Category: Dereham

Julian and I returned to Dereham this week to visit the second batch of pubs (here’s the post about the first visit) to complete the 12 venues that we wanted to go to in the town. We’ve greatly enjoyed the expedition and have eaten at three of the pubs to ensure that we can try and experience as much of their offerings as we can, with the breadth of offering across Dereham being much more substantial that I had anticipated.

Railway Tavern

Greenstone

Royal Standard

Bull

Gemini

The Coachmakers Pub And Kitchen

We’re looking at visiting Bungay next, although there seem to be plenty of provincial market towns in Norfolk and Suffolk which all sound equally tempting. The £2 bus fare each way for me is also a handy bonus, cost effective public transport is always a result.

And here’s a reminder of the other six pubs we visited on the first trip.

Cherry Tree

George Hotel

Red Lion

Romany Rye

King’s Head

The Cock

The Coachmakers was the sixth pub that Julian and I visited on our second day trip to Dereham. First opened in the early 1840s, this pub became part of the Chef & Brewer estate before being briefly owned and nearly ruined by Enterprise Inns, becoming free trade in 2011.

The front bar with the Encore and Falcon ales from Lacon. The service was polite and engaging, although my beer look a little long to arrive as the server explained it has been quite a lively little number in the cellar.

To diversify the pub also offers its own little wine shop.

We didn’t have any dining plans for the evening, but the pizzas looked tempting. Quite a premium for anyone who wants the meat feast, but this tempted me to get something to eat here.

The rest of the menu which is relatively small, but that seems a good sign as if it’s manageable it is often of a reliable quality.

The exposed brick gave the pub something of an historic atmosphere.

I opted for the Falcon Ale, an average session bitter which was well kept and at the appropriate temperature.

Richard came to join us at this point and I was tempted by the Blue Cheese burger which had been served to another customer (not their specific meal, I didn’t go and try and get some of it). I ordered that, as indeed did Julian and Richard, and it was entirely acceptable, a meaty burger and chips for a fluffy interior.

This pub is a little out of the town centre but I’d suggest that it’s worth the effort to walk here as the surroundings are inviting and comfortable, the service was efficient and the food was most satisfactory. I was moderately saddened to leave here as it meant that our visit to the 12 pubs of Dereham was over, but I had been surprised and delighted with the variety of venues that the town had.

Next up in the day’s pub visiting for Julian and I was the Gemini, operated by Greene King. First opened in 1965, I wouldn’t say that it’s the most beautiful building from the outside, but it looked neat and tidy from the exterior.

There was a bit of a wait for service (I took the photo when it was quieter) as a number of people came in at the same time, but the barman’s awareness was excellent and he ensured that everyone knew they had been seen at the bar. He was then engaging and conversational, so the first impressions here were very positive.

There were two real ales available, Greene King IPA and Greene King Old Speckled Hen. Again, this isn’t a beer that I’d write home about, but it was well-kept, served at the right temperature and in a clean glass, so the pub was doing everything right. They also pro-actively mentioned that they gave 10% off to CAMRA members, not something that is usually offered. I was also interested to hear about how if they could sell 180 pints a week then they could justify a guest beer, otherwise they were a bit more limited. They’re not at that level yet, but at least they’re taking good care of the beers that they have.

It’s a cavernous sized pub with a large function room area, a pub constructed to serve the estate around it. I’d say that they’re fulfilling that aim very competently, which was evident with how busy it was. They serve a relatively large food menu and a number of customers were eating as part of the pub’s “meet and eat” branding. They show sports, they have a pool table, a separate eating area and they seem to be catering for quite a wide audience.

The reviews are a bit mixed, but this exchange seemed reminiscent of the JD Wetherspoon Paltry Chips Facebook group….

“Used to be great but last time we went in we queried why my daughter only got 4 chips with the children’s meal and was told that it was the new portions? Never been back since. Rather go to wetherspoons now. Lost our custom after that.”

