Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • Sudbury – Grover & Allen

    Sudbury – Grover & Allen

    Our weekend mostly consisted of visiting pubs in the Good Beer Guide, but there was a quick visit I thought I’d make, which was to the only JD Wetherspoon outlet in Norfolk and Suffolk that I haven’t been to. I accept that I need to get out more, but this also proved to be a handy breakfast spot.

    It’s not the most inspirational of buildings and it takes its name from the grocers who traded on this site between the 1870s and the early 1900s. They, as can be imagined, had a rather more beautiful and glamorous building, with the site taken over by the Co-op during the twentieth century, until it became a Wetherspoons.

    The breakfast which was perfectly adequate other than the egg was over-cooked. But, this isn’t an expensive breakfast, so I managed to cope with what was served. Someone appears to have pinched the pub’s milk jug though, as they didn’t have one and I was invited to just pour it from the 4-pint plastic containers that the pub had behind the bar.

    The reviews on TripAdvisor for this pub are pretty dreadful for a JD Wetherspoon outlet, mainly about cleanliness. I have to say, when we visited, it could have all been cleaner. Everything was keenly priced though and so there was little to complain about, but equally, there was nothing particularly exceptional. Anyway, that at least means I’ve visited every JD Wetherspoon in Suffolk.

  • Colchester – St. Botolph’s Priory (Vault of William Hawkins)

    Colchester – St. Botolph’s Priory (Vault of William Hawkins)

    I don’t know who William Hawkins is, but he must have been relatively powerful or influential to have had a vault here at St. Botolph’s Church. The vault would have been here since before the fire at the church in 1648, and perhaps before the Dissolution of the Monasteries just over a century before. It’s perhaps not an ideal situation for your vault, which was deliberated designed to be inside, to be left out in the open. However, it’s also interesting that the site has been marked and not left to be forgotten over the centuries.

  • London – Kensington – Churchill Arms

    London – Kensington – Churchill Arms

    It’s hard to deny that this pub obviously has character, even before walking in that’s evident. Although it wasn’t originally named after Winston Churchill, it is now at least a little themed around him and the pub’s web-site notes that his grandparents drank there.

    The interior of the pub was no less quirky. The staff in the pub were friendly, with the operation of track and trace being handled professionally and everything seemed clean. Just as my view, the beer selection was weak with no dark options, limited to London Pride (and I know many people like London Pride, but its appeal is a little lost on me) and Honey Dew, both from Fuller’s Brewery, who operate the pub. The pricing was some of the most expensive that I’ve seen, over £6 for a pint of real ale which tops the prices of nearly every central London pub I’ve visited. I was rather pleased that I only ordered half. The drink was, well, metallic in flavour with some sweetness. Lovely if you like Metal Mickey I suppose.

    The Honey Dew taste and price was enough for me to abort my plans to eat food, which was awkward as the staff member seemed moderately confused as why I hadn’t ordered after I said I was planning to. This was quite a surprise even to myself, as it was half price day for food as part of the Eat Out to Help Out, and the Thai kitchen menu items seemed intriguing and tempting. The reviews suggest that the food is excellent (and I could hear the number of phone calls coming in asking for reservations, but they were full), but there is something I didn’t like about any pub, even in Kensington, topping £6 for a pint of real ale, so I resisted the temptation of the Jungle Curry.

    But, the pub is clearly a local favourite and it has a long tradition with a friendly welcome. It wasn’t for me though, but I’d have probably been more of a fan of the whole experience if they’d stocked Fuller’s Porter. Incidentally, although the Thai cuisine perhaps seems a little mismatched for the British theme of the pub, it clearly works as they’ve been doing it since the early 1990s. Besides, any pub which has its own page on Wikipedia is likely worth a visit.

  • Colchester – St. Botolph’s Priory

    Colchester – St. Botolph’s Priory

    In the tenth century, there was a church here dedicated to St. Botolph, but a Kentish priest with the name of Norman fancied setting up an Augustinian priory. So, after some research and approval, this magnificent structure was built and the religious institution was established. It was the first Augustinian priory to be constructed in the country and it also, very sensibly, honours St. Julian.

    The rather glorious remaining section of the west front of the priory.

    Much of the church has been reconstructed using Roman brick that was robbed from various walls and buildings around Colchester.

    These pillars have stood the test of time…..

    This is the nave, looking towards the west end of the priory. The priory was closed down during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but the nave area was saved as this was used by the local population at their church. Everything that the monks used, such as the cloisters, numerous chapels and their area for prayer was all pulled down.

    The church in its new form survived until 1648, when it was destroyed during a siege that took place during the English Civil War. There were plans to rebuild the church after the Civil War, but they never came to pass, so the ruins have stood here now for over 350 years, currently under the management of English Heritage.

