Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • Edinburgh – Brewdog Edinburgh Lothian Road

    Edinburgh – Brewdog Edinburgh Lothian Road

    Given that I’m working my way through all the Brewdogs in the UK, it’s probably about time that I started visiting some of their Scottish outlets, given that’s the country that they come from. They have two outlets in the centre of Edinburgh, but I started with this one as it’s the only one of the two which offers unlimited chicken wings on a Wednesday. The other Brewdog is in Cowgate and has a menu similar to the one that we had in Clapham a couple of weeks ago, offering food such as pizzas and cheese boards (Richard would be pleased).

    I was seated near to the bar, in what I considered to be a rather good location since I could see what was going on. The welcome seemed genuinely friendly and the staff members were always polite, but they weren’t pro-active in talking about the beers in a way that some other Brewdog bars have been. But Brewdog set themselves a high bar in terms of their engagement, so there was nothing wrong here, just other venues in the chain have their staff talk about the beer in quite a natural way even when customers have already ordered it via the app.

    This is the rear of the bar, which they’d closed off when I visited as they didn’t have sufficient customers to need it. This is a large Brewdog outlet and they also have a fair amount of space outside, so finding a seat is usually not a problem most of the time.

    The beer fridges.

    Indeed I did….. Actually, this reminds me that I booked 16:45 because 17:00 was unavailable. I’m not sure I understand Brewdog’s logic here, since they had no more customers in at 17:00 than they did at 16:45, as can also be noted from the closed off rear area.

    I went for two drinks, just getting thirds of each as usual. This is the One Day Maybe Never from Verdant Brewing, which was a little disappointing as there was nothing particularly exciting about this beer in terms of flavours or the depth of taste. The brewery is from Cornwall and I’ve had a few of their beers before, including the Even Sharks Need Water, Bloom and Maybe One More PSI, but this was the blandest that I’ve had from them in terms of the flavour.

    I then followed this up with Cosmic Raspberry from Overworks, which is Brewdog’s own brewery. This beer didn’t hugely excite me either, it was just tart, without much smoothness to it. The taste of raspberry wasn’t unpleasant, but I had expected something a little more sophisticated.

    I’m not helped here either by having nearly run out of different Brewdog beers to try, I might have to put a gap in between my next visit so that they can rotate the guest beers that they have to choose from. They do change their guests relatively frequently, but the guest beer menu in Edinburgh was similar to what they had in their London bars.

    I went for the unlimited chicken wings again, since I haven’t had them for two weeks. Served at the usual very hot temperature where I have to let them sit for a few minutes, they were different in shape to other Brewdog outlets, which slightly surprised me as I wasn’t sure that there were many different options in this regard. I didn’t let it bother me….

    And more…. And quite a few more that I didn’t take photos of. The service was always efficient and I was never left waiting for long, so the whole bar felt well managed. it was well staffed, indeed to the point that I wondered if they’d been expecting more guests.

    Anyway, obviously there’s a limit to how unique Brewdog bars are when comparing them to each other, but this was a perfectly pleasant experience. I was never rushed and I liked the engagement from staff, with complete compliance with the current Covid rules. It wasn’t overly busy, although they were getting a steady flow of customers, and the bar is genuinely pretty well reviewed. So, all fine for me and no issues.

  • Edinburgh – Conan Doyle Pub

    Edinburgh – Conan Doyle Pub

    The Good Beer Guide hasn’t been able to achieve much for me today, as every pub in it that I tried to visit was shut, including those which were meant to be open. I’m moderately confused by this, as Edinburgh is busy and other pubs seem to be doing well. Anyway, that meant an opportunity to just try some other pubs and see what I could find. The Conan Doyle takes its name as it’s near the birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, born at Picardy Place on 22 May 1859. For reasons unknown (or at least, unknown to me), the home of his birth was demolished in the early 1970s.

