Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

Carlton-le-Moorland – The White Hart

At some stage of this pub’s history, although not recently, someone thought it would be a marvellous idea to brick up the frontage of the building. I’ll refrain from making comments on their design choices, but it doesn’t look the most inviting of pubs from the exterior. Or, to put it another way, it looks like it has been turned into a residential property.

The building dates from the sixteenth century, although I know little more than that, but there were once two pubs in the village. More recently, in 2016, the landlady of 21 years, Heather Richmond, retired from the venue to enable her to travel around the world which sounds a marvellous idea. Fortunately, the pub wasn’t lost to the community as it was taken over by new owners who also sensitively refurbished the interior.

I did note the lack of “day” from Monday which marginally upset my sense of order for just a brief moment. The opening hours are a little limited, but Carlton-le-Moorland is a relatively rural Lincolnshire village and this must be what works for them in terms of customer numbers.

Unsure of which door to enter from, although I don’t think it matters, we walked through a dining area and I wasn’t entirely sure that the pub was even open. When we got to the bar there was silence which made me wonder whether we were about to be asked to leave and return when they were actually open, it was a slight relief when we were politely asked what drinks we’d like.

They had a keg beer from Timothy Taylor’s, the Hopical Storm Pale, alongside two real ales, including the Lion’s Pride from Milestone Brewery and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. Mine was the first check-in to Untappd for a year, so it’s rather difficult to tell what other ales they’ve been serving over recent months. The service was welcoming and efficient, but I suspect that this is something of a locals’ pub outside of food service times.

We decided to sit in the garden area, but I have to note how cosy the interior looked as we walked through it. There’s some considerable heritage here behind the bricked-up front entrance.

It was a beautiful day outside with the sun shining and the beer garden looked warm and inviting.

But, I don’t like the sun, so I made Liam sit in the sheltered bit so I didn’t overheat.

All was well with the Lion’s Pride, a local beer brewed in Newark, a well-kept session bitter.

This is very much a food pub, although drinkers are welcome and the outdoor space is relatively expansive and there’s some playground equipment for children. The venue is well reviewed and seems to surprise and delight many customers, although not quite all, with its Sunday lunches. All rather pleasant, particularly during the summer months when the garden feels an appropriate place to sit and I’m sure that it offers a cosy interior during the colder winter months.

June 6, 2023
Aubourn – Aubourn Clock Tower

They were hopeful times for the Church of England in the Victorian period, congregations were often growing and there was a need for new church buildings to cope with that demand. There was a church in the village of Aubourn, St. Peter’s, but it just wasn’t big enough for the number of people wanting to spend their Sundays deep in prayer.

That increased demand meant a new church was needed, so the old St. Peter’s was mostly demolished and a new one constructed.

The new church was designed by J H Hakewill and constructed between 1862 and 1863 in the Early English style. Unusually, the spire had oak shingles, something which has recently been a problem as it’s not easy to replace and restore them. I’m always intrigued to look back and see what locals thought at the time about changes such as this and in July 1861 an anonymous correspondent wrote to the Stamford Mercury:

“The old church might have been preserved. This is a mistake. The [existing] church now stands in the village near the old Hall, in its time honoured and natural site. The new church will stand out of Aubourn. It was an interesting old church, but neglected. Would it not be wiser to bring the church to the person rather than the person to the church? Mr Editor, the very noblest mission you could have would be to be the conservator of the noble churches within your circulation”.

He wasn’t the only one, another correspondent wrote in the same month:

“We observed that Aubourn church is about perhaps now being pulled down, to build a wall around the new churchyard! Is there nothing about the old church to win the regard of the parish clergyman? Nothing in its Norman tower, its Early English north door, the peculiar construction of the nave, its really handsome chancel, with the monuments of the Nevile family upon its walls?”

