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Luxembourg – the SNCF strike

[I originally posted this in May 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

After arriving safely at the railway station in Luxembourg I faced the problem that was the SNCF rail strike. I decided to keep my trip to France, rather than changing to Germany, as the media had reported over recent weeks that support for the strike was falling and that more services were operating.

After checking with a staff member, they said that the trains to Thionville were running every hour, with the half hourly ones being cancelled. That was my expectation from the SNCF web-site, so I went to buy a ticket from a machine. The machine only let me buy tickets on services that were operating, so all seemed well.

Then the board never updated the platform that the train was going from and it then got “deleted”. I went to speak to the staff at the main information kiosk at the station and they confirmed I’d need to wait an hour for the one after.

There seemed something strange about this that didn’t quite ring true, as I didn’t see why so many trains would be cancelled to Thionville, especially as they had just sold me a ticket. So I went to the international departures desk and asked them.

The lady there was very helpful, and she was rather bemused at the situation as well. After a long conversation with her colleagues she said that she thought that the train was running and the information boards were wrong. She then suggested to go to platform nine and see if the train I had booked onto was running, and if not to speak to the conductor on the TGV service to Paris (which stops at Thionville) to see if they’d let me on.

As I got to the platform I could see the train that I had a ticket for was there and wasn’t looking very cancelled. I found a staff member who told me to get on as it was about to leave, which I did, although I was a still little unsure of whether this was actually the right train.

However, the right train it was and my trip to Thionville began. Luxembourg railway station is the first place that I took Dylan to, so happy memories of the place, although it was rather more stressful this time. Still lots of pigeons that looked like they might “get squished”.

The train was a double decker one and looked modern and well presented, although it was unclean and had rather a lot of litter on the floor. The prices for the train also weren’t that cheap, more expensive than the UK for the same distance. However, I got to Thionville safely and happily, so the end result was all very positive.

Thionville railway station.

January 28, 2025
Maltby – The Queens Hotel

I spent the morning in Maltby and this is an imposing and impressive building, now operated by JD Wetherspoon. I came out of my way to come here as it’s listed in the Good Beer Guide, such is my commitment to my challenge of visiting as many as I can. There’s an old photo of the building at https://www.old-rotherham.co.uk/QueensMaltby.php?i=1. In 1933, an application for an alcohol licence for a new venue on Muglet Lane was rejected, despite many local miners saying they couldn’t get to the Queens before it closed. It was mentioned in the article that the Queens had a “monopoly value for £9,000” which I had to look up and this means:

“Monopoly value is the difference in value between premises with a licence and premises without a licence. That, of course, may be a very considerable sum. Therefore, in those cases it is provided that where the new licence has been issued and the old licence surrendered, the amount which must be paid is the difference between the two licences. In other words, if there is a public house and the beer licence is surrendered and a hotel business is being obtained, obviously it is only right and proper that the beer licence which is surrendered should be taken into account in assessing the amount.”

The staff might have wished that this new venue had been given a licence, as it was reported in 1935:

“At Rotherham West Riding Court on Monday, Patrick Higgins (42), a miner from Maltby, was bound over for twelve months for assaulting George William Emery, barman at the Queens Hotel”.

By 1972, the hotel was advertising that they had topless go-go girls with a light show. I suspect that the more traditional had somewhat died away by this point.

Um, well I suppose that’s a claim to fame.

Some history about the building.

Another traditional breakfast and unlimited coffee, coming to a total of £4.18. Egg was a bit hard and the toast was cold, but I can’t much complain given the price. The new area manager was in the pub today, one of the customers wanted to ask her about beer mats but didn’t dare. I decided not to get involved. Service at the pub was friendly and everything seemed clean and tidy, although the temperature was quite cold (although just right for me) and they had some customers huddling around the real fires.

It’s a large building, actually perhaps a little bit too big and the furniture feels all a bit over the place.

This half pint of Kismat from Beermats Brewing Co cost just 90p and was quite a complex porter, with tastes of coffee, dark chocolate and a roasty flavour.

The on-line reviews, which I feel a compulsive need to check, are around average for a JD Wetherspoon outlet, although there are a heap of angry customers who have been charged £75 for parking in the car park without registering their details.

“Very rude customer service by the bar staff 🙄 I was served food that had a dead slug in the salad and then told I couldn’t go in for a month just because I sent the salad back and we also had to wait half an hour just for a desert”

I want to hear the other side to this one….

