The next pub on our little meander was the Old Arcade and it wasn’t a very long walk from the Head of Steam and their sign is just visible on the right hand side of this photo. The Old Arcade is something of a well-known venue in Cardiff and it’s also listed in the Good Beer Guide.
The pub’s website has a history of the venue, something which I always think is a very positive thing. When the county gaol was demolished in 1835, an area was created for a new indoor market and an arcade was constructed to reach it from Church Street. Next to that new decadent arcade was a pub, known in 1844 as the Birdcage, later known as the Arcade & Post Office, then the Arcade Vaults and now it’s known as the Old Arcade.
The service was friendly and there was a collection of real ales to choose from, primarily from Brains brewery who operate the venue although it’s apparently currently leased to Marstons.
And the keg options.
I went for the Dark Mild from Brains, which was creamy, dark (obviously) and also was robust enough to go well with my salt & vinegar crisps.
This is the rear room of the pub, with plenty of rugby memorabilia and imagery around. CAMRA note that this is perhaps one of the best known rugby pubs in the world, which is certainly a claim to fame.
There’s a covered area to the rear which offers more space, although this was firmly padlocked off when we visited. I can imagine how busy this gets when there is rugby being played in the city.
The bar in the rear room of the pub and some of these fittings are from the Victorian period.
And for anyone interested, here’s the menu which is served during the day. The online reviews are very positive although there was a complaint from a disabled customer that there was no provision for them and they were told that it was standing room only. The venue replied “You are quite welcome to come for a drink but it’s just standing only, we welcome everyone in our pub” which is perhaps inappropriate wording and I can see why the customer feels that this was a sub-optimal response. But there are very few negative reviews and that’s quite impressive given how high volume the venue is.
I rather liked this pub, it was welcoming, friendly and seemed organised. There were numerous real ales available and there’s an element of history which is evident here. I was pleased that the Good Beer Guide listed this venue, it seems a most appropriate choice.
Our first pub in Cardiff was Head of Steam, which ticked numerous boxes for me. Firstly, I’m working my way around every Head of Steam in the country and I don’t have many left, it’s also a decent venue which has the beers listed on Untappd and to add to that it’s also listed in the Good Beer Guide.
Some of the keg beer options.
Accepting that I was making an awkward request, I asked if I could order 1/3 of three different beers. The team member was helpful and pro-actively mentioned that there was an offer of any four 1/3rds for £10 which was very reasonable given the cost of some of the beers.
Anyway, from left to right:
(i) Brewmaster Special 007 from Brew York – grapefruit, hoppy and quite fierce, with some pineapple in there as well.
(ii) Bird of Prey from Ulitje Brewing Company – juicy, hoppy and another fierce tasting one.
(iii) Jellyfish Nebula from Tooth & Claw Brewing – a clean and hoppy beer, but I would have ideally liked a bit more punch from it.
(iv) Sticky Toffee Pudding from Vocation Brewery – this is the cask version and there were upfront toffee notes, roasted end-notes and it was a bit thin, but the toffee taste was pleasant.
Liam followed me by going for four different beers, with Ross ordering a pint of lager but I wasn’t judgemental about that….. Richard decided he wanted a decadent can. Richard will be showered with praise later on in this post for his decisions in this venue, but I’ll come onto that.
This is Richard’s beer but I helped him drink some of it, it was rich in flavour but hides its ABV. Not enough chilli for me, but lots of chocolate and it was slightly decadent.
Richard decided to get some cans and I was surprised and delighted by this one, Fancy Orange from Twice Brewed. This is my kind of thing, there’s orange, there’s fizziness, it’s low ABV but it’s rather lovely in a Hooch kind of way.
The Dandelion and Burdock sour and I thought that this was brilliant. It was punchy, herbal with elements of liquorice. This was certainly another one verging into decadent.
The bar had quietened down a little from how busy it was earlier. There was a private party on the first floor and no seating when we came in, but it was a little more calm later on.
Richard getting in the way of my photo of the Untappd screen, which for those who can be bothered to zoom in can see the latest check-ins from Liam, Richard and myself. Ross refuses to get Untappd which feels sub-optimal, but who am I to be judgemental….