There was more excitement about the opening, with the Lincolnshire Chronicle reporting in July 1862:

“The new church of St. Peter at Aubourn was consecrated on Thursday 17 July. The church is Early English, has a nave, north and south transepts and is a very beautiful specimen of modern skill in ecclesiastical architecture. It has been erected at the sole expense of the late Hy. Nevile of Walcot Hall, near Stamford, the leading of the greater part of the materials having been cheerfully and gratuitously done by the tenants and others residing in the parish”.

At least the old church wasn’t entirely demolished, the chancel was kept and that survives today.

But just as congregations had risen in the nineteenth century, they fell away in the twentieth century and this church started to fall into disuse by the 1960s. In 1968, the writing was on the wall and the church became redundant. The Church of England, who had quite a shoddy reputation in this period for looking after their buildings, would have likely wanted the whole thing demolished but the local Archdeacon wanted to save some of it. The local population also weren’t enthusiastic of losing one of the most charming structures in their area, so there was a compromise. Some was knocked down, some was saved.

The building was placed into the care of Aubourn and Haddington Parish Council in 1974 and they’ve been looking after it since. The council have done an excellent job, including ensuring that funding was raised in 2004 to ensure that the structure didn’t fall down.

The clock, which was given as a memorial gift, is the highlight of the whole arrangement now, evident by the name of the structure is the Aubourn Clock. The irony is that the old church, which was mostly demolished for this out of town extravaganza, is now back in use as the parish church. The replacement was too large, in the wrong place and its demise was perhaps inevitable. The remaining parts of this former church have at least been made secure and they are now used by the community. It’s a marvellous way of evolving buildings so that they can remain in use but with a purpose which ensures their survival.

June 6, 2023
Dunston – Dunston Pillar

Now standing just over 60 feet in height, Dunston Pillar looks rather incongruous in its current surroundings, but it was once something of a tourist attraction and also more substantial until the RAF knocked a bit off the top in 1940.

Known as the Lincoln Lighthouse at the time, it was constructed in 1751 because the landowner Sir Francis Dashwood wanted to make the bleak moorland area which went from Sleaford to Lincoln safer. There were highwaymen in the area, not least Dick Turpin who, on Dashwood’s lands, had murdered Christopher Wilkinson who refused to give into his demands.

Sir Francis Dashwood (1708-1781) was, I think it’s entirely fair to say, something of a character. Known for his links to the hedonistic Hellfire Club, he developed something of a reputation for fine living. In spite of this reputation, or indeed perhaps because of it, he later became the Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1762 and 1763 before being elevated to the Peerage as Baron le Despencer and serving as the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire until his death. Betty Kemp wrote a book about the seemingly very full life of Francis Dashwood, titled “An Eighteenth Century Independent”.

One of the tower’s design plans.

The interior once had a wooden staircase which led to the gallery around the lantern area at the top of what was known as a land lighthouse. There were only three of these constructed in England and Dashwood hoped that the lights would deter highwaymen from prowling around the area. It did have some success, although the development of a better road network in the area meant that it had started to become less relevant by the 1780s. By 1788, the lantern was no longer lit, as the threat of highwaymen had sufficiently diminished.

The site became something of a tourist attraction and a bowling green and assembly rooms were built around the base, with the location being advertised as Pleasure Gardens although these had fallen into disrepair by the late 1780s. The lantern at the top of the tower was removed in 1808, although that primarily was because bits of it had already fallen down as the ironwork had rusted away. This was replaced by a bust of King George III, which is now located in the grounds of Lincoln Castle.

© The Trustees of the British Museum

An illustration of the tower published in Gentleman’s Magazine in July 1795.

© The Trustees of the British Museum

This vignette dates to 1801 and the writing on the pillar is still visible at this point.

In 1940, the RAF had some considerable concerns that one of their aircraft from the nearby airfield at RAF Coleby Grange might fly into the tower. This wasn’t just them being over cautious, the RAF base was located under one mile away and was used for night flights, meaning a 93 foot tall stone monument was sub-optimal for their purposes. So to avoid incidents, they lopped 30 feet from the top of the pillar and the stone that they removed is still piled up around the base of the monument.

