Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Good Beer Guide

Norwich – Coach and Horses (Bethel Street)

Working on my list of Good Beer Guide pubs that I’ve visited, I have been to the Coach and Horses in Bethel Street (not to be confused with the one on Thorpe Road which is also in the Good Beer Guide) many times before but for the purposes of this post I thought I’d visit again. It’s important to be professional with these things…. As a pre-warning, it is a Greene King pub, but as a spoiler, I’d say that it’s as good as a Greene King pub is going to be.

Seven real ales available, which is impressive by any measure and there was a wide choice of different beer styles.

The selection of real ales required two photos and as evidenced here, there was a real cider available as well. One problem with many Greene King pubs is that they sell one or two beers from their own brewery, including Greene King IPA, which don’t exactly surprise and delight. However, here there is an effort to source beers from local breweries with only two Greene King beers.

Given the pouring rain outside at the time, I went for a darker option which was half a pint of the Winter Porter from the Panther Brewery from Reepham. It was well-kept, at the appropriate chilled temperature and it had some chocolate notes which I approved of.

The service was personable and engaging, this felt a well-run pub with an inviting and warm atmosphere. It was surprisingly busy for a rainy afternoon, with perhaps six or so of the tables being occupied. They offer a tapas menu, which I’ve eaten from before and has been of a decent quality in the past and the prices for food and drink are moderate. It’s a very busy pub for pre-theatre drinks as the Theatre Royal is just around the corner, with plenty of lunchtime customers as well. The reviews on-line for the pub are excellent with few negativity from visitors.

I’ve sometimes seen Greene King pubs listed in the Good Beer Guide and I’ve struggled a little to wonder why. The situation at this pub is different given the wide range of ales and I also trust the CAMRA members in Norwich not to let any venues into the book which aren’t of a decent standard. There are some other little highlights in this pub as well, not least the bar billiards table which is always a positive in any venue. For those who need them there is also wi-fi and there are plenty of plug sockets to ensure devices can be kept fully charged. I can happily comment that this seems a well deserved entry into the Good Beer Guide.

March 9, 2023
Luton – The White House (Visit 2)

I’ve written about this pub before, so won’t linger on its history again. But it’s the Good Beer Guide listed JD Wetherspoon venue, their only pub in the town as they’ve closed the London Hatter on Park Street.

It’s quite an attractive interior although there’s quite a lot of bouncing of the upper level floor when anyone climbs up the circular stairs. It’s peaceful and calm with numerous power points up here if anyone wants them. I didn’t really get to engage with any team members as I used the app, but they seemed friendly and helpful.

There were six real ales on, two that I’ve haven’t had before and this is the Going Loco from Tring Brewery from Tring in Hertfordshire. It was well kept and at the appropriate temperature, but it didn’t have much depth of flavour although would likely make a satisfactory session beer with its 3.9% ABV.

There was a little bit more going on with the Ossian from Inveralmond Brewery who are from Perth in Scotland. Hoppy and full in flavour, it’s a 4.1% ABV golden ale. Well-kept again, the pub feels like it deserves its place in the Good Beer Guide and the beers were both priced at £1.23 for a half.

The pub is generally well reviewed on-line, although I was amused at this:

“Generally when someone orders a meal in any restaurant and it isn’t available either a refund is given or a substitution of such . I do not understand why if a meal of beans on toast is ordered then given as just toast that you have the cheek to refund the beans as if it was and extra”.

That’s not really ideal, I’m with the customer there. If you sell beans on toast and only have half the core ingredients, it’s probably best not to just bring out half the elements required for the meal.

“Was just starting to eat my breakfast at around 10am. I was watching a film on my phone while eating my breakfast as there was no music. This bar tender came over and asked me to turn the volume down. The volume wasn’t that high and didn’t see anyone going to complain. Unless there people praying there I can’t understand the point as being a pub where music is normally played and sometimes can’t hear what you are saying, I found it insulting. There are are better places to be treated properly. I’ll take my money else where.”

I’m entirely with the pub, I’d personally say that team member was spot on. Music isn’t normally played there for a good reason…..

Anyway, definitely a safe bet for anyone wanting real ale in Luton.

