting the rewards when they’re sent.

    As Greggs go, this was pretty average. The entrance mat was damaged, the hot food section display was broken with paper signs explaining the problem and the range of items was sparse. What they did have in the main counter was cold and my chicken bake, usually a product of quality, was unexciting. This wasn’t just a chicken bake that had just gone cold, it had clearly been there for far too long. The staff member, who was on her own despite a queue forming, was helpful and friendly, but it all felt a bit barren.

    But, my chicken bake was free, so I won’t complain….. And I’m prepared to give Greggs another chance. Actually, probably many tens of chances as they’re still my favourite chain and I’ve missed them on my travels.

  • Northern : Nottingham to Chesterfield

    Northern : Nottingham to Chesterfield

    The train journey from Nottingham to Chesterfield cost me £5.50 for the 38-minute journey, not a bad price, although this is only available as an advance fare. I hadn’t realised that the Northern Rail name was no longer in use, the company is now referred to as simply Northern. Since 1 March 2020, so just over a week ago, the company is now operated by the Department of Transport. The ‘Northern by Arriva’ branding appears to have been removed, simply now saying ‘Northern’.

    The service began in Nottingham and carried onto Leeds, not being particularly busy between Nottingham and Chesterfield at least. The train was clean and there were table and standard seats available, with power available at the seats. The guard who checked the tickets was quite an exuberant character, pleasant and keen to help customers. The train departed and arrived on time, with no delays en route.

    Arriving into Chesterfield railway station where there were no ticket barriers or ticket checks. As a keen supporter of the rail network, I’m pleased to be in Chesterfield, the burial location of George Stephenson, the “father of the railways”.