This is seem a little sub-optimal to me, the pub’s response:

“Hi Paul, I’m really sorry to hear this, our portion sizes don’t specify 4 chips but are weighted so I do apologise if you felt the portion was short.”

Although this isn’t the only chip based complaint….

“Very few chips..when i mentioned this the waiter just tutted and walked off”

But, my favourite review involves the chef kicking the fridge and breaking his toe:

“One of the bar staff who were also bringing the meals to the table, said “I am going to kill him (the chef,) because of the amount of meals which had to be returned to the kitchen and cooked again. The same bar staff came back to the table to say “The chef got himself in a tantrum and kicked the fridge and has broken his toe.” ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING BEHAVIOUR.”

Anyway, I won’t digress too much…. The whole experience was more positive than I anticipated, showing what can be achieved with keen and enthusiastic staff, even if they are slightly manacled by the whole Greene King arrangement with the limitations that this brings.

The fourth pub of the day that Julian and I visited in Dereham was The Bull, part of the Greene King estate. It’s been a hospitality venue since the early 1790s and operated by Greene King since the early 1980s having previously been part of Watney Mann and then Chef & Brewer.

It initially looked like no real ale was available, but the server mentioned that they did have Old Speckled Hen from Greene King on. They’ve also listed on blackboards some events that they’ve got on as well.

I can’t say that it’s one of my favourite beers by any means, but it was well-kept here, at the appropriate temperature and served in a clean glass.

This is the main room and there’s another section of the bar off to the left.

I’m never entirely sure why the need for the “seniors deal”, can’t they just put smaller portion and make it available to all in the same way that JD Wetherspoon do? Anyway, I digress….

I liked the brickwork at the bottom right of the photo, but it doesn’t look as impressive here. I’m easily pleased to be fair.

Bargains galore on Friday afternoons. The pub has some slightly odd opening times, they close at 19:00 on Mondays, 18.00 on Sundays and 21:00 on Tuesdays to Thursdays, which seem relatively early to me.

This was a perfectly nice pub, it was clean, well presented and there was a pleasant welcome and farewell so it felt informal and comfortable. The beer choices weren’t extensive, but the real ale that they had tasted fine and it was reasonably priced. I can imagine that it’s a challenging situation being quite near to a JD Wetherspoon outlet, but it’s still trading and is apparently busy in the evenings, so that’s all quite marvellous. And I have to mention again that this venue isn’t really that far from celebrating being open for a quarter of a millennium.

The third pub in our second Dereham visit was the Royal Standard and firstly, I was impressed at how Julian spotted that under the paint above the right-hand window is the old frontage noting this was the Royal Standard. This was a pub between 1860 and 1982, at which point they changed the name of the Light Horse pub over the road to continue the traditional of the Royal Standard.

This is the pub that’s the Royal Standard now, opened as the Light Horse pub in the early nineteenth century.

This are the current opening hours, I’m impressed by their late opening every day of the week as these are some considerably long hours for a back street pub.

And I don’t know quite what to write here. The pub had no stout, no smooth flow, no craft keg, no craft bottles, no cask real ale, no real ale in bottles and I actually couldn’t see anything that I could realistically drink other than for a couple of generic lagers. So I ordered a Coke, something I didn’t think that I would ever have to write on one of these little reports of a day’s adventure. I also can’t judge what they usually serve from the pub’s Untappd records as no customer has checked a beer in for nearly a year.

The service was polite and efficient, with the general atmosphere feeling inviting, with the helpful server telling us there was a beer garden if we’d be interested in sitting outside. I like a bit of engagement and the quite tight bar area itself was quite busy, so we thought that we’d go on a little explore. There were no issues with the welcome at the pub, it didn’t feel cliquey or specialist in some form. The prices were towards the higher end of the scale for the town, but weren’t unreasonable.

The carpeted beer garden.

It’s a decent sized garden and a wonderfully historic building. CAMRA note that they have sold Bateman’s beer, but I don’t know if they’re a tied house, but I’d assume not.

Julian had ordered a draft cider but they only had bottles, so for the sake of Untappd and the photos I was generously gifted some of the drink.