March 2, 2023
Great Yarmouth – Blackfriars Tavern

Firstly, my apologies that I wasn’t intending to write up the day that Nathan I spent visiting all the Good Beer Guide pubs in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. This means that I didn’t burden myself with taking many photos, so my extensive readership of two will just have to use their imagination a bit more than usual. I am slowly, but very surely, visiting every pub in the Good Beer Guide which is an impossible project but that doesn’t stop me. This pub in Great Yarmouth (94 Blackfriars’ Road, NR30 3BZ) is just a little out of the way, so credit once again to the Good Beer Guide for listing this venue.

Let me start by writing up-front that this is a very good pub and I was absolutely unable to fault it. The warmth of the welcome, the engagement from who I am guessing is the landlord, the range of the beers and the inviting nature of the environment. This is going to be one of those feel good posts where just everything went well. As a pre-cursor to the below, the landlord mentioned to us that he had just written a blog post that day about the beer Nathan ordered, so for some extra context have a read of https://www.blackfriarstavern.co.uk/the-story-of-the-starry-night-stout-and-the-three-wise-men/. That web-site is a work of art on its own with the width of their offering being clearly evident.

I went for the Recessive Red from the reliable Mr Winter’s and this was a well kept quite punchy 6% red ale. There were two darker beers with Nathan going for the Starry Night Stout from Tindall Brewing and checking through his Untappd he was happy with it and its smoothness. He probably told me at the time, but I doubt I was listening. We were on one of our random days out with occasional shots (it’s a long story, but we should probably be supervised by a responsible adult if I’m being honest), which is why there’s a delicious shot sitting next to my real ale. I don’t actually want to focus on the beer choice for too long, but it was excellent for a venue of this size with five real ales and an extensive Belgian beer selection. And the pub wasn’t just offering beers, the landlord was positively enthusing about them. This is a landlord that cares about his beer.

The reason that I don’t want to linger on the beer is that this wasn’t the highlight of the visit, and in many ways, it shouldn’t be. The star of the show was the friendly landlord, engaging and welcoming. He also didn’t demur about our random shot and just slightly odd behaviour, he positively embraced it and so no criticisms there. There were plenty of board games and Nathan rushed over with chess as he’s from a chess winning family. Privately I suspect that’s as he didn’t want to play monopoly for four hours which is what I would have ended up doing. Although he quite rightly mentioned that it would have been no hardship staying here for several hours. Incidentally, he won at chess, but I like letting him win as it cheers him up.

There’s also a very decent refurbishment that has gone on here, it’s traditional but yet on-trend which is a hard thing to achieve. There’s nothing formulaic about this pub, it’s laid-back, it’s slightly quirky and it does the welcoming thing well. I’ve mentioned before that one of the key measures of a pub is that someone coming in on their own, perhaps new to the area, feels like it’s a venue they’re part of and a community to which they feel they can join. I absolutely got that feeling here, this is absolutely right to be in the Good Beer Guide, it’s glorious. Anyone coming to Great Yarmouth who likes pubs should pop in and linger here for some time.

March 1, 2023
Tuesday to Thursday : Off to Barnsley for the LDWA 100

Quickly skipping Tuesday and Wednesday as not much of excitement happened during my time in Norwich, it was time for the big event of the LDWA 100, the 100 mile event. I might have mentioned that I walked this last year…..

Richard turned up in his little tank, which I first thought was in camouflage, but he reassured me that it was just very dirty. We were off to Barnsley on the Thursday, ready to help marshal the main LDWA 100 event on the Friday to Sunday.

Safely there and back in the Ibis Styles which I stayed in last year. My Accor settings have me at the end of a corridor miles away from the lift, whereas Richard for reasons unknown likes to be near the lift. So our rooms were nowhere near each other, although it transpired that I was directly above Chelle and Paul, but I’m pleased to report they didn’t cause any noise issues on the floor below.

Classy, that made me feel extra safe in the room.

And my chair had lost a leg, but I had a window that opened, so I was content with that at least.

The signage at the hotel bar is written in the Yorkshire dialect and I got myself an old Speckled Hen as my free welcome drink, whereas Richard went for one of his decadent wines.

