Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Norfolk

Dereham Pub Day – Cherry Tree

The first pub on our Dereham Pub Day was the Cherry Tree, one of the oldest hospitality venues in the town which has been trading since the late eighteenth century. There were fears that a closure in January 2011 might become permanent, but it was reopened in December 2012 and has remained open since serving the denizens of Dereham.

The pub was once at the entrance to Dereham’s pig market, which is today the main car park for the town. Norfolk Record Office has the diaries of John Fenn which he wrote between 1786 and 1794, which apparently mentions multiple incidents of trouble at the Cherry Tree pub. I’ll add that to my long list of things to request at the Record Office as I’m intrigued what trouble was going on in the parish back then, I suspect it’s not dissimilar to the trouble the police currently deal with in the area. Also whilst I’m writing about the Record Office, this is an interesting article about the marriage of one of their landlords, Mahershalalhashbaz Tuck.

There’s also a story from the ever fascinating Norfolk Pubs web-site, noting:

“On July 31st 1856, Mr. Burke, who was staying at the Half Moon, had visited the Cherry Tree and sat drinking with the girls until midnight. The two girls took him across fields to a stack where they lay down and he fell asleep. When he awoke the girls were gone and he could not account for his money. Several witnesses proved that he had spent freely in the public house and the girls were acquitted.”

The pub recently posted this photo on their Facebook page, the pub is on the right. The full version of this photo, where you can see the actual pub, is at https://norfolk.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?SETLVL=&BRN=712043.

Half a pint of Hobgoblin Gold from Wychwood and this was adequate, although not perhaps at its best. There were two beers on, this and the Coronation Ale from Greene King which has the sort of scoring on Untappd which is what I expect from the brewery. I like that the brewer’s signature has been placed on the pump clip, I suppose that they want someone to take responsibility and that’s a clever way of doing it.

For reasons that I don’t think I want to investigate, Julian was excited at the branding from Fosters and took out one of the brewery’s bar mats from his pocket. I think he gifted it to the pub to add to their marketing and I’m hoping he was more impressed by the wording on the bar mat than the beer itself.

The welcome was friendly and immediate with a feel that this is a community pub which seems non judgemental, it was a suitably inviting venue. There are no negative reviews on Google, I have to congratulate any pub which has managed not to annoy anyone over the last ten years. They don’t serve food, but they show sports and there are a number of community events which take place here, not least the weekly live music. Too often pubs don’t sell their distinct offering very well, but there’s an external sign at the Cherry Tree which mentions that they’re the town’s “number 1 live music venue” which seems like clear and useful marketing to me.

The reviews of the venue often mention “this is a proper drinking pub” and that seems to be a fair description.

April 21, 2023
King’s Lynn – NORAH event at King’s Lynn Town Hall

Despite all my expeditions to King’s Lynn recently, I’ve never made it to the historic Town Hall. Fortunately, a NorAH event was taking place and a trustee I thought it would made an ideal opportunity to have a look around the building.

The building is too complex to give a comprehensive history here, but there’s more information at their official web-site. But I’ll do my best at a potted history of the building in this post, with this grand room being the Assembly Room. These became popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, generally used by the more wealthy to take part in events such as balls, concerts, dances and all manner of other decadent events. The room has been decorated as it would have looked in the Georgian period and when they did some analysis of the walls they discovered six very different paint schemes which had been used over the years.

At the rear end of the Assembly Room, and constructed at the same time in 1768, is what is now known as the Card Room. This was used as a quieter and more intimate space which was frequently used by card playing following in the traditions of King George III and King George IV. Today the venue is used for weddings and other formal events, so the traditions of being a meeting place for those in the town continues.

At the other end of the Assembly Room is what I consider to be the centrepiece of the building, the Stone Hall. This was built in 1422 and was originally a merchant guildhall (the Merchant Guild Hall of the Holy Trinity), replacing an earlier building that had caught fire in 1421. The floor is made from Ketton stone (which is from Rutland and is used extensively in a number of colleges at Cambridge University) and was added in 1716, with marks on the floor from when they put in the judge’s bench, defendant’s dock and the jury stalls. The whole design of this room and its long heritage does remind me of similar halls in countries such as Poland, they have no shortage of buildings such as this there, usually by the city’s main market square.