This was the beer of the night with caramel, banana, toffee all beautifully combined. Slight burnt notes, but so agreeable with great mouthfeel and smooth for its ABV. Decadent and brilliant.
Richard was so excited at the beers he decided to sneeze a lot, so we ran for safety to the bar. Not one to linger on Untappd, but Richard is getting ever better at his scoring and even Liam is coming on nicely….
Anyway, this is a really rather lovely bar with an interesting mixture of cask and keg beers. The prices were reasonable with the offers and the team members were friendly, engaging and helpful. The venue could perhaps keep its Untappd listings a little more up-to-date, but that feels like a minor matter.
But, particular thanks to Richard for getting so involved with the can choices and encouraging us to stay a little longer than we might otherwise have done, he was absolutely right to tempt us into lingering in this really rather lovely venue. Definitely one that deserves to be in the Good Beer Guide.
Due to the buses faffing about, we arrived into Cardiff a little later than expected and so I had another of my marvellous ideas to try a chain that none of us had visited before.
Jollibee is the Philippines’s rather beloved fast-food chain, a national institution that began humbly in the late 1970s as an ice cream parlour before discovering, with perhaps admirable pragmatism and self-awareness, that people actually preferred fried chicken and spaghetti. Who can blame them? Today it’s a global brand and it has started to expand its operations in the UK.
We ordered at the kiosks, but these are the tempting menu boards. I’m intrigued by the spaghetti option, it’s something a little different at least. As was the pineapple drink option that was listed.
A nice and basic five spicy tenders meal which was entirely agreeable, with the chicken was tender and the coating was actually spicy rather than some sort of bland corporate affair.
It all feels rather on-trend, but it could have been cleaner. The toilets were also rather chaotic, which perhaps takes away from their brand concept a little in terms of being modern and, er, clean.
Liam panicked when the kiosk said “would you like to add something else for a bargain price” and he kept saying yes.
Richard did something similar, including ordering a dessert. I think it was agreed by us all that for a chain, the food and drink here was really rather acceptable. The online reviews are positive and this feels a better value and quality proposition than offered by their rivals KFC, who have an outlet just over the road.
The excitement of my birthday weekend (the first of two, which is perhaps overly decadent) began on Friday with the trip from Norwich to Cardiff. After Liam had picked me up in his rather lovely car, of which much more on later, we collected Ross and headed to Greggs.
I get a free Greggs drink every week and I went for the Mint Mocha and it didn’t disappoint.
Liam had secretly planned the Saturday activity, but it was evident that it was likely to be heavily amended due to the rain. He went off to make his secret call and came back with a hamburger for me, which was suitably delicious. He’s a very good friend.
Safely into Banbury and the first charge of the weekend.
We were meeting up with Richard at Gloucester Services and that proved to be just a little too upmarket for some of us, but Richard enjoyed his coffee as nothing is too upmarket for him.
I like services with a Greggs as I have simple tastes, but for those who want to buy artisan bread, there’s that option here.
We then drove to Tiny Rebel (by we, I mean Liam and Richard) which I’ve already written about. With that we arrived at Mercure Cardiff North hotel, but more about that in future posts….
I’ve been keen to visit this taproom at Tiny Rebel’s brewery for some time, so trying to ignore the torrential downpour of rain we headed on inside.
There was a friendly welcome from the team member at the door, with the whole arrangement feeling ordered and well managed.
I had, to be honest, expected a slightly wider range of beers and I struggled to find something that I hadn’t had before. However, the team member behind the bar was patient and we worked out the three beers that I’d have one third of a pint of each.
The venue served food and I was very tempted by the pizza and burger options, but I was conscious that we were probably best to get to our hotel in Cardiff and then head out.
The three beers that I went for were (from left to right):
(i) Rebel IPA – this was clean, crisp and a little unexciting.
(ii) Neon Drift – this was much more exciting, fruity, rich and slightly complex.
(iii) Electric Boogaloo, the only one of these that I’ve had before – passion fruit finish, with a pleasant tropical taste.