We were meeting up in town with one of the heroes of the LDWA, David Morgan, who was far too excited to see us struggle up the mountain that leads into Barnsley. We were meeting at the Tipsy Cow, a very decent craft beer bar, so that Dave could tell me all his gossip, not least all of the mountain summits he’s run up recently. We had walked the two miles or so into the town centre of Barnsley from the hotel, which was one of Richard’s longest walks for a long time. He was very brave and I’d actually like to see Dave and Richard do a walk-off to see who could get the furthest.

Incidentally, they had Cherry Porter from Titanic Brewery, so I was sold on that, and very nicely kept it was too. With that, we moved on, Dave to his South Wales group meal, whereas the Norfolk & Suffolk volunteers and entrants were all scattered about, so it was left for me to supervise Richard in the pubs.

I thought I’d show Richard the Dickie Bird statue. At least having been somewhere before saves me from having to write much about it again, I can just link to previous blog posts for anyone who hasn’t been fortunate to have already read them.

Back in the Old No 7, I went for the Spindizzy from Chin Chin Brewing Company, which was well kept although not particularly exceptional.

The pork pie was lovely though, after I’d carefully picked the jelly out.

I was looking to find a pub in Barnsley that I hadn’t visited before, so we thought we’d pop into the White Bear. We popped into the pub and then popped straight out again, as it appears they had problems with their speaker system and the music volume could be heard in Huddersfield. They were also short of customers, but that wasn’t an entire surprise given the early evening rave going on. Now that I’ve passed my 30th birthday, and Richard is now in his early 50s, I suspect we need to find places that are generally quieter in the future, as I’m not as young as I once was (not that I liked loud places when I was younger).

Richard, who if truth be told is much greedier than I am with food, went for a heap of plates full of JD Wetherspoon cuisine in the Joseph Bramah.

I had a packet of Mini Cheddars alongside my Farmers Stout from Bradfield Brewery, which had a depth of taste to it and was well-kept. As a flavour combination, Mini Cheddars and/or Wotsits go really well with stouts. See, it’s worth reading this blog to get top tips about craft beer and food pairings. I ordered a different beer as my second round, but they ignored that and brought me the same one that I’d had. I couldn’t be bothered to argue about the situation, especially since I had enjoyed my previous half pint. It’s a friendly pub though, spacious and it wasn’t too busy.

Next was a repeat visit (for me) to the Jolly Boys. I got myself another one of my classy snacks of Bacon Fries, which is making it look like I survive on things like this…..

When a space became available, we moved to the upstairs balcony which was quite decadent. It was the Bank Holiday Jubilee weekend, hence all of the bunting. Friendly service here again, I’ve worked through a lot of the Jolly Boys’ Brewery beers before, so I went for the tried and tested Jolly Collier Porter.

Barnsley Town Hall at night. I’m skipping out one pub, Maison du Biere, as it was outstanding and so it’s getting its own post, it was the first time I’d been there and it significantly exceeded my expectations. It was so good that it meant we forgot to go and look for some beacon they were setting on fire, but I hadn’t been much interested in that anyway so that’s fortunate. A good pub is better than watching random fires if you ask me…. More on that pub in a little bit, but it was time to walk the two miles back to the hotel, which Richard braced himself for and achieved comfortably fuelled on by the beers and food of the evening. We met Chelle at the hotel with her dog in reception at the hotel, I suspect she’d been hitting the bar again (figuratively, not literally), but I didn’t say anything.

What it did mean was that we didn’t have many hours of sleep before we had to get up for the LDWA 100, and indeed, we didn’t expect to get sleep during the weekend anyway. But, it’s much harder for the entrants, so I decided not to feel sorry for myself as I’m good like that, always a bundle of positivity.

June 20, 2022
Friday : Off To Wales (Part Three – Gloucester and Beer)

In part three of this riveting series of posts, Liam and I have managed now to navigate our way around various Greggs across the country, have faffed about at a National Trust property and have now arrived in Gloucester. I admit, the Wales element of this trip is still a little way off in writing terms, but I’ve called it that as I was very brave in Wales and that’s how I want the weekend remembered.

We got to Gloucester and Liam mentioned that we had managed to park on Cromwell Street, which is perhaps best known for being where the crimes of Fred and Rosemary West took place. I hadn’t realised that this was in the centre of the city, I had just assumed it was in some obscure outlying area.

