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Scarborough – Scholars Bar

One of the advantages in pubs using Untappd is that it alerts me to what beers they have which might tempt me in. This was no exception, located near to Craft Bar I noted that they had the Salted Caramel Tonkoko beer from Brew York which is just my sort of thing. It seemed only sensible to wander over and give it a little try, especially as it is listed in the Good Beer Guide.

The bar seems to be doing plenty to engage with their customers, with sports showing, events being advertised around the venue and some decent cask options. The service at the bar was friendly, engaging and personable, with a team member sitting at a nearby table making brief conversation. It’s not what first time customers might perhaps expect from the outside where there was a doorman monitoring proceedings, but it was a little oasis of calm inside.

Like a child, I still watch for my photo to appear at the base of the screen after rating a beer on Untappd. But that’s why they do it, some of us don’t get to go out much and we’re easily pleased. There were a number of reasonably priced beers from Brew York, but I’ve had those before and I was after the 12% imperial stout, but it was a well balanced selection.

Excuse the dead dog on the floor, but here’s the decadent beer itself. This didn’t let me down, it was smooth, rich, silky and the mouthfeel was just right. There was salted caramel, but there was chocolate, coconut and even some biscuit, it was all a pure delight. We were also very pleased when the team member came over and said they’d mispoured the drink and so they gave us another glass of the beer for free, and I can’t imagine many more beers I was so excited to get more of. World class and this beer would I think even delight the brewers at Goose Island, definitely the best brewery in the world.

Anyway, back to the pub. Absolutely justifiably listed in the Good Beer Guide, there was a community feel to this arrangement, the venue was clean and comfortable with an inviting atmosphere. The service was warm, the customers seemed happy and the beer choice was broad with an effort made with keg and cask. A perfect way to end the evening.

August 29, 2023
Scarborough – Craft Bar

I didn’t have a great deal of time to visit pubs in Scarborough as I was primarily on a walking weekend, but Craft Bar so excited and delighted me that I decided to go there twice. It’s Good Beer Guide listed and it is primarily keg based, but they have four real ales on as well.

The cask options and the service at the bar was timely, polite and engaging. Customers were served in turn, they were greeted in a welcoming way and the team member was knowledgeable when answering questions. The cask options were the North South Divide from Bingley Brewery, the US IPA from North Riding, White Rose from White Rose Brewery and Black Jack from Milltown Brewing. The pub’s beer list is also on Untappd, which is what initially tempted me in.

The interior was modern and bright, it was a mixture of craft beer bar, a micro-pub, bottle shop and bar cafe. That might be loading a lot of different categories on one venue, but it felt suitably on-trend and it seemed to be surprising and delighting plenty of customers. There are power points so customers can charge their devices and wi-fi for those who wanted it.

Look at the colours! Each to their own, but how people decide they want to just drink pint after pint of Fosters I’ll never really quite understand. All three of these beers deserve their own little comment, so from left to right.

On the left is the Passion Fruit, Mango & Peach beer from Funky Fluid’s Gelato range. Funky Fluid are perhaps my favourite European brewery and it’s a beautiful reminder of Poland and I’m going to have to find time to sneak in another visit this year and I’m debating whether I can be trusted to go to the Warsaw Beer Festival in October as that would work…. But I digress. The beer was consistent with other beers in their Gelato range, it was smooth, rich, fruity and had a suitably sour kick to it. The peach was the most obvious flavour, but all three of the ingredients were notably there.

In the middle is the Raspberry Blueberry Bubblegum Bottles from Vault City. They had a tap takeover at the Brewery Tap last week which I only realised too late, so I was a little disappointed to have missed out. Fortunately, I caught the tail end of a similar project at this bar, so I was able to try this fun little number which was like a fizzy sweet with a bubblegum flavour. Sour, playful and drinkable, there’s something exciting about having a blue beer, it plays to the inner child and all that.

On the right is the Maple Vanilla Choc Chip Scoop Imperial Stout from Vault City, a full bodied, decadent, rich and complex beer with lingering flavours of chocolate. It’s quite something to be able to make a beer where after one sip there are the equivalent aftertastes of eating an actual chocolate pudding. Outstanding, interesting and a reminder of just how good Vault City are.