“When dealing with a small matter the staff came with 4 members and were very rude and completely dismissive. They were passive aggressive and what could have been dealt with easily they were very much on a power trip and totally uncalled for.”

And this one. Often “a small matter” is that a customer has smashed up a table or similar.

“After coming here since I was 13years old with just my friends for tea it has now been said we can no longer come without an adult after showing us a policy that is situated hidden behind condiments (which is not clearly visible) and apparently this policy has always been in place but isn’t clearly shown around the pub ie at the bar or on the walls , in toilets etc but we have always been served at the bar without question, never asked if we were with adults ever and so have been asked to leave which we have (bearing in mind we were served by “assistant manager “) but I’m sure the manager will have a shock when head office gets proof of the pub serving 17 year old girls with alcohol after he had been warned his staff were serving under age , he clearly likes to turn a blind eye when it suits !”

I doubt head office were much concerned…..

“The chicken was more like cat and the egg was a joke rubber egg thank God for plenty of mayonnaise and sauces”

I’m not sure that I know what cat tastes like.

“Bar staff to slow takes u half an hour to get served I no I run pubs for green king”

Greene.

“This is a basic bakery it’s supposed to be a truck stop the food and facilities on site for hgv drivers are for food very poor showers are dated and some are broken it’s a hard stand parking but security is a source of concern and it’s quite noisy as well would only stop as a last resort”

And a review for some other venue to add to the mix, but I like the idea of a Wetherspoon pub being a truck stop.

On another matter, the local CAMRA group seems obsessed with leaving comments such as this:

“The cider is no longer classed as real by CAMRA”

I know there are some CAMRA groups that would really rather comments like this weren’t listed and I don’t much like it as it seems to be making an argument when one isn’t needed. They’re referring to cider manufacturers such as Snails Bank and the like, which, to be honest, are still ciders and so most people (and many CAMRA people) consider as real. For anyone interested, CAMRA have got their purist list at https://camra.org.uk/promotional-campaigns/promoting-real-cider-and-perry/map, but it’s rare for a branch to mark this all over the Whatpub pages and I can’t see what point they’re trying to prove.

It’s an impressive building, I suspect that it would be hard for many other operators to make a venue of this size to work, so they’re fortunate to have JD Wetherspoon take over. There were six real ales on, all keenly priced and they seemed well curated. Definitely a decent addition to the Good Beer Guide.

January 27, 2025
Bramley (Rotherham) – War Memorial (Roy Geoffrey Scott)

Further to my post about the war memorial at Bramley, near to Rotherham.

The story of Roy Geoffrey Scott piqued my interest as he was a young casualty and he died very near to the end of the war. He was born on 6 July 1926, the son of Thomas Scott (1860s?-1930s?) and Mary Ann (nee Sadler) (1884-1978) who lived at 2 Bentley Road in Bramley. Roy joined the East Lancashire 1st Battalion as a Private, army number 14810893. Roy died on 12 April 1945 when crossing the River Aller and is buried at Becklingen War Cemetery (located between Hamburg and Hanover), one of 2,401 to be buried there.

One of three missing men from the battalion.

The Lancashire Infantry Museum notes that:

“From the Rhine to the Elbe At the end of March both Lancashire battalions crossed the Rhine and began the final advance across the North German Plain. 1st East Lancashires first took an active part in the battle for Bocholt, 28-29 March, then, like the South Lancashires, moved through the eastern border areas of Holland, mopping up enemy stragglers. German defences were based on water obstacles, and the East Lancashires then took part in fighting on the Ems-Weser Canal near Ibbenburen, 6th-7th April, and at the assault crossing of the River Aller on the 12th, with another heavy engagement at Kirchlinteln on the 16th, before occupying Hamburg on 4th May.”

Roy never made it to Hamburg, where he would have been one of the forces who took control of the city.

I asked Google Gemini for more information and it discovered:

“The River Aller, flowing through Lower Saxony, Germany, presented a significant obstacle to the Allied advance in the spring of 1945. Securing crossings over the Aller was crucial for maintaining momentum and preventing the Germans from establishing a defensive line along the river. The Battle of Rethem, fought from April 9th to 11th, exemplifies the strategic importance of the Aller . The small town of Rethem, with its bridge over the river, became a focal point for both sides. The British 53rd Welsh Division faced a determined defence by German forces, including the 2nd Marine Infantry, Eisenbahn-Flak units equipped with 128mm cannons, and SS troops . The initial British assaults on Rethem were repulsed, highlighting the strength of the German defences . However, the British eventually outmanoeuvred the Germans by crossing the Aller at Westen and flanking the defenders, forcing them to retreat . This victory allowed the British to establish a Bailey bridge at Rethem and continue their advance towards Hamburg.”

