Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Wiltshire

  • Ridgeway – Day 0 (The Savoy)

    Ridgeway – Day 0 (The Savoy)

    [I originally posted this 11 June 2018, but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]

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    We thought for our pub visits in Swindon that we should rely on the Good Beer Guide, so many thanks to Nathan for sending the details of pubs which were listed.

    The Savoy, which is a JD Wetherspoon pub, had made the cut and so we thought we’d go there for a quick drink and small snack.

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    There was a pleasant external beer garden area, although Bev later complained about the locals when she went to examine the clientele…… This was our last chance to talk about the others before they turned up, so we made sure that we took advantage of that opportunity.

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    Since the devastating removal of pastrami bagel from the menu, the chicken wrap will have to do….

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    A lovely pint of Guinness, although perhaps not perfectly poured…

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    There were nine real ales available, an impressive number, and they were well selected with some interesting options. The stout had a rich and pleasant flavour, with the price of £2.29 being particularly appealing. The service at the bar was also engaging, with the team member being willing to offer samples and she happily discussed the options available.

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    Interior of the pub, which is a former cinema that originally opened in 1937 for ABC. It was redesigned in 1973 to add a pub at the rear and was taken over by Cannon in 1986, before closing in March 1991. It re-opened as a JD Wetherspoon pub in February 1996.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 212

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 212

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….

    Moon Rakers

    This phrase, more commonly just moonrakers now, was arguably brought to light by Grose’s dictionary, where he defined it as “Wiltshire men: because it is said that some men of that county, seeing the reflection of the moon in a pond, endeavoured to pull it out with a rake”.

    Firstly here, Wiltshire is one of God’s own counties, there’s no way Wiltshire folk would be this gullible. And, the actual story is more complex. Wiltshire folk are honest and good people, but there is a rumour that some locals were trying to recover a smuggled barrel of whisky which had been hidden in a lake. I’m sure they had been led astray…. Anyway, the revenue men found them, with the locals telling them that they were trying to rake in the moon’s reflection on the water. The revenue men thought that they were, frankly, bloody idiots and told the story to their colleagues, but it was actually them who had been taken in.

    Who knows if this is true, but it was an enduring tale, which is said to have happened at The Crammer in Devizes. This sounds like the sort of thing that might happen in Devizes and as the lake is still there, I will hopefully get there at some point to go and have a look at it. And, God Bless Wiltshire.