Thank you to my friend Hayley for taking me to the bar on the first night, so enjoyable was it that I decided to encourage Richard to experience it on the second night so that he could forget his little incident of falling into a bog during the day. I wasn’t disappointed here either, I went for the Even Cloudier DDH Hard Lemonade from Vault City, which was smooth and packed with lemon flavour without a sharp aftertaste. Then I went for the Divine Coffee Intervention from Brew York, full of coconut sweetness although not quite as full bodied as the Maple Vanilla from the previous evening although the ABV is much lower.

Bars such as this are the future, the cafe bar approach which offers a range of quality and frequently changing beers and other drinks. It doesn’t do food other than bar snacks, but there are plenty of nearby options for those who so desire a meal. It’s rare for me to want to go twice to the same venue when so time limited, but this one deserved it and I’m delighted that it’s in the Good Beer Guide.

August 29, 2023
Smuggler’s Trod 2023 – LDWA Challenge Event

What better way to spend an August Bank Holiday Saturday than by going on an LDWA challenge walk?

Hayley and I were fortunate that our B&B owner kindly got up early to make us a quick breakfast and Simon and Jane picked us up after having a night at their luxury hotel and we set off on our adventure. The breakfast ensured that Hayley and I were fuelled for the day with an air of excitement to the whole arrangement. This is the third time that I’ve entered the LDWA’s Smuggler’s Trod 26 mile challenge event operated by Yorkshire Coast group, this time I would again be walking with Hayley, Jane and Simon. Richard was also at the event, but he was taking part in the shorter 17 mile version of the walk as he was keen to have a drama free event and an easy completion for his first challenge event. Richard parked around one mile away in the free car park, whilst Simon swept into the car park at the hall itself where the walk started.

Here we are, Jane, Hayley, Simon and myself, all ready for the off.

There are many reasons why this is one of my favourite challenge events, but the views right from the start are one of them. The walk starts up something of a steep hill, not something that I’m particularly used to in flat and steady Norfolk.

There’s a fair amount of walking over the moors, but we were fortunate with the weather which wasn’t too hot and there was plenty of breeze from the North Sea.

Snaking (and I’m pleased to say that I didn’t see any of the snakes that are running wild and unsupervised across this area) through the heather just before the split of the short and long walks. We hadn’t seen Richard on the walk as he decided to take it leisurely to ensure that there were no disasters on his expedition.

This is a tremendous walk, such a change of scenery for me compared to Norfolk.

This event is organised by the LDWA’s Yorkshire Coast and they had plenty of checkpoints and always friendly and supportive volunteers. We were wondering at this point at how Richard was getting on as he was walking alone, but we were confident that he was gliding through taking it leisurely. I was fortunate enough to have Simon and his technology guiding me around the event, saving me from doing the navigation.

There are many sections of the walk that I remember from previous events, not least this walk through the ferns.

We battled through, although Jane had a little falling incident here.

Our first checkpoint and I was delighted to see Yum Yums available at the event once again.

Shortly after this Hayley had a little incident and Jane dropped her cake, both disasters in their different ways. To cut a long story short, after some more walking and some debate, Simon and I then went on together to storm through the event because you can’t hold natural athletes such as us back.

This cave is rumoured to have been cut out by George Chubb in 1790, although I’m not entirely sure that I believe this local legend.

A boardwalk through the forested area with a drop down to the river on the left. This was on the long route only, so I was pleased that Richard didn’t need to concern himself with falling down and having an incident. We once again wondered how he was getting on with his short route walk whilst we were enjoying the variety of terrains that we were walking through.

This is new since I last walked the event in 2019.

Fortunately, no flooding at the moment.

The second checkpoint where I stocked up on jelly babies.

And flapjack. I also remembered there’s a substantial hill after this, something that I considered sub-optimal to say the least.

We reached the top and were treated to some more fine views across the moors.

Before we knew it, we had reached the next checkpoint which was operated by the formidable East Yorkshire LDWA.

We also had some rain for around fifteen minutes, which I rather enjoyed as it cooled matters down somewhat and it didn’t look like it would settle in for long.

Simon and I marched off through the trees and somewhere around here the short and long routes rejoined. Richard, who was walking nine miles less, seemed to be making good progress as I could see his location on Friend Finder. It was evident at this point that unless he walked very slowly, we wouldn’t catch him up.