    The pub is Nicholson’s, so arguably I could have just stayed in London as they have no shortage of venues there. The set-up is the same, although I’ve had to download a different check-in app, as the one I’ve been using is created by NHS England. There was a staff member at the entrance to guide me through the process, all efficiently managed. I didn’t have to fight to use the app here, they didn’t seem to object to me using technology rather ordering through them.

    There’s apparently usually a wide selection of real ales, but at the moment it’s limited to just Nicholson’s Pale Ale or Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. I got my 25p off half a pint, making the price £2.20, which isn’t unreasonable given the location. The beer was all that a pint of Landlord could be, it was entirely adequate and well kept, but not really anything more. The surroundings were relaxed and the pub was relatively busy, although it was never full when I was there. Unlike the Nicholson’s pubs that I’ve been visiting in London over the last couple of weeks, this one seemed to be serving a fair amount of food.

    I did look at the menu on-line (although I was saving myself for Brewdog food) and thought frickles were some local speciality. They’re actually stocked throughout the Nicholson’s chain and I’ve just never noticed, but they’re beer battered gherkins and that is something I’d very much like. I might e-mail Greggs, they need to stock decadent products like this. There is though some localisation, as the pub stocks haggis, neeps and tatties, as well as the dishes of Stovies and Balmoral Chicken. They also have the dessert of Cranachan, which I’d never heard of until Andrew ordered it when we were in the Isle of Skye a few years ago. As an aside, one customer complained that they weren’t happy with their small portion size of haggis (I would have been, I don’t like haggis) and the pub replied in a review they would have been give more free if they had asked. Handy tip for anyone visiting in the future…..

    As a pub, this was all fine, as it was clean and comfortable. Nothing exceptional, but the environment was welcoming and there were a few customers sitting on their own, usually a sign of an accepting environment. I had a little look through their reviews on-line, which are broadly positive. I quite liked the one from last year:

    “Obviously you get the odd ignoring while waiting at a bar for service wherever you are, but this was just blatant. I must assume it was because we were English, as the bar was full of Scottish indy stuff. Bit ironic as I fully support the Scottish Nationalists”.

    I’m a bit bemused by that one, as I’m not sure that staff in a pub in central Edinburgh are going to turn against anyone who sounds a bit English. I also didn’t see all the Scottish independence stuff that is mentioned, just a sign for Scottish malts. The pub didn’t bother replying to that review.

    Drifting off the subject somewhat (but I’ve become judgemental reading these reviews), a customer complained that they were given an unsuitable wonky table for two and asked for a larger one which was more convenient for them. The pub reply was “this is standard practice as you would know, having visited so many restaurants before”. I’m not sure it is, I’ve seen very many venues sacrifice larger tables to please their customers, thereby avoiding the negative review that this pub ended up with. The pub has a few negative reviews similar to this one, but there we go….

    I did though like the pub’s reply to a customer who complained that he was patient whilst waiting for his beer, but was then charged over £5 for it. The reply was “unfortunately in Scotland this doesn’t entitle anyone to a change in the price. You have yourself a wonderful day!” and that seemed a most suitable response.

    I was also amused by an angry Canadian who was furious he had to go to the bar in the pub to order and then carry the drinks back himself to the table. I’m not entirely sure that he got the spirit of pub culture in the UK. Anyway, I’ve now got entirely distracted from my initial aim of writing a few comments about the pub. All was fine, but nothing exceptional, but it’s nice for Sherlock Holmes fans to visit.

  • London Euston to Edinburgh Waverley – Caledonian Sleeper

    London Euston to Edinburgh Waverley – Caledonian Sleeper

    I needed to get to Edinburgh this week and I looked at numerous different options. Annoyingly, it was just as cheap to fly, but it’s not very environmental to fly domestically and so I decided against that given there were alternatives. There were some cheap fares to get between the two cities, but then I remembered the sleeper service which operates from London Euston.