I very much liked how comfortable, clean and organised it was here. The team members were friendly, it had a laid-back environment, but I would have liked to see a little more decadence in terms of the beer options although it might be that Tiny Rebel is more concentrating on their core range now.
I’m very pleased that we visited and as a little extra bonus, it had nearly stopped raining by the time we left ready to embark on the next part of the journey.
I was wondering why I’d heard of Banbury Cross, but then I realised that it was from an historic nursery rhyme. This main event is the “Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross, to see a fine lady upon a white horse.” but no-one knows for sure who the fine lady was meant to be, which is terribly British, to celebrate someone anonymously for centuries. Theories range from Queen Elizabeth I to Lady Godiva, to some entirely fictional woman who had the good sense to sit on a horse while everyone else was walking. Anyway, the cross in the nursery rhyme was pulled down in 1600.
This ornate little number dates from 1859 when it was erected to mark the wedding of the Princess Royal (1840-1901), the daughter of Queen Victoria, to Prince Frederick of Prussia (1831-1888) in the previous year. She was a little unlucky, as she was Empress of Prussia for just 99 days after her husband died soon after becoming Emperor in March 1888.
In 1914, the statues of Queen Victoria, King Edward VII and King George V were added, with the cross being restored in 2012. Its major fault as far as I’m concerned is that it’s inaccessible, or without risking life and limb, as it’s stuck in the middle of a roundabout. It does take away a little from the excitement when it can only be seen from behind barriers. There’s a photo on the Francis Frith website at https://www.francisfrith.com/banbury/banbury-cross-1921_70582 from 1921 which shows that it was once rather more accessible.
The first pub stop en route to Cardiff was The Exchange pub in Banbury, operated by JD Wetherspoon. Using the chain’s text to explain the pub name and history:
“For almost 50 years, countless letters and parcels were brought in and out of this building. Banbury’s former head post office was built in 1936, on the site of an earlier 1877 post office. The new building, and the telephone exchange giving this building its name, was designed by Henry Seccombe of HM Office of Works. It was opened on 15 December 1936, by Colonel A Heenage, MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Postmaster-General.”
As usual, I have to applaud the chain’s efforts to explain the history of the local area, there are tens of these boards across the pub. There’s a photo of when this venue was a telephone exchange at https://telephone-exchanges.org.uk/exchanges/banbury-exchanges/.
My now obligatory photo of the unique carpet.
The entrance and lower area of the pub, the main bar is on the raised area to the right.
And another photo looking towards the bar. There were around six real ales available, all at the usual low prices. For anyone staying late and wanting to go to a club at the weekend, the nightclub Fever is located literally behind the venue.
The pub is on the chain’s lowest price band, so this meal and drink were a grand total of £7. The steak pudding is OK, it’s not packed with the finest quality steak, but that Hazy Jane is a pint bottle and so that seems like excellent value to me. Ross went for the Christmas wrap as he loves this time of year and Liam I think went for the all day brunch or similar. The drinks and food all arrived promptly and were at the appropriate temperature, so everyone was happy.
This leads me seamlessly onto my having a look at the online reviews of the venue, which are about average for the chain.
“The “chef” kept coming out to the eating area in her grubby uniform and dancing all over the place.”
I’m with the customer, there’s no need for frivolity, it’s bad for the soul.
“My daughter, 18 today, tried to enter this establishment 30 minutes ago, with her approved photographic I.d. And was turned away for being underage, because she had to be 18 years old and one day, this is in contravention of the current licensing laws.”
That does seem a bit harsh, the excitement of turning 18 and being told that you should wait another day. Although it isn’t a contravention of the current licensing laws.
However, this is back in the day when venues were allowed to respond and they did.
“Your daughters ID showed her as turning 18 on 10/08/2019, so until 00:00:01 on 10/08/2019, she would not have been able to enter the premises. We are open until 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, which technically is the next day, so if she had come in between midnight and 01:00 she would have been allowed entry.”
A rather different story and I like that they would have let her in for one hour after midnight, that’s quite a classy response.
