Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

Tewkesbury – Royal Hop Pole

Jonathan, Julian and I popped into this JD Wetherspoon operated pub in Tewkesbury which is also listed in the Good Beer Guide. It was a relatively brief visit to this historic venue, an intriguing former coaching inn.

It’s a long building, with wood panelling seemingly everywhere, which dates to the fifteenth century although has some eighteenth century additions to it. It’s been a sympathetic renovation by JD Wetherspoon and it’s also one of their hotels with 28 bedrooms available. The Royal bit to the pub was added after Mary of Teck visited in September 1891. The pub was also mentioned in Charles Dickens’s Pickwick Papers:

“At the Hop Pole at Tewkesbury, they stopped to dine; upon which occasion there was more bottled ale, with some more Madeira, and some port besides; and here the case-bottle was replenished for the fourth time. Under the influence of these combined stimulants, Mr. Pickwick and Mr. Ben Allen fell fast asleep for thirty miles, while Bob and Mr. Weller sang duets in the dickey.”

In fairness, some of the old world charm has been lost, but that’s perhaps inevitable in a busy and modern pub. I’m fascinated by coaching inns as they provided entertainment, hospitality and comfort of some sort to generations of travellers. Tewkesbury was an important location as it was a stopover for travellers from London, Manchester, Bristol and God’s own city of Bath. There were once four coaching inns in Tewkesbury, but this is the only one which remains trading. The railway was the start of an economic boom for some locations, but not for Tewkesbury, the coaching trade came to a near immediate halt in the 1830s.

We visited during the pub’s beer festival, so I went for a third of three different beers. The Quiet Shadows from Fyne Ales was a drab affair with little depth of taste to it, but the Scallywag from Hop Union Brewery had a decent toffee flavour to it. Continuing on that theme, the Steel & Oak Easy Stout was a pleasant 4% beer with flavours of toffee, chocolate and coffee. It cost around £2.50 for these three, it’s hard to deny the value that they’re offering. Jonathan and Julian went for food, but I found some heavily reduced sandwiches in One Stop over the road. I know how to live the decadent life….

As a sense of scale, the rear entrance to the pub is just to the left and the front entrance is all the way back on that road at the rear. It’s a formidable building in terms of its size.

The pub goes back to the River Avon. It’s one of the best reviewed pubs in the chain that I’ve seen, although with such a beautiful building it would be rather a shame if it wasn’t. Some angry or upset reviews include:

“Didn’t like it. It felt rundown. We wanted a hot drink and they give us a mug to fill up in a drinks machine but could have as many refills as we liked. It was just under £5 for 3 of us. Perhaps that is one of the reasons the place looked like it had had better days as it was cheap.”

I’m not sure that warrants a 1 star review, but each to their own I guess.

“Absolutely crazy place to go always spent loads of money and there 14 of us as a family and the pub don’t like big families after 3 drinks were refused a drink even though we spend £300 at a time not a friendly or peaceful place to be what a shame in a little town this could. Be a nice place to go as pricing in good but this place is awful to go with a big family”

Perhaps it’s wrong of me to suspect that there’s a noise related issued here….

“Today I visited this Wetherspoons with every intention of using the app. When selecting Fish & chips it asked me how I wanted my steak done.”

Seems reasonable 🙂

“Food was good but the sign said no dogs, well our cat wasn’t a dog, she was in a cage and we were in the garden but were still abruptly asked to leave!”

There are numerous complaints from people who were annoyed that their dogs weren’t allowed in, but this is the only angry customer that had their cat thrown out.

Anyway, I digress. There were seven real ales, the venue was clean, the team members were friendly and the building was full of period charm. Quite rightly in the Good Beer Guide and a seemingly well managed JD Wetherspoon.

November 8, 2023
Streets of Norwich – Albert Place

Part of my Streets of Norwich project…. [Updated in November 2023]

Albert Place is a small road located off of Telegraph Lane West, which is visible on the above map coming off of Albert Road, but the top section is no longer there and is underneath some more modern housing.

