Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • Bungay – Green Dragon

    Bungay – Green Dragon

    I’ve been to the Green Dragon a few times before, usually after canoeing along the nearby river. Well, until there were continual problems with the campsite overcharging for canoe hire, but that’s a story that’s probably best not retelling. I’ve always thought that the Green Dragon is a very good pub, but I’ve now come to the conclusion that it’s actually one of the best pubs that I’ve visited in Suffolk. Located on a corner site a short walk from the town centre, the pub was called the Horse and Groom, but they’ve changed the name to match the on-site Green Dragon micro-brewery.

    I was welcomed immediately and was shown that the beers were listed on a printed menu, a basic feature that makes things much easier for everyone concerned I think. There’s a choice of cask beers which are brewed on-site and I’ve tried their strong mild before and been entirely pleased with it. It was a slight shame that they had run out of the Bone Machine beer as I’ve been meaning to try more of their output, but there was still a decent choice. I liked the engagement from the staff, this very much feels like a community pub and one which is still happy to welcome newcomers.

    I went for the Brew By Numbers 11, and I don’t care that some people comment that Citra hops have been overdone, because I still very much like them.  This was a refreshing IPA with a crisp favour, and what I also like is that beers such as this are available in a pub in a relatively small town such as Bungay.

    The pub was all clean and felt Covid-19 secure, and there was a relaxing feel to the whole arrangement. I was slightly disappointed that I had to leave to go and get a bus, as I would have quite contently stayed for longer. They weren’t serving food when I visited, but I’ve heard before that their curries are recommended, so that might be an excuse to come back in the future….

  • Yaxham – Yaxham Railway Station

    Yaxham – Yaxham Railway Station

    Yaxham railway station opened on 15 February 1847 and was located on the Wymondham to Dereham branch line and remained in use for passengers until 6 October 1969. It’s now in use by the Mid-Norfolk Railway as a heritage line, although there is the possibility that this could at some stage in the future be brought back into usage by the rail network. This is a marvellous thought, although I’m a little sceptical about whether funding will ever be raised for such a project. For a while, the centre of the heritage’s lines efforts were run from Yaxham, although the re-opening of Dereham railway station has meant they’ve moved back.

    The whole complex was quite extensive and some of the station buildings still stand, including the signal box, although they’re in private ownership. The inn marked on the map was the Bush, which was closed in the 1960s and is now a residential property. Nearby Dereham railway station once had a staff of ninety people and Yaxham had several full-time staff of its own, with the line being a busy one for freight. Its demise was far from ideal….

  • Yaxham – St. Peter’s Church

    Yaxham – St. Peter’s Church

    The entrance to St. Peter’s church in Yaxham is up a quiet little road and it doesn’t take much imagination to think of generations gone by meandering up here to attend a service.

    Norfolk Heritage Explorer tells me that the banding on the church tower shows that it’s constructed of carstone and this helps date that part of the building to the late Saxon period. I’m still always impressed when reading dates like that, it means that the bottom of the tower was standing when William the Conqueror invaded England. The upper part of the tower is from the fourteenth century, with the bulk of the rest of the church being from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Later that might be, but the vast majority of this church was standing when King Henry VIII decided that the Dissolution of the Monasteries was a good idea.

    The church viewed from the south east and it looks like the rood stairs have been added to the exterior where the nave and chancel meet. George Plunkett took a photo from near enough the same spot in 1937 and little has changed, with all the gravestones appearing to still be there. One change is that a small tree in the 1937 photo has now gone and it’s a reminder to myself that, although in a small way, the landscape can change over time even within a graveyard.

    Robert Ladbrooke’s illustration of the church from the mid-nineteenth century.

    The church viewed from the north east.

    The chancel end of the church, with this section, amongst others, being subject to Victorian restoration.

    Unfortunately, the church wasn’t open on the Saturday morning that I visited, although I had rather hoped it would be. There’s sometimes the misapprehension that damage to religious buildings is a recent thing, but in 1908 a number of local churches were smashed into and their collections stolen. The culprits were found, but Yaxham lost its money and its door was forced open.