I’m not normally into dark tourism, but this is where the property was, now demolished and replaced with a small green area and a widened road. It’s odd to think of the crimes committed there, but there was no point dwelling on that as I’m sure the city has wanted to move on from this for some time.

We walked into the town centre and this is the signage relating to the East Gate.

And there are the remnants of the structure. These defences to protect the city were built by the Romans soon after they had established Gloucester as a settlement in AD 68. A thirteenth century tower was placed on top and the structures have been much changed, but some Roman remains are still there nearly two thousand years on.

A quick walk across the main square, or at least, a big square.

We were trying to kill an hour before moving the car to the hotel’s car park, as it was much cheaper after a certain time. As we were visiting the decadent pubs in city later on, we popped to the Wetherspoons outlet, the Regal, for a quick drink.

The interior of the pub and I did feel watched throughout by someone.

But I was too busy with my 50p Mini Cheddars to worry about people looking at me, whilst Liam had rather more decadent crisps. The beer is half a pint of Wychert from the Vale Brewery Co which was well-kept and slightly under-poured. I thought that I’d better have a quick look at the pub’s reviews, a little towards the bottom end of JD Wetherspoons outlets.

“This Wetherspoons has recently started offering Pizza on the menu. We have tried them a couple of times and they were delicious. However, today we ordered them expecting the same quality,but they were disgusting. There was virtually no topping on them, they were not even the correct shape! I complained about it, and I was given another one, which was much the same as the other one, but with dollops of cheese here and there. Needless to say, we will not be ordering a Pizza again.”

I don’t disagree with this review, as JD Wetherspoon pizzas are in my view cheap rubbish that would be best lifted off the menu, but obviously enough people like them. Anyway, there are two cultural references here that I liked, the dollops reminding me of Friday Night Dinner and the needless to say bit reminding me of Alan Partridge.

“Was served a pint in a badly chipped glass. When I complained I was told that they could not replace the drink as I had consumed some. The best they could do was tip the drink into a fresh glass. Very poor”

Always tricky, pubs usually do pour it into a new glass instead from my experience. This review could have done with photos so I could assess the badly chipped glass.

“Ladies toilets smell horrible and a notice on the door to warn of male workman being in there would of been helpful”

I wonder if there’s more a back story to this one.

“Got charged for a drinks mixer I didn’t order when brought my complaints to the manager nothing was resolved. In short this experience has turned me against pubs, first time going to one since lockdown ended & also Last time I will make that mistake, #StayHomeStaySafe #boycott #ItsMoreFunToDrinkAtHome”

It isn’t more fun to drink at home, so I ignored this review (beyond carefully reading it, copying it and commenting on it).

“The waitress brought out a plate with a very small jacket potato and a small chicken breast on it, the presentation was disgusting. We had to ask for a side salad for my friend. They could of at least put some peas, sweet corn or carrots on the plate with it to make it look appetising.”

Presentation of a meal is disgusting because there are no vegetables?

“salad was NOT fresh when spoke to manager about the salad she told me thats how it comes its pre cut and if they would make fresh salad no one would get food as they would spend all day cutting it”

Spend all day cutting it, that’s a classy comment I think, they should have given the manager some praise for that.

“This is honestly the most disgusting place I’ve ever been”

Some people need to get out more.

“Asked if EURO2020 could be put on the TV instead of the news which no-one was watching, but was told ‘no, we don’t do football here’”

And that’s a 5/5 from me. But that’s enough reading of reviews, I have a blog to write.

When I booked the hotels for this weekend several weeks before the event, the prices were high across Wales and England, the cheaper rates of the last two years have certainly gone away. I don’t know why the Travelodge in Gloucester was relatively cheap, but I picked it because I hadn’t been to the city recently, it was a short walk from the centre and there were nearby pubs.

I went to check-in whilst Liam parked the car, taking advantage of the cheap rate of £2 overnight. I had to wait a few minutes as the staff member was being ill outside, but the staff were so friendly that I felt entirely welcome. Travelodge might have some problems, but they do recruit some excellent staff, although whether or not they should have someone so ill behind the counter is a different point. But they gave me a heap of coffees on request and the booking was all as I expected.

There are two centres to Gloucester, or in leisure and hospitality terms anyway. There’s the Quays area and then the city centre, around a twenty minute or so walk between the two. We started in the Quays area as that’s where the hotel was located.

