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  • Louth – The Joseph Morton

    Louth – The Joseph Morton

    Whilst in Louth, we popped in the JD Wetherspoon outlet in the town, the Joseph Morton which is named after a local ironmonger. The pub opened in 2011 and it’s a sizeable affair, with a large ground floor area that has been created from former residential and commercial properties.

    The rear part of the pub, with nearly all customers for some reason being in the front section. The pub, which was relatively quiet, had a bizarre set-up where customers had to wait at the entrance for a member of bar staff to shout from behind the bar to say that they could go in. The customers therefore just stood there for no reason before being told they could take a seat, all the time getting in the way of customers trying to get sauces which are located in the same area. Anyway, that’s a matter for the pub to deal with, although they should perhaps check with a little more care whether customers are filling in track and trace.

    This is the upstairs of the pub and I’m assuming that there are usually a few tables here, as otherwise they have a grand entrance area to their toilets.

    Richard went for a decadent hot chocolate drink, which he had to make for himself from the coffee machine. He looked initially scared, but after plenty of time stirring the chocolate lump in, he was more than content with the quality of the drink. I went for half a pint of the Honey Porter from Milestone Brewery, a decent beer that was keenly priced at just £1.

    I had a little look on TripAdvisor, where the pub isn’t doing what could be termed as brilliantly, as I find reviews intriguing and I accept that I should probably get out more. Anyway, I wish I knew more about the back story behind this 1/5 review…

    “Odd to ban my 17-year old daughter for a genuine complaint articulated politely and courteously.”

    I’d very much like to know what the complaint was…. JD Wetherspoon don’t let pubs reply now on TripAdvisor, which makes it harder to understand what has happened. One review, which seemed believable at first sight, was met with:

    “I understand that you were offered free drinks, a refund and apologised to profusely. The statement above has been taken out of context to my knowledge. The staff member on shift after offering multiple things didn’t know how to resolve this to make you happy so said that statement “what would you like me to do”.

    Which probably gives customers the context that they need to understand what went on here…. Although I think I’m with the customer on this one:

    “We went for lunch and ordered a Chicken Caesar Salad, which came as: lettuce, croutons and chicken pieces. Full stop. “Sorry we’ve run out of Caesar Dressing.” So why accept the order?”

    I liked this one though:

    “My very mature 16 year old daughter and her equally mature 16 year old friend went to Joseph Morton tonight for a celebration. The waitress refused to serve them because they hadn’t taken their passports and therefore couldn’t prove they were both 16.”

    I’m frequently bemused as to how many people think it’s reasonable for what might be two younger teenagers in, for all the pub know, and then get angry that the pub wants ID to ensure they are 16.

    I’m not sure that the new manager should have posted this though in a response to another complaint as the previous manager would unlikely be impressed with it:

    “We have recently had a change in both front and back of house management and we are currently trying to build the reputation of the pub back to where it was.”

    Anyway, I digress. All in all, this is a pleasant pub, although it could have been a little cleaner and the track and trace needed better supervision. They are also operating with the new JD Wetherspoon menu and I’ve yet to work out how the chain decide which pubs get selected for this. But, it has to be said, the half-pint of Honey Porter for £1 really is excellent value, and it’s positive to see that these real ales can be ordered via the app now.

  • Hull – Atom Brewing at the Corn Exchange (Visit 2)

    Hull – Atom Brewing at the Corn Exchange (Visit 2)

    This is another repeat visit, as I came to Atom Brewing at the Corn Exchange last year.

    The choice of beers is chalked up on blackboards, but they’re also printed it out to go on tables. There was a nicely balanced selection of beers, with a couple of darker options, with decent guests as well. The staff seemed engaging and knowledgeable, with table service being offered at the moment given the current health issue.

    For the second time, I didn’t actually order a beer from Atom, which is moderately ridiculous and I will correct that next year if I come again. This is the Ripple Twister from Brew York, who are undoubtedly one of my favourite breweries, which is a beer style I don’t tend to rush towards. But this IPA had lots of fruit behind it and the promise of an ice cream flavour, so I couldn’t resist. I managed to get a taste of grapefruit, which is one of the few fruits which doesn’t seem to be in it, but it was light and refreshing. Not a great impact of taste initially, but the aftertaste was rich and full-bodied.