  • Colchester – Site of Shooting of Charles Lucas and George Lisle

    Colchester – Site of Shooting of Charles Lucas and George Lisle

    This memorial notes where Sir Charles Lucas (1613-1648) and Sir George Lisle (1610-1648) were shot on the orders of Sir Thomas Fairfax, the Parliamentarian General. The two men were shot in the castle yard on 28 August 1648, following the surrender of the town to Parliamentary troops during the Civil War. The men were buried at St. Giles’s Church in the town and after the restoration of the Monarchy, there was a commemoration ceremony and the actions of Fairfax were rejected by many. Lucas was given a posthumous peerage in 1666 and the decision to shoot them was seen as a miscarriage of justice, even for the period. Lisle had said to the firing squad “now rebels, do your worst” and Lucas was equally brave.

    This memorial stone was unveiled here behind Colchester Castle, where the men were killed, on 20 October 1892 at a ceremony attended by Henry Laver.

  • Colchester – The Victoria Inn

    Colchester – The Victoria Inn

    The Victoria’s web-site has the message “we pride ourselves on being able to source many ales that you may not have tasted before, many from micro breweries who don’t usually supply nationally so we take the time to go and fetch them ourselves. Not for us the safe route of Adnams, London Pride, Doombar, etc……” which is one of the most reassuring things that a pub can say. Although I understand that many pubs are tied and don’t have this flexibility, it’s still relatively rare to get an interesting choice of beers.

    Some of the real ales and ciders, there were also pumps to the right with what might be defined as more exotic craft options, with beers from Bone Machine, Turning Point and the Cloudwater Brew Co. There was a friendly welcome from a staff member perched by the counter, giving him an ideal vantage point to get customers to sign in, seat them and engage with them as required. The staff members were helpful, friendly and there was a relaxed feel to the whole pub. All rather lovely.

    This is the two-thirds of the Mary Ann is Dead from Bone Machine, although I caused some moderate confusion by ordering a drink in this measure. The barman was immensely helpful in working out the price and finding a suitable glass, I have somewhat got in the habit of ordering in thirds without checking the pub was set-up to do that. I liked that this unintentional curveball didn’t annoy the barman though. The drink has a rich and decadent taste of mint running through it, along with the chocolate flavour, very moreish. There was a limited aftertaste though, although the initial hit was quite strong, but this is still a very beautiful drink.

    I pinched from Nathan a taster of the Multi-Dimensional Being from Cloudwater Brew Co. and I have no idea what on earth this drink was, defined loosely as a brown ale and it had a whole array of different flavours. My palate wasn’t good enough to know what these flavours were, other than slightly fruity whilst maintaining some elements of a stronger beer such as notes of chocolate. But, whatever the flavours were, this was a quite magnificent drink and I opted for one of my ever rare 4.75 out of 5 scores on Untappd. I could rightly say that no-one is really bothered about what I think of a beer, but I’m pleased that the brewery noted and acknowledged the score when they saw it.

    It was a little bit of a shame that the pub didn’t open longer into the evening, as there were numerous other drinks options that looked tempting. But, I’m sure I’ll be back in the future. And this is one of my favourite pubs of the year.

  • Hope – Name Origin

    Hope – Name Origin

    I didn’t spend long in the village of Hope, it was just sufficient time for us to visit the pub, the Cheshire Cheese Inn. The village name though is intriguing and The Concise Oxford Dictionary Of English Placenames notes:

    Hope, Derbyshire. Hope in 926, Hope in the Domesday Book. From Old English ‘hop’, meaning valley.

    I was slightly disappointed with this, I had hoped (excuse the pun) for something more inspirational. The dictionary takes some time explaining this word, it has numerous meanings, but in this part of the country, it was a relatively common Old English word to describe a valley. The village has had the same name for probably nearly 1,500 years and that’s some going, also making it one of the earlier places in Derbyshire to have been recorded.

  • Hope – The Cheshire Cheese Inn

    Hope – The Cheshire Cheese Inn

    This was our choice for food following our visit to the rather wonderful Swiss Tap in the nearby town of Edale. It’s listed in the Good Beer Guide and is a sixteenth-century building with some heritage to it. The owners of the building put stucco plaster on the frontage in 1877, but when this was removed it was evident that this was once two cottages.

    The main bar area of the pub.

    The same room, with a downstairs area visible down some steps on the right-hand side. There were people in there so I didn’t disturb them by taking a photo, but this was the second cottage that was once used to house animals downstairs whilst the owners lived in the upper part. I like that the pub has made an effort to explain its history on their web-site, noting:

    “The Inn owes its name to being an overnight stopping point on the old salt carrying route from Cheshire across the Pennines to Yorkshire. Payment for lodging at the Inn was actually made in Cheese. The original cheese hooks can still be seen in the lower room. Today it retains a relaxed unspoiled, old world atmosphere with open fires, traditionally brewed hand pulled beer and a reputation for good wholesome food.”

    There’s a small bar area to the left.

    And here it is, but customers were advised to take advantage of table service, rather than trying to order in this limited area.

    The menu, with primarily traditional British dishes, but an effort has been made to cater for vegetarians.