This is all that is left now, so there’s not much that I can write here.

But, there is a story about two former residents of this street, Mr. W. Scott and his wife, who both incurred head injuries from a major railway accident which took place on 10 September 1874. An express train running from London to Great Yarmouth hit a mail train from Great Yarmouth to Norwich at some speed near Thorpe Junction, given some communication confusion caused by a telegraph clerk. 25 people were killed, including both sets of drivers and firemen, with a further 75 being injured. The disaster led to the introduction Tyer’s Electric Train Tablet, a token based system which made it impossible for two trains to be on the same section of track.

And, as another story, John Abel advertised in the Norwich Mercury on 7 September 1896 the below:

“This is to give notice, that on and after this date I will not be responsible for any debts contracted by my wife, Charlotte Abel.

John Abel, Albert Place, Albert Road, St. Leonard’s Road, Norwich.”

I’m not entirely sure what happened there….

November 7, 2023
Hereford – The Orange Tree

The next pub on our tour around Hereford was the Good Beer Guide listed Orange Tree which is operated by Black Country Ales, a chain that I know from my previous visits to Birmingham. The Orange Tree is Grade II listed and the front section was built in the seventeenth century, with a more modern section at the rear of the venue. For reasons unknown to me, it was called the Firefly for a while, but the older name returned in 2019.

Then, in 2020, the pub got national publicity when the landlord posted on social media:

“There’s a lot of young chavs, or roadmen, with bum bags in Hereford, if you know what I mean, been frequenting the pub and they don’t know how to behave. The youngsters don’t know how to handle themselves in a pub. A lot of them turned 18 during lockdown and are just misbehaving to be fair, and putting off other customers.”

To reinforce his point, he then banned hoodies and anyone in Stone Island clothing. Oh, and banned under 21 year olds on some evenings. Any pub which has to resort to banning people based on their clothing choices is unlikely to last long (unless it’s so good that it decides that it wants a decadent dress code, but how many city centre pubs are realistically going to be that extravagent?), and it was the inevitable course of events here. It was sold just a couple of months after to another operator, but then, two years later, Black Country Ales purchased the pub and admitted it had been failing for years, before they steadied the ship. They removed the upstairs commercial kitchen to put in a larger manager’s flat, but they restored calm and balance, with a swift entry in the Good Beer Guide coming soon after.

The Hereford Times reported how a former landlord checked on the age of customers:

“If Jacko the landlord had doubt about your age, he used to open your mouth and check your teeth like a vet checks a horse’s.”

Interesting…. I don’t think that will catch on instead of the Check 25 age verification policy.

Looking towards the more modern rear of the pub, much of the wood panelling in the venue has remained in place. There used to be bagatelle played at the pub, but that habit no longer persists. More pubs need bar billiards tables and a bagatelle arrangement. Writing about matters of the past, I liked the article in the Hereford Journal in July 1860 given it covers the subject of pubs and walking:

“VISIT OF JOHN MOUNTJOY – THE CELEBRATED PEDESTRIAN, TO HEREFORD.

On Monday last, it was advertised by public bills, that John Mountjoy, the celebrated pedestrian, whose wonderful feats have been heard of far and near through the medium of the sporting papers, had visited this visit, and that on Monday morning last, he was to perform the following wonderful feats three days in succession – the more wonderful as the pedestrian is now in his 60th year. The bills stated that he was to start from Mr. Hewitson’s the Orange Tree, in King Street, and walk to the Green Man at Fownhope, and back again to the Orange Tree, four times in the course of each day.”

The walking though was just the start of it:

“The other part of the programme was that he would perform the following nine feats in 40 minutes :- To walk forwards half a mile and backwards half a mile; to run half a mile; to hop on one leg for 100 yards; to run backwards 100 yards; to pick up with one hand 30 stones, placed one yard apart, and to deposit them singly in a basket; to pick up 20 eggs in his mouth without touching the ground with his knees or the eggs with either hand, and to deposit each in a bucket of water, without breaking it; and, finally, to leap 20 hurdles, each ten yards apart, with the last egg in his mouth without breaking it”.

