Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • March – Georges Pub

    March – Georges Pub

    Sadly, this town centre pub closed a few months ago, although hopefully there’s an opportunity for it to be re-opened. The local newspaper, the Cambridgeshire Times, referred to the landlord as “controversial” when he quit earlier on in 2019 after eight years in charge. That’s normally a word that I use to refer to someone as intolerable, although it seems that he achieved a great deal at the pub during his time there, so I’m sure that the media didn’t mean it in that way.

    When talking to the press, the landlord said:

    “There were battles of: eviction, arrest, re-arrest, application to remove my license, FDC health and safety, electrical notices, noise safety notices, planning validation notices, DPPO violation, battles with the Summer Festival, Battles with St Georges Fayre committee and food safety risk scores. These were just a few battles I fought on a regular basis, many of them carrying financial and possible imprisonment risks. Trying to run a business in March is simply too much of an uphill struggle.”

    Sounds like an eventful pub, I think that I would have liked it.

    I’m not quite that I entirely understand who the pub was aiming at, there seems to have been an attempt to offer real ale, gastro-pub food, live music, a coffee house and a community pub all at the same time. Good luck to anyone who can pull that much off successfully, seems rather ambitious. But, since I never got the chance to visit, perhaps it was excellent and the food does seem to have been well reviewed.

    Sad to see the pub like this….

    At least no-one has pinched what is left of the A-Board. Anyway, onto TripAdvisor:

    “I have looked into this issue and have disaplined the individules reponsible , they do have the descretion to pop out and get mushy peas to order and i am looking into why they failed to do this . ref the scampie , it is as im sure you are awear cooked in deep hot oil and there for has to reach the right tempriture , is it lost some tempriture there must of been a delay geting your product to table. i have review who else eat at the same time and there was a similiar table severed within 10minutes of yourselve which was 2 x scampie who gave a great review . so i am sorry there was a delay in geting your food to your table again i have enquired as to why my staff had a delay . Tarter source, these things happen clealy you were given old stock it was the “best before date” , and not the “expiry date” however not acceptble and disaplinery action has been actioned .”

    With this response to someone’s cold scampi, I’m never entirely sure that the reference to disciplining staff is always entirely wise…..

    “from a publican to a fellow ex publican , the opening and closing times are up to the landlord , there are no requirments since 2005 for pubs to call last orders .”

    The pub landlord is right on this. I’ve heard this from a few customers over the years, claiming that they are publicans and then claiming that bar staff don’t know the law, with it usually transpiring that they do….

    “Biggest dump in March. Full of kids, space cadets and drinkers banned from everywhere else. Owner is a moron and on another planet”

    One helpful review….

    “Sorry it didn’t suit you :)”

    And the pub’s perfect reply   🙂

    Anyway, I suspect that this pub had a lot of character and I’m rather sad that it’s closed, I still think that I would have probably have liked it. Pubs can sometimes be just a little too bland.

  • March – March Town Trail

    This is the town trail that I’ve had a little walk around this morning, produced by Fenland Tourism. Due to the way that they’ve produced it, anyone looking at it on their phone might have to turn it upside down…..

    March Town Trail (.pdf format)

  • March – Old River Nene

    March – Old River Nene

    The course of the Old River Nene, part now of the Nene-Ouse Navigation Link.

    Very peaceful, running through the heart of March.

  • March – Ye Olde Griffin Hotel

    March – Ye Olde Griffin Hotel

    This is a grand former coaching hotel and it is much larger than I had expected, quite a quirky building. It’s operated by Stonegate, who purchased it from Bramwell Pubs when they went under a few years ago. Bramwell had commenced a large refurbishment of the premises, with an upgrade to the hotel rooms upstairs, and some modernisation throughout. CAMRA note that there are rumours that the pub is haunted and if anywhere does have ghosts, this is the type of pub that would.

    The grand interior of the hotel and the listed buildings records note that there are elements from the sixteenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (the side wings were added during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries), so it has been most changed over the years.

    I looked through some old newspapers and I quite liked the ad in 1900 that the hotel placed, looking for “a sharp, active boy, about 14, wanted as a billiard marker”. What kind of job is that? Sounds a good one though.

