Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • London – Richmond upon Thames (Borough of) – Roebuck

    London – Richmond upon Thames (Borough of) – Roebuck

    This is the only Good Beer Guide listed pub in Richmond, worth the walk up the hill given the extensive views over the Terrace Gardens and beyond. It’s a Greene King operated pub and it has won a number of local CAMRA awards in local years, as well as attracting some rather influential customers. They certainly have an enviable location and there has been a pub here for over 200 years.

    The real ale selection, which is better than I had anticipated for a Greene King pub. The service was, well, unusual. I don’t intend for this blog to ever be a platform to criticise bar staff, but I did find the environment really quite strange. Visitors, including myself, were welcomed with a slightly abrupt “do you want a table?” which is a question I’m still not sure I entirely understand. Everyone replied yes and I can only imagine that perhaps some customers perhaps want to take food or drink away because of the lovely views. I’d prefer a more gentle welcome. Anyway, my confusion put to one side, I noticed a table that looked handy for my needs.

    I wasn’t given any of these nice tables (and nor the one that looked handy for my needs), I was given a table with no view that really wasn’t ideal. I found the situation quite humorous with how the staff member behind the bar told her colleague “give him table 3” rather than let him perhaps check if I had any aspirations to sit somewhere in particular in the nearly empty pub. Compare and contrast to the welcome at the pub I’d been to before…. I must admit that the staff member did provide me with quite a lot of entertainment, including her thoughts at times about other customers, colleagues and her housing situation. I’m not entirely sure significant chunks of that conversation were really for customers to hear, but I can’t deny that I like listening to gossip like that.

    It’s not entirely clear, but the views from these tables is extensive and really beautiful. The pub was very quiet, but it was clean and comfortable throughout. It’s had something of a modernisation recently, but it’s sympathetic to the character of the building and it all felt in order.

    The Citra from Oakham Ales, which was fine. Well kept, refreshing and as the name suggests, made with citra hops, which I’m rarely disappointed by. The server that I had was pleasant and helpful, he seemed keen to help and engage, with made things easier. The pricing was moderate, so that all really rather lovely.

    I’ll missing some of the story out for fear of looking too critical, but the staff member completed her show by shouting “can I help you?” as I was walking to the toilets. I did hear her say this loudly the first time, but I tried my best to ignore the situation as it was already inappropriate and I dreaded to think how she was planning to assist. It then seemed clear to me that she had managed to forget that I was a customer and thought that I was someone who had walked in when she wasn’t looking. My walking merrily onwards towards the toilets wasn’t the clue she wanted and the request was repeated. I did feel the need to comment that I had actually been in the pub all the time, had ordered and was going to the toilet before leaving, and she mentioned she was only seeking to show me where the toilets were. Given that I was nearly at the toilets, I wasn’t entirely sure how she thought I was at that stage going to miss them.

    There was nearly no-one in the pub, which struck me as fortunate because she had made quite clear to everyone that a customer was going to the toilet. I did note that at the previous pub the staff member saw I had a laptop and was keen to point me towards a table where I could plug it in. That’s the kind of pro-active service I’d rather have if I’m being honest.

    Anyway, I don’t want to sound too harsh as I think that the staff member was over-enthusiastic and it would seem churlish and unkind to be too critical of that. But, it’s not a pub that I would come back to because the lack of professional discretion about other customers wasn’t really appropriate and I feel that it would be remiss of me not to mention that. However, judging from the positive reviews, it’s clear that my experience isn’t necessarily one that’s widely repeated and the view from the windows is excellent and the beer selection is perfectly reasonable given it’s a Greene King pub. It probably just needed a manager present to ensure everything flowed beautifully, as the pub is clearly usually operating to a high standard.

  • London – Richmond upon Thames (Borough of) – Railway Tavern

    London – Richmond upon Thames (Borough of) – Railway Tavern

    There are no Good Beer Guide pubs in the centre of Richmond, so I thought I’d have a little visit to the Railway Tavern, which is run by Nicholson’s. Their web-site notes that this pub was opened in 1855 as the Railway Hotel, back when it offered overnight accommodation.

    The pub wasn’t very busy, but it’s a sizeable location with a large extension to the rear. There was a friendly welcome from a team member who let me in, as there’s a rope across the entrance to ensure customers are welcomed and comply with Covid-19 rules. I was told that I could sit anywhere, which was rather lovely.

    The rear section of the pub, all clean and perhaps a little generic in terms of its design.