Perhaps we should add this extra element to LDWA events….

The bar with its extensive range of real ales, including several from Black Country Ales. With regards to the team member, he was engaging and personable, offering a positive and warm welcome. We were visiting the pub towards the end of the evening, but it was evident he was content to serve until the advertised times. This might not sound particularly notable, but there are a few pubs who do ignore their opening hours and shut early or open late.

They’re not Untappd screens, but they’re useful ways of seeing what beers are available. A well curated selection of beers, with the prices being reasonable.

I went for a snack and the Old Mill Stout from Little Eaton Brewery from Derby. It was a well-kept plum porter and it was smooth with an edge of decadence, a more than acceptable way to end the evening. I was, once again, pleased with my food pairing choices.

All credit to Black Country Ales for this comfortable, friendly and laid-back pub, especially given what the venue has gone through over recent years. It’s done well to get into the Good Beer Guide and from my visit, it seems well deserved. All really rather lovely.

November 7, 2023
Hereford – Beer in Hand

The next pub on our evening meander around Hereford was the Good Beer Guide listed Beer in Hand. It’s got the atmosphere and ambience of a micropub and it has won numerous CAMRA awards over the years.

There were real ales available as well (although apparently the number of these has been reduced from previous years), with this being the keg and cans list. I like nicely presented boards which make things simple for me to understand rather than some rickety board that I can hardly read perched precariously behind the bar. The beer list was well curated with a range of beer styles to choose from, as well as an up-to-date can list by using printed versions of it. The service at the bar was friendly and timely, all suitably relaxed.

Bottles, cans, real ciders and all rather exciting. I liked the inviting atmosphere of the pub and the atmosphere felt comfortable, informal and safe. They don’t sell food, but they are proud of not just their beer and cider but also their craft spirits.

I went for the Dream House from Left Handed Giant brewery from Bristol. I like this brewery, I’ve been to their brewpub in Bristol and they make some particularly decadent stouts. This beer was a NEIPA, with a decent fruity and hoppy flavour.

Julian, who is a natural sporting sceptic (despite my attempts to get him to play football), was convinced to play Jenga. Just wait, I think he might move onto bar billiards before you know it.

Then, for reasons unknown, Jonathan brought over some Russian dolls. What was also evident was that there was an element of community about the venue with that micropub tendency to have plenty of events going on even though the opening hours might be a little limited compared to traditional pubs. There’s a debate about that in the latest CAMRA magazine, but I won’t go down that rabbit hole at the moment.

Anyway, sport aside, I very much liked this pub and am pleased that it’s listed in the Good Beer Guide. The choice of beers is impressive, the pub was clean, the service was friendly and they had a number of different pub games. The on-line reviews are positive and I’d merrily recommend a visit here.

November 7, 2023
Moulton – Packhorse Bridge

Obviously my favourite bridge is the new one at Great Yarmouth that my friend Liam is building (or whatever he’s doing there), but this comes a close second. It’s the rather beautiful Grade II* listed packhorse bridge at Moulton, near Newmarket in Suffolk. I’ll quote what Wikipedia note in terms of the definition of packhorse bridges:

“A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low parapets so as not to interfere with the panniers borne by the horses.”

Being unsure exactly what classed as a packhorse bridge, I consulted the book ‘A Guide to the Packhorse Bridges of England’ by Ernest Hinchliffe and he didn’t disappoint. He wrote:

“Of first importance is width. Before the eighteenth century, bridges were described either as horse bridges or cart bridges and the dimensions and manoeuvrability of carts must have been important in distinguishing the one from the other. Making allowance for a wobbly vehicle drawn by an erratic animal on a rough surface, it is unlikely that a cart bridge would be less than six feet wide. Age too is important. The packhorse transport system was slowly killed by the canals and by wheeled traffic on turnpike roads and since the Turnpike Act was passed in 1663 and the last Turnpike Act disappeared in 1895, it was a lingering death.”