    The concourse of Euston railway station. Fun fact, this dreadful station was actually designed to have no seating to prevent people from loitering. Welcome to the world of British Rail customer service. This decision was later reversed and seating has been installed, but there isn’t much for what is a substantial mainline station. Anyway, I’ve digressed already.

    The handy thing I discovered is that the sleeper service can be boarded over an hour before its departure. The platform number was announced, so I thought I might as well board. I’m always early for flights, trains, coaches and indeed everything, so this was all quite handy.

    Here we go, departing from platform 15.

    The train looked modern and clean. I hadn’t realised that the service didn’t operate for a couple of weeks in June due to a strike over staff pay. I’m not getting involved with commenting on that, but that’s a very disappointing state of affairs that must threaten the viability of a service like this moving forwards.

    I must admit that I found all this quite exciting, probably evidence that I need to grow up. A member of staff met me at the end of the platform just to check that I was in the right place and they then directed me towards a steward. He checked my ticket and then guided me towards where I needed to go on the train.

    I had just booked a seat rather than a cabin, as I’m not made of money…..

    One of the carriages with seats, which in normal times might feel a little packed. There was a policy though of having just one person per row, and no-one directly behind, which made arrangements feel really rather spacious.

    I was pleased to get the front seat as that had quite a sturdy little desk arrangement. There was a guide to the service on the table, as well as a little amenity pack.

    Some instructions on how to get to sleep. I’m not sure about this avoiding heavy food, avoiding alcohol, avoiding coffee and avoiding phones is useful, I’d rather just stay awake.

    There is an eye mask and ear plugs included in the pack. There wasn’t really much noise in the cabin, although a couple of English football fans going to Carlisle were politely told to shut up by the steward. He didn’t actually say that directly, he suggested that they go and sit in the buffet car, but it had the required effect.

    There’s a safe above every seat, although they’re not particularly spacious. I just shoved my bag on the floor, it’s currently so heavy that anyone trying to pinch it would just assume I’d padlocked it to the ground. The carriages are professionally fitted out, there’s been some considerable money spent here over the years. The quality of the interior was better than I had expected, so although it’s not Amtrak, it’s really not too bad at all.

    A steward (that’s the name they use, not one I’ve decided to describe them by) came by to offer everyone a menu, with the pricing seeming to be quite moderate.

    I don’t normally feel the need to take photos of toilets on trains, but on this occasion I thought that I would.

    I slept reasonably well and woke up to discover that we were in Carlisle. A few passengers alighted there and I don’t think we picked anyone up. I suspect that I would have been quite uncomfortable if the train had been full with passengers, as there isn’t really enough space to stretch out (not that I ever worked out the reclining function, since I don’t use it). Covid-19 doesn’t have many advantages, but this is one of them.

    This is, I believe, the River Sark, which is the border between England and Scotland. I was quite pleased to be able to get this photo as the train does move at quite a speed.

    There was a screen in front of me informing me of the train’s progress. Carstairs is a relatively small location, but it’s where they faff about doing something with the train and it heads back out in the other direction. The train operates on the West Coast Mainline, although it can also be diverted to the East Coast Mainline if engineering works require.

    As we approached Edinburgh, a plan of the railway station appeared on the screen. I thought that this was really quite useful. I understand that it’s possible to stay on the train for an extra hour or so, to allow for some extra sleep if required, but I had the need to find some snacks at the railway station.

    And safely in Edinburgh Waverley, with an engineer jumping out to fix something (or just to have a play on the track for all I know).

    That was really quite lovely as an experience. The price wasn’t the cheapest, at just over £60, although it meant that I didn’t have to get any accommodation for the night. As is usual, because I’m never in a rush I was hoping that the train might be 30 minutes late into Edinburgh, as then I’d have got half my money back. Unfortunately not though…..

