Category: Norfolk

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.

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.

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.

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.