    The real ales available were Nicholson’s Pale Ale, Sharp’s Doom Bar and Fuller’s London Pride, which isn’t exactly the height of decadence, but at least there was a choice. I went for half a pint of the Nicholson’s Pale Ale, which was well kept and at the appropriate temperature. As a beer it’s fine, although unexceptional. I paid using the app, which told me that the order had failed, but the drink was served about five seconds later anyway. That was fortunate, before I tried to go through the ordering process again. These apps still have some teething troubles, but I’m glad that they’ve been introduced.

    What was exceptional was the Irish barman who had got customer service down to a fine art. Friendly, engaging, conversational, pro-active and all the other epithets I use when I’m made to feel welcome. I liked how he suggested a spot which had a power-point, he offered more drinks but also made quite clear that I was “welcome to chill” for as long as I wanted. As the pub name suggests, it’s next to the railway station, which means they might get quite a few customers just popping in. His service was so friendly that I commented on it when I left the pub, and he replied “it’s takes nothing to be nice”. He’s right, and what a wonderful way to run a pub.

    Nicholson’s are a reliable pub chain, not too jazzy (not sure I’ve used that Inbetweeners quote for a while) but their food is consistent (not that I had any today) and the service is usually all fine. And as a pub, I liked this one, primarily because of that really rather wonderful service. I didn’t get chance to linger because I needed to move on, but this is the sort of pub that someone could linger in comfortably. The Pret down the road was packed with people with laptops, but they could do worse by moving down to the Railway Tavern.

  • Matlaske – St. Peter’s Church (Exterior)

    Matlaske – St. Peter’s Church (Exterior)

    As I was back in Norfolk for the weekend in between London visits, I took the opportunity to visit three churches with Richard all of which very much had their own character. This is St. Peter’s Church in Matlaske (also known in the past as Matlask), with its round tower which dates to the Saxon period. By any definition, that’s a remarkable survival, especially as sections of the nave are from the same period. More on the interior of this church in another post, there’s a fair amount to write about here as it is.

    I mentioned how rather lovely it is that this church’s tower and nave survive from the Saxon period. The chancel was less fortunate, as it fell down. And it didn’t just fall down, it fell down during a service on 19 March 1726. No-one was hurt, but that does feel like a message from God if you’re preaching and a chunk of the building collapses. A decision was made not to rebuild it (probably by the vicar who was likely considerably put off by the circumstances he faced), so it was just walled off.

    The join section is still visible, the section to the left and the buttress is original and the section to the right is the walled off part following the collapse.

    A really good decision was made, although I’m not sure when, to preserve some of the stone from the collapsed chancel. On top of the churchyard’s wall, which seems much more recent, are chunks of stone from the old building.

    There’s a section of lead which once held a piece of stained glass in the window. I very much like that these stones remain, a connection with the past.

    The southern side of the church, with a helpfully located bench for the tired to rest on. Or just the lazy, no-one will judge…. The south aisle was roofed in 1710, which was handily noted on the building, although the entire church was restored to some degree in 1878 and the current roof is more recent.

    This drawing is from the early nineteenth century (I think around 1825) and shows the building from the same angle as the above photo. Some things puzzle me, such as the window in the chancel end has been replaced, perhaps in the 1878 restoration. It looks quite a simple window here, perhaps as things were financially limited at the beginning of the eighteenth century when the repairs were needed following the chancel collapse. Also, at this point the south porch wasn’t blocked.

    The original Saxon tower has now been modified, but I still find it quite special to know that parts of this were here around 1,000 years ago. The top octagonal section dates from the fourteenth century. God was on the side of Arthur Boulton, a plumber from Great Yarmouth, in 1904 who was engaged in covering the church’s roof with lead. He managed to fall off the scaffolding, a distance of 41 feet, but was remarkably nearly unharmed by his little disaster.

    There were once three bells inside the tower, but financial issues (mostly relating to a fear that the tower might collapse) meant that in 1731 two of them were sold. In the little guidebook in the church, it notes that the remaining bell was cast in around 1480. I find that equally remarkable, that the bell was raised to the top of this church when it was still Catholic.

    The blocked up porch. I’m not sure why this was ever deemed necessary, as although I suppose the space was repurposed for clerical reasons, it seems a bit final to block the entrance up. Maybe a nice sturdy door would have been a little more attractive here.

    Anyway, more on the interior of this church in another post. It’s a beautiful building in such a quiet place and I’m very grateful that it was unlocked so that visitors could go inside.