There was some debate here about which way to go across the moors, but between us and despite me, we found the way to go.

There were now limited other entrants in view.

We safely reached the third checkpoint and it reminded me that last time I reached here in 2019 it was a hot day and I was delighted to restock on water. This is the campsite checkpoint and the more substantial along the route in terms of food and drink.

I was pleased that there was plenty of cheese for me to work my way through.

As well as jaffa cakes, sandwiches and more jelly babies. Could I just mention that this event costs just £15 to enter and I feel that I get my money’s worth just from the food and drink which is provided. For those on the long route, there was a checkpoint on average every 3.8 miles or so.

A small river crossing and I took great care here to prevent slipping in. I mentioned to Simon that I couldn’t see any evidence of Richard falling in, so we were confident that he had been safely getting himself around.

There was a stretch where it had been hot and a little unpleasant, but soon enough we were back by the coast. Then something exciting happened, I realised Richard was just 35 minutes ahead of us and there was potential that we could catch him. Simon and I discussed matters and the race was definitely on.

There’s just one blurry photo of a railway bridge as we had just over two miles along a former railway line into Robin Hood’s Bay. There are no more photos as Simon and I decided to up the pace to well over four miles an hour, plus just a little running, to try and catch Richard up. We saw the distance falling, 25 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes and we wondered whether we could even dream of overtaking him. It’s not a race of course, but it is under circumstances such as this.

Unfortunately, despite even more running, we just ran out of distance to catch Richard up. It transpired that he come in just three minutes before us, a gap which haunted Simon and I as we could have caught him. We sat and talked about our events for an hour or so, whilst I gorged on beef stew, a dessert of rice pudding and then more Yum Yums and cakes. The event had been impeccably run, Yorkshire Coast once again did themselves proud.

I won’t upload the photo (although it’s available on request of course!), but we discovered when we got back that Richard had been on one hell of an adventure. He had run out of energy after six miles and then whilst using his pole to navigate a route through the moors he snapped it and then slid straight into a bog. Up to his waist in the bog, he freed himself using his elbows and then soon enough the sweepers supporting the event found him trudging along in a dazed state. Worried he might jump in another bog, they then walked him to the end of the event, waiting patiently whilst he stood at the checkpoints charging himself back up on food and drink.

Next year, Simon and I are going for 26 miles in under 8 hours as we can’t let Richard get in before us, even though he was only walking 17 miles. I had a marvellous time and I didn’t want this event to come to an end, definitely one of my favourite challenge event from all those that I’ve walked. I was also honoured to be at an event where a muddy and wet entrant was walked around nearly the entire event by sweepers, I’ve never heard of that before. Congratulations to Richard for finishing in such trying circumstances! And also of course thanks to Simon, Jane and Hayley for walking with me, especially Simon for be willing to run bits towards the end as we rushed to catch up with Richard.

August 28, 2023
On the Way to the Smuggler’s Trod 2023

Just a brief blog post now that I’m back from my weekend away in Yorkshire.

All good road trips start with a Greggs, especially when it’s a free one from O2. Technically, this Friday morning trip started with a rail journey from Norwich to Ipswich which was fortunately on time and problem free. I had a slight delay at Greggs at Ipswich railway station when I had to wait for the sausage rolls to come out of the ovens, but I was then ready for Hayley to escort me to where Simon would be taking over the burden of driving us.

Signage for the Lost Village festival at Norton Disney, this sounds like an interesting experience to visit in future years.

Simon suggested a stop off at Greggs and as a passenger, it wasn’t for me to argue with that. Chicken bake acquired, we were ready to continue with the journey.

I always take photos when going over the Humber Bridge, I’m never quite sure why.

There’s the River Humber and that means just one thing, we were near the best pub in the country.

And here it is, the Hop & Vine in Hull that I might have mentioned before. We had thirty minutes to spare and so I fully intended to make the most of that, many thanks for Simon for parking up outside. The Jem’s Stout was new to me, it was a proper liquorice hit. I recently lost my planned trip to Hull to the rail strikes, I hope to get back there again soon. All on schedule and making good time, we positively glided into Scarborough with Simon’s skilful driving.

I had chance of an evening walk and so I went to quickly check on Liam’s lifeboat station whilst Simon and Jane were battling their way to their decadent hotel.