There were once views of Lincoln and Newark for those brave souls who went to the top of the tower, but that touristic endeavour has long since become unavailable. It appears that there are occasional suggestions that the tower could be put back to its pre-1940 height and I’m sure it would make a notable tourist attraction if the wooden staircase returned, but the cost of such works likely make this plan prohibitive despite the heap of stone that’s there ready for the purpose. The tower likely also has a new owner, as the structure and the property next door were put up for sale in late 2022, it’d certainly be an intriguing thing to own.

June 4, 2023
Aylsham Pub Day – Two Julians

After completing the pubs in North Walsham, Dereham and Bungay, it was time for Julian and I to turn our attention to completing the hospitality venues of Aylsham. After a moderately uncomfortable ride on a Sanders bus which didn’t seem in quite the condition it was likely once delivered to them in, we arrived safely in the beating heart of Aylsham and its central car park which was formerly known as the market place.

For our study tour, we were planning on visiting three venues in the day which were:

The Feathers

The Unicorn

Black Boys Inn

En route, we also discovered Stamp Pizza & Bar.

Here’s some history and I liked that there were numerous of these boards located around the town.

And some more history, which saves me writing it.

After visiting our four venues, we also had time to pop into the town’s church, but more about that in future posts. We then meandered to the town’s central car park to get the bus back, but then found the previous bus was running over thirty minutes late so we caught that one instead. En route, there were some fraught discussions between a passenger and the driver about that which I’d suggest were sub-optimal to say the least, but it’s perhaps best not to dwell on that.

Anyway, back to some thoughts about the day. There aren’t many pubs left in Aylsham now compared to how many that there were once were, but all of them offered a friendly welcome and they had at least two real ales available. The pubs were all clean, comfortable and well maintained, with the prices being reasonable for beer, although the Black Boys was a little punchy in terms of its food pricing. However, there was a selection of venues to suit probably most tastes, but I have to note that the best beer options that I saw during the day were in Stamp. This isn’t really how I think things should ideally be, pubs should perhaps be offering a wider selection of craft beer and especially so if they’re free from tie.

Once again, I feel the need to note that it’s marvellous that the three pubs and one pizzeria are trading and open to be used by the local community, especially as Stamp has only been open for a couple of months. These are difficult times for pubs and I’d suggest to others that a little pub crawl around Aylsham is a perfectly fine way to spend the afternoon. Your experiences may well differ, but I’d say that Julian and I had another marvellous day out. But these study tours remain hard work, and I have to repeat that we don’t do them for fun, but as a service to the community.

June 1, 2023
Aylsham Pub Day – Black Boys Inn

This large former coaching inn is located at the town’s market place and was the last of the pubs that Julian and I were visiting in the day. It has been a hospitality venue since the middle of the seventeenth century and was historically a Bullards and then Watney Mann pub. I was pleased to note that the pub owners, Colchester Inns, have prepared a history of the venue for their web-site which is something that I always appreciate.

The pub’s name has given them some publicity recently, with the owners saying they would reflect on the matter if the local community and their customers felt that they should. That seems a sensible position to me, although I’m staying out of anything too controversial in that regard. With regards to the history of the venue’s name, the pub states:

“We believe the pub was named after King Charles II, who was nicknamed The Black Boy on account of his black hair and swarthy complexion”.

The heritage here is undeniable, with parts of the building dating back to the late fifteenth century. It’s said that visitors to the pub have included Princess Victoria, Horatio Nelson and Daniel Defoe, which seems an interesting collection of figures to be proud of. It was a popular coaching inn during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, providing accommodation and sustenance for those travelling between Norwich and Cromer.