The author is happy with Moulton’s bridge passing muster and he notes that it is often the one used in photographs of packhorse bridges. Although I’d add to the note that English Heritage think it might not be a packhorse bridge as it could take carts, but my expertise on this matter means I’m happy to settle with Hinchliffe’s description.

I would add that the water isn’t normally this deep, but heavy rain in the area caused some flooding along the River Kennett when Bev and I popped to have a little look at it. I’d add that Bev managed to find a fish that had managed to get caught up in a puddle, so her good deed for the day was throwing it back into the river. Anyway, I digress.

The view from the bridge, there’s a ‘Danger – Deep Water’ sign there to stop anyone from driving down the river.

The water was nearly two foot deep, although a couple of large vehicles did plough through across the ford whilst we were there. It felt a bit like watching something from Rufford Ford which became something of a minor TikTok sensation for a short while.

Given how high the river was, a bridge here was most helpful for our purpose of visiting the village’s church. The stone bridge dates to around the fourteenth or fifteenth century and it was part of a packhorse route between Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge. Hinchliffe, in his packhorse book, notes though that “the notice alongside the bridge quotes an early fifteenth century date, but since Moulton was a market town at the end of the thirteenth century, it is possible that there was a bridge on the site to serve local market traffic before the current structure”. There was a similar bridge in nearby Kentford, but more of that in another post.

Historically, the bridge was financed by the Church and Bridges Estate which had been established in the early sixteenth century. Although they must have done a decent job for some centuries given that it’s still there, the West Suffolk county planning committee met in June 1962 to authorise expenditure of between £45 and £50 to repair the bridge. At the same time, they asked the Ministry of Works to take over the cost of repairing the bridge from the church charity.

The Newmarket Journal reported in March 1961 that the bridge had been scheduled as an ancient monument by the Ministry of Works, with the newspaper noting that “it is one of the best known ancient bridges in the county”. Today, it’s certainly something special and it’s remarkable that this has survived in its medieval form.

November 6, 2023
Hereford – The Herdsman

This pub sounded intriguing on CAMRA’s Whatpub, so I thought that it would make something of a contrast to the JD Wetherspoon operated Kings Fee that we had just visited. The building was constructed in 1861, on the same site as an older inn, and was used as a hotel and bar when it opened in its new format. The building is substantial in size and apparently has a skittles alley upstairs and a large function room, but the bar area itself is relatively small.

The prices for the food were towards the lower end of the scale and this is served during lunchtimes only throughout the week.

There was only one real ale, but it was 6X from Wadworth, so that more than sufficed me. It was well kept, smooth and at the appropriate cellar temperature. I assume that the venue is owned by a Pubco as the pub was stocking Cruzcampo and not many free trade locations would be rushing to sell that. But let’s not get me back onto Cruzcampo which has managed to fall to a rating of 2.83 on Untappd, which is at least higher than Bud Light.

The bar perhaps feels just a little dated, but that didn’t detract from the atmosphere for me as this felt like a proper community pub. The pub was clean and tidy, with the front bar being dry and not sticky whilst glasses were collected promptly from tables. The function room was being used for some party where there was an element of fancy dress, so there was a steady flow of people coming into the bar who were dressed in various manners of which some were more decadent than others. That combination of locals and heavily dressed up new customers certainly added something to the visit.

The on-line reviews for the venue are positive and they do a good trade in breakfasts, which perhaps explains why JD Wetherspoons are charging so little for theirs. They also do food deliveries with Deliveroo, with their focus on what they refer to as simple and decent meals. I was served by what I assume was the landlord and he was helpful and pleasant, the whole arrangement felt inviting for locals and visitors alike. They’re not trying to be cutting edge here, the feel is of a traditional and authentic pub which is safe and reasonably priced. All really rather lovely, and the 6X didn’t let me down.