    The service was professional throughout, the stewards were helpful and the train was on time in and out of every stop. I’m sure that the cabin option is much more comfortable (but it’s also much more expensive), but I got sufficient sleep and would use the service again. I just hope they sort out this strike action, as if staff keep going on strike (for whatever reason) then the train is perhaps in danger of being withdrawn forever. As it stands, there are just two sleeper services in the UK, the other one is the Night Riviera which goes down to Cornwall. Anyway, I’m very pleased that I tried the service.

  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – UEFA Football Village

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – UEFA Football Village

    My modern day football knowledge isn’t great, but since Ross had popped down to London for the day (and his football knowledge is rather more substantial) we thought we’d pop into the UEFA football village which is located by Tower Bridge. It’s free to get in and there are places to watch matches (other than the England match, which isn’t shown here), get food and drink, look at a giant ball and numerous other experiences that I didn’t really entirely understand.

    The aforementioned giant ball.

    The large screen and there were football fans from numerous different countries watching the match. It was a convivial environment and there were lots of volunteers around to help and assist visitors. It wasn’t a large space and there were a limited number of tables, but there was social distancing and it was carefully laid out.

    This is a real person dressed up, all adding to the occasion. Anyway, nice atmosphere and a pleasant place to walk around, all a good idea to add some excitement to the Euros.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Canary Wharf – Manjal Indian

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Canary Wharf – Manjal Indian

    A few weeks ago, I went to Hard Rock Cafe on an offer with The Fork (who annoy me, but we won’t go there today) which gave 50% off the food and £20 to spend at another restaurant. I was sceptical whether that £20 offer would actually arrive, but it did and I decided to spend it at the Manjal Indian at Canary Wharf. I also forgot that Richard was coming down to London for his decadent purposes, which made things more confusing but, fortunately, nothing that the restaurant couldn’t handle.

    The view from the restaurant. Indian cuisine is one of my favourites and I’ve had a long-running project of visiting an Indian restaurant in every country that I’ve been to. Unfortunately, I haven’t added many restaurants to my list over the last couple of years as travel has been just a little impacted. I’ve decided that India do the best Indian food, which is not really a revelation that I will send to a local newspaper….. The United States and Poland also manage to deal with Indian food very well. Anyway, I digress.

    The entrance is a little fiddly as there’s an Italian restaurant on the ground floor, which has to direct customers to the Indian one upstairs. Perhaps they’re jointly owned, but the signage really isn’t entirely clear here. When diners get upstairs, there’s a seating area (see above photo) for those waiting for their meals. The welcome from the staff member was polite and he was able to understand my exacting requirements of £20 off for me and charge Richard what they like (I didn’t put it like that, but that was my priority).

    The interior of the restaurant, all clean and comfortable. They also had a private dining room which had glass doors facing the main part of the restaurant, although this wasn’t used when we were there.

    The mango lassi, one of the better ones that I’ve had. Very mangoey (is that a word?). Richard had a cocktail. I didn’t like to ask why.

    Richard’s food is cluttering up my photo here, mine is the peshwari naan on the left, pilau rice and chicken chettinad. Richard had a cheese naan as it makes him sneeze, more rice and some egg curry thing. My naan and rice tasted as they should, although there was perhaps a little too much rice (but not enough for us to have shared one). The chicken in the curry was thigh meat, which was tender and rich in flavour. The curry had a depth of flavour and comprised of yoghurt, turmeric (which is where the restaurant name of Manjal comes from) and spices, with a decent amount of heat behind it. I’m sure that Bev would moan that it wasn’t very authentic, but I liked it.

    The reviews of the restaurant are broadly positive and that’s what gave me confidence to book it in the first place. Service was efficient, but we were never rushed and I was delighted to get a little chocolate at the end (I always feel the need to mention these little touches) because I’m easily pleased. The restaurant also managed to give me my £20 reduction without any issue, so my meal cost £5 including the service charge (which they added automatically and without advance notice), which I thought was very reasonable. I’d merrily recommend the restaurant to others, which must be struggling at the moment given the reduced number of people currently coming to Canary Wharf.

