Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Two Julians

Wymondham – Green Dragon

The fifth pub that Julian and I visited was the historic Green Dragon, a venue that I’ve visited before. The pub is operated by Admiral Taverns and has recently reopened after some troubled months which are probably best forgotten. There aren’t many older pubs in the country, as part of the Green Dragon dates from the fourteenth century and it’s one of the buildings that survived the 1615 Great Fire which destroyed so much of Wymondham.

There were four real ales and I went for the Umbel Magna from Nethergate Brewery, expertly food paired with Mini Cheddars. This was a very agreeable beer which is a modern recreation of a 1750s porter which contains coriander, with some subtle flavours which makes me wondering what other quality beers they were drinking in the eighteenth century. The pub doesn’t seem to be serving food at the moment, although that might be something that changes in the coming months.

The bar serves two rooms and as can be seen on the floor in the bottom left of the photo, there was once a divider to separate the room out. The service here was personable and engaging, I’d suggest that it was the most friendly and conversational of the day. I asked the server if there was a cellar in the building, but he said that it had been blocked and they now had a ground floor cellar for the beer.

This is the fireplace that we were sitting next to. Although the brickwork is from the 1930s the fireplace surround is much older. There’s a door next to the fireplace which is rumoured to lead to a tunnel which led to Wymondham Abbey, something I must admit to not believing ever existed and certainly doesn’t here as it’s a cupboard.

The pub’s front room which was for a long period used as a shop.

The Liberator Lounge and there’s more information about the military links with the Green Dragon at https://www.wymondhammagazine.co.uk/news/special-gala-day-for-389th-bomb-group.

It notes not to graffiti the bench.

The bench, where I think former servicemen have signed when they were stationed here. As some heritage, here’s what it looked like in 1933 when George Plunkett photographed it.

I very much liked this pub, the welcome was friendly, it was clean and I enjoyed the beer. It was very quiet when we visited, but it was on a Thursday afternoon and I suspect that some people aren’t aware that the pub has now re-opened. Its lost its place in the Good Beer Guide, but the pub has an excellent long-term reputation and things feel like they’re getting better again so perhaps it’s just a matter of time before they’re back.

June 23, 2023
Wymondham – White Hart

The fourth pub we visited in our day trip to Wymondham was the White Hart, which I’ve visited before during the partial lockdown. Although the frontage is eighteenth century, this former coaching inn dates from the early seventeenth century and the set-up internally shows some of the original elements, there are photos in my previous post. For reasons that entirely pass me by, someone thought that a better name for the venue would be the Heart of Wymondham, but fortunately wiser heads have prevailed and the historic name has returned.

The pub was used as a temporary Post Office between 2020 and 2023, with a new set-up now in operation at Jarrolds.

The main bar area, all very clean and organised.

There were sixteen real ales available and after I expressed surprise about this I was told by the helpful staff member that there’s a beer festival taking place this weekend. The selection was excellent with a range of mostly local beers, I was suitably surprised and delighted. It appears that even outside of these beer festivals that there is a decent selection of real ales, with the environment being welcoming and inviting.

I went for the Strangers No More which is a collaboration between Grain Brewery and Braxatorium Parcensis. This very agreeable and well-kept brown beer had a depth of flavour and is one of the four beers brewed as part of the Norwich City of Ale.

The pub’s former Masonic room which dates to the eighteenth century. I waited for what I think was the pub dog to get off the seating before I took the photo, a situation I’m never sure is ideal from a customer perspective but there we go. It’s a delight to have a drink in such a grand room, it adds character to the proceedings.

The pub does offer food, although the service times for this are a little confused as the pub’s web-site has two entirely different service times on the same page. From what I can work out, they serve meals at lunch-time and in the evenings, with the pub no longer offering all-day dining. The food is well reviewed and they have classic pub meals alongside separate menus for burgers and pizzas.

The beer selection here was the best that we found in the day day because of the festival that is taking place this weekend, but Whatpub suggests that there are usually eight real ales and so it’s likely this always has the widest range of beer options in Wymondham. Everything seemed clean and organised, this was a well managed pub and I hope their beer festival goes well and that they have plenty more in the future.