    The graveyard is relatively large and it’s all well-kept, with a little woodland path through the trees. Although Yaxham is just a short distance from Dereham, it felt remote and peaceful and I suspect that little will change here in the next couple of hundred years.

  • Blickling – Blickling Hall Gardens

    Blickling – Blickling Hall Gardens

    This post is mainly photos of the gardens of Blickling Hall. I booked via the National Trust’s on-line reservation system a few days ago and although there was plenty of availability, it was busy when we arrived. The car park system was easy to navigate and there were no shortage of volunteers helping visitors find where to go. The volunteers also seemed to be knowledgeable and genuinely keen to help, which is all rather lovely.

    As a quick background, this property is often known as the birthplace of Anne Boleyn, and the location for her headless ghost. The property today isn’t contemporary to that period, it’s from the late sixteenth century and was extensively remodelled in the late eighteenth century. It came into the hands of the National Trust in 1940 following the death of the owner Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian, who served as the British Ambassador to the United States until his death.

    There’s a basic map provided free of charge and some useful signage throughout the gardens. It’s possible to walk around the wider estate free of charge and the house is currently closed, but I understand that it will open again in a few weeks.

  • Norwich – The Garden House

    Norwich – The Garden House

    Before going in, we had decided that we would pre-judge the Garden House, which had been a marvellous pub and then Craft Union took it over. I haven’t been since that takeover, but Craft Union have in my experience been reliably terrible with clunky makeovers and a poor range of drinks. I’ve never been quite sure what the word Craft is doing in their name, trying to cash in on craft beer when that’s not something they have any focus on. So, my expectations really weren’t very high and I’m used to Craft Union not even offering real ale, so we were wondering whether we’d have to fall back on something like Guinness.

    The welcome offered at the entrance was excellent and verging on exceptional and I understand it was the landlord standing there taking charge of that. That was a positive first sign, as being made to feel welcome really is a skill that some pubs struggle to get right and it shouldn’t be that much of a challenge. The second positive sign was that list of real ales, as Theakston’s Old Peculier is what I consider to be a very good option to have, as is Timothy Taylor Landlord. It’s also really useful when pubs write down the beers that they have, as staff trying to remember what they have is not an ideal situation as it’s often poorly communicated. But here, there was clarity, friendliness and a self-assured service style all as part of the initial greeting, which is rather lovely.

    There’s a large beer garden and that is apparently the reason the pub was named the Garden House because of that rather useful feature, although for reasons unknown, the pub name was changed for a short period in the 1980s to ‘Fridays’. Today, the garden area is all organised and there’s an area with an external television and seating area. That the pub can show live sports is not much interest to me, but I can see that it’s a very useful thing to have to help them serve the community. The pub is using a clunky app provided by Craft Union, which reminds me of the Greene King app which really isn’t very focused on proper beer, as neither can cope very well with real ales. This wasn’t a problem here, a staff member was able to take our order as she confirmed real ale can’t be ordered using the app. As another little bonus, the prices charged for the ales, and indeed most drinks that I saw, was towards the lower end of the scale.

    This is my problem with the Craft Union name, it implies to new customers that they focus on craft beer. Their advertising is actually more focused on drinks such as this, which is entirely fine (and, a bit secretly, I wouldn’t turn any of those down…..) but not keep in fitting with their name. Craft Union is now part of Stonegate, who are probably going to do a better job than the complete disaster that Enterprise Inns made of most things when they operated it.

    Anyway, my issues with the national brand aside, this pub was very well run and the customer service was faultless. The beer was well kept, the choice was better than my expectations and the environment was comfortable. It’ll take me a while yet to be convinced about Craft Union, but this was a rather positive experience. It does show though that when they find an excellent operator that the concept they use (where the operator is self-employed but gets 18% of the take for themselves and to pay their staff) is one that can work.

    It’s a reminder also to us that we shouldn’t really pre-judge pubs as often they can surprise and delight.