More later on with regards to the B&B that I stayed in, as well as a very exciting bar that a couple of us visited in sunny Scarborough. It was to be an early morning the next day, ready to take part in the LDWA’s Smuggler’s Trod.

August 28, 2023
2023 Peterborough Beer Festival

I’ve never been to Peterborough Beer Festival before and it’s been an event that I’ve been excited to try and visit. It’s an annual event operated by CAMRA and held on the week running up to the August Bank Holiday and takes place in marquees on the Peterborough Embankment.

Emma, the owner of Boudicca Brewery, escorted me to the event as it’s important that there’s a supervisory adult when I attend these things. There are two large marquees, one with music and this one with all the beer. I paid an entrance fee of £1, which is the reduced amount for CAMRA members. Like a child, I was genuinely excited at this stage and was scouring the free programme to see what beers would excite and delight me.

The second stage and I was privately quite pleased there was no lunchtime music. I like a bit of peace…..

Inevitably my first port of call.

I don’t keep festival glasses any more as I can’t cope with any more of the things, but it’s a clean design.

They think that they have the longest continuous bar of any beer festival in the country, with this one coming in at 105 metres. There’s not a huge amount of seating available outside, but they do their best and there’s of course plenty of grass to sit on outside.

Some of the beers racked up.

I was pleased to get a behind the scenes invite and that’s how they’re cooling the beers, lots of ice bags. It always add something to any event to be able to see how they’re running things and everything seemed organised and in control.

They then pull the barrels forwards when one runs out. That’s the end of my technical explanation of how they look after the beer, but I will say everything was all well kept and at the appropriate temperature.

This was all whetting my appetite for the Norwich Beer Festival at the end of October, where I’m volunteering all week.

There was a lovely atmosphere at the festival with a large amount of outdoor space. There’s the beautiful Peterborough Cathedral in the background.

I spent some considerable time working out the food options and in the end, Emma and I went for the same food stall. She went for beef in black bean sauce, I went for the old reliable chicken in black bean sauce. It cost £10, but the rice element was filling and the chicken was tender and flavoursome, so I was happy with the whole arrangement. It was also rather lovely to catch up with some of the CAMRA members from Norwich, some of whom were attending all week.

Back on the customer side of the bar. Excluding Boudicca, which is obviously the best brewery at the beer festival, my favourite beers of the day were Tonkoko (Brew York), Bakewell Tart Stout (North Riding Brewery), Blood Orange Pale (Three Acre Brewery), BlaX Forest Stout (Xtreme Ales), 1837 Double Brown Stout (Ridgeside Brewery), Haast’s Eagle (Brew York) and the best of the lot was the Chocolate Old Peculier from Theakston. As can be guessed from how many beers I’ve just listed, I certainly had a good attempt at trying a range of different styles from numerous breweries. I was impressed at how far some of these beers had come from, it’s not just a festival for local brewers.

There are a number of rides which are just ideal for those who have had too much to drink….

Emma looking excitedly at a dog.

Look at how much space they have for their glasses! I’m jealous, as we’re rather more restricted at Norwich Beer Festival. Although, we are in the historic St. Andrew’s Hall which is hardly a hardship. It won’t be a surprise to anyone for me to write this, but the volunteers were all helpful and enthusiastic. There were plenty of suggestions for different beers, lots of conversation and all the hard work that the volunteers put in was very much appreciated. The prices for the beers were also reasonable, with customers being able to pay at the bar using either cash or card.

All told, I had a rather lovely day, with Emma and I having some time to visit some pubs in the town and there was even an run for the last train (that’s a long story but Emma will calm down soon about the amount of running she had to do). I was hoping to be able to go a second time in the week, but couldn’t tempt anyone else to go, as there were some beers I left untried and some pubs I didn’t get chance to visit in Peterborough. But there’s always next year!

August 28, 2023
Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market – Week 20 and Coral Bay

This week’s expedition on my quest to visit every food stall on Norwich Market was Coral Bay which offers Caribbean food. It’s not a cuisine that I know particularly well, other than some visits to the national Turtle Bay chain and a few pub meals over the years, but it’s always appealed.

The menu and we went for two Jerk Chicken meals for £13 as part of the lunch deal. The service was efficient, prompt and warm with no waiting time when we ordered. The stall accepts card and cash with everything looked clean and organised.