November 6, 2023
Hereford – Kings Fee

The second pub of the evening on our little tour was the JD Wetherspoon operated Kings Fee which they opened in 2001. The building (which is architecturally of moderate interest, although it’s not listed) was previously used as a Kwik Save supermarket, but as for the pub name, I’ll quote from the JD Wetherspoon web-site:

“The name of this pub recalls the early years in the history of Hereford. The central area around the cathedral was the Bishop’s Fee (or property) and the rest (within the city walls) was the King’s Fee. Hereford’s ancient cathedral is dedicated to the city’s patron saint Ethelbert, the Saxon king murdered at the behest of King Offa on the outskirts of Hereford in AD794. During Offa’s reign, the city expanded. The extended area became known as the King’s Fee, the eastern part including the ancient priory of Saint Guthlac.”

Surprisingly to me, given that this is a city centre location, it’s on pretty much the cheapest price band for the chain and is offering the ‘Top Plates, Low Rates’ menu. Those prices for breakfast really are hard for anyone else to compete with.

It’s a sizeable pub and it was relatively busy on the Saturday night that we visited. It was certainly quite vibrant, but the service was fast and the team members seemed friendly. It is rather difficult to picture this as a supermarket, they’ve done a decent job at converting the building to become a viable pub.

I went for a pint of the Devon Dumpling from Bays Brewery of Paignton, a well kept golden ale which was hoppy although didn’t quite have the depth of flavour that I would have expected from a 5.1% beer. Jonathan was already on double whiskies, a drink that is affordable in JD Wetherspoon at least.

The reviews of the venue are fairly average for the chain, I noted one customer had an interesting experience:

“Food tastes like the carpet looks. Waiting for service had to endure a conversation between a man chewing straw and wearing wellies and someone wearing a cravat, sunglasses and desert boots, thinking he was Rambo. I thought I was on a film set!”

Certainly sounds like they have some customers with character and I can’t say that there’s much wrong with that. Also, the above photo shows the carpet, it’s hard to imagine the food tasting like that.

“I asked for mixed berries Stowford press and she started pouring normal, I then notified her that I asked for mixed berries and I arrived at an very abrupt no you didn’t, to which a few times I assured I asked for mixed berries and she was adamant and very argumentative that I hadn’t asked for what I know I ordered to then she gave in and muttered ” for fuxks sake” under her breath. Disgusting service to what seems like a nice pub.”

If this is true, and there are always two sides, it doesn’t sound like the most optimal of customer service engagements. Certainly a bit of drama for anyone watching though. I’m impressed that they gave the pub two stars out of five in their review given that.

“We came to the kings fee for a friends birthday, the staff were extremely rude. We arrived at 12 and by 5 they were refusing to serve us any more drinks – due to us being rowdy. Understandable that we may have been a little loud, but, this is a pub not a library.”

I rather feel I can tell what has gone on here….

“Refused another drink because we are Welsh.”

I suspect there’s more to this story, but sadly no more details were provided.

Anyway, I digress once again after looking at the reviews of the venue. We were visiting Good Beer Guide pubs in Hereford, and some other interesting looking independent venues, but this was also worth a quick visit as they had a small real ale festival going on. No issues here, but there are other pubs in the town which have a bit more character to them.

November 6, 2023
200 Years Ago : Church Broken into at Helmingham

Although it’s in a different part of Suffolk to that which I was looking for, I was suitably intrigued by the post from 200 years ago this week in the Ipswich Journal. There was a break-in at Helmingham Church, something which was by no means that rare at the time, in an attempt to break into a vault. It appears not for body snatching reasons, which were still a problem until the 1832 Anatomy Act, but instead to steal lead coffins. The paper reported in November 1823:

“£100 Reward. Whereas on Saturday night the 27th September last, or early on Sunday morning on the 28th, some persons got over the iron gate at the top of the entrance leading into the Countess of Dysart’s family vault, in the Chancel of Helmingham Church, and cut away and otherwise injured the Door of the Vault in attempting to force it open, for the purpose (it is supposed) of taking from thence the Leaden coffins, but their infamous design was frustrated by some alarm, as the party appears to have decamped precipitately, leaving behind them a chisel and several large sticks. A reward of £100 is hereby offered to any person or persons who will discover the offenders, so that they may be brought to justice. Such reward to be paid on conviction.”