We weren’t entirely sure where to go for food, but I’ve been to some other outlets of Brewhouse so we thought we’d try there as they haven’t annoyed me in the past.

It’s not the best craft beer around, but it’s credible enough for my liking. The staff member at the door was helpful, saying that they were at near capacity, but she then worked out that a table would be available for us in around twenty minutes. I appreciated the helpfulness as they certainly were busy, and I decided I would ideally stay here for food.

There was some standing at the bar for around twenty minutes waiting for a table, but they kept us informed.

The beer choice. I work through the list in my mind, thinking about the beer styles, cross referencing them to Untappd and then having a final think about what I want. Liam decides which beer name he likes the best on that particular day. He doesn’t even have Untappd. I had two beers, the Unite Celebration, a creditable sour, and the Jamaic Ann Oatmeal Stout, which was a little lacking in depth of taste and mouthfeel.

They brew some beers here themselves, including the two that I had.

I liked the lighting. I had a lot of time to take photos of the decor as the food took over 40 minutes to be served, but to be fair, they had said they were busy and I was just pleased that we were getting food at all.

I went for the half beer can chicken, which seems to be what they shove the poor bird on to keep it tender and moist (after it’s already dead I’d add). I didn’t know what corn ribs were, but they’re essentially just bits of corn cut to make them easier to eat, which I appreciated as corn is unnecessarily fiddly. I thought that this was all very delicious, plenty of meat, the sauce had some flavour to it and everything was at the appropriate hot temperature. Liam had some pie and I don’t recall him complaining about it, so all was well and I think we were entirely satisfied with our choice of restaurant.

Next was TANK, an odd place which was poorly laid out with one clearly competent staff member and some less aware colleagues. I know this not only through my own observations, but because the competent staff member mentioned it as well. It’s listed in the Good Beer Guide as it has some cask options, but their keg selection was more exciting in my view.

I went for the Dockside Dark from Gloucester Brewery, who operate this venue as a sort of taproom, and this beer is available on cask and keg, although I went for the latter. It was OK, not rich enough for my liking though, but still very drinkable. They didn’t have any tables available when we got there, although we moved inside soon enough and I noted quietly to myself the staff could do with cleaning the place. But, I mustn’t complain.

The docks at night.

Between the docks and the city centre is this sculpture which didn’t offend me, but which was voted as one of the worst in the UK a few years ago.

We then decided we’d better make the walk into the city centre and we went to the Good Beer Guide listed Pelican Inn, which was delightful in every way. The menus were on Untappd and it had that community feel to its arrangements. I think the service was a bit lacking in enthusiasm, but Liam got this round and so I can’t comment much more about that. He doesn’t ask interesting beer questions of staff though, he’s too busy seeing which beer has got the name he likes the best.

I’ve just realised that Stuart from the LDWA, who does have Untappd (unlike Liam) as I got him into that, had been to this pub. Another handy feature of Untappd is that I know that, although it’s not clear what I can do with that information. This happens a lot with Nathan, who seems to have been to every pub in the UK. I went for the Wholesome Stout from Wye Valley Brewery, which was excellent, rich, full-bodied and, well, wholesome. It’s always a delight to see Untappd screens, not least so I can look at little pictures of myself at the bottom of the screen and remind myself I need to change my profile photo on the app.

A decorated postbox. I’d never have the patience to do this and I would be highly annoyed if I had spent hours on it and then someone pinched it.

Gloucester, including some photos of the Cathedral, at night and some of these came out better than others. I’m still playing about with my new phone to get photos look as I want them.

We thought we’d have one final drink when we were back at the Quays, ticking off the JD Wetherspoon outlet which has the intriguing name of the Lord High Constable of England. Below is the history of the pub name that I pinched from the pub’s web-site:

“This building stands on the east side of the docks, between Llanthony Warehouse (now Gloucester Waterways Museum) and Llanthony Road, where it crosses Llanthony Bridge. The name ‘Llanthony’ is taken from the now-ruined medieval priory on the west bank. Llanthony Secunda Priory was established by Miles de Gloucester in 1136. Like his father and grandfather, Miles was High Sheriff of Gloucester and was also Lord High Constable of England.”