The outdoor bar and a BBQ which I assume is used in the summer months. The external area did look good in photos a couple of years ago, but might need a bit of a tidy-up now.

I took the glasses back to the bar at the end of the visit so that I could report positively on any friendly farewell, but the barman ignored me and so I can’t really comment on that. The purpose of our visiting pubs is not to be particularly critical, but to pull out the not insubstantial number of venues that are really worth going to and might otherwise be forgotten. Sometimes the chain pubs have money to spend on advertising, the CAMRA award winning pubs get deserved publicity, but there are some pub owners and managers working hard to stay open and excite and delight customers who get forgotten. Energy bills are soaring, staff wages are rising, prices are going up limiting what customers can afford, these are challenging times.

The Royal Standard is clearly keeping their customers happy as there were six or so in on a Thursday afternoon and they seem to be doing food at some point in the week, although I couldn’t find a menu on-line or in the pub. They’ve abandoned their social media pages so I can’t list any of the events that might be taking place here, with no obvious internal advertising either. They were doing carveries a couple of years ago which seemed successful, but despite my trying I can’t find any evidence that they’re still doing so.

That’s about all that I can note here. At a best guess I can only suspect that the pub is not, if it’s being honest, looking for new customers and is free trade that is making its money serving their loyal regulars and opening long hours to try and accommodate that trade as best as it can. If that’s working for them, then it’s a marvellous situation that they’re carrying on a two century tradition of trade here and being of a real boost to the local community.

Although we wouldn’t usually include a restaurant in our list of venues to visit, the Greenstone does willingly accept and welcome drinkers in even though they are primarily food led. Opened in 2015, it’s operated by Marston’s and the food offering is a little generic so I will admit having slightly low expectations here even just a drinker.

There’s the sign that indicates that it’s a pub and restaurant, but the venue’s web-site doesn’t explain the reasoning for the name. I discovered that it’s named after a Neolithic polished greenstone axe head which was found in the area in 1986.

There were a choice of two different real ales, both from Marston’s. The service was polite and engaging, with the whole arrangement feeling informal and welcoming. The pub looked spotlessly clean, with the bar dry and not sticky, the staff were looking after it well.

Dereham likes its tall chairs.

This was a well-kept half pint of Pedigree, it was at the appropriate temperature and I will admit to enjoying it.

The pub interior, with nearly every customer ordering food, primarily from the on-site carvery.

Copies of some old photos of the town on the wall as part of the interior decor.

I’ll say that this venue was a pleasant surprise to me, the welcome felt authentic, it was clean and the beer was well-kept. The prices were reasonable and I was comfortable during the visit, so I’d suggest that it’s a perfectly acceptable bar to get a drink. The on-line reviews for food aren’t great, but I suspect it’s a generally reliable venue for families and larger groups. It’s hardly a destination venue for craft beer, but it works as a meeting place for those wanting food and drink.

After the success, or at least what we considered a success, of our day out in Great Yarmouth and then North Walsham, Julian and I decided to go next to the geographical heart of Norfolk with cost effective housing options as my friend Richard often says.

Dereham has 13 pubs within walking distance of the town centre, although on this I’ve decided to use Julian’s definition of “walking distance” rather than mine, as I consider anything within ten miles to be walkable. One of these is more of a bar, so we’ve discounted that as it would require a late night visit to Dereham and that sounds rather too exotic for us.

One of the pubs today was the Cock, which has won numerous awards recently, although Archant seem to take great joy in referring to it, and other pubs, as “boozers”. They’re nothing of the sort, venues such as the Cock are welcoming, inclusive and forward thinking pubs that deserve more respect. But, that’s my little complaint of the day over. Well, for the moment anyway, it’s still very early.

The journey was on First bus, who didn’t disappoint with the services being on time, clean and comfortable. We luxuriated at the upstairs table seat on the way out, before sitting like excited kids at the front of the top deck for the way back. To be fair, I was more of an excited kid, as Julian used to drive buses in London and I suspect the novelty might have slightly worn off for him. Although maybe not, but I digress once again. Unlike North Walsham, there was no international transportation hub, just a bus stop in a marketplace which has more cars than you could shake a stick at.