“Very disappointing experience where the rude staff member wouldn’t even consider looking at my son’s valid electronic Australian drivers licence as ID. We had already been served once? I was rudely told when the staff member was talking over me that it was company policy to see a physical document. We had no issue is Bristol. I guess Banbury isn’t used to seeing many international visitors”
As it stands, despite the Government planning a change to this, a pub can’t accept a digital ID. So that’s a 1 star review as the venue refused to break the law to serve someone…..
“Very disappointed,got to be the worst Wetherspoons I’ve ever been in.No fish and the Wiltshire ham was almost see-through with chips I could almost count on two hands. Usually I would have made a big fuss for being ripped off but it was my birthday and my wife talked me down. Safe to say I’ll never frequent this branch again OR RECOMMEND IT.”
Complaining should be allowed on your birthday…..
“Dreadfull , ordered a starter , main all arrived at once starter was cold and clearly not cooked , main pizza arrived 2 small pizzas as they had run out of large bases , just poor service , nasty nasty”
That feels sub-optimal, sending two pizzas to make up for not having a larger base. However, I felt the need to think about this and JD Wetherspoon offers 8 inch and 11 inch pizzas. I went to https://www.omnicalculator.com/food/pizza-comparison and it seems that the customer got a better deal here in terms of the area of pizza…. I think I should probably get out more….
“I think your staff need to brush up on the laws of photography within a public place.”
Goodness knows what the back story is here but the interior of a pub is not a public place. If the chain wants they could be as ridiculous as Sam Smiths and ban all photos.
“Widely regarded as being one of the worst in the chain.”
Not judging by Google Reviews.
Anyway, I digress and I rather liked this venue. In an ideal world they might have been clearing tables a little faster, but it was clean, comfortable and seemed to be decent value for money. The team members were friendly, the prices were cheap and that’s another outlet in the chain visited.
Richard and I stopped off at the Weeping Ash in St Neots following the LDWA Local Groups’ weekend. It had been a successful few days, although it was fair to say that I was now getting quite tired.
Here he is enjoying his coffee. The pub was relatively quiet, but everything felt clean and organised.
I went for a pint of the Moose River from Hop Union Brewery, a hoppy, light, fluffy and bouncy beer. Eagle eyed viewers will note that Richard hid his ginger biscuits when he went to explore the pub, he was nervous that someone would scoop them up when they were walking past.
As for the pub itself, for the rest of this post, I’m going to copy and paste some text from a previous visit, which Liam and I made after I was brave going zip-lining in Wales.
The pub’s own text about the venue’s history:
“This former post office stands on part of what was once a much-admired Victorian garden belonging to the house across the road – the home of William Medland, an important man in St Neots. Bank manager and town commissioner, Medland died in 1872 in his late 60s. His widow lived in the house until the 1890s, when it was bought for the Conservative Club, which is still there. Medland’s garden was well known for its many fine trees and shrubs, particularly for its ‘magnificent weeping ash’.”
I have no complaints about the pub, it was clean, well managed and sizeable. The reviews on-line are a little less impressive, with the usual sneering type:
“It’s full of lads in white trainers and white socks that are really excited but have no idea what their excited about and badly dressed girls”
Fortunately, we didn’t have white trainers or white socks to avoid clearly offending this customer.
“They gave me a empty coffee cup without saying I needed to go and fill it up myself like I’m supposed to know this”
I do see this occasionally, often when the empty coffee cup is traipsed half way across the pub by a staff member, and then the confused customer has to traipse the same distance back to get their drink.
I find simple things entertaining, so was very excited to see a new type of coffee machine at a JD Wetherspoons. Now, I accept that I should get out more rather than spend time writing drivel like this, but it pleased me. For £1.20 for unlimited hot drinks, a complete bargain as far as I’m concerned. [I’d add that it’s now £1.81 since I wrote this with the coffee machine no longer being new]
It was a little early, but I did get a quick half with my hot drink, just so I could comment on the beer quality. I’m very dedicated to ensuring beer quality, but I do it for very selfless reasons of course. I went for the Jemima’s Pitchfork from the Glamorgan Brewing Co, a not particularly interesting beer, but at least well-kept.
The very keenly priced avocado muffin, my new go to breakfast option since the recent price hikes on the traditional breakfast. [I wrote that a couple of years agoAs an aside, this menu item isn’t available in many JD Wetherspoons which is sub-optimal from my perspective.]