This pub is better rated on-line than their other pub in Gloucester that we had visited earlier in the day and I was surprised how busy it was. We got the only table that was still available and the atmosphere was calm and sort of welcoming despite the busy venue. It could have all been a little cleaner, but it was towards the end of a night and it was busy, so perhaps I’m being a little aspirational there given that it’s a Wetherspoons outlet.

“I and my partner apparently had a ‘complaint’ made against us for kissing in a booth, out of view and restrained”

There weren’t many reviews that caught my eye, although this one makes me wonder how they were out of view.

“I brought an alcoholic drink from bar without being asked to show my id and then later was asked to show my id to a higher member of staff witch by law you cant do that once you have been served”

I don’t think there is such a law…..

“I would give it a 0 if I could, the tables were disgusting, the management and staff were so rude and I wanted a refund and she refused to give it to me because they “already started making my food” which isnt allowed?since I work with food and if the customer wants a refund, its law tou have engine them one!”

What laws are the residents of Gloucester following?

I went for the Old Thumper from Ringwood Brewery which was OK and well-kept, but I wouldn’t write home about it (although evidently I popped my thoughts here).

A quick couple of photos from the Quays, before it was back to Travelodge ready for our day of bravery starting the next morning. A suitably busy day, evident that it’s taken me three blog posts to write up.

June 17, 2022
Tuesday : A Bright and Sunny Day in Lincoln Before the Downpour and Bar Billiards

These blog title posts aren’t exactly carefully crafted pieces of literary genius, but at least it gives some background to this photo, a bright morning in Lincoln. Everything felt quite relaxed and calm, holiday makers ready to walk up a big hill to see the cathedral, locals seeming to be unhurried on their way to work and it felt like it’d be a trouble-free sort of day with no rain in sight.

As can be seen, some people waited behind the barrier for the train to go through, whilst some energetic and go-getting people such as myself rushed up the steps to take this photo. Although then I realised that I wasn’t too go-getting when I had a little rest after galloping up the steps.

Back to Lincoln Library as I wanted to get some things done and there are strict rules about plugging things into the wall. A power breaker duly acquired, which I thought was a little excessive, but all was set for the morning.

Staff walked by this, but it offended my sense of the proper keeping of books, look at them all slanted about. On a tangent, I was quite excited to hear an argument between a member of the public and a staff member as there’s a limited amount of external drama for me to listen to in a library. Spending time in a JD Wetherspoon pub usually gives me exciting content to comment on.

Anyway, back to my story. The member of library staff told a polite man that he couldn’t print out old newspapers on library printers as it was a breach of copyright. This is complete nonsense and I was slightly tempted to get involved in this matter, but I thought I’d better not as it was genuinely nothing to do with me. She didn’t back down though, she told him that this had always been the policy of Lincoln library and that unless it had changed on her day off the previous week then nothing had changed. I liked the passive aggressive behaviour really of that comment, a slight element of sneering, although she seemed slightly wounded when the member of the public said that he had been doing this all of last week.

Almost excited by what she perceived to be the rule breaking of her fellow staff, she didn’t back down, but as she was so certain so was right, she announced she’d get another member of library staff to confirm the policy. Five minutes passed and I could almost sense the argument going on elsewhere in the library when she realised that she was wrong. She sheepishly, although still with some annoyance in her voice, came back and said that there had been a misunderstanding, which there hadn’t been as she was just wrong. She announced that the library would accept printing of newspapers on their printers and she was pleased that they had come to a resolution. To be fair, the resolution was that the member of the public did what he came in to do and would have already done so if she hadn’t interfered. But, she was getting ready to go and shout at another customer who was doing something else she perceived to be wrong at a library computer, so that matter passed.

I thought after all this excitement in the library (it’s relative this excitement thing) that I needed a little drink, so I went to the Witch and the Wardrobe. This is another pub where the pumps are blocked by customers seated in front of them, so I’m not entirely sure what the drinks options were.

Although since it’s a Marstons pub, I was hardly ever going to be excited by the beer options and the house beer from Ringwood Brewery was badly kept. The service was friendly, but the pub was neither clean not had decent beer, so this wasn’t ideal. The crisps were very acceptable though and this pub should be a licence to print money given its location. The pub isn’t particularly well reviewed on-line either, it’s an odd place, but I wouldn’t recommend going there for anyone who likes beer. It’s good for crisps though, go there and fill your boots with crisps, they’ve got that spot on.