June 23, 2023
Wymondham – Cross Keys

The Cross Keys, visible at the left of this photo showing the incoming rain, was the third of the pubs that we visited on our study tour of Wymondham.

The pub has been used as a hospitality venue since the end of the eighteenth century and there are numerous areas which have that historic feel. The building itself is older and dates to the sixteenth century. Until relatively recently the venue offered bed and breakfast, but there isn’t an accommodation option at the pub today and the food service also seems to have come to an end. The furnishings were comfortable, although Julian pondered why numerous seats had wet patches and stains, but it’s probably best not to know.

They’ve got a gaming area in one section of the pub. This isn’t part of the original venue, they extended into this section in 1961.

Decorative bottles in the wall.

There were four different real ales available, but the JHB that I went for wasn’t in the best of conditions but was still drinkable. Julian, who is typically more direct in these matters, noted that he thought it was “a bit soupy with notes of cellar imperfection”.

Trying to use my language carefully, this pub had the most vibrant of customers we encountered on our day out, which is quite an impressive achievement in the early afternoon. I’d suggest that the excitement of the customers does make this a venue that children or the easily upset might best be kept away from, although it never felt threatening. As a positive, it does mean that the pub has character and an element of liveliness to it. Indeed, Julian in particular rather enjoys it when it all becomes too excitable, especially if he doesn’t have to witness it for a prolonged period.

The local press reported in the 1970s that the new landlords of the pub, Eddie and Anne Nelson, were keen to ensure that there was “no disco and no noise”. He added that he wanted a pub where customers could “relax and enjoy themselves” and planned to introduce a menu offering “a fine selection of grills”. Today, the venue seems to be focusing on live music and there are plenty of positive reviews about that. The service was personable with a prompt welcome and a friendly farewell, so it all felt suitably inviting. I’m not sure that it pretends to be a venue that is suitable for those who want a quiet drink, it’s a lively pub which aims to be informal and welcoming, something that it is doing well.

June 23, 2023
Wymondham – Queen’s Head

Second of the day in our pub study tour was the Queen’s Head, a venue that I visited last December with friends for food. It was all rather pleasant, although not particularly cheap, with efficient service and decent food. The building itself is historic, dating back to the early seventeenth century after the previous one was destroyed by fire. In the nineteenth century it was taken over by the Diss Brewery, then became part of Lacons and then in turn it was purchased by Whitbread.

It was noted in the local press in May 1982 that Whitbread had overseen an extensive renovation with Roger and Pat Fitton being the licencees. They were proudly noting that they sold a real ale at this stage, a beer from the Thomas Wethered brewery. At that point they had already been operating the pub for six years, having managed a pub in Suffolk and then before that Roger had been in the Royal Navy for 22 years and Pat was a former Wren. Unfortunately Roger died a couple of years later, although Pat kept the pub until 1986.

There was one real ale available, the Ghost Ship from Adnams which was well kept and tasted as expected. The beer selection is generally weak, there’s the slightly less generic keg option of Beavertown Neck Oil, but otherwise it’s one of the poorest selections in Wymondham.

It’s a food-led pub, but they make drinkers welcome and there are some seats at the bar for when the tables are filled with diners. The service was friendly and the atmosphere in the pub is inviting and laid-back. Everything was clean, so it felt comfortable and organised.

There’s another story relating to John Pearson, the son of this venue’s landlord, George Pearson (although he had left the pub by the time of the incident). John Pearson was found dead in a straw stack in 1907 and it was thought that he had been poisoned. John had apparently done a few things he shouldn’t have been doing with the accounting of the Forehoe Guardians, but matters had been resolved and he was given his job back after the suitable apologies. John continued with problems relating to mental health relating to the incident and the jury at his inquest found that he had “committed suicide by poisoning himself with carbolic acid while temporarily insane”. I mention this as mental health problems were not rare at the time, but the media sometimes reported them in a slightly careless manner shall we say. At least with John Pearson, the local media made clear about the work that he had done in the community and noted how much he would be missed.