One book that I recommend is “The Newmarket, Bury, Thetford and Cromer Road: Sport and history on an East Anglian Turnpike”. They note about the Black Boys:

“The Black Boys owes its existence on this scale to the near neighbourhood of Blickling Hall, perhaps the most famous mansion in Norfolk and certainly the most beautiful and stately. Blickling is scarce a mile distant, and is so small a village that it must have been to Aylsham in general, and to the Black Boys in particular, the custom fell in those old days when the Hobarts of Blickling Hall entertained so royally.”

There were four different real ales available, the most we saw in the town, with the offering including Wherry from Woodfordes, Doom Bar from Sharps, Adnams Bitter and ThreeOneSix from Grain.

Those just wanting a drink are welcome in the venue, but it is primarily a restaurant in terms of its set-up and the aroma on entry suggested quite a strong seafood offering. The prices are towards the higher end of the scale, priced at a level that we felt was too expensive for us and that’s why we were pleased to see Stamp next door offering something a little more affordable. However, the on-line reviews are very positive, so the quality of the food offering seems high, likely meaning that they must be doing an awful lot right.

Julian and I were unsure about the flooring in such an historic venue, I’m wondering what’s underneath that artificial looking wood effect flooring, perhaps some original wooden floorboards? The interior was clean though with the atmosphere feeling relaxed and comfortable, everything seemed polished and organised.

A few heritage touches were still visible.

I went for the ThreeOneSix from Grain Brewery, a well kept golden ale which tasted as I expected.

This felt like a very well run venue and the on-line reviews for food and accommodation are high. It seems to be aiming for a relatively wealthy demographic and it was busy when we visited, so they seem to be hitting that target effectively. The service was friendly and warm, with a team member coming to check at the table if we’d like to order food. There were no issues that we weren’t, but there didn’t seem to be an appropriate bar area to sit in.

It wasn’t quite what I expected from the venue, which I thought would still have more of a pub atmosphere to it, but it was still welcoming and I liked the choice of four different real ales. The accommodation offering seems reasonably priced and I can imagine that those staying do get more of a sense of the pub’s history and heritage.

June 1, 2023
Aylsham Pub Day – The Unicorn

This cavernous building is the Unicorn pub and was the second venue that we visited on our little day trip out to Aylsham. Thanks to the excellent Norfolk Pubs web-site, I know that the venue first opened in the late seventeenth century and in the nineteenth century was operated by the Coltishall Brewery and then the Weybourne Brewery. I’m not sure about the origins of the pub name, but I do have an idea which relates to how in Norfolk the three horses pulling a coach were often referred to as a unicorn. Given that this is a former coaching inn, maybe that’s how it obtained its name.

I had to take a photo of the three beer options over the heads of customers seated at the bar to know what options there were. Each to their own, but it’s really not ideal when customers entering a pub have to almost guess what drinks there are available and struggle to know where to stand to order them. The three options were Ghost Ship from Adnams, Encore from Lacon’s and the old reliable of Landlord from Timothy Taylor’s, so I felt that the selection was decent.

Anyway, back to more important matters, the service was friendly and helpful, so all was well there, with the prices charged being reasonable.

The interior was clean and cosy, with the carpet adding to the warmth of the pub.

There were lots of curios around the pale, it all added positively to the general atmosphere.

The half pint of Landlord from Timothy Taylor tasted as expected, was well kept and at the appropriate temperature. Served in the correctly branded glass as well, very professional of them. There was also some shrubbery on the tables to add a little something to the arrangement.

If I’m being honest, I left not really entirely understanding this pub other than they have live music on a regular basis. We were interested in ordering food, but there were no menus visible and the food menu on the pub’s web-site is a broken link so I’m assuming they no longer do food at all. A customer posted negative feedback a few months ago saying:

“Lots of empty tables outside we thought we would stop and have lunch as the big a frame board outside stated home made lunches. My partner went in to get a menu only to be told we do not do food. Might explain all the empty tables. I would suggest removing the a frame advertisement as well to save wasting other peoples time.”