    There were six real ale options on, again for today, surprisingly generic. I opted for the Sea Fury from Sharp’s as I’ve never had that and it was fine, clean tastes, appropriate temperature and all that. I’d have rather had a darker beer though, the choice was a bit all too similar for my liking. Anyway, I ordered my half a pint and was told that it was £2.70. I must admit to saying “£5.40 for a pint of Sea Fury?” in an unimpressed manner and the staff member remembered he had poured me half a pint eight seconds before and told me that it was £1.35. That pricing is very reasonable indeed.

    What an awesome menu for anyone going in on their own. Really well thought through that is. Anyway, onto TripAdvisor.

    “We advertise on booking.com /laterooms etc that at the weekend we are open until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays at 2am , we even supply earplugs to the rooms.”

    Someone complained about the noise and I think it’s fair to say that if you want to operate a hotel, having loud music until 2am is beyond brave. The hotel has some of the poorest ratings in the town, it’s not exactly a surprise reading this management response.

    “Really sorry for your nights sleep but we can’t do any more to inform customers of the weekend noise and looking back over TRIPADVISOR it is mentioned on numerous occasions.”

    And another poor review about the noise. It could be suggested there’s an obvious thing that the pub could do about the loud music that they play until 2am… And I’m even slightly humoured that the hotel is surprised that this is a recurrent problem on TripAdvisor.

    “All rooms have secondary glazing and we offer earplugs.”

    It’s almost as if there’s a theme here in the reviews that the hotel has to reply to….

    “When we arrived at ye olde griffin car park we greeted by the sight of a man urinating openly and we saw his private parts too , don’t think that was necessary as there where men’s toilets inside the pub,”

    At least this customer had a different issue.

    During my visit the pub was having problems with some customers who were being a little too exuberant. By ‘having problems’, I mean that they weren’t doing anything about it. But, ignoring the near riot going on, the pub was otherwise clean, comfortable and there were plenty of quiet areas to hide in. The prices, once queried, were cheap and the food being brought out seemed fine, with the food being well reviewed in the pub.

  • March – The Acre

    March – The Acre

    This town centre pub is operated by Greene King, taking its name from the road that it’s located on, Acre Road. It has a decent location near to the river, I can imagine it’s rather pleasant during the summer months.

    The pub interior, which was clean and comfortable. There was a choice of different tables throughout the pub, with a contemporary feel to the whole design.

    The choice was, well, let’s just leave that there. It’s a Greene King pub which nearly always means that it isn’t going to trouble the Good Beer Guide.

    This was the pub’s effort at serving half a pint, pretty dreadful. The real ale itself though was well kept, at the appropriate temperature and had a depth of flavour, so I was not displeased at their Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. Their food reviews are also towards the higher end for a Greene King pub, with many people dining when I was there. On that subject, onto TripAdvisor…

    “Your continual reference to your close friendship with Gordon Ramsey failed to impress, as did your general conduct in this unfortunate incident. It would perhaps be better to take your future custom to establishments that are impressed with your famous friends but not the Acre.”

    This is the pub’s reply to a review and I can quite imagine how this one played out….. I do like listening to a customer who claims that they’re well-connected.

    “As we don’t do a dollop of chillie , you were charged for chillie and chips with an extra charge for the loading of cheese and bacon.”

    A customer ordered chips with “a dollop of chilli” and wondered why the pub got confused…. Although, I like the idea of a dollop being an official menu item.

    All in all, this was a perfectly acceptable pub, although the craft beer options are zero and the real ale options aren’t going to set the world alight. The environment was comfortable though and all the customers appeared to be enjoying their food, so it’s probably a reliable choice for food.

  • March – The Ship Inn

    March – The Ship Inn

    This is one of two pubs in March which are listed in the Good Beer Guide and it’s the only town centre pub of the pair. It’s located in an interesting building which dates to 1680 and which has two storeys and an attic, along with a thatched roof. I did note through a search of old newspapers that in March 1906, a Louis Fytche was fined 10 shillings, with 5 shillings costs, for being drink at the Ship Inn. This might not be particularly notable, other than he was the landlord….

    The welcome was friendly and efficient, with the pub being clean, warm and comfortable. The beer selection didn’t particularly excite me, although they did have five real ales on. The options were unfortunately what I’d consider to be quite generic, I’d rather have had something a little more innovative, especially as CAMRA report this to be a freehouse which can therefore order what it wants. The Timothy Taylor’s Landlord was not the best kept that I’ve had, although it was drinkable and not quite at the stage I needed to return it.