  • Norwich – The York Pub

    Norwich – The York Pub

    This whole drinking outside only thing does rather reduce the quality of the photographs (it is a bit easier to take photos inside where there’s actually some light), but this is The York pub on Leicester Street in Norwich. I’m not sure why the owners have lost the Tavern bit from the name, but this was until recently known as the York Tavern. Customers enter via the front door (that sounds obvious, but often at the moment customers can get into pubs through some random side gates) and the process was all well managed for us. We had to provide details for the NHS app and then separately to the pub, which was slightly convoluted, but best for the pub to be careful.

    This is the pub’s sizeable beer garden, which used to be a bowling green. I wouldn’t have noticed that if I hadn’t been told, although the defined shape is a slight giveaway. An article in the Norfolk Chronicle in 1902 mentioned that the bowling club had been open for 27 years and that it was one of the oldest in the city. Today, there’s a large marquee on part of the lawn and then some picnic benches dotted about. And all credit to the pub owners over the years for not trying to sell this land off for housing, as it’d be possible to cram a new house in there.

    The clues to it being a former bowling green are though more evident with the structures at the side (I mean the club house thing, not Nathan). Norfolk Pubs notes that the pub opened in 1878 (which suggests that the bowling club was already there if the dates in the Norfolk Chronicle are to believed) and also that the landlord Albert Plane had been found dead at the bottom of the stairs in 1922 having gone to get his family all a cup of tea, which isn’t an ideal situation. This was the same landlord who refused to admit the police into his pub in 1916, a rather brave thing to do. The reasons for the police visit aren’t known to me, but Plane was involved in black market activities, so perhaps it was in relation to that.

    There wasn’t a particularly exciting range of real ales or craft beers, but there was Gamma Ray from Beavertown which was satisfactory. I wouldn’t go further than satisfactory, but it’s a reliable pale ale. I’m still vaguely on the lookout for Spresso, which is Beavertown’s imperial stout, although they might not even make it any more. The ordering is done on-line, and Nathan managed this without too many issues on his Nokia 3310 (or whatever it is that he has).

    Anyway, the pub’s garden is spacious and so the tables were suitably far apart from each other, and there was a one-way system in place inside to get to the toilets. That went via the pub’s internal stairs, which wasn’t entirely ideal now that I knew a previous landlord had died there. Although we arrived too late for it, the pub is doing food and the reviews for that seem positive and their chicken wings sound quite delicious.

  • Southwold – The Little Fish and Chip Shop

    Southwold – The Little Fish and Chip Shop

    This looked to me like the best reviewed chip shop in Southwold and apparently there’s nearly always a queue. A queue is usually a positive sign (although occasionally a sign of complete incompetence of course), but it all looked tempting enough for me to visit.

    What I like about this is that they’ve made it idiot proof, so that not even I could get confused where to go. Customers go in the door marked ‘in’ when there’s space, they then order and then wait outside. The customer in front of me ordered what I think was four lobsters and chips, which is very much a Southwold thing to do I think, I doubt that happens much in somewhere like Long Stratton. Since that came to over £80, I was starting to be slightly nervous about how much my order of just chips would come to and even whether you’re supposed to just order chips at a decadent place like this.

    I nervously ordered just chips and was pleased when the server didn’t say “yes, and?” and he was polite and helpful. Fortunately, my portion of chips came to what I felt was a reasonable £2.50 and I didn’t have to wait, they served my order immediately. All very efficient, friendly and I thought really quite organised.

    This photo doesn’t do the portion of chips much justice, and I’m not sure I’ve had chips presented like this recently in a bag. In reality, the portion size was nearly too much for me, although I bravely did finish them as I’m very much against food wastage. The chips were chunky and were fluffy on the interior and firm on the exterior, and they’re cooked in beef dripping, which is the only option. I don’t have any issues with this, but it will of course restrict vegetarians from going. I thought they tasted fine (the chips, not vegetarians) and they were quite moreish, complemented by the sachets of ketchup I had brought with me (the pots of ketchup at the shop were at decadent prices).

    That’s Southwold beach in the background of the photo, it was a pleasant day and reasonably warm with not much breeze. Fortunately, there are lots of benches along the seafront as many other visitors were enjoying fish and chips, and some had acquired beer from the pub. All rather lovely.