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – St. Stephen’s Tavern

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – St. Stephen’s Tavern

    In a similar vein to our visit to the Red Lion down the road, we visited St. Stephen’s Tavern to take advantage of the reality that we could actually get in to see it without it being full. The team member at the entrance offered us a seat outside, but fortunately Richard is in agreement with me that inside is a better place to be. No dangerous wasps or nasty car fumes outside….. It would have had a good view though, it’s located opposite the Houses of Parliament, so visitors could look at Big Ben (well, they can normally, it’s covered in scaffolding at the moment).

    The rear of the pub, which has apparently been visited by Prime Ministers including Stanley Baldwin, Winston Churchill and Harold Macmillan. I suspect it has been visited by many more Prime Ministers and, no doubt, also by thousands of other politicians and hacks over the decades.

    The building was constructed in 1875 and has operated as a pub since then other than for a period between 1988 and 2003 when it shut and looked like it wouldn’t reopen. There was an expensive restoration funded by the owners Hall & Woodhouse, with English Heritage providing advice on how to retain its historic integrity, which they deserve credit for. Fortunately, the pub fittings had been kept, so there’s still an authenticity to the place and something of a Victorian feel.

    As another interesting fact (well, I think it’s interesting), CAMRA note that:

    “Very close to this spot the world’s first traffic light was installed in 1868. It was a splendid gas-lit contraption showing red and green lights and with semaphore arms, and was designed in Gothic style to match the then-recent Parliament building opposite.”

    The team member said we could sit anywhere we liked and by chance I sat at a table which had a photo of this politician above it. How rather lovely.

    There were three different real ales, nothing overly exciting, this was the Tanglefoot from Badger Beers. Nothing wrong with it and it was well-kept, but it’s not something that I’d rush to order again. The beer is brewed by Hall & Woodhouse, who also run the entire pub as part of their estate. There is food served here, although not during our visit, with the menu being small and not unreasonably priced given its location. I liked the venture down to the toilets in the cellar (although the toilets could have been cleaner, but that’s not really of much relevance here), imagining which politicians had walked down those circular stairs. The magic of political history…..

    All told, I liked the environment and the political heritage, although the beer was uninspiring and that would perhaps explain why the pub isn’t in the Good Beer Guide. The team members were all friendly and engaging, so the environment was comfortable and relaxed. Richard ordered another of his ridiculously decadent gins, so I think the team members thought that he was really quite wealthy. I doubt they thought I was with my half pint of Tanglefoot.

    The reviews are a little mixed in places, although are broadly positive. Anyway, this is an ideal time to visit this pub given it’s a peaceful and quiet place at the moment. This isn’t an ideal situation though for the pub owners, but I suspect that some sort of normality will return here next year.

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – Red Lion

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – Red Lion

    Not a very good photo I accept, but it was dark (obviously) when we visited the Red Lion pub on Parliament Street in Westminster. This is one of those pubs that I haven’t visited in a long time as it’s always so busy, being just a short walk from the Houses of Parliament. It’s often frequented by MPs and there’s even a division bell inside the pub to alert them that a vote is about to take place.

    The staff member was clearing the external tables away when we arrived, so I thought they were closing just before 22:00. He welcomed us in though (I was with Richard, who is in London for more of his decadent purposes) The pub wasn’t busy, there were a grand total of three people in it.

    The decor is interesting and the pub has a nice and welcoming feel to it, with it being hard not to find the political element quite fascinating (unless you hate politics, in which case I imagine it would be quite easy). I wonder what deals, gossip and underhand tactics have taken place here over the years. That remains the magic of this pub to me.

    The pub is now run by Fuller’s and there’s a history on the wall, something I always think is a nice extra touch. This pub mentions that Charles Dickens visited the building, although it doesn’t note that it was a different building as the current structure dates to 1890 (although it does retain some of those Victorian features). It does have some heritage though, it’s known that Edward Heath, Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee have all visited it, along with hundreds of other politicians over the years.