The large tracery window at the end of the Stone Hall has numerous inscriptions that glaziers and plumbers (lead workers) have scratched into the glass over the years, likely annoying generations of custodians of the building.

A close-up of some of the handiwork. There is a guide on the window which shows where the inscriptions are and details of what they say.

A side door from the Stone Hall leads through to the former courtroom which was built in 1767 to serve as the Borough’s council chamber. In 1830 the room was repurposed to become the Petty Sessions, or Magistrate’s Court, and it remained in use until 1982. Modernisation is inevitable and the facilities were dated for the modern age, but there is an element of sadness when traditions come to an end. There’s plenty of centralisation in public services today, a lot of the power and civic functions of King’s Lynn have ebbed away over the years.

The retiring room which was added in 1895 to link the Georgian town hall with the new municipal wing.

The porch where visitors enter the building. It’s an odd design with a fair amount of wasted space, I’m not sure whether they’ve repurposed this area over the years.

Onto the documents that were on display, this is a survey of the lands in Terrington St Clement and Terrington St John.

These documents can often be hard to make out where the handwriting isn’t clear, but the book on the left (which is the one in the previous photo) had a scribe who was clearly proud of their handiwork. The documents and maps on display were all purchased for Norfolk Record Office at public auction following donations made by NorAH and the Audrey Muriel Stratford Trust.

I do like knowing what’s behind a door like this.

And thanks to Luke and his guided tour, I was able to find out. These are the bottom of those stairs, where the prisoners would trudge up to the court and then back down again after having found out their sentence.

All told, a rather lovely evening and it’s positive to see documents being acquired that can be read and accessed for free by anyone who visits the King’s Lynn Borough Archives. It was also a highlight of course to see this historic building and to get a tour of it, I’m very pleased that no-one has ever turned it into a restaurant, hotel or bar in the way that some of these venues are repurposed. Also, for anyone interested, here are details of the NorAH Supporter’s Scheme.

April 20, 2023
North Walsham Pub Day – Hop In

The Hop In is the only Good Beer Guide listed pub in North Walsham and is a micro-pub that was formerly occupied by a taxi company. I’ve been hoping to come here for some time and it was the pub that Julian and I expected to enjoy the most in our day trip to the town, so we had left it to last.

This was the strongest real ale selection of the day, offering a combination of local breweries alongside some different national breweries to give a little more choice. They had some tempting chocolate bars and crisps on the bar, but I somehow managed to resist buying food that I didn’t really need.

It’s a small venue, just three tables downstairs and around five or so tables upstairs. I wasn’t able to get a photo of the interior as it was busy, but the environment is cosy, informal and extremely inviting for my needs at least. The service was outstanding, with the staff member being knowledgeable, engaging, personable and pro-active. It is absolute no surprise that this pub is doing so well given the welcome that customers are receiving. I was faffing about wondering whether I needed a chocolate bar, and the staff member mentioned that I also had the option of bringing in food from other venues, which is always a kind gesture.

I went for the Pit Stop from Prescott Brewery to start with, an example of my being able to try something new as the brewery is from Cheltenham and I hadn’t previously heard of it. The beer uses Citra hops which nearly always delights me, giving it a pleasant citrusy flavour and it was served in excellent condition.

I didn’t go for Boudicca on this visit, but if my new bar billiards team member friend Emma ever reads this I’d note I’d had one of her brewery’s beers the night before so I haven’t become disloyal to this fine brewery. This is instead a beer I’ve had plenty of times, the ever delightful Blackberry Porter from S&P Brewery. Well, I have to get my fruit intake somehow as it’s important to have a balance in life.

I had absolute no complaints about the Hop In, it’s a standout venue which absolutely deserves to be listed in the Good Beer Guide. Exceptional service, a well thought through selection of beers, an inviting atmosphere and the denizens of North Walsham should be delighted that they have this drinking option in the town. I was surprised and delighted, ready to return to the International Transportation Hub in the car park of North Walsham library.

