Category: Norfolk

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.