    I’m going to have to admit that my beer tasting ability couldn’t cope easily with this, the Daily Bread from Abbeydale Brewery. The staff member warned me that it was a very yeasty beer, hence the name, but I couldn’t work out whether it was slightly past its best or whether the yeast was meant to make it taste like that. Since I wasn’t competent enough to know which it was, I’m assuming that it was just a strong flavour and it wasn’t unpleasant, just different to what I’d usually have. Interesting though, I like that there’s something different to try.

    I had the beer-battered haddock, which was moderately expensive at £13.75. The fish was well cooked and tender, with the batter retaining some crunch and having a pleasant flavour. The mushy peas were, as they often are, pretty pointless as they were devoid of flavour, but the chips were homemade and moreish. All very acceptable though and the portion size was towards the generous side.

    Back to the price, I wasn’t entirely delighted to note at the end that, despite being listed on the Amex Shop Small site, they decided they didn’t accept Amex and that meant I couldn’t claim my £5 from the card company as part of the scheme. Anyway, that aside, the staff here really were excellent and our main server was personable and helpful. It was a comfortable location and I liked the history to the pub, with the friendly staffing all adding the atmosphere. Not a bad choice of mine at all……

  • London (Marylebone) – Metropolitan Bar

    London (Marylebone) – Metropolitan Bar

    JD Wetherspoon might not surprise and delight everyone, but they certainly do have some pubs located in beautiful and historic buildings. This is the former Chiltern Court Restaurant within Baker Street underground railway station, which has also been used by the railway network. It’s named after the Metropolitan Railway, which was the first passenger-carrying designated underground railway and it operated between 1863 and 1933.

    It wasn’t very busy and I only went in to get out of the heat. It was all clean, well presented and comfortable, with the helpful advantage of having lots of power outlets.

    The most delightful element about this pub, although there were numerous, was that it was freezing cold because of that air conditioning by the window. This was quite marvellous and I very much appreciated it, as I may have mentioned to numerous people that London at the moment is too hot. The drink was £1.10, a Dalston’s fizzy rhubarb and this apparently contains real British rhubarb. So, with my refreshing drink with ice along with the air conditioning chucking out cold air, I was quite settled.

    I didn’t see much of the staff, just the drink that I ordered on the app being dropped off. They seemed friendly enough though, it was a relaxed environment and it would have normally been much busier than this. It might take the pub many more months to return to how busy it was, the number of rail passengers and the reduced number of tourists in the capital seems to be taking its toll on many pubs.

    As an aside, and I’ll let those interested read more about a little incident (well, quite a major incident really) that the pub had in their toilets a few years ago…. https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/765720/hole-in-pub-lav-was-den-for-pee-ping-tom/

  • London (Marylebone) – The Volunteer

    London (Marylebone) – The Volunteer

    Since I was in the Marylebone area I was going to pop into a pub listed in the Good Beer Guide, but unfortunately most of the ones around here haven’t re-opened yet. So, the Volunteer looked quite historic and interesting, located opposite Regent’s Park and also on Baker Street, of note to Sherlock Holmes fans.

    There was a very prompt and polite welcome from a team member, so it felt a friendly location. I was asked if I wanted to sit inside or out and I opted for inside as it’s still hot in London and there’s still been no rain to cool things down a bit. The pub’s web-site notes that “come along to The Volunteer, get cosy and escape from the cold in our pub”, but it was the reverse that I was trying to achieve. I had just been near frozen in the Metropolitan Bar, the local Wetherspoons, and I very much liked that, but this pub was a bit too warm for my liking. But, the weather is ridiculously hot, there’s a limit to what they can do.

    The beer choice wasn’t very exciting at all, the real ale choice was limited to Doom Bar. That meant I was only going to have half a pint, although the beer was well kept and tasted as it was meant to. They did apologise for this limited beer choice, I was unfortunate that they were between barrels. Whatpub mentioned they usually have three guests as well as Doom Bar, so the choice isn’t usually this limited. Customers seemed happy with the food and drink being offered and although I didn’t eat here, the menu looked like a mix of traditional British dishes and some more contemporary options.

    I was pleased to have visited though, there’s plenty of history to this pub and they explain some of it on their web-site. it takes its name from when it was a recruiting office in the nineteenth century (other stories for the pub’s name exist) and there are a few war-themed sections in the pub. The owners say that it’s haunted, but I’m pleased to note that I didn’t sense anything when I was there. The story goes that there was once a large property on this site, but it was destroyed by fire, and it’s the ghost of the owner of that building, Rupert Neville.

    The pricing was reasonable and the pub seemed well managed, feeling safe from a health point of view. I wasn’t asked to leave my name for track and trace, but they did have a QR code system to register on-line. The tables had already been socially distanced and I liked that staff were prompt to welcome customers at the front door. The main reason I like this pub is that it isn’t branded around Sherlock Holmes, even though they are just a few doors away from the museum. The pub could have felt quite tacky if they’d taken it down that route and hidden its own identity, so I thought it was all well thought through.