Anyway, I’ve visited here a few times, not least my latest visit with Richard this week, along with the food visit with Liam a couple of years ago. It’s towards the lower end of the online reviews for JD Wetherpoon outlets, but it’s always felt well managed when I’ve been before.
And so the final day of LDWA Local Groups’ weekend was upon us (I’ll stress that we’ll be talking to groups and individuals more about what was discussed, this blog post is really more about Richard as I’m his chief publicity officer).
We started the Sunday morning (after breakfast of course) with an uplifting introduction from Phoebe Smith, the LDWA President.
And as a summary about the LDWA, it’s marvellous value for money, membership is £15 a year at the moment via direct debit and we have hundreds of challenge events that take place every year, alongside social walks and a website packed with information about long-distance trails. It’s also a way for people to be inspired by the travels of others, I like hearing about how brave other people have been and wondering if I can do the same.
Richard was considering all the exciting adventures that he could go on having been inspired by Phoebe. Phoebe has written numerous books and gone on endless adventures, I recommend her Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/phoebersmith/.
The rest of the morning was spent in workshops which were very helpful and informative. It’s often the case that members can come up with great ideas that we just haven’t thought of before. Weekends like this are also really helpful because groups can share best practice with each other, learning from how things are done differently.
There was a really rather lovely lunch before we headed off home, the plaice goujons were very agreeable. Thanks to Woodland Grange for their really helpful staff and consistently good food, it’s much appreciated!
We managed to work out how to exit the car park.
And then it was time to head home, popping into a JD Wetherspoon en route, although I felt quite exhausted during the latter part of the drive. I obviously remained very brave. It was definitely worth the mad dash across mainland Europe to get back for the weekend.
The second day of the LDWA Groups’ Weekend (here’s more about day one) started with a hearty breakfast arrangement.
There were two walks laid on for members, with a 16-mile option and a 23-mile option. I opted for the shorter walk and everyone, other than Richard, was ready for the 09:00 start. There were calls to just leave him behind, but they were mostly from me.
Here we are, ready for action!
This is the River Avon, we crossed over on Hill Wootton Road, located just off of Kenilworth Road.
Richard and Madeleine discussing something important.
Richard working out where he was, which at this point was near to Hatton Park.
The series of locks at Hatton and I realised later on that this is near to where the Elephant, Bear and Bull touched on.
A dragonfly sculpture (or at least I think it’s a dragonfly).
The walk then went from Hatton into the outskirts of Warwick, this photo was taken near to Warwick Parkway railway station.
Richard demanded to be in another photo near to Budbrooke Industrial Estate.
And then into Warwick although we unfortunately didn’t have time to stop in any of the pubs. Fortunately, I’ve visited most of them already.
Richard needed a sit down and medical treatment. Fortunately, the ever tolerant Pam and Sarah were able to assist with this.
Madeleine is looking up at a leaking bridge, which feels sub-optimal as it’s from the canal above. The River Avon is on our right.
Getting towards the end of the walk now, this is near Old Milverton.
The light isn’t very good here, but this was a quick diversion to Saxon Mill.
St. James the Great church at Old Milverton.
This looked exciting, disc golf. Must add that to my list of things to try.
The board showed the evening’s entertainment. From my perspective, many thanks to Simon Pipe for producing such a professional video of the LDWA 100 and we were able to show a bit of a sneak preview of that. And also thanks to Andy for his introducing the expanding media team.
The evening meal included chicken and leek pie, one of my favourite things….
And some rather lovely looking desserts.
The NEC members present gave some talks, here’s Richard as he likes his photo being taken. Could I also mention here to check BBC iPlayer for Farm 999, series 1 and episode 14, where he makes his latest TV appearance. We’re very lucky in the LDWA to have this media talent.
With that, the day’s excitement came to an end with some lingering in the bar. I’m pleased to say that NEC Richard mostly recovered from his long walk and many thanks to Richard and Sally for their walk leading during the day. Thanks to everyone who attended the day, the feedback is always very useful and its great to see to many volunteers.