The on-line reviews for the pub are very positive and for food, I’d suggest that this is one of the better options in Wymondham. We would have considered eating here, but we arrived just as they stopped the lunchtime food service, so we had to make other plans for that. For those just wanting a beer, I wouldn’t say that it’s unwelcoming or a bad choice, but it’s not really aiming at that market in terms of the breadth of beer options. Those wanting wine and other decadent drinks might find the choices more exciting, but whatever customers go in for, this is a well-run venue and I rather enjoyed it.

June 23, 2023
Wymondham – Robert Kett

The first pub in our study tour was the Greene King operated Robert Kett, which is the only one of the venues that we visited that’s a bit of a walk outside of the centre of Wymondham. It’s part of the Meet & Eat concept that Greene King have, something which worked when we saw it in action at the Gemini in Dereham. The pub opened in 1974, although the roof had to be replaced in 1999 when the roof caught fire and was destroyed.

The pub is name after Robert Kett who was a prominent figure in 16th-century English history, known for his leadership during what became known as the Kett’s Rebellion in Norfolk. Born in the town, Kett was a local farmer who rallied locals against what he considered the oppressive enclosure of common lands by wealthy landowners. In 1549, Kett led a rebellion that saw thousands of rebels occupy Norwich and seize the city, which was seen as highly sub-optimal by the authorities. The authorities took back control and executed Kett, with his body hanging from Norwich Castle as a warning to others not to interfere with the arrangements of Government.

They serve food at lunchtimes and in the evenings, with a specials board visible by the door.

The main menu.

And the lunchtime menu. There were no other customers ordering food during our visit, but perhaps it’s more popular in the evenings. I imagine by the size of the menu that a fair chunk of this is brought in from food suppliers rather than anything being made in-house.

The only real ale option was the Tribute from St. Austell Brewery and it wasn’t short measured but the team member was concerned about the quality and asked me to try it. It was fine, although the serving style of not running some off first seemed brave as they likely went through over a pint trying to serve it. The service at the bar was friendly, there was a warm welcome and a polite farewell, with the environment always feeling inviting and comfortable.

It’s a sizeable building but it all looked well maintained and clean.

The on-line reviews are mostly positive and it seems a reliable option for those in the area who want food or drink. There’s a chain feel which means that I can’t imagine many people will come out here for a special visit, but there is a sizeable local population whom I’m sure it serves most admirably. It felt a welcoming venue, everything seemed organised and it was a perfectly positive start to the day.

June 23, 2023
Aylsham Pub Day – Two Julians

After completing the pubs in North Walsham, Dereham and Bungay, it was time for Julian and I to turn our attention to completing the hospitality venues of Aylsham. After a moderately uncomfortable ride on a Sanders bus which didn’t seem in quite the condition it was likely once delivered to them in, we arrived safely in the beating heart of Aylsham and its central car park which was formerly known as the market place.

For our study tour, we were planning on visiting three venues in the day which were:

The Feathers

The Unicorn

Black Boys Inn

En route, we also discovered Stamp Pizza & Bar.

Here’s some history and I liked that there were numerous of these boards located around the town.

And some more history, which saves me writing it.

After visiting our four venues, we also had time to pop into the town’s church, but more about that in future posts. We then meandered to the town’s central car park to get the bus back, but then found the previous bus was running over thirty minutes late so we caught that one instead. En route, there were some fraught discussions between a passenger and the driver about that which I’d suggest were sub-optimal to say the least, but it’s perhaps best not to dwell on that.

Anyway, back to some thoughts about the day. There aren’t many pubs left in Aylsham now compared to how many that there were once were, but all of them offered a friendly welcome and they had at least two real ales available. The pubs were all clean, comfortable and well maintained, with the prices being reasonable for beer, although the Black Boys was a little punchy in terms of its food pricing. However, there was a selection of venues to suit probably most tastes, but I have to note that the best beer options that I saw during the day were in Stamp. This isn’t really how I think things should ideally be, pubs should perhaps be offering a wider selection of craft beer and especially so if they’re free from tie.