  • National Express : Norwich to London Victoria Coach Station

    National Express : Norwich to London Victoria Coach Station

    Tonight I’m offering some variety to my usual Greater Anglia stories about my trips from Norwich to London and back. Indeed, I haven’t bothered even writing those up recently unless something has annoyed me. I’m not really a coach person, not least because people like Liam will make an Inbetweeners reference. Anyway, the cheapest rail ticket to get from Norwich to London were £15 today and I’m not made of money, so I looked for alternatives. I discovered that National Express have got rid of booking fees for those with an account (I like this, as booking fees annoy me), and they were offering this journey for just £4.60. I think that’s a bargain, so I bought it.

    Gone are the days when customers needed to print out National Express tickets, it’s possible now just to show the driver your phone with the ticket on it (or print it out if you want). And I have some words about the driver today. He was simply brilliant and was just one of those personable and warm people that could lift the journey of a customer. Someone wanted to board without a ticket and they didn’t have time to buy it. He suggested they buy a ticket online from Thetford to London when onboard the coach so that they didn’t have to wait a few hours for the next service. He didn’t have to do that, but he made someone’s day much easier and National Express got some money for the trip that they might have lost. The driver engaged with enthusiasm and, as might be evident, I thought he was a shining role model of customer service. I did post on Twitter about the friendly driver and National Express have at least liked what I put, so I’m pleased they’re aware of the whole situation (specifically their friendly driver rather than me being happy, which I imagine isn’t at the top of their corporate list of worries).

    Then I had to choose a seat after boarding. This is tricky, the two with the most legroom are at the back. But, they’re near the toilets. That’s a convenience for me in some ways (no pun intended), but also a danger if the toilets don’t smell too fresh. Fortunately, the gamble paid off today, all was pleasant and lovely. The bus set off on time and the air conditioning worked. The power sockets didn’t, but I was content as the coach wasn’t too hot and everything was clean. The service runs from Great Yarmouth to London (NX491) and it was relatively empty throughout, maybe 15 people on board at its busiest.

    I liked the emergency exit seats where I was located, they reminded me that I might be on an aircraft in a couple of months. Now, that’s a nice thought for me.

    This is the best photo I could get after arriving into Victoria Coach station. We arrived pretty much on time and I could hear the driver was still being friendly. I remember a Megabus a few years ago where the driver spent most of his time in London shouting at other road users and I’m surprised he didn’t give himself a heart attack or similar with the level of anger he had. The driver today seemed calm, even when confronted by idiotic other drivers, including one in Thetford who seemed perplexed on how to deal with an oncoming bus on a narrow road.

    It would be hard to fault a service that only cost £4.60 and achieved its aim of getting the customer to their destination. But, National Express did this with style, with a clean coach, easy to book service and a driver who was simply a decent guy doing a job he gave the impression that he loved. This was an impeccably run coach service, and I’m very impressed at National Express. How very lovely.

  • London – Greenwich (Borough of) – Travelodge Greenwich High Road

    London – Greenwich (Borough of) – Travelodge Greenwich High Road

    It was too hot when earlier in the week I visited the Travelodge on Greenwich High Road, a hotel which is likely usually busy with tourists at this time of year, but is currently selling rooms at under £25. When I arrived the helpful man at reception seemed quite hot, which coincided with how hot I was as well. He was satisfactorily agreeable about how hot it was, so I liked him.

    Travelodge have two hotels relatively near to each other, this one at Greenwich High Road which is next to the railway station, and another simply known as Greenwich, which is next to Deptford Bridge railway station. I suppose tourists find the name of Deptford Bridge as being perhaps not quite as appealing. When I told the receptionist my name, he couldn’t find the booking, and I knew what was coming, he was going to politely tell me that I was at the wrong hotel. Fortunately, Google had already alerted me to there being two hotels, and I was at the right one. All was well. And another thanks to the receptionist for giving me paper so that I could handwrite the witness statement for some Norfolk and Suffolk LDWA group members. Actually, now I’ve written that, it sounds wrong. They weren’t in court, it was evidence that they had finished the LDWA 100. Anyway, I digress.

    The receptionist, who I felt I had built up a rapport with as we didn’t like the heat, gave me an ideal room right at the end of a corridor which he said would be quiet. He was absolutely right, I heard pretty much nothing from within the hotel, although I think it was fairly busy. I was pleased to discover that there was a fan in the room, so that stayed on the entire night. It was also clean, comfortable and sufficiently well maintained for me to be entirely pleased.