I like clarity on what is available, so I can understand this review and it seems one the pub could have easily avoided. I’m never quite sure why pubs don’t just offer cheese rolls or something in the afternoon if no other food is available, or something other than crisps to keep customers suitably well fed. I’d better add that I’m quite happy with crisps, but even I recognise the need for a slightly wider dietary balance.

I’m not entirely sure what market they’re aiming for (and I accept I don’t need to, it just makes it harder to write these posts) given just how large a venue they’ve got here, but I think live music is a big driver for them so perhaps that’s their main focus. As another aside, I am slightly disappointed they have such an historic venue, but make no mention of its history on their web-site as I’m sure there must be plenty of stories for them to tell. But, back to basics and all that, the welcome was friendly, the pub was clean and there were a few real ales available so we weren’t disappointed at all with those elements.

June 1, 2023
Aylsham Pub Day – The Feathers

The Feathers was the first in our visit to all of the pubs in Aylsham and it has been operating since the early 1840s. I’m going to guess that it’s likely 1841, when Albert became the first Prince of Wales since the 1760s, as the Feathers name is frequently associated with the Prince of Wales so that fits time wise. But that’s just my guess, it could be complete nonsense as many of my theories are.

Looking at old newspapers, I note that in August 1876 it was noted in the Lowestoft Journal, that bastion of journalism, that Stephen Underwood was given a spirits licence for the Feather. At the same petty sessions, John Rounce appears in court to fund his “bastard child”, the local butcher was fined as his mare had run riot in the town, a brickmaker was drunk in Hevingham and a hawker got drunk at the Stonemason’s Arms in Aylsham and refused to leave. It sounds a fun week in Aylsham.

As was common at the time, inquests into deaths took place in pubs and the Feathers was no exception. This happened in March 1899 when an inquest into the death of Benjamin Watson was held here and it found that he hanged himself near to the Feathers after a period of illness and unemployment. I mention this as it’s easy to forget just how much history there is with these pubs and how important they are to the local community, as well as being a reminder of how tough people had it at the end of the nineteenth century with limited help available to those in pain and out of work.

Back to the present, there were two real ales available, the Ghost Ship from Adnams and the 6X Original Ale from Wadworth. This seemed a reasonable couple of options, they’re not seen everywhere and it’s positive to have a choice.

Starting off with the 6X, it was well kept and at the appropriate temperature.

Julian, who treats these study tours with professionalism and thoroughness that continues to inspire me, recommended that I try the Ghost Ship from Adnams. This seemed a little lively and was probably from a fresh barrel, but it tasted clean and was in good condition.

They’ve got a little games room to the side and I did think they could fit a nice little bar billiards table in here.

Despite what I consider my relative youth, Julian and I thought we might sign up. The whole concept of “never happy unless complaining” is an admirable and laudable aim.

Some of the rather beautiful interior decoration, although this stopped being a Bullards pub in the 1970s, then becoming Intrepreneur, Phoenix and Criterian Inns in relative quick succession following the Beer Orders in the late 1980s. That was venture capital hit pubs in a big way, something which has ultimately been rather sub-optimal in very many ways.

Anyway, back to the pub itself, and there were a couple of locals at the bar when we entered. The relationship between the customers and the staff member at the bar here was just as a pub should be, always respectful but with a healthy dose of opprobrium as well from behind the bar. This pub seems to me like one where someone new to the area would feel welcome, my standard measure of the quality of the engagement being offered. The environment was inviting and friendly, with the pub being clean and well looked after, it felt like a safe place to be.

Pubs like this must be tough to operate at the moment with the costs of operating a venue spiralling in seemingly all areas. The pub seems to be shrinking its opening times down a little, which might be a result of customers cutting costs, but the main thing is that the pub is still there being an important part of the local community. We didn’t investigate the beer garden, but it’s apparently of a generous size, so there’s no doubt opportunity for plenty of summer drinking to be had. This felt like a proper pub to me, I liked it.