The patties in the warmer. The signage at the stall notes that this is a family operated business and they also have a restaurant in Gorleston.

There are sauces to add to the food which we took advantage of to further spice up proceedings.

The jerk chicken was served with salad, coleslaw and rice. The chicken was tender, moist and just fell off the bone which was all rather delightful. I was also pleased that the chicken skin was crispy, just as I like it. The coleslaw was creamy, the salad added texture and the rice handily absorbed all the BBQ and hot sauce I poured on it. There are a couple of seats at the end of the stall for customers so we sat there to eat the food, since I’m paranoid about the seagulls swooping down as soon as I leave the safe confines of the market.

This was one of my favourite meals at the market as it was reasonably priced, the menu looked interesting and the quality was high. James also viewed the meal positively and he appreciated the availability of hot sauce, since that’s something that he drinks throughout the day in the way that others drink water. Other customers were offered a loyalty card which we weren’t, but there was an inviting feel to the whole arrangement so I’d happily recommend it to others.

As an aside, we’ve only got seven venues left to try now, including both of the chips stalls operated by Lucy’s, which is where James and I have been eating for what seems like a decade. Will our traditional favourite win through, or have we been so surprised and delighted by the other stalls that we’ll be looking for pastures new? The anticipation is building…. (well, it isn’t as no-one is likely to care about this, but I like a little bit of drama).

August 22, 2023
Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market – Week 19 and Reggies

Week 19 and my plan to eat at every Norwich Market food stall saw us visiting Reggies, which has been going for more than 60 years and is something of a staple of the market.

The stall’s clear and well presented menu, but they have a set-up which means it’s not entirely clear where you’re supposed to stand to order. On the plus side there are numerous ledges to lean on so there’s no need to leave the area and risk seagull attack to eat the food. The set-up meant it took them a while to notice me but the service was polite and I went for a BLT sandwich. It cost £3.50 and they accept cards and cash, with everything feeling clean and ordered.

James did think about getting that Reggie’s Belly Buster, but he went for a less decadent bacon and sausage sandwich instead. My BLT roll was served promptly, but I’m afraid that I may have been rather spoiled by Deb’s a couple of weeks before. The set-up there meant I could ask if they could cook the bacon a little longer as I like it crispy and they pro-actively offered to remove the fat which was marvellous but not something I’d ever ask to be done for me unless asked. This roll had two pieces of bacon, of which one was slightly grey, and it was just a little overly fatty for my own tastes (which are quite specialist I confess) and I can’t say it had much depth of taste. The tomato was quite soft and it did have some flavour, but the lettuce was only just present. There was nothing specifically wrong with the whole arrangement, but it wasn’t for me.

Although the whole set-up wasn’t for me, I will have to caveat this by noting the market stall is popular and given they’ve been going for decades they clearly know what they’re doing. But these market tours are something of a voyage of discovery and each stall will cater for the needs of particular customers and I think Deb’s is the venue serving this type of food that has surprised and delighted me the most. However, I’m sure there are some wonderful breakfast items at Reggie’s and a visit here is still recommended so that everyone else can find the market stall much suited to them.

August 21, 2023
King’s Lynn – Two Julians (Part One)

We were going long haul on our latest visit as part of the Two Julians (visit our back catalogue of trips at http://www.norfolksuffolk.org.uk/) and our plan to eventually visit every pub in Norfolk and Suffolk. The Excel bus to King’s Lynn cost me just £2 and it was even better for Julian who travels for free. The pubs we visited were:

The Lattice House

Maids Head

The Eagle

Bank House

Wenns

There will be another visit to King’s Lynn in due course in our rigorous research efforts. It was positive to see the Lattice House reopened as the pub is in such an important and interesting historic building it seemed a great shame for it to be closed. The Maids Head and the Eagle were both Craft Union pubs with cheap prices, whereas the Bank House was a grand decadent building which was for a long time a bank. The Good Beer Guide listed Wenns was probably my favourite venue of the day.

As we were in the area, I tried once again to visit St Nicholas’ Chapel but they have limited opening hours and I’ve never been able to go in. One day…..