    I usually use the stairs in a hotel (unless I’m on the top floor or something tiring) but I never worked out where they were (and I didn’t take much care to look) so I used the lift. Which gave an interesting (well, not very interesting, but I’ll mention it) lift etiquette issue. With this virus, hotels ask for guests not to share lifts. So I go down in the lift, which stops at the floor below. That irritated me slightly as we were now on the first floor, and I thought that I was pushing it not finding the stairs to go down from the second floor. Anyway, a moderately drunken man who seemed very friendly asked politely if he could get in the lift. I think the words were “am I alright to get in with you mate, I’ve got no virus”. I wasn’t, to be honest, much concerned of the pandemic risk and it also prevented an awkward social encounter where I told him to wait for another lift. But, being British and avoiding conflict (I mean in a Very British Problems way, not making reference to the nation’s empire building in the nineteenth century), I wonder how many guests would have politely told the man to wait. I’ve digressed again.

    A view from the hotel room window and there’s a DLR train at the station in the centre of the photo. And, yes, I did stand there waiting for a train to arrive to take that photo. I really do need to get out more…..

    I very much liked this hotel as it was clean, cheap, comfortable and the staff member didn’t like the hot weather. Frankly, I’d be willing to stay at a hotel far more willingly if I knew that they had a staff member complaining about the hot weather at reception, that’s something I’d find very beneficial for my stay. The hotel did have a bar and restaurant, and was also offering breakfasts, but I didn’t partake on this occasion. It’s a convenient hotel to get to though as it’s next to the station, which also has regular trains which go straight into the city centre. All very lovely.

  • London – City of London – Old Bank of England Pub

    London – City of London – Old Bank of England Pub

    London is a strange place at the moment to establish when and where it will get busy. Usually when I’m walking down Fleet Street and this part of the city, pubs would be pretty packed out in the evening. I walked by this pub and thought it looked interesting, but also thought it might be one of those decadent food pubs who hardly wanted someone in there for a quick pint before their train home. But, whilst merrily walking by and already having pre-judged it, I checked CAMRA’s Whatpub and discovered that it was in the Good Beer Guide. So I walked back again, trying to not look like a confused tourist.

    I had guessed the bit about decadent correctly. However, it wasn’t a gastropub at all as I had thought it might be, although their pies are apparently pretty decent. The building was from 1888 until 1975 used by the Bank of England as their Law Courts and then it was for a while used by a building society, before it was used for a much better purpose, as a pub. The building once had gold bullion in its cellars and the Wikipedia page for the building notes that it might have held the Crown Jewels for a time.

    Going back to the pies that I just made reference to, the pub themselves mention that it’s located between where Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett operated (or allegedly operated since it’s likely entirely made up), noting:

    “It was in the tunnels and vaults below the present building that his victims were butchered before being cooked and sold in the pies to Mrs Lovett’s unsuspecting customers”.

    What a lovely selling point for the pies today…..

    The service was professional and efficient, although it seemed slightly over-staffed, so maybe they had been expecting more customers. It got a little bit busier during my visit, but nothing that was going to be a challenge for the staff to cope with in terms of the numbers.

    It’s a pub run by McMullen brewery, so it had their beers in, which is fair enough for their perspective, but gives less incentive for me to return to try something new.

    Slightly mispoured, but by no great margin as I think this was a lined glass, but the beer range was slightly less riveting. I had half a pint of the AK and half a pint of the Country, which were both well kept and tasted fine, but they were perhaps just a bit routine. The Country had some interesting flavours, not least being biscuity as promised, and I like that clean taste. The prices were actually quite moderate (and looking through the food menu, they were reasonable too given the location), fortunately not matching the decadent surroundings.

    One unfortunate omission is a photograph of the double decker bus that they’ve managed to move into their beer garden. I was going to take a photo from the beer garden after leaving the pub, but it transpired you now need to go through the pub, and I decided against meandering around the building again looking for it. But it’s worth Googling this double decker bus they’ve managed to position into their central London location.

    All in all, I’m pleased I popped into here before my train back to sunny Norwich, certainly a memorable interior and the staff were friendly. Maybe I’ll come back for one of their pies at some point…..

  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – Hawkes Cidery (Wasted Apples)

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – Hawkes Cidery (Wasted Apples)

    I’ve written about Hawkes Cidery on the Bermondsey Beer Mile before, but I hadn’t noticed this warning about food waste before. Every second the UK wastes enough apples to create 3.5 pints of cider and that certainly does feel like a crime….

  • London – Camden (Borough of) – The Hardy Tree

    London – Camden (Borough of) – The Hardy Tree

    This ash tree is located in St. Pancras Old Church, located just a short walk away from St. Pancras railway station. And the railway is relevant here as in the 1860s a new line was needed which ploughed straight through the middle of the church’s graveyard. A decision was made to carefully move all of the bodies to another location, but that meant there were a big heap of gravestones that needed to be dealt with.