    There was nothing particularly wrong here and it’s clearly a popular pub with locals, but I couldn’t help thinking that I wasn’t sure that there was anything notable I could mention.

  • GeoGuessr 2 – (Birmingham to Norwich Megabus)

    GeoGuessr 2 – (Birmingham to Norwich Megabus)

    And all good things must come to an end. Although hopefully not Greggs, I’m hoping that lasts so far into the future that the mind cannot imagine a time when that will end. Anyway, I digress.

    We got to the stop in Birmingham with good time and then stood there looking vacant and confused (well, I did) for around fifteen minutes. It was unclear why the bus hadn’t yet arrived, until I thought it might be useful to look around the corner about three minutes before the bus was ready to go. I’m sure Nathan would have done the same, but what it did mean was that in effect we’d been standing in the wrong place…. I say I’m sure, but he might not have done, just for the record…

    I checked with the driver that the bus went to Norwich and then told him that I had a friend with me. I was partly hoping he just told me to get on and there wasn’t time to get Nathan, but the driver was helpful and suggested that I might want to collect Nathan from around the corner. Anyway, that done, we boarded and took our seats on the back row. This would have been really spacious if the end seats of the row in front weren’t reclined, but we had three seats between us which seemed enough.

    The bus journey was uneventful, other than for the watching of Friday Night Dinner and talking about Scott. Makes a change from talking about other people, so he should be honoured. We arrived back into Norwich pretty much on time and that marked an end to GeoGuessr2…..

  • GeoGuessr 2 – Birmingham (Ibis Birmingham Bordesley Circus)

    GeoGuessr 2 – Birmingham (Ibis Birmingham Bordesley Circus)

    I was pleased to get a hotel in Birmingham city centre at such a cheap rate, just over £30, on the Saturday before Christmas, which included breakfast. Thank goodness for the Accor sale….

    The view from the hotel window of, well, Birmingham. The check-in process was efficient, although I had to query where my drinks voucher was, which the staff member had forgotten. As seems to be typical of most Ibis hotels in the UK, they didn’t offer a welcome amenity, but Accor have told me to rate the hotel down when they don’t. The Ibis in Hull offered me a Mars bar as a welcome amenity, which was more than satisfactory. Accor haven’t sent me a feedback form for this hotel, so they won’t get my thoughts on how they could offer a Mars bar to cater for those who are easily pleased.

    The festive Christmas tree in reception. I was pleased to note that the hotel wasn’t too Christmassy, as these things can be overdone.

    Since there was enough alcohol the night before, this was the free welcome drink we went for the following the morning. Bottled Pepsi Max. It’s a rockstar lifestyle…. Or something like that. The hotel didn’t worry about providing a glass, they must have known I have low standards.

    The breakfast arrangement, which I’d say was better than average. The bacon was crispy and a bit hard, but that’s my favourite way of doing it as that means that the fat isn’t all raw and unrendered. The sausages, beans and hash browns were all fine, with the muffins and croissants being a little bland, although every Ibis in the UK seems to use the same supplier of products. The ham was excellent, so much so I managed to eat nearly all of it, with yoghurts, fruit and cereals also available. I’m not sure that breakfast is necessarily worth the £10 it usually costs if purchased separately, but as it was included in the room rate, I was entirely content.

    Overall, everything was fine in the hotel, it was quiet, clean and well maintained. The staff were helpful, the breakfast was of the expected standard and the Christmas decorations weren’t excessive. Perfectly decent value for money.

  • GeoGuessr 2 – Birmingham (Nathan on Sign)

    GeoGuessr 2 – Birmingham (Nathan on Sign)

    This is the quality content that we’re now reduced to, taking photos of Nathan outside of a pawnbrokers called Nathan…..

  • Norwich – Toiletgate 2

    We’ve had a minor issue, as mentioned here, with regards to this Greater Anglia bullet train having to stop at numerous stops en route for prolonged periods so customers can use the station facilities. What the driver of this train seems unaware of is that customers in the first few rows of the front carriage can hear his full dialogue to the guard and others, which has so far included the c-word, the f-word, the s-word and a word I’ve had to look up on Google. Anyway, we’ve reached Thetford and the train I’m connecting to is being delayed behind this one, so I shouldn’t miss it…..