April 8, 2023
North Walsham Pub Day – Orchard Gardens

Situated just a few minutes walk away from the town centre is this former Victorian townhouse, now the Orchard Gardens, which was the fifth pub visit on our day trip to North Walsham. It’s been a pub since the late nineteenth century and was a Watney Mann pub until Punch Taverns briefly took it over and nearly ruined it before it became free trade.

I admit that I had to Google this as I hadn’t heard of Walter Pardon, but my music knowledge is mostly limited to the Wurzels so that’s not entirely surprising.

For anyone interested, here’s one of his folk songs.

The pub was larger than I had realised and it had a cosy ambience to it, it seemed a generally comfortable environment.

There were three ales available, Greene King’s Abbot, Lacon’s Encore and Reedlighter from Woodfordes Brewery.

I’m not a cyclist so I don’t mind where bikes are shoved, but Julian is more into getting them back into use.

We sat, for the second time in a day, by the dart board and some festive tree arrangement in the corner.

This wasn’t under-poured, I had consumed a little before remembering to take the photo. I went for the Reedlighter from Woodfordes and it was well-kept and at the appropriate temperature but as a beer it was a little thin for me.

An Adnams Ale poster of their brewery set-up from nearly fifty years ago.

I was very tempted by this pizza arrangement, which I think is a pop-up set-up from a different vendor, but I was still more than full from my earlier pie at the King’s Arms. For what it’s worth, which I admit is very little, if I had been settled in for the evening I’m confident that I would have gone for the ‘Nduja pizza.

I liked this pub, it felt like a comfortable family venue which has numerous events going on which include live music. The opening hours aren’t as transparent as they could be, the opening times vary on different sites and the closing time is ‘late’ which I find an entirely unhelpful proposition for customers. But anyway, that slight complaint aside, I liked the set-up here with numerous different seating areas and also a pool table in a separate part of the venue. The service was polite and personable, the atmosphere was inviting and I liked their food offer so I’d suggest that combination is a win for the local community.

April 8, 2023
North Walsham Pub Day – Market Tavern

The Market Tavern on Market Street would have been our fourth pub of the day in North Walsham, but it’s unfortunately closed. The Auction House sign says that the “business is not affected” but the signage of the pub has come down and its future doesn’t look entirely promising. We were told in the Hop In that the landlord died which is why it closed, but hopefully it can re-open again in the future as a pub as the venue seems entirely viable financially.

April 8, 2023
North Walsham Pub Day – King’s Arms Hotel

Our second pub of the day had what I considered to be the most interesting building, the substantial structure of the Kings Arms Hotel. It was constructed in the seventeenth century, although was much modified in the following century, but that’s still plenty of heritage. The pub’s web-site claims that Horatio Nelson might have popped in for a drink which is not entirely fanciful as he was at Paston Grammar School which was located next door, although he left there when he was 12 so who knows….

There are plenty of pubs which were formerly hotels and keep that word in their name, not least the Bell Hotel in Norwich, which seems a little confusing to me. However, the King’s Arms still welcomes overnight visitors and the reviews for their accommodation seem broadly positive with all the guest rooms located on the first floor.

There were three real ales available, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, the Ghostship from Adnams and Abbot from Greene King, with prices feeling around average. I’m somewhat out of date with my knowledge of shots as it’s a long time since I’ve run anything which sells them, but the Dead Man’s Fingers rum looked intriguing in their garish packaging. But Julian and I were sticking to the beers and didn’t want to get distracted with shots, a sign of our professionalism to our day trip.

We didn’t have a food plan for the day, so I asked if they were serving food and these menus were supplied. As they looked suitably interesting we decided to get food here.

The problem a large pub has is ensuring that it feels homely and that there doesn’t seem to be tumbleweed floating across the plains of the carpet. There were no such difficulties here, there were plenty of customers from all age groups with this being one of the more comfortable environments we found during the day. I went for the Landlord from Timothy Taylor’s Brewery and this tasted as expected, at the appropriate temperature and well kept.

Historic photos of the pub.

A little shrine of pub history, I liked it.

This sign was more confusing than it needed to be (or to me at least, I’m easily confused), but the ladies and gents were to the right.