Roy’s gravestone in Germany. Every death is sad, but this is particularly poignant as Victory in Europe Day is 8 May 1945, less than a month after he died.

January 27, 2025
Bramley (Rotherham) – War Memorial

There’s something very reassuring about a war memorial which is well tended and looked after. There are 47 names on the First World War list and 17 names on the Second World War list.

A rather lovely little area, very respectful.

The full list of names:

Asbery, E
Baker, R W
Birch, J
Bizby, E
Bradbury, A
Bradley, A
Brown, A
Brown, H
Bucktrout, H
Cakebread, A
Carney, J
Cliff, S
Davison, R
Gratton, J
Guest, S
Hands, J T
Haywood, F
Holmes, A
Holmes, F
Humphries, S
Jackson, A
Limb, T
Locke, J
Locke, M
Lubbock, R
Mangham, C
Mcknight, A
Metcalfe, H
Milns, E
Mirfin, G D
Morley, E M
Mowbray, J
Palmer, W
Parker, J
Parker, S
Parry, A
Perkins, H
Purseglove, F
Rhodes, J
Robinson, P
Rodgers, J L
Ross, H
Sayles, H
Schofield, A
Scholey, T
Scott, Roy Geoffrey
Seneschall, H
Seston, E
Short, J
Short, J H
Smith, A
Smith, J
Smith, S
Taylor, A
Taylor, W
Teale, A
Thornton, G
Thorpe, P
Titley, M
Trotter, F
Walker, D
Walker, W
Waltch, S
Williams, H

January 27, 2025
Sheffield – Hymn to Ninkasi

I noticed this venue on Untappd and it looked like it had an intriguing variety of beers available. They’re primarily a craft beer shop with plenty of bottles and cans to choose from, but they also have three beers on keg to add to the variety. The welcome was friendly, conversational and engaging, although they didn’t have any other customers for the entire time that I was there. They’ve got the 2025 Putty in can and I was hoping that they might have it on draft, but unfortunately not. The environment was clean and comfortable, although the team member said that she was surprised by how few customers had come in. It’s a challenging time of year to be fair, but I hope that they’re doing well generally.

I went for the 2024 edition of the Fairytale of Brew York, one of my favourite breweries. I’ll just copy and paste my Untappd description of the beer as that seems easier:

“I like a bit of smokiness 🙂 sweet, lactose and smooth…. good in short doses. Like me really.”

It’s a really decent venue and they have over 220 different beers available, so there is something that nearly everyone in that mix. They haven’t picked up any negative reviews yet, so they’re obviously doing something of a grand job. There’s an external seating area as well if you can catch the 25 minutes of sun that is available over the next three months, which adds considerably to the total number of seats given how small it is inside.

January 27, 2025
Sheffield – Salt

I’ve been to Salt’s brewery in the sunny town of Saltaire and this is their outpost in the Kelham Island area of Sheffield. Note the rather lovely gateway, although it’s hard to miss, which the brilliant Nikolaus Pevsner said was the “most spectacular survival of factory architecture in the city”.

Some of the keg range.

And some of the cask range, with Ossett being one of the owners of Salt Brewery, hence their presence here.

The Alpacalypse from Salt, a clean tasting pale which has some fruit flavour to it, slightly lemony. There was a bit of sweetness and it’s certainly sessionable, I imagine quite agreeable to the lager drinkers as well.

The Jet from Ossett Brewery, a oaty, roasty real ale with a bit of coffee taste to it.

It’s a busy venue with a younger crowd buying lagers and it wasn’t quite clear to me why they’d pick here over anywhere else. The food option is Seoul Chicken which looked rather agreeable on the menu, although I didn’t see anyone ordering anything when I was there. Decent mix that though, craft beer and chicken.

Anyway, all rather lovely and I found it useful to charge devices as they’ve conveniently put lots of power points all over the place. The service was friendly, the venue was clean and the atmosphere was inviting. The venue was formerly known as Stew & Oyster, but then they decided not to sell oysters and so it made some sense to change the name. Always positive (well, nearly always positive) to see a mixture of cask and keg.