    The photo includes Richard’s ridiculously decadent gin which cost the same as a house in Sheffield. I went for a rather more moderately priced ESB from Fuller’s, which is a beer that I think is better than the reviews on Untappd suggest. A perfectly drinkable beer in a comfortable environment, with the football being shown (Switzerland vs France) not really being distracting and actually being mildly interesting. I’m not going to call myself a football fan, but I quite like a match with some drama.

    They usually serve food during lunch and the evening, although I can’t imagine that there are many takers for that at the moment given how quiet central London seems to be. There’s a cellar and a first floor area though, so they can seat a fair number of people in more normal times. The reviews of the pub are generally really quite positive, it’s clearly a well-run pub. One of the difficulties they have with having a common pub name is that a great chunk of the reviews seem to be for different pubs, which isn’t really an ideal situation.

    Anyway, really pleased to have visited here and for anyone interested, Richard said that his decadent gin was delicious. It’s not listed in the Good Beer Guide (there were three real ales, but nothing exceptional), but it’s worth visiting for its political heritage for anyone who is vaguely engaged in that.

  • London – Westminster (Borough of) – Green Park Elephants

    London – Westminster (Borough of) – Green Park Elephants

    Mostly just photos in this post, which are of the elephants which are currently in Green Park. They’ve been placed here by The Elephant Family charity as part of an exercise to raise awareness of the challenges which elephants face in the wild.

    For those who want to see them, they’re a bit split up at the moment, with some at Green Park and others at St. James’s Park and Berkeley Square. Definitely worth going to see and they seemed popular with visitors to the park. They’ve been in their current locations since 14 June and will be there until 23 July 2021, and I think there’s then a way of buying them individually to help the charity raise funds.

  • Norwich – Brewery Tap (Brew York Tap Takeover)

    Norwich – Brewery Tap (Brew York Tap Takeover)

    I was very excited a couple of weeks ago to discover that the Brewery Tap in Norwich (who I’ve written about before, so won’t repeat myself as it probably wasn’t that interesting in the first place….) had a tap takeover by Brew York. Sadly, I don’t have any friends who were equally excited about that (sniff, need to get more beer friiiieeennnddss I guess, if people will excuse the Inbetweeners reference), so I just had to assemble a random group of friends who would be vaguely interested.

    Above are the cask and keg menus from the evening, with some really quite exciting options available. Anyway, the five friends I dragged along were really for the gossip rather than for me to share beer notes with, but that just had to suffice. And I suppose they were good company, although they need training up a bit in the beer front.

    There were other beer options available for those who didn’t want to sample products from Brew York. That transpired to be most of our group, it was just Steve drinking these with me.

    We can ignore the other four here, as only Steve and I decided to go with the Brew York options, ordering thirds to allow for the sampling of as many beers as realistically possible. Above are the four cask options of Haze of Thunder (a modern pale ale), Big Eagle (an American West Coast IPA), Honey I Shrunk the Impys (a honey and oatmeal stout) and Tonkoko (a tonka bean, coconut, vanilla and cacao milk stout). Thanks to the careful nature of the bar staff, they’re in that order in the photo as well.

    My favourites here were the dark beers, which is perhaps not surprising. The Honey I Shrunk the Impys had a decent flavour, but there wasn’t quite the honey flavour that I’d anticipated, but still all rather pleasant. I forgot that I’d had the Tonkoko before (at Chilli Devils in Hull) and this was the star of the casks show. Rich with the taste of coconut and vanilla noticeable, although it didn’t quite have as much taste of Bounty Bar (which the brewer mentioned) as the Arcade City from Overworks that I’d had a couple of weeks ago at Brewdog Ealing. But no bad beers out of the four, but it was time to move onto the kegs, which is a bit more of my thing.