Once again, I feel the need to note that it’s marvellous that the three pubs and one pizzeria are trading and open to be used by the local community, especially as Stamp has only been open for a couple of months. These are difficult times for pubs and I’d suggest to others that a little pub crawl around Aylsham is a perfectly fine way to spend the afternoon. Your experiences may well differ, but I’d say that Julian and I had another marvellous day out. But these study tours remain hard work, and I have to repeat that we don’t do them for fun, but as a service to the community.

June 1, 2023
Aylsham Pub Day – Black Boys Inn

This large former coaching inn is located at the town’s market place and was the last of the pubs that Julian and I were visiting in the day. It has been a hospitality venue since the middle of the seventeenth century and was historically a Bullards and then Watney Mann pub. I was pleased to note that the pub owners, Colchester Inns, have prepared a history of the venue for their web-site which is something that I always appreciate.

The pub’s name has given them some publicity recently, with the owners saying they would reflect on the matter if the local community and their customers felt that they should. That seems a sensible position to me, although I’m staying out of anything too controversial in that regard. With regards to the history of the venue’s name, the pub states:

“We believe the pub was named after King Charles II, who was nicknamed The Black Boy on account of his black hair and swarthy complexion”.

The heritage here is undeniable, with parts of the building dating back to the late fifteenth century. It’s said that visitors to the pub have included Princess Victoria, Horatio Nelson and Daniel Defoe, which seems an interesting collection of figures to be proud of. It was a popular coaching inn during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, providing accommodation and sustenance for those travelling between Norwich and Cromer.

One book that I recommend is “The Newmarket, Bury, Thetford and Cromer Road: Sport and history on an East Anglian Turnpike”. They note about the Black Boys:

“The Black Boys owes its existence on this scale to the near neighbourhood of Blickling Hall, perhaps the most famous mansion in Norfolk and certainly the most beautiful and stately. Blickling is scarce a mile distant, and is so small a village that it must have been to Aylsham in general, and to the Black Boys in particular, the custom fell in those old days when the Hobarts of Blickling Hall entertained so royally.”

There were four different real ales available, the most we saw in the town, with the offering including Wherry from Woodfordes, Doom Bar from Sharps, Adnams Bitter and ThreeOneSix from Grain.

Those just wanting a drink are welcome in the venue, but it is primarily a restaurant in terms of its set-up and the aroma on entry suggested quite a strong seafood offering. The prices are towards the higher end of the scale, priced at a level that we felt was too expensive for us and that’s why we were pleased to see Stamp next door offering something a little more affordable. However, the on-line reviews are very positive, so the quality of the food offering seems high, likely meaning that they must be doing an awful lot right.

Julian and I were unsure about the flooring in such an historic venue, I’m wondering what’s underneath that artificial looking wood effect flooring, perhaps some original wooden floorboards? The interior was clean though with the atmosphere feeling relaxed and comfortable, everything seemed polished and organised.

A few heritage touches were still visible.

I went for the ThreeOneSix from Grain Brewery, a well kept golden ale which tasted as I expected.

This felt like a very well run venue and the on-line reviews for food and accommodation are high. It seems to be aiming for a relatively wealthy demographic and it was busy when we visited, so they seem to be hitting that target effectively. The service was friendly and warm, with a team member coming to check at the table if we’d like to order food. There were no issues that we weren’t, but there didn’t seem to be an appropriate bar area to sit in.

It wasn’t quite what I expected from the venue, which I thought would still have more of a pub atmosphere to it, but it was still welcoming and I liked the choice of four different real ales. The accommodation offering seems reasonably priced and I can imagine that those staying do get more of a sense of the pub’s history and heritage.

June 1, 2023
Aylsham Pub Day – Stamp Pizza & Bar

This was an unexpected addition to our adventure around Aylsham, a venue spotted by Julian (you can see him looking at it with excitement in this photo) which was formerly the town’s Post Office. It’s not clear whether it’s named after the stamps that the Post Office once sold here or Ian Stamp, the chair of Norwich CAMRA, but I’m going with the latter as he’s becoming ever more important in the area.