January 27, 2025
Warsaw – Popeyes

I’d better add the caveat here that I’m aware that there are better restaurants available in Warsaw, and I’ve gone through probably hundreds of them over the last decade, but I was moderately surprised to see an outlet of Popeye’s opening in the Polish capital. They opened their first venue in Wrocław in July 2023, which is a reminder to myself that it’s years since I’ve been to that rather lovely city and I must go back. They now have around ten venues and are rolling out more across Poland at the moment, as part of an international expansion. I first tried Popeyes in New Orleans around a decade ago and have kept fond memories of it.

One of the reasons I found it handy to pop here was that I needed to charge my devices up and they have power points. Everything seemed clean and ordered, with team members visibly cleaning the venue on a regular basis.

I ordered via a kiosk, but you can order at the counter if preferred.

Served promptly and looking delicious, the chicken tenders in the bag were moist and tender. The chicken wings were cold so I took those back, but they politely immediately made me more without querying the matter, and they were much better, although not anything to write home about. I’m not sure that things are quite as smooth as in their UK and US outlets, but I suspect that they’ll give KFC something of a run for their money. The reviews are a little mixed here and there are a few people disappointed that they’ve made the menu a little Polish orientated rather than offering some of the US options such as shrimp.

Anyway, there’s some more food content as I’ve been writing too much about bridges.

January 26, 2025
Rotherham : Bailey Bridge (and the chaos of litter in Rotherham)

In my quest for ever more riveting content (and rivets sort of have a link here) I’ve been to a bridge in Rotherham. This isn’t the bridge I’m making reference to, but it’s good exercise as there’s another bridge behind this one (sort of visible in the photo) to get to it.

It’s this one. It’s a surviving Bailey Bridge and it’s particularly appropriate here, as Sir Donald Coleman Bailey was born in the town and was educated at Rotherham Grammar School. This one was used during the Second World War and was acquired from the army for £300, paid for by Rotherham Council and Rawmarsh UDC, opening in 1947.

As this board notes, the bridge is strong enough to hold a tank.

On a more unfortunate note, the litter problem in Rotherham is unlike anything else I’ve seen before as it seems to be nearly everywhere. These photos just happen to be either end of the bridge I went to visit, but it feels like this throughout the town.

A once beautiful riverbank.

There are tens of thousands of pieces of litter in a relatively small area, the council appears to have entirely lost control and this is repeated throughout the bits of the town that I’ve walked through (which is quite a lot for various reasons this weekend). This article refers to a different park nearby, but hopefully the next generation will be a little more caring towards the environment. Anyway, it’s a nice bridge and as part of the development of Forge Island in the town they’ve commissioned a new Bailey bridge which is now in position. That’s the end of my posting about bridges in Rotherham I think unless I happen across another interesting one.

January 26, 2025
Rotherham : Bluecoat

I first visited here in November 2024 and since I’m in the area again, and knowing that it’s in the cheapest JD Wetherspoon price bracket I thought that I’d pop in again. It’s listed in the Good Beer Guide and it was built as a Bluecoat charity school, but was turned into a pub in 1981 and JD Wetherspoon took it over in 2001. Following the closure of the now burnt out Rhinoceros pub in the town, this is the only pub that the chain have in Rotherham now.

This breakfast, unlimited coffee and half a pint of real ale came to the grand total of £5.18, which is some impressive value. And it tasted delicious, I’m not really one for full English breakfasts (or breakfasses as they seem to be called when customers order more than one) but I rather like the arrangement here.

The on-line reviews are generally very good, averaging 4.2 out of 5 on Google.

“It went from bad to worse, we ordered food and drinks using the app straight to our table – one drink was a pepsi max and one was pepsi. The guy brought the drinks over and one of the drinks had a lemon in, assuming this was a marker for which drink was which I asked which one was the full fat drink. The server said ‘I don’t know, sniff them’. At first I thought he was joking so laughed it off, until he walked off with nothing else to say”

This one I’ve seen variations of in numerous pubs in the chain.

“Ordering via app is a nightmare. Can’t make any changes at all to food order (dietary requirements etc), no way to request food without an ingredient etc. Tried to speak to bar staff in person and all we got was “you can’t make changes. Also, the food was disgusting.”

I’m guessing they tried to take out an ingredient of a meal that’s going to be cooked in the microwave….