    This was the last weekend of Shop Small, where if you spend £10 using Amex in a participating small business, then you get £5 off. So, I ordered food so that my bill came to £10.20, meaning I’d only have to pay a total of £5.20. Rather pleasingly, this means that I got ten of these £5’s off from Amex, which is the maximum anyone can have. The food was offered by the Pattie Shack and they had some flatbreads, patties, grilled sandwiches and a few larger meals, something a little different.

    The flatbread and the biggest problem here is that it took nearly an hour to arrive. This is understandable as it transpired we’d ordered after a rush, but we should have been told about the wait at some stage. But, it was worth the wait, the ndjua sausage had quite a lot of spice to it and the rocket added some peppery elements to the flat bread, which was delicious. The flatbread also had some firmness to it, but without being so hard that it would snap if bent.

    Overall, this remains a very decent pub and it was pleasing to see that it was busy and seemed to be doing well. There was an excellent selection of drinks from across different styles, with the staff being engaging and keen to help. The environment was clean, comfortable and welcoming, and I look forwards to returning and this time actually having a beer made by Atom. Most lovely.

  • Hull – Ibis City Centre (Visit 2)

    Hull – Ibis City Centre (Visit 2)

    This is my second visit to the Ibis in Hull city centre, I’ve already wittered on about my first visit.

    The reception area has been turned into a queueing area similar to that at an amusement park, and although I appreciate the effort, I didn’t see anyone use it and they queued in a different manner. As an aside, the hotel has been responding to my e-mails promptly, but my booking was a postponed one and it has been lost on the Accor system now, so I suspect I’ll be e-mailing them in a few days.

    The stairs, I don’t know why I liked this imagery of the stairs…. Anyway, I digress.

    The room was sufficiently clean and comfortable for my requirements, but some surfaces clearly hadn’t been cleaned. Towels and bedding was all clean though, it was perfectly adequate for me.

    The view from my room, with that building at the back being the rear end of Wetherspoons.

    The coffee and tea selection has been put into a bag. I don’t quite know how this helps to be honest, but it’s pleasing they were still supplying hot drinks.

    The light fitting was slightly broken, which isn’t ideal.

    I no longer get overly excited by these in an Ibis hotel as there’s rarely much of note. The hotel did though offer Boddington’s last year, which I can tolerate, so I was sufficiently pleased by that.

    And, I feel the need to comment negatively again on the range of drinks offered by Ibis, especially now the Boddington’s option has gone. Their selection looks ever more dated compared to other pubs and hotels, with a total defiance against stocking anything which might be considered as craft beer or real ale. This was the best of a bad lot, and I didn’t finish it, it’s what I would consider another generic lager (and Nathan can tut all he likes that it’s a slightly above average generic lager). It is a shame that Accor is trying to rebrand Ibis into something more on-trend, but yet soft products like this remain entirely off-trend.

    All told, for the price, this was a marvellous location and the hotel staff were friendly and engaging. I would have to note here though, there was a murder in the hotel a few years ago in room 231, and given that one of our party (not me) was woken by police in the early morning in case he’d heard anything in a neighbouring room this time, there seem to be some challenging issues for the hotel.

    My final comment about the hotel is that the welcome gift appears to have been scrapped. Disappointing….

  • Hull – Social

    Hull – Social

    Unfortunately, the nearby Taphouse was full (which is moderately disappointing, as I think I would have liked to write some things about Bone Machine Brewery now I’ve seen how innovative they are, but I’ll go next year instead) but the helpful staff member pointed us towards Social.

    The service was friendly and welcoming, although the only seats available were outside when we arrived. This transpired to be a good thing given the music inside (I can’t be doing with too much loud noise at my age…..) and the service was attentive given that three different staff tried to take our drinks order. But, best to be too attentive than not bothered enough, so it felt a sufficiently comfortable environment.

    I think it’s fair to say that the bar wasn’t entirely aimed at customers like me, but the drinks menu had a decent stab at trying to cater for everyone. Seeing Camden Hells was acceptable to me, and the appearance of Brewdog Punk IPA and Schofferhofer are to the bar’s credit. So, perhaps nothing inspirational, but it’ll do. The bar is located in what is becoming the on-trend area of Hull, the fruit market district, which seems very much on an upward curve with much to be positive about.

    Back to Social though, where the prices were slightly towards the higher end of the scale, but it felt safe and at least had some space for customers, which was useful. It’s probably a decent option for larger groups (well, under normal circumstances) although they don’t seem to do any food (although they do cashew nuts which didn’t surprise and delight Richard when he counted how many he got). I went for the Camden Hells and it was sufficiently adequate for me, but that’s about as far as I’d go there.