Although primarily about designated drivers, I ensured I sent this to my friend Des.

A rather attractive view of the River Witham.

And looking the other way along the Witham.

St. Swithins Church, a Victorian church which isn’t currently open to the public.

I couldn’t put it off any longer, I then decided to climb the mountain, also known as Steep Hill. I pretended that I was Dave Morgan and started off striding up the hill. Three metres later I decided I was bored of pretending to be Dave Morgan and I ambled slowly up the mountain taking photos every thirty seconds or so.

Photos of the hill, evidence of my stopping every few seconds.

Top of the hill where I stopped to find somewhere to lie down. This area is known as Castle Hill and it’s a rather beautiful area, although I was distracted with the lack of oxygen being this high up.

Approaching the Cathedral.

Very slightly lop-sided. I didn’t go into the Cathedral as I was disappointed at the scale of the admission charges, which were £24 per adult including entry and going on the tours. This will have to remain one of the few cathedrals that I haven’t visited, there’s no need in my irrelevant view for entrance fees set at that level. I accept it’s marvellous for short-term financing of the building, but as a long-term mission to engage people in religion and history, it seems very risky to me. The model at Peterborough Cathedral seems much more moderate, free admission and then offering excellent and engaging tours for a fee or donation. How on earth the cathedral is valuing entrance at the same price as the Tower of London I’m not sure, but I do feel sadness at the number of families who won’t be able to afford to visit the building. But, it’s their building and their choice, but as long as the Church of England don’t express surprise that people don’t engage with their other historic structures.

Lunch, my free coffee from O2 and a chicken bake. Living the dream and all that.

I was thinking what a glorious day it was, the sun shining and everything quite balmy.

Layout of the former St. Paul in the Bail church and there was a religious building on this site from perhaps as early as the seventh century. The Victorians built one of their new churches here in 1876, after a few centuries of demolition and rebuilding, but that was taken down in 1972. This is all that remains.

Old gravestones shoved into the tarmac.

Lincoln Castle and the weather started to look rather less balmy than I had been anticipating.

Torrents of rain meant I had to hide under the gateway to the cathedral whilst rivers of water flooded past my feet.

After ten minutes of studying the underside of the gateway, the rain went away and I got a photo of Lincoln castle without a thunderstorm above it.

Lovely square, it’s the same one as I photographed earlier, but I had recovered from the mountain climbing expedition to get to it by now.

The cathedral, which I still really wanted to go in, but I decided they’d made their opinion on visitors welcome, for the few and not the many. I can’t hold a mood for as long as my friend Nathan, but I can last a few hours.

More of the formidable money making machine that is Lincoln Cathedral. I had a look at their menu and the beer choice was limited to Budweiser, so that annoyed me again, and they were charging £4.95 for a bottle as part of their for the few, not the many theme.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Prince of Wales pub which is operated by Stonegate, but I was suitably impressed. The interior was clean, there were power points, the decor was modern and the staff members were friendly. I went for the Atlas from Welbeck Abbey Brewery and this was well-kept and suitably decadent. I also stayed here for longer than I had planned because a group came in which provided me with some entertainment when one of them announced he was having the halloumi burger as deer was his favourite meat. I put this update straight onto Facebook (I set the bar very low in my social media updates) and waited excitedly for the food to be delivered. To cut a long story short, the staff replaced the burger willingly and were very professional about the whole thing.

The outside of the Prince of Wales Inn, much better than I expected and I’d recommend it.

BeerHeadZ was my next pub to visit and my expectations were higher for here.

I decided to get two beers, the Voodoo People from Leviathan Brewing which I forgot that I’d had before, and the Jack in the Basket from Howling Hops, which was an impressive and smooth imperial stout. The crisps were decent as well.

Quirky interior, I liked this bar a lot.

I don’t normally take photos in the toilets, but they’ve made an effort here and it seemed wrong not to acknowledge that.

An interesting take on politics from Cloudwater.

I thought at this stage that I’d better taken a walk back to the footlands of lower Lincoln, this is Michaelgate.

Photos of climbing down the mountain.