  • Southwold – Lord Nelson

    Southwold – Lord Nelson

    I wanted to visit the Lord Nelson in Southwold as it’s the only pub in the town which is listed in the Good Beer Guide. I had half suspected a queue, as it was around 12:15, but I loitered outside the pub and a staff member came to welcome me in. For the first time, my phone really didn’t like the QR code for the NHS login, and despite some considerable efforts on my behalf to get it to work, we resorted to pen and paper in the end. I then nearly broke the hand sanitiser as it was a bit complex, so I concluded the pub must be used to more decadent and intellectual guests.

    The drinks menu, inevitably biased towards Adnams as they own the pub and their brewery is around the corner. The service was all timely and friendly, with the order taken at the table and there was an option to set up a tab.

    There are only six tables outside in the pub’s beer garden and I managed to get the second, meaning that there were four free. I decided, to be fair to the pub, that I’d leave when the tables all got filled, as they all seated four people and the pub might lose four lunches if I blocked their table. I liked that they never rushed me, never made me feel unwelcome and it all worked out perfectly timewise. I left after around 45 minutes and a couple tried to get a table for food just as I left, so everyone was a winner there.

    The Blackshore Stout from Adnams, which I rate reasonably highly as it’s creamy and chocolatey. And, just so Nathan is pleased, it was served at the appropriate slightly chilled temperature.

    The pub is well reviewed and the pricing is a little towards the higher end for food, but nothing dramatic. As Basil Fawlty says, “you’re a bit stuck if you don’t like Adnams” (well, he said duck, but Adnams fits better here) on the beer front, but there was a range of different styles of beer and cider. It’s got a bit of atmosphere to it, even when empty, and the service was all sufficiently engaging. Quite a decent place, and certainly not a bad recommendation from the Good Beer Guide.

  • Hemsby – St Mary the Virgin Church

    Hemsby – St Mary the Virgin Church

    There was a sign outside the church saying that St Mary the Virgin in Hemsby was open. Although that wasn’t entirely true. Indeed, it wasn’t true at all, it was shut. The church was built in the early fourteenth century by the monks of Norwich Cathedral (and apparently some of the tracery is the same as in the north cloister of the cathedral) although it’s all a little utilitarian for my taste. I couldn’t see inside, but George Plunkett has a photo of the interior from 1932. Other than the changed roofline, which was likely just a switch from the former thatched roofing, there are no blocked doors, moved windows or the like.

    I liked the porch, this had some more decorative elements and was executed to a relatively grand standard.

    The church has remained relatively untouched over the centuries, although the Victorians did restore it in 1867, and there was also some work on the tower in 1974. There was a tour of St. Mary’s in 1867 by those interested in church history, and it was pointed out there was an hourglass on display which had once been attached to the pulpit. This had been introduced in accordance with the wishes of Queen Elizabeth, who wanted to discourage the rather more prolix of preachers. I’m not sure that the church still has this, but I have to say that it’s a good idea.

    The chancel window and there are apparently two thirteenth century coffin slabs in the churchyard, which I managed to entirely miss. There likely wasn’t a Saxon church at this site as is common in many areas, and it’s not entirely clear if there was anything here before the current early fourteenth century building. This was though an area that was visited frequently by the Vikings and they kept raiding the coastline on a regular basis, which I’m sure considerably annoyed the locals.

  • Reepham – Three Churches in One Churchyard (Grave to Unknown Local Friends)

    Reepham – Three Churches in One Churchyard (Grave to Unknown Local Friends)

    This really is quite lovely, a beautiful gravestone located in a prominent part of the churchyard shared by the three churches in Reepham.

    The “unknown local friends” is a poignant phrase and it notes the site where 63 bodies were found when urgent storm drain repair work took place in 2007. The gravestone, which was funded by local donations, was designed by local stone carver Teucer Wilson and it reads:

    ‘Here lie unknown local friends from the 14th century, laid to rest by the people of Reepham in June 2010. Their souls are known by God.”

    I understand that the bodies were found near to where I’ve placed the cursor on the above map. The burials were in the St. Mary’s Church section of the churchyard and they were placed there in the fourteenth century. Analysis was done on the skeletons and it was discovered that many of the individuals had suffered from osteoarthritis issues.