This is the drinks menu and I’m genuinely moderately annoyed by this. Not in a negative way about the venue, but this is the best beer offering that I found in Aylsham, with a number of local craft options. I accept there’s no real ale and the other pubs provided that, but I’m from the craft beer wing of proceedings and I like to see these options. The venue presents them with clarity, clearly and although they’ve not cheap, the options are there.

The draft keg options, entirely agreeable to me. Nicely done I thought with the venue being clean and well presented.

And they’ve made clear that they’re sourcing ingredients locally. Presentationally, this was all quite marvellous, I like to know when local suppliers are used as it’s better than knowing it came from the back of a Brake’s van.

The wood fired pizza oven in the open kitchen. I liked the transparency here, there’s something reassuring about being able to see into where the food is being prepared. We were seated in the downstairs bar area where we could look into the kitchen, but the venue has another large dining room available. It’s possible to book a table in advance, but we were visiting on a Wednesday afternoon and it was relatively quiet.

The cheese on this pizza doesn’t perhaps look quite right in terms of Italian authenticity, but I’m pleased to note that it tasted absolutely delicious. The pepperoni was of a decent quality and not little thin pieces, with the blackening from the wood fired oven adding some extra flavour and texture. This was a very good pizza, I was suitably surprised and delighted. Julian ordered the charcuterie place and was pleased with the quality.

The beer is Transatlanticism from Duration Brewing of West Acre in Norfolk. It’s a punchy 6.4% IPA with a citrus edge and a refreshing flavour. I can confirm that it complements pizza just beautifully.

The service was attentive, polite and engaging. They forgot to bring cutlery, but they found me black pepper to cover my pizza in, a seasoning I believe essential to be dumped on in large measure with many Italian foods. I very much liked this venue, it was on-trend, welcoming and avoided being overly formulaic. If I wanted to get beer in Aylsham, my first port of call would be here and not one of the pubs in the town, something which is perhaps not entirely ideal in terms of supporting more traditional pubs. The food was excellent, the atmosphere was inviting and I do hope they succeed.

June 1, 2023
Aylsham Pub Day – The Unicorn

This cavernous building is the Unicorn pub and was the second venue that we visited on our little day trip out to Aylsham. Thanks to the excellent Norfolk Pubs web-site, I know that the venue first opened in the late seventeenth century and in the nineteenth century was operated by the Coltishall Brewery and then the Weybourne Brewery. I’m not sure about the origins of the pub name, but I do have an idea which relates to how in Norfolk the three horses pulling a coach were often referred to as a unicorn. Given that this is a former coaching inn, maybe that’s how it obtained its name.

I had to take a photo of the three beer options over the heads of customers seated at the bar to know what options there were. Each to their own, but it’s really not ideal when customers entering a pub have to almost guess what drinks there are available and struggle to know where to stand to order them. The three options were Ghost Ship from Adnams, Encore from Lacon’s and the old reliable of Landlord from Timothy Taylor’s, so I felt that the selection was decent.

Anyway, back to more important matters, the service was friendly and helpful, so all was well there, with the prices charged being reasonable.

The interior was clean and cosy, with the carpet adding to the warmth of the pub.

There were lots of curios around the pale, it all added positively to the general atmosphere.

The half pint of Landlord from Timothy Taylor tasted as expected, was well kept and at the appropriate temperature. Served in the correctly branded glass as well, very professional of them. There was also some shrubbery on the tables to add a little something to the arrangement.

If I’m being honest, I left not really entirely understanding this pub other than they have live music on a regular basis. We were interested in ordering food, but there were no menus visible and the food menu on the pub’s web-site is a broken link so I’m assuming they no longer do food at all. A customer posted negative feedback a few months ago saying:

“Lots of empty tables outside we thought we would stop and have lunch as the big a frame board outside stated home made lunches. My partner went in to get a menu only to be told we do not do food. Might explain all the empty tables. I would suggest removing the a frame advertisement as well to save wasting other peoples time.”