  • London – City of London – First Metropolitan Drinking Fountain

    London – City of London – First Metropolitan Drinking Fountain

    OK, so I admit that this isn’t the most interesting content ever, a photo of a water fountain at the junction of Holborn Viaduct and Giltspur Street. But I like it, so here we are….

    It’s the first fountain to be erected by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association. It was placed nearby in 1859 and had to be moved to its current site in 1867 when Holborn Viaduct was constructed.

    The association was established in 1859 by Samuel Gurney, a banker from what is now Barclays, as he wanted to ensure that members of the public could access clean water. It was initially known as the Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association, but changed its name in 1867 to show that it was also concerned with animals. During the mid-nineteenth century it had become known that beer was safer to drink than water, which wasn’t going down entirely well with the temperance movement.

    The association still exists, now known as the Drinking Fountain Association, with its original intentions intact, of providing water fountains to encourage water consumption.

  • London – City of London – Museum of London (Ceramic Moulded Frog)

    London – City of London – Museum of London (Ceramic Moulded Frog)

    I’m quite impressed that from this fragment of pot that the Museum of London is able to know that it’s from the cult of Sabazios, a God from the Phrygian period. The pot dates from the second century and would have likely also had imagery of lizards and snakes on, which sounds awful if I’m being honest. It was found in 2010 when they demolished Bucklersbury House, an office building on Cannon Street, noted for incorporating a Roman Temple of Mithras in its cellar.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 173

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 173

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

    Keelhauling

    This is defined by Grose as “a punishment in use among the Dutch seaman, in which, for certain offences, the delinquent is drawn once, or oftener, under the ship’s keel: ludicrously defined, undergoing a great hard-ship”. As an aside, it’s interesting to see the word ‘oftener’ used here, which is still valid, although rarely used.

    It wasn’t the kindest punishment it has to be said, although it was an official sanction that could be used in the Dutch navy, known as ‘Kielhalen’. The word ‘keelhauled’ still exists in English in a more generic sense of being punished, but the naval version could be fatal. The sailor could hit the barnacles under the ship, which risked head wounds, as well as just hitting the vessel itself with some force.

    So, a punishment in the Dutch navy has managed to enter the English vernacular…..

  • London – City of London – Museum of London (Plate Owned by Samuel Pepys)

    London – City of London – Museum of London (Plate Owned by Samuel Pepys)

    This is a new acquisition for the Museum of London and it belonged to Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist. It’s one of only three items of silver belonging to Pepys that still exists, with the other two now being in the United States. The silver is hallmarked, so it’s known that it was made in 1681 by Mary King in Foster Lane, a street near St. Pauls Cathedral that is still there. The one thing that the museum doesn’t state though is where this plate has been over the centuries (or where they acquired it from), although they note that its importance has only recently come to light.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 172

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 172

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

    Jumblegut Lane

    This is quite beautiful, and how has this fallen out of usage? It’s defined by Grose as “a rough road or lane” and it conjures up wonderful images of rickety stagecoaches and the like flying over bumpy roads. It’s the sort of phrase that could perhaps be used again for those areas of the country where there seem to be more pot-holes than road……

  • London – City of London – Museum of London (Portrait of King Henry VIII)

    London – City of London – Museum of London (Portrait of King Henry VIII)

    The first thing I’ve discovered from this artwork is that the National Portrait Gallery is closed until the spring of 2023, I just thought that they were being a little slow to re-open after the health crisis. Anyway, this is one of the gallery’s artworks, currently on loan to the Museum of London.

    I’m puzzled that the Museum of London term this as a “portrait bust”, as I don’t know what that means. The National Portrait Gallery don’t use this terminology and it just looks like a portrait to me. It’s also mentioned to be after (ie, a copy of) a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger, with the gallery saying it was painted between 1536 and 1537, but other on-line sources say it might be 1538. Some people can be very precise….

    Anyway, it came into the collections of the National Portrait Gallery in 1871 and Holbein’s studio seemingly produced numerous versions of these paintings. It was painted during the process of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, relevant since the artwork is located within the exhibits on this subject in the Museum of London. I’m not sure that the King looks particularly strong in this image either, his eyes look tired and he doesn’t appear very magisterial. I’m not entirely sure who would have bought this and I don’t think that its provenance is known.