The pie is listed on the menu as traditional British, which frightened me slightly, but I asked and was told that they had beef or chicken. I wasn’t entirely sure that this sounded entirely tempting, but I went with the chicken pie and had suitably low expectations of a sub-optimal experience. I needn’t have though, this was a perfectly good meal with the chicken pie being sizeable, the chips being firm on the exterior and fluffy inside alongside peas which retained some bite. But the star of this little show was the gravy which was served in a large quantity and had an onion taste to it which added positively to the whole arrangement. Although the chicken pie did seem to have been brought in, the meal was filling and tasty so I had no complaints. There was also a check back during the meal and I got the impression that the pub would have promptly fixed any problems. Julian went for the scampi and chips which was also served as a large portion, indeed so substantial that he was defeated towards the end, but he mentioned the quality of the food.

The pool table area of the pub, one of several separately defined areas of the venue.

I very much liked this venue, it had lots of character, the service was polite and the surroundings were comfortable. The food exceeded my expectations and I rather got the feeling that I was carrying on the tradition of generations of enjoying sustenance in this pub. And just perhaps I was sitting in the same place as Horatio Nelson, who knows….

April 8, 2023
North Walsham Pub Day – White Swan

The first pub in our little day trip was the White Swan, a listed building located opposite the church and a hospitality venue since the end of the eighteenth century which is also from around the period it was constructed.

There were two real ales available, the Black Sheep Best Bitter and the Hobgoblin Gold, with prices being towards the higher end of the scale.

We were drinking half pints for reasons of economy and the Black Sheep Bitter was adequate but I’m not sure it was at its absolute best, but the bacon fries helped to lift things a little.

The interior was quite eclectic, but this was a pub that seemed to have a broad trade base and was trying to cover the needs of those wanting to watch sport, listen to live music, play pool or have a quiet pint. The environment was welcoming and the pub was clean, with the service always being friendly with a community feel to it.

I was pleased to see numerous photos around the pub of how it once looked, with this one being from the period that it was operated by Bullards. Apparently in August 1977 the landlord of the White Swan, Barry Cunningham, organised a race where drinkers pushed a pram around the pubs of North Walsham having a pint in each. It sounds an interesting affair, especially as there were once more pubs in the town than there are today.

Pool tables make an appearance in nearly all of the pubs in North Walsham. Shame they don’t have a bar billiards table, but that’s a different matter.

I know that pianos in pubs were once far more commonplace and secretly I’m glad that this is no longer the case, as drunken people banging about on the keys would disrupt my analysis of beer. This reminds me of how many pianos were smashed up in the 1980s in the name of sport, something that seemed to be a common event at village fetes. I’m not really interested in things that involve destruction, but whatever amused people at the time I suppose.

But, back to the pub and away from my flights of fancy, this was a traditional community pub which offered a comfortable environment and broad appeal.

April 8, 2023
North Walsham Pub Day – Two Julians

Firstly, apologies to my two loyal readers who are faced with my out of sequence posting, but I’ll try and get this series of posts all completed this morning. It’s from the day trip of Thursday this week with my friend Julian to the city centre of North Walsham in North Norfolk. We were planning to visit six pubs in North Walsham, finishing at the Good Beer Guide listed Hop In. We boarded the Sanders Rocket in Norwich with the journey to the provincial capital of North Norfolk taking just over 50 minutes.

The pubs we were visiting (and I’ll link these in when I’ve finished posting) were:

Black Swan (third pub visited in the day)

Hop In (sixth pub visited in the day)

Kings Arms Hotel (second pub visited in the day)

Market Tavern (fourth pub visited in the day – although closed)

Orchard Gardens (fifth pub visited in the day)

White Swan (first pub visited in the day)

There is also one more pub in the suburbs of this great regional metropolis, which is the Bluebell, but we didn’t have time to get that far. Julian did record some video of the day as we’re planning these days out to be a regular feature over the next few weeks and months. As things go, we’re planning Dereham for our next expedition. There are more photos from our day out in North Walsham at https://www.flickr.com/photos/julianwhite-uk/albums/72177720307312981/.

The new and improved X55 bus. Given that the £2 single fare cap is in place until the end of June, this is all making bus travel feel much more desirable.