    The bar staff had carefully chalked on the names of the beers, which made things much easier for me. In the top row of the photo are Ripple Twister (a raspberry and vanilla ice cream IPA), the Mangolorian (a juicy mango and lime milkshake IPA) and Kirsch Russell (a cherry pie pastry sour). In the bottom row are A New Beginning (a coffee, blueberry, cacao, walnut and vanilla imperial stout), a decadent pack of Mini Cheddars (cheese and nectar of the Gods) and the Dream Child (an ice cream pastry imperial stout).

    Frankly, these were all excellent and a delight to be behold (I need to get out more being this easily pleased….). But, with a focus on just one, the Dream Child, which was one of my favourite beers of the year so far. There were some really powerful tastes in this, rich and it didn’t feel like its 14% ABV. It really was like the Rocky Road dessert that it set out to replicate, with marshmallow and chocolate flavours running through it. An absolute delight, worth going just to have that as far as I was concerned.

    I’m certainly very excited to be going to York in a few weeks to experience some more beers from Brew York, with none of the nine that I had on Friday evening disappointing me. I’m not sure that Steve was quite as impressed, but I wasn’t bothered about that, I was enjoying my beer tasting.

    Bev, who was on fine form as ever during the evening, left the table for a few minutes and left Gordon (above) alone with her bag. I’m not one for gossip, so I won’t say what Gordon was doing here. But Bev has suggested that there needs to be more gossip content again on this blog, so perhaps that’s something that I can manage to deliver on    🙂

    Anyway, a very lovely evening, and a delight to have five people to bore with my explanation of why some of these beers were exceptional. And Gordon was full of gossip, he rarely fails to surprise and delight in that regard.

  • Norwich – The Malt and Mardle Micropub (Interview)

    Norwich – The Malt and Mardle Micropub (Interview)

    Above are Emily, Johnny and Elliot who on 22 July 2021 are opening the Malt and Mardle micropub in Norwich.

    Along with other random ramblings about a myriad subjects that I think I know about (but usually don’t) I really like visiting and writing about micropubs. There’s something particularly authentic about micropubs where there’s conversation, decent beer, a quiet environment and community values. It’s also a hark back almost to when licensed premises were sometimes parlour pubs or little more than a front room. We have a few in this area, the Nip and Growler in King’s Lynn, the Hop Beer Shop in Chelmsford, the Drayman’s Son in Ely and the newly opened Magnet in Colchester.

    That all meant I was very excited to hear about the planned opening of the Malt and Mardle micropub in Norwich, located near to the Artichoke, Leopard, King’s Head and Plasterers, which are all fantastically good pubs. I’d claim there’s always room for another brilliantly run pub, and there is definitely a space in the market for a micropub in this part of Norwich. It’s a group of friends who are opening the venue, which just sounds fun, exciting and an adventure, so I’m moderately jealous of this journey. I like adventure  🙂

    Emily kindly agreed to answer some questions that I had, so with many thanks to her, as well as Johnny and Elliot, there’s a little interview below. And I’m very pleased to hear about the no music, beer fridges and no large screens. The answer of “perhaps strike up a chat if they feel like it” is perfect for me to hear. Being British, I veer between not wanting any social engagement and also finding that if a publican operates their pub well then the community spirit shines through. Regular readers (I think there are a couple) will know that I have yet to find a pub better able to achieve this than the brilliant Hop & Vine pub. I am very excited to go there with a couple of friends in a few weeks, because when people are made welcome, it adds richness to their lives. I won’t go on about mental health, but pubs can absolutely help people connect and during times such as these, that’s a huge benefit to the community.

    Anyway, I digress (again). Absolutely definitely very excited about my visit to this micropub in a few weeks and I wish them all the very best.

    What made you want to open a micropub and why in Norwich?

    It was my partner, Elliot, who first came up with the idea of opening a micropub. He’s always been a huge fan of real ale pubs but opening one himself was more of a dream than a likely reality. However, in the summer of 2020, he, myself, and our friend Johnny decided to take the plunge and open a micropub. The appeal was that we could realise our dream of creating a space where real ale could be enjoyed while still keeping our jobs part-time and having some financial security while we got up and running.