I like clarity on what is available, so I can understand this review and it seems one the pub could have easily avoided. I’m never quite sure why pubs don’t just offer cheese rolls or something in the afternoon if no other food is available, or something other than crisps to keep customers suitably well fed. I’d better add that I’m quite happy with crisps, but even I recognise the need for a slightly wider dietary balance.

I’m not entirely sure what market they’re aiming for (and I accept I don’t need to, it just makes it harder to write these posts) given just how large a venue they’ve got here, but I think live music is a big driver for them so perhaps that’s their main focus. As another aside, I am slightly disappointed they have such an historic venue, but make no mention of its history on their web-site as I’m sure there must be plenty of stories for them to tell. But, back to basics and all that, the welcome was friendly, the pub was clean and there were a few real ales available so we weren’t disappointed at all with those elements.

June 1, 2023
Aylsham Pub Day – The Feathers

The Feathers was the first in our visit to all of the pubs in Aylsham and it has been operating since the early 1840s. I’m going to guess that it’s likely 1841, when Albert became the first Prince of Wales since the 1760s, as the Feathers name is frequently associated with the Prince of Wales so that fits time wise. But that’s just my guess, it could be complete nonsense as many of my theories are.

Looking at old newspapers, I note that in August 1876 it was noted in the Lowestoft Journal, that bastion of journalism, that Stephen Underwood was given a spirits licence for the Feather. At the same petty sessions, John Rounce appears in court to fund his “bastard child”, the local butcher was fined as his mare had run riot in the town, a brickmaker was drunk in Hevingham and a hawker got drunk at the Stonemason’s Arms in Aylsham and refused to leave. It sounds a fun week in Aylsham.

As was common at the time, inquests into deaths took place in pubs and the Feathers was no exception. This happened in March 1899 when an inquest into the death of Benjamin Watson was held here and it found that he hanged himself near to the Feathers after a period of illness and unemployment. I mention this as it’s easy to forget just how much history there is with these pubs and how important they are to the local community, as well as being a reminder of how tough people had it at the end of the nineteenth century with limited help available to those in pain and out of work.

Back to the present, there were two real ales available, the Ghost Ship from Adnams and the 6X Original Ale from Wadworth. This seemed a reasonable couple of options, they’re not seen everywhere and it’s positive to have a choice.

Starting off with the 6X, it was well kept and at the appropriate temperature.

Julian, who treats these study tours with professionalism and thoroughness that continues to inspire me, recommended that I try the Ghost Ship from Adnams. This seemed a little lively and was probably from a fresh barrel, but it tasted clean and was in good condition.

They’ve got a little games room to the side and I did think they could fit a nice little bar billiards table in here.

Despite what I consider my relative youth, Julian and I thought we might sign up. The whole concept of “never happy unless complaining” is an admirable and laudable aim.

Some of the rather beautiful interior decoration, although this stopped being a Bullards pub in the 1970s, then becoming Intrepreneur, Phoenix and Criterian Inns in relative quick succession following the Beer Orders in the late 1980s. That was venture capital hit pubs in a big way, something which has ultimately been rather sub-optimal in very many ways.

Anyway, back to the pub itself, and there were a couple of locals at the bar when we entered. The relationship between the customers and the staff member at the bar here was just as a pub should be, always respectful but with a healthy dose of opprobrium as well from behind the bar. This pub seems to me like one where someone new to the area would feel welcome, my standard measure of the quality of the engagement being offered. The environment was inviting and friendly, with the pub being clean and well looked after, it felt like a safe place to be.

Pubs like this must be tough to operate at the moment with the costs of operating a venue spiralling in seemingly all areas. The pub seems to be shrinking its opening times down a little, which might be a result of customers cutting costs, but the main thing is that the pub is still there being an important part of the local community. We didn’t investigate the beer garden, but it’s apparently of a generous size, so there’s no doubt opportunity for plenty of summer drinking to be had. This felt like a proper pub to me, I liked it.

June 1, 2023