June 1, 2023
Cambridge – Hopbine

This is the former Hopbine pub on Fair Street in Cambridge, now a squat, but it’s one which is claiming to have transformed the building into being in a better state than when they found it. It’s operating as a community kitchen which means it’s of benefit to the local area, although it seems a shame that it is no longer operating as a pub. There was some dispute between the freeholder and the tenant who wanted a longer lease, with the current set-up clearly being sub-optimal for likely both parties. It’s not clear whether or not it will ever re-open as a pub again.

And here’s an interesting interview with a member of the vegan squat.

May 28, 2023
Cambridge – Devonshire Arms

Emma, Bev and I were in Cambridge for the beer festival, but we arrived earlier on in the day to visit a few pubs en route to where the main event was being held on Jesus Green. I’d never visited this pub before, one of three pubs which is run by the Milton Brewery, who once operated the rather wonderful White Lion in Norwich. It isn’t usually open on weekday afternoons, but they had specially extended opening hours for the week of the beer festival.

There were no guest beers, but there was a comprehensive selection of Milton beers.

I went for the Minerva, a clean tasting and well kept golden ale. I resisted going for the Marcus Aurelius which is a 7.5% imperial stout, but that seemed a little too much for the morning.

The pub interior, empty as they hadn’t been long open.

Traditional wooden seating. The service was friendly and knowledgeable, with this being apparent when Bev asked a series of questions about what beers the pub had available.

The back room, or indeed the front room depending on which way the pub is entered from.

Some of the pub’s previously available beers, in normal circumstances they do have some guest ales.

I enjoyed this pub and it was also a positive start to the day’s activities which were leading up to the Cambridge Beer Festival. The Internet tells me that this was a Reggae pub before Milton took it over, with its name being changed from the Midland Tavern to its current Devonshire Arms. And as a little bonus, this pub is listed in the Good Beer Guide, so that’s another one that I can tick off.

May 28, 2023
Norwich – City of Ale Launch Party

This is the first time that I’ve been able to go to the City of Ale launch party and I was able to get a ticket to the trade session which was most exciting. It took place this year at the Waterfront and there was an excellent turnout from pubs, brewers and also from the general public in the later session.

The indoors bar with beer from thirty local breweries and to quote the organisers, “they are all based on our region, almost all using barley grown and malted locally, so helping carbon footprint to a minimum”. So, environmental, local and delicious. It would be wrong of me to name any particular brewery, but obviously I have to mention the marvellous Boudicca brewing.

The launch party is to promote the City of Ale trails, which I’ve roped various friends into completing this year. I’m going to have a good go at trying to do all of them, such is my continued desire to support the hospitality industry. Again, I don’t want to name all my favourite pubs, but I have to make a quick reference to the wonderful White Lion and its landlord Oscar.

I was surprised and delighted to see some keg beers from Toby’s Beers who were operating the outside bar.

Julian and Emma, from Boudicca, were also at the event and one of the first things that Julian suggested was getting a pizza from Luca. I agreed that this seemed a marvellous idea, it’s about having a balanced diet.

Clive Lewis, the MP for Norwich South, was there to give a little speech at the start of the event.

And here’s Oli shouting at him.

I very much enjoyed my six different half pints from various local brewers. I went for the Wild Steamer from Wildcraft, Hana Solo from Mr Winter’s (very agreeable), Okapi from Grain Brewery, Cold Snap from Ampersand, Another Day Done from Duration Brewing and the Golden Panther from Panther Brewery.

And a delight to meet Roger Protz, the great beer writer who has kindly shared a Twitter post of mine in the past and is one of my most favourite Twitter followers 🙂

This marvellous event only takes place due to volunteers and it’s responsible for thousands of extra visits to pubs in the city. The theme this year is the Strangers, the immigrants from Flanders who came to the region to avoid persecution, something also touched upon by Clive Lewis in his comments. Thanks to an idea from Roger Protz, there’s a new partnership with Belgian brewers and these collaboration beers will be available in a number of pubs during the festival, which takes place between 25 May and 25 June 2023.

May 26, 2023