    We decided to open our micropub, The Malt and Mardle, in Norwich as it is where all three of us live. We absolutely love Norwich – it has such a rich history, especially when it comes to pubs, and a brilliant, thriving community of independent businesses too.

    Have you been inspired by any other micropubs?

    Yes, we have definitely been inspired by other micropubs. A big local source of inspiration is Nigel who runs the Hop Inn in North Walsham, North Norfolk. Further afield, we’ve been inspired by Lucy from The Dodo in Hanwell, London. A lot of how we wanted our pub to look and feel is inspired by the pubs we visited in Yorkshire when we were students. Whitelock’s in Leeds and Haworth Old Hall, for example, have been big influences on us.

    You’re opening in an area near to great pubs like the Artichoke, the Leopard, the Plasters and the King’s Head. Was that part of the reason you went for your location?

    Partly! I guess you could argue ‘yes’ as we chose a location that we were familiar with and, as a result, that happened to be near to where we live. But part of the reason why we live here is that we’re surrounded by such great pubs like the ones you listed!

    What is your opening date? Will you be open every evening?

    Our opening date is the 22nd of July. We’ll be open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and hope to extend this in the future.

    How easy or hard was the licensing part of your pub, getting permission to convert a shop unit into a micropub?

    It certainly wasn’t easy but nor was it quite as difficult as people were warning us it could be. It did take a long, long time though which really tested our patience – we were so relieved when it all went through ok!

    Nothing goes entirely to plan, have you had any difficulties so far with the conversion?

    At times, it’s been a bit of a bumpy ride but what else could we expect?! It’s almost inevitable when starting a new business! Thankfully, there’s not been a problem too large that we couldn’t find a solution for.

    One of the biggest challenges has been having the time and energy to get everything ready for our opening. While Elliot and Johnny have been spending as much time as they can on the micropub in addition to juggling part-time and full-time jobs, I’ve been struggling with my chronic health conditions. Our friends and family have been a huge support, though, and we’re definitely so grateful to them for helping us almost reach the finish line!

    Micropubs have the benefit of allowing conversation to flow between not just regulars, but those coming in for the first time. Is that a core part of your thinking?

    Yes, in the true spirit of micropubs, we’ve actively decided not to have loud music playing and distracting screens etc. We’ve also got a couple of larger tables that, when safe from Covid to do so, smaller groups can share and perhaps strike up a chat if they feel like it.

    What will your seating capacity be?

    Our seating capacity will be 25, plus we’ve got space for standing room too.

    Will you have an involvement with the local CAMRA group?

    Definitely! We’ve already signed up for a Pub Festival this July with the Norwich CAMRA branch.

    What breweries will you be hoping to stock beers from? Will there be some that might be otherwise hard to get elsewhere in Norwich?

    Our offering will mainly be from breweries in Norfolk and Suffolk as supporting local businesses is really important to us, but no doubt we’ll also have some beer from breweries up north in stock at times too!

    Will you have beer fridges to increase the options available? And, for selfish reasons, will there usually be a decadent stout on tap?

    Yes, we’ve got a big fridge that we’ll stock with lots of beer, as well as some gin, wine and soft drinks for non-beer drinkers. Our aim is to have at least one stout, vegan, gluten free and low alcohol beer on either tap or canned/bottled the majority of the time.

    What one thing worries you for the future?

    I guess another lockdown is a worry that all businesses in the hospitality sector face right now. Otherwise, we’re not naïve in thinking that other challenges and hurdles won’t present themselves but know that all we can do is take one thing at a time and enjoy the ride the best we can. Not everyone gets the opportunity to do something they love and have a real passion for so hopefully that will continue to give us some perspective far into the future even when worries and stresses do occur!

    All very lovely, where can people find out more?

    https://maltandmardle.co.uk/.