    The task of dealing with this problem was given to Arthur Blomfield (1829-1899) who was a leading architect who designed and modernised countless churches and other buildings. Blomfield really didn’t want to deal with the moving of the bodies (which all ended up together in a large hole), or indeed the moving of the gravestones either, so he gave that little task to his assistant Thomas Hardy (1840-1928). Fortunately, Hardy is now better known for his literary achievements later on in his life rather than moving bodies and gravestones around.

    Since Hardy’s time, the tree has become bigger and started to almost take on the gravestones as part of its own growth. The stones have been preserved, but they will likely never be moved from their location, which brings an interesting question about whether it was a useful preservation. It has though become a little bit of a tourist attraction and there’s now fencing around the area to stop people even getting up as close as the iron railings around the tree.

    I think it’s quite majestic, putting aside the caveat that I like gravestones to be accessible and readable. I note that there are quite a number of tombs in the current graveyard and although I don’t know, I suspect that these were moved with rather more care than the individual gravestones were. Wealth can be a very useful thing, even in death.

    This whole burial ground has had a slightly traumatic history as not only have many of the bodies been removed for the railway, many were also removed in the early nineteenth century by body-snatchers wanting to sell cadavers to medical schools.

  • UEFA Euro 2020

    UEFA Euro 2020

    I don’t burden my limited readership with many posts about football, but even I got some slight excitement when I was at Wembley seeing the preparations for the UEFA Euro 2020 championships (I was there anyway, I hadn’t gone specially….). There were also some people being interviewed which were attracting a crowd, but I didn’t know who they were, so that riveting football chat of mine doesn’t add much to this post.

    Anyway, I might get into the spirit of the whole thing and watch the occasional match at a pub. As long as it’s got decent craft beer….. There was though a real vibe around Wembley at the moment that I haven’t noted on my previous visits, so the excitement must be in the air.

  • London – Islington (Borough of) – Horseshoe

    London – Islington (Borough of) – Horseshoe

    The Horseshoe on Clerkenwell Close in London has, accordingly to CAMRA, been a pub since at least 1748. It’s a corner pub that was operated by Courage and although I didn’t realise at the time I was there how long it had been trading, it did feel like it had a real sense of history.

    This illustration is of a boxing contest that took place in the pub in the nineteenth century and the historical record is littered with events that have taken place here over the centuries. I also quite liked the advert placed by the pub in 1858 advertising for a head barman, with the comment that the applicant must be “a respectable young man whose character will bear the strictest investigation”. Entire books could be written about the history of this pub and I find it slightly magical that it has remained trading for so long.

    The bar today.

    The Brewdog Pale Ale had just run out (although luckily for Des, they had just poured his), so I went for the only real ale that was available, the Seafarers English Ale. The barman warned me that it might be off as a customer had just complained about it and I appreciated the warning and the chance to try it. It’s a tricky position to be in as a customer, as I felt a pressure to judge the pub’s beer keeping ability. But I remembered that a newspaper had called me a “real ale aficionado” a few weeks ago, so I felt ready and able to judge. Unfortunately, I had just eaten my body weight in chicken wings with a harsh sauce, so I suspect my taste buds were pretty much destroyed. I mentioned this to the barman who said, entirely fairly, that this was a bit of good luck. As far as I was concerned, the beer did have a distinctive taste, but I was content it wasn’t off.

    It took me a little while to realise that the television screen was showing the pub’s beer garden rather than some episode of Eastenders or the like. The barman was conversational and welcoming, although it was a shame (for the pub) that it was so quiet inside. I liked the character of the place, this felt like a community pub that someone new to the area could go to and be made to feel welcome. Quite clearly a pub that has a loyal following of customers, it still seemed an environment that wouldn’t scare anyone off.

    The pub is well reviewed, but there are of course some negative ones. One person gave the pub two stars out of five on Google with no comments, leading to what I think is a marvellous response from the pub of:

    “Many thanks for your insightful review. It’s always a pleasure to get a review like this so we know how we have gone wrong and how to fix it. Looking at some of your recent reviews here on Google , it does seem like you have visited many places in the last 24 hours, well done for fitting us in, it seems like everywhere you went you had a bad time, that’s a shame…Happy Christmas, and keep spreading that Christmas cheer.”

    A perfect response as far as I’m concerned, and someone else did the same of leaving two stars and no comment, with the pub on this occasion noting:

    “Many thanks for your very interesting and insightful comments. Luckily we are not the only establishment that manages to be blessed with your almost poetic words of wisdom in your reviews. Many thanks.

    I like that the pub doesn’t take itself too seriously. Although this isn’t a pub that has the greatest selection of craft beer or real ales, it does have a certain charm and genuineness to it. It hasn’t been modernised to death, so I really quite liked it.