Once again we discovered some charming pubs, with some of them making huge efforts to be an important part of the local community, but they are all in their own ways doing a marvellous job by just being there and offering a friendly welcome. They’re far better, in my humble opinion, remaining open as pubs than being converted into another holiday home, a supermarket or a McDonald’s or something.

So, without further ado, these are the pubs we visited on our first trip to the town.

Cherry Tree

George Hotel

Red Lion

Romany Rye

King’s Head

The Cock

[Here’s the post about our second day.]

Julian and I had left The Cock to the end of our first visit to Dereham pubs because it’s an award winning CAMRA pub and our hopes were high. First opened in the late eighteenth century, it has been a Bullards, then Watney Mann, then Chef & Brewer, then Brent Walker, then Pubmaster before a few years of closure and usage as a restaurant. Now free trade, the current owners took over in early 2020 and the pub has an excellent reputation. The Cock won the CAMRA District pub of the year and only lost out on the wider branch pub award to the marvellous White Lion in Norwich. Julian, accidentally I’d add, wore his White Lion branded hat when entering the pub, I’m not sure if they noticed.

There were four real ales on, which was the widest choice of the day other than the JD Wetherspoon operated Romany Rye.

I’m always delighted to see any Titanic beer, and I’m looking forwards to a small group of us going to visit their brewery in a few weeks, but the whole selection here is creative and there are some breweries that I rarely see. I’m much more likely to go to a pub which changes its beer options on a regular basis and looking back on Untappd, the Cock has offered some really decent options.

I took the photos during a quiet period, as the pub was generally quite busy throughout our visit. The service at the bar was warm and friendly with the whole atmosphere feeling inviting and informal. It seemed a rather suitable place to linger.

The front of the pub is cosy, with this section at the back feeling more open and suitable for those who want to dine whilst they’re here. The owners also operate some rooms with a self-catering apartment at the rear of the venue, as well as some other options a short walk away.

I started with the Steerage from Titanic Brewery, a well kept clean and hoppy bitter. As a random aside, I would have thought they would be able to get some half pint beer festival glasses from CAMRA rather than using those from Timothy Taylor, but I didn’t let that ruin my day.

As the pub atmosphere was comfortable and inviting, we decided to stay for a second, opting for the Megoatron from Top Rope Brewing. I hadn’t heard of Top Rope before, but the owners met at Brewdog Liverpool and decided after a few pints it would be a good idea to open a brewery. That certainly seems an optimal decision to me. Also well kept and at the appropriate temperature, this was an oaty and smooth stout, suitable to prepare me for a walk back to the bus stop in the Dereham rain.

I very much liked this menu, something creative which is easy to prepare and sounded rather decent.

There’s plenty of theming based around the pub’s name.

I thought that this was a nice touch, it’s useful for the locals to be prepared in advance if they’re travelling to somewhere like Watton.

There’s a sense of fun to the pub and it also feels like a venue where the owners are keen to put events on to surprise and delight the local community.

Here are some of the current planned events, there are games evenings, a pub quiz, a rum festival and plenty more. If I lived in Dereham, I think that I’d become a regular here.

I like the tagline of “like pubs used to be”, although any community which had a pub this well run would have been very fortunate. It feels like it’s at the heart of the community, it’s got a strong offering and a relaxed atmosphere. We felt welcome, we would have willing stayed for longer if it wasn’t for the need to catch a bus and this venue very much seems to be on the up. This really is one of those pubs which surprises and delights, a worthy winner of numerous CAMRA awards despite being open for just a few years under the current management.

This was the fifth pub that Julian and I visited on our little adventure to Dereham, the King’s Head Hotel which is still operating as an accommodation venue and bar. It’s been operating since the late eighteenth century and for a while was a Chef & Brewer managed pub.