“I work within the funeral service, after a long hard day at work. In the 19,5,2021, i was lucky enough to be out on a first date with a gorgeous lady. We decided to go and use one of your establishments (bluecoats rotherham).

Upon placing our order which was two large portions of scampi and chips, with a side plate of garlic bread. waiting for the service. After twenty minutes, the food arrived.

The order was wrong, the kitchen staff had sent one large portion and one small. After i pointed out the fact that there should have been two large portions. The small plate was taken away..
Thus leaving the large portion and garlic bread at our table..

Now to reiterate that i was on a date, i wasn’t thinking that for me to consume my meal would have been a ideal way to impress the lady I was with.. As she was left plate less.

After 15 minutes of waiting, of course now, the two plates are cold upon the table. So i called over the waiter, whom after a short and polite conversation, said he would take the plates and replace them under the kitchen heat light.

Now in so far as my limited knowledge of food preparation, is it safe to reheat fish products or indeed is it acceptable to even reheat any food products thereafter???

Upon hearing what the waiter was planning, i took decisive actions to ensure that i was able to have the reheated food, passed back to me.. i pulled the scampi apart.
And said that all three plates should be served at the same time.

We ordered food approximately 8.05 pm .. 8.55pm fifty minutes after placing our first initial order, still our table is merely adorned by pints of Carling (with a dash of lime). Lets not forget that this is a first date and still we haven’t been able to have a late evening meal… So releasing that it was a wasted opportunity for us to relax and have a good time. I called for the manager (Shaun) to come and i gave him the opportunity to explain what the problem was?

Upon which I was unfairly accused, of being nasty to two members of his staff. Which I then asked who i had apparently upset.. to which he retorted that he didn’t need to justify anything… he then claimed that I was being rude towards himself, which indeed i wasn’t.. The lady i was with can clarify this to be fact .. i was left feeling despondent as to how i was mad eto feel and highly disrespected in front of the whole public house…

I asked for a refund and left, luckily enough for me and my date, all was not lost. We enjoyed our meal at the local KFC…

I would like to Express my discontent and anger as to how i was spoken to and how the manager tried to publicly show me up..

I remained in my seat at all times, i didn’t raise my voice during the conversation, i didn’t personally insult anyone, i didn’t swear.. I i didn’t wish to be treated as i was.”

I have no words, but I hope that the date went well.

“Absolutely a disgrace the decor was very dark and dismissal decided not to eat surely if this was a “weather spoon” pub why isn’t they a dress code and the customers that it attracted were from the angel and county brough very low life will not set foot in this place ever again !!!”

Dress code? Seems aspirational.

In terms of the real ale, there are seven on at the time of writing, the Ruddles and Abbot Ale from Greene King, as well as Doom Bar from Sharp’s being the regular beers. The four rotating ales are the Ossian from Inveralmond, the Odin’s Gold from Rudgate, the Midnight Bell from Leeds Brewery and the Cavendish from Welbeck Abbey. I went for half a pint of the Midnight Bell which was roasty, malty and had a bit of liquorice taste to it, well-kept and smooth.

It’s a venue with history, the staff seem friendly, it’s clean, the prices are low and the real ale selection is decent. All really rather lovely.

January 26, 2025
Stafford : Sun Inn

At the end of December, I had a spare hour in Stafford and was able to tick off another Titanic pub which is conveniently also a Good Beer Guide listed pub. Previously known as the Tequila Red and O’Neill’s, the Titanic Brewery took this existing, albeit closed, pub over in 2010 and they’ve been able to develop it into a popular community venue.

Every community needs a Titanic pub.

There’s Cherry Porter, my favourite of the mainstream Titanic beers.

Ooooh, and a decent selection of crisps.

The beer board and the prices all seem reasonable to me.

I found space in a little snug. It was a busy venue and they were serving out a fair amount of food, so I was pleased to find anywhere to sit.

Here we go, my delicious, rich, smooth Cherry Porter alongside some agreeable mature cheddar and red onion crisps.

The reviews on-line are nearly all positive, other than a recent one which gave 1 star and commented “I do not recommend this pub as the prices are excessive and had no entertainment”. The prices are excessive only in comparison to Wetherspoons and perhaps they should lay on a dancing band…. Anyway, most people seem happy and I was for what that’s worth.

The pub created a comfortable, almost sophisticated, atmosphere, with the Titanic beers of course being something of a plus.

January 26, 2025