And we arrived safely at North Walsham’s International Travel Hub. By travel hub, they mean bus stop as it’s nowhere near the railway station and there’s no other transportation departing from here other than cars. However, to be fair, they have arranged the bus stops and signage so that everything is clear and it feels safe.

April 8, 2023
Harwich – Greater Anglia Train from Norwich to Harwich

Today’s little pub, history and walking expedition is to Harwich since I thought that I needed a day out. I noticed on-line that the London train before mine was cancelled so thought I’d rush down in anticipation of the actual service I was booked on being full. Fortunately, I got a table just in time so was able to merrily type away for an hour or so. The service inevitably got busier and I got chatting to a confused passenger (they weren’t confused by me, or at least I don’t think so) who wondered why the train was so busy. We then shared our thoughts about Greater Anglia, which is a healthy scepticism I would say mixed with a supportive attitude.

My train arrived into Manningtree on time, but since it was a tight connection I didn’t get time to have a look around the railway station.

Looking to the left, the train was empty. Something of a contrast to the standing room only of the train that I had just disembarked.

Looking to the right, the train was empty. Now, I know I complain, but I hate it when they shove five seats in across. They’re so narrow that it effectively takes out the middle seat of the three so I disagree that there’s any benefit in terms of passenger numbers. Indeed, they’ve just made it more uncomfortable for everyone as it’s hard to navigate down the aisle and there’s a reason why trains traditionally have four seats across.

A couple of other people got on and then got off again at the gateway to the globe railway station that is Harwich International.

I do love a bit of history and they’ve made an effort with the boards at Harwich Town. The sign notes that between December 1938 and May 1940 that 10,000 unaccompanied children came to Britain from Europe. Although many people were involved, it is impossible for me not to mention the work done by Sir Nicholas Winton, someone that I consider to be one of the greatest people of the twentieth century. The relevance is that the children arrived here at Harwich and many stayed locally.

Another board about the Kindertransport.

I’ve been watching a lot of Hi-de-Hi recently and I didn’t realise that the programme was filmed at Warners which wasn’t far from the railway station, but unfortunately it was all demolished in 1992. That was a suitable treat to feel so near to where all this comedy action took place.

It’s a pretty railway station and it’s at the end of the Mayflower Line, with the building being rebuilt between 1865 and 1866.

And an information board at the front of the station, it all felt more remote than I had expected with all this greenery. But I had arrived into Harwich on time and ready to explore the town for my first time in recent years.

April 4, 2023
Hempton – Bell Pub (Good Beer Guide)

I was pleased to discover that the Bell pub in Hempton opened at 11:00 as that meant I could make a flying visit to tick it off my Good Beer Guide list. Hempton is a moderately strange settlement as it’s effectively in Fakenham, but it feels entirely separate from it and in terms of its history it hasn’t much changed over the last 200 years.

It was evident that this pub would be excellent simply by evidence that it has survived at all, with the other two pubs in Hempton having closed long ago. As mentioned, it’s listed in the Good Beer Guide, but it also came highly recommended from people that I know in CAMRA. A quick look on-line shows that they’ve made an effort to have a web presence and they’ve also got a history of the pub which is something I always appreciate.

The Bell is a perfect example of a village pub where the welcome is immediate and the locals seem pleased when people come in to their pub. It feels like they have a buy-in, it’s a sign of an exceptional pub where the locals are so proud of their venue. And rightly so, it’s got a community feel where they show sports, have a pool table, two separate seating areas and a cosy atmosphere. There’s something for everything, not least a selection of four real ales which is a good going for any pub.

The beer is the Snetterton Scary Tree, the name of which comes from a local landmark which has unfortunately now fallen down. Brewed by Elmtree this is a session bitter which was suitably hoppy, being well-kept and at the appropriate temperature. Any concern I had that I’d arrive early on a Monday morning and might get a poor quality beer were unfounded as there were already several customers and all the beers had been pulled through.

My visit was short, but I got the impression that this was an exceptional pub which serves its community well and there were numerous events advertised which they’ve involved with organising. There was a friendly welcome, engaging service, keenly priced beer and plenty of real ales. It absolutely deserves its place in the Good Beer Guide, it’s a pub for the many and not the few.

April 3, 2023