This is a substantial amount of money being offered in a reward, worth around £6,000 today. The Countess of Dysart was from the wealthy Tollemache family and unusually they had created a large vault under the chancel in the late eighteenth century, requiring something of a rebuild. This was a period during the history of the country when churches were under some considerable attack, body snatchers raiding churchyards and theft from the church itself was not uncommon.

As another aside, this church is the one that was featured in Only Fools and Horses and the Frog’s Legacy episode, one of the best in the series in my humble view….

November 5, 2023
200 Years Ago in Newmarket : Drake’s Elephant Tour

In my random series of posts from newspapers of 200 years ago this week, now also covering Newmarket to add some variety, was the story of how an elephant was placed on display in the town. I’ve written before about the Travelling Zoos, but it’s impressive to think that someone traipsed an elephant around Suffolk.

“In the night of Wednesday last, the bustle of our Fair being over, Mr Drake set out with his tremendous charge, the Elephant, for Newmarket, where we will remain a short time. That such an animal should submit to confinement, even in a caravan of so large dimensions as that which contains him, is a striking proof of his docility; for doubtless the exertions of his utmost strength would shiver to bars to atoms. There is, however, no fear of such an event, for even in his wild state the Elephant is harmless, except when provoked by injury. “He is born” says Buffon, “an enemy to no living creature, and if provoked his anger is confined to the person who has injured him”. Mr Drake’s Elephant we consider the largest in England, not except that in Exeter Change. It is at the time the most tractable and the most sagacious. The Boa Constrictor has often been exhibited; but the Sea Serpent never until now. This curiosity resembles the Constrictor in form; but is much larger and more beautifully marked; and should be seen by every one, if it be only to set at rest the doubts which prevailed as to the existence of such an inhabitant of the waters.”

The Exeter Change, or Exeter Exchange, was a building on the north side of the Strand which was used as a menagerie for around fifty years in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Their elephant, Chunee, was brought over on a sailing ship from India, one of several transported in this way to excite and delight audiences across Great Britain. I don’t unfortunately know the name of the elephant that came to visit Newmarket, but as it wasn’t reported again in the local press I can only imagine that it didn’t rampage through the streets. I assume that this sea snake was dead, although I’m sure it attracted some interest at the time as it would have been most unusual.

November 5, 2023
Hereford – Hereford Beer House

The first pub of the evening was the Hereford Beer House, where we also met Des and Clare. It’s a micropub that opened in 2015 in what was formerly a bookshop called Hooked on Books (and before that it was a video rental shop) and it has an open and welcoming feel. It’s no secret to my two loyal readers that I’m strongly in favour of micropubs and so I was excited to see that Hereford had one.

The beer and cider board, and a strong focus on cider, with some interesting options on it. The pricing was clear, although it’s a little unusual not to see anything priced by the pint.

The beer fridge with some tempting cans in it, although I had already opted for the Breezy from Ideal Day brewery. The interior of the micropub was bright and it was moderately busy when we arrived.

And there’s the Breezy, in front of Des’s feet. It was a gentle and herby sour, but not quite as decadent as I had hoped in terms of the richness of taste.

I liked this micropub and its inviting and laid-back atmosphere. The service was prompt and polite, with the ordering process being clear. The on-line reviews for the venue are positive, with over 300 beers and ciders available in cans and bottles so there’s no shortage of drinks to choose from. All really rather lovely and I like that their beer list is available on Untappd, it makes forward planning that bit easier.

November 1, 2023