King’s Lynn is often under-rated, but it has some of the best medieval buildings in the region and I keep finding new things on my visits to the town. This is the gateway to the monastery run by the Austin Friars, where Kings and Princes would have stayed when coming to what was then Bishop’s Lynn.

King’s Staith Lane, one of the atmospheric roads leading down to the river.

And the bus back home after another tiring research trip. We straddle the Waveney so you don’t have to….

August 21, 2023
King’s Lynn – Wenns Chop & Ale House (Two Julians)

The fifth and final pub on our study tour to King’s Lynn was Wenns, which I’ve visited a few times before and I’ve always been suitably impressed. For anyone who has more time on their hands than they know what to do with, here’s my first visit and here’s when I went with my friend Łukasz for food. The venue’s name does make it sound food based, but plenty of customers just visit for a drink and they are listed in the Good Beer Guide.

The beer selection and we both went for the Juice Rocket from Three Blind Mice, but there was also Directors from Courage and Fever Pitch from Marston’s. The service was prompt and efficient, with the venue being relatively quiet. Prices are a little higher than in the other pubs, but they weren’t unreasonable.

Hazy and with plenty of juicy flavour to it, I’ve never had a bad beer from Three Blind Mice. I will be making another visit to Three Blind’s pub in Ely, the Drayman’s Son, at some point.

There’s a cafe bar feel to the venue, which also offers accommodation. I find the surroundings comfortable here and there are numerous different seating areas available. As I discovered last time when playing Jenga, there are also plenty of games to amuse customers as well. We decided against rushing for the bus back to Norwich and instead lingered here as it all felt suitably pleasant. This remains one of my favourite locations in King’s Lynn and I like the mixture of cask and keg.

August 21, 2023
King’s Lynn – Bank House (Two Julians)

The fourth pub of the day for Julian and I on our study tour to King’s Lynn was rather decadent, the upmarket Bank House. This is one of the newer pubs in the town as it only opened in 1983 and remained open for a decade before partly being turned into offices.

There are numerous different dates online about when the building was reopened as a restaurant, bar and hotel, but it’s all rather glamorous. It was first constructed in the seventeenth century as a merchant’s house and was then turned into a bank which was used by the Gurneys, later part of Barclays Bank.

The venue has its own plaque and there’s an extensive history of the building on their web-site which includes:

“A stunning Grade II * listed Georgian townhouse, described by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as one of the finest houses in King’s Lynn, Bank House was built in the early 18th Century for one of King’s Lynn’s richest merchants. Underneath the house extensive barrel roofed vaults extend down to the river where wine imported from the continent would have been stored before being shipped on to Cambridge, Ely or the North.

In the 1780s Joseph Gurney set up his first bank in Bank House. A dent is visible in the wooden floor of the Counting House, now the front room of the Brasserie, where nervous customers once shuffled their feet as they waited at the cashiers’ desk to make their withdrawals.”

And any building that Pevsner likes, I’m fairly certain that I’m going to like as well.

The area where “nervous customers once shuffled their feet” is where that hatch is located.

This is the front room of the Brasserie and the room to the right is the former bank manager’s office.

And here is that room, the former bank manager’s office, which is now the bar area. It’s all tastefully decorated although some of the seating feels more decorative than functional.

There were two real ales available, 61 Deep and Pedigree which are both from Marstons. I went for the 61 Deep, which is a reference to how deep the well is at Marston’s brewery in Burton, and it was well-kept and at the appropriate temperature (the beer, not the well in Burton). Julian went for a soft drink, so I assumed that he was very unwell and I don’t think he’ll make that mistake again in a hurry. I didn’t like to say anything.

I thought that this was a rather smartly laid out venue and there were numerous dining rooms and seating areas. The team members were friendly and welcoming, so it felt inviting despite the grand surroundings. I’m not sure that many people go in just for a drink as this is primarily a dining venue, but they’re welcome to do so and there are a few tables to sit at. We were visiting in the afternoon and they were still serving, although they didn’t have many customers at that point.

The food menus and I thought that the prices seemed quite agreeable given the decadence of the surroundings.

This venue couldn’t have been much different from the previous two pubs we had been to, both Craft Union, but I enjoyed the environment and it all felt informal. There’s always something exciting about being in a building with so much heritage and I wouldn’t rule out returning here for a meal. All rather lovely.

August 20, 2023