When entering, this is the first room that’s visible and it’s a slightly odd sight. I’m sure it’s just the breakfast room for hotel guests but it really wasn’t clear to me whether this was a venue that was open to drinkers in the day.

It did feel a little like walking into the dock at a court room, although I imagine that this is just to ensure that guests don’t linger in the licensed area after closing. Actually, just for clarification, I’ve never appeared at the dock in a court room, I’m just imagining what it must be like. I was questioned by magistrates back in 2004 when I got my alcohol licence for the first time, but that was a rather more friendly affair and I was assisted with the formidable, and much missed, licensing officer for Ipswich who was Bob Coleman.

I wasn’t tempted. Maybe if it was 25p per pint.

There was no real ale available, so I went once again for half a pint of John Smiths. I’ve got to be honest here, this is depressing in terms of pub management, there’s no craft beer, there’s no real ale and there was a feeling of terminal decline here. I can’t dress that up in a more positive way unfortunately. The staff member was polite and service was efficient, but there was never really any engagement beyond the minimum needed here.

The John Smiths tasted fine, albeit it in the wrongly branded glass.

There’s a pool room out the back.

I don’t think it would be unfair for me to say that there needs to be a refurbishment and modernisation.

We sat by the fire door, not realising that it would be constantly opened and propped open so that smokers could partake in their hobby outside. This was sub optimal, but humorous, there’s perhaps a little more thought needed on how to make this work for all customers.

The pub is generally poorly reviewed and had the lowest rating of any of the six venues that we visited during the day. There’s an element of sadness about this as the pub should be a licence to print money with its hotel room, extensive gardens and large premises. It seems from reviews that the pub has come under new management in the last year and I hope that a renovation of the premises is being planned. I don’t quite follow why someone who is coming in new isn’t offering a better range of drinks, as a venue should be offering real ale as a basic, even if they don’t want to dip their toe into the wonderful world of craft beer.

A recent review suggests that the problems are more substantial:

“When we checked into our rooms we were given breakfast sheets so we could inform the kitchen what we wanted. However, when we came down to breakfast we were informed there was only enough bacon for two of our party because it had not been defrosted! We were shocked to say the least. As for the rest of the breakfast, the mushrooms were rubbery, the tomatoes were not cooked, the beans were cold and the sausages were inedible.”

And another recent review:

“On arrival to see a board stating no chef, so no food, when you have booked breakfast was concening. Going into the bar mid afternoon, to be warmly greeted by the same lady who had twiced promised to confirm by email, VERY loud music and drunk people at the bar. We actually left as fast as we could! Managed to find another very nice place thank goodness! Looking back at the reviews it seems that things went downhill fast about 18 months ago with new management?”

And one more in the sea of negativity:

“Please, Do not stay at this so called hotel. I would not let my dogs stay there, just look at the mattress and pillows. It could be a great business, how ever the owners have no idea…It is in need of complete overhaul.”

Back to the positives, which is that the atmosphere was comfortable and welcoming. It’s not a threatening venue and the prices were middle of the road (and bargain basement if you like Amstel), so there’s nothing offensive happening here. There was no evidence of a food menu, but there is a sign outside saying that lunch and evening meals are served on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. That’s an odd arrangement and I was disappointed that there were no visible menus. The pub does have a web-site, but it’s out of date and I’m not sure whether the menu listed there is current. The social media pages also appear to have been abandoned which isn’t ideal.

I understand that there’s a slight element of negativity in this post, and I try to avoid that as the hospitality industry needs all of the support that it can get. But, this venue is a wonderful opportunity to make a tidy sum and I’m little surprised that they’re not seeking to take advantage of that, not that that’s anything to do with me…. As it stands, I’m not sure what it is offering to the people of Dereham that they can’t get anywhere else, which probably isn’t helped as they’ve nearby to the award winning Cock pub nearby. That’s as positive as I can unfortunately muster, although there was a genuine farewell offered and that is always a friendly thing to do. I wish them well though, it’s a fantastic building with its grounds and it’s a marvellous thing at all that it’s open rather than being converted into something else.