This is known as the Jew’s House and the building was first constructed between 1170 and 1180, one of the relatively few residential properties with Norman architecture left in the country. It takes its name as a Jewish man lived there in 1290 and the locals must have a long memory if they’ve called the building that ever since. The property has been used as a restaurant for the last half a century and it’s a remarkable survivor (the building, not particularly the restaurant, although 50 years is good going).

Joiner’s Arms which had been closed the previous day due to staff shortages.

There were no other customers and so the atmosphere was a little muted, but everything was clean and comfortable. They only had a couple of beers, although the landlord pro-actively apologised for that, but the Bullion from Nottingham Brewery was beautifully kept, so I had no complaints.

Where’s Nathan when you need him…. I’d have beaten him easily on this table, I could just tell. I think this is the only pub with a bar billiards table in Lincoln.

Walking back through the centre of Lincoln, there’s a feeling of history all around this rather lovely city.

I thought I’d stay out a bit longer as I wasn’t particularly engaged in going back to the Travelodge. I also had my laptop to get work done and power points were available at the JD Wetherspoon operated The Ritz. This is half a pint of the Animate from Beermats Brewing, it wasn’t kept as well as it could have been, so slightly disappointing.

Just as I was planning my food arrangements, McDonald’s sent me a notification saying I could get a burger for nearly free. I don’t much visit McDonald’s in the UK, but I wasn’t going to turn down a bargain. And I never said that this blog was always full of fine dining and culinary decadence did I?

June 15, 2022
Monday : A Day in Lincoln and the Cardinal’s Hat

My plan for the next few days was to visit Lincoln, which was the first casualty of Covid a couple of years ago, when I had to cancel my hotel and train bookings. It was also the only money I lost on travel, an £18 pound rail ticket to get there wasn’t refunded, but the return was, as train services were cancelled during that weekend because of the Covid worries. In fairness, compared to what others lost, that was trivial and I was very fortunate with Covid relating bookings. Anyway, back to the present (well, back to three weeks ago, as I’m still catching up with this blog), leaving the Travelodge, I walked past the queue for a passport, which even at 08:00 was wrapped around the Passport Office building in Peterborough.

Wetherspoon breakfasts are getting too decadent in price for me now, so I just settled down with my £1.20 unlimited coffee and waited for the train to Lincoln. I can’t complain about the value for money on hot drinks in the pub, especially as I used their power sockets to keep my devices charged up.

Fun fact, Peterborough is twinned with Bourges in France and also Vinnytsia in Ukraine. I’m surprised that the city leaders haven’t twinned the city with one of the Peterboroughs in the United States, or even the one in Ontario in Canada, as that would have made for some interesting holidays, or business trips, whatever they’re called.

The railway station, in all its glory. Located 120 kilometres north of London on the mainline, there are frequent services up to Scotland, although I was getting ready to board a more provincial train.

I was quite taken with this LNER clock, but then again, I’m easily pleased.

I had obtained my train ticket to Lincoln for under £5, another rail sale ticket, and it was all clean and comfortable (the train, not the ticket). I had a reserved seat on this train and also had the entire table for four to myself which was handy.

Lincoln railway station and note the professional photography skills of my finger over the camera. I’ve got used to the phone now, so photos shouldn’t be obscured in future. Hopefully and I can’t promise anything. Formerly known as Lincoln Central, the station was constructed in 1848 for the Great Northern Railway company. There was another railway station nearby, Lincoln St. Marks, which was closed in 1985 and for a change, this decision made sense. But more on this in tomorrow’s riveting update from Lincoln.

The view from the JD Wetherspoon’s Square Sail. I’m still ticking them off my list…. The reviews are fairly average for one of the chain’s venues and it has a modern feel to it and I liked these views from the upstairs tables. I had a little read through the negative reviews, as that’s the sort of thing that passes for entertainment for me on a Sunday evening now and I liked this 1/5 review:

“After waiting over half an hour we my Husband and I (10th Wedding Anniversary!), received 2 mugs of cold Tea, well stewed”

Puzzled as I am that they didn’t just get the tea as self-service and with no disrespect to Wetherspoons, but perhaps a special anniversary deserved a little more of a decadent venue.

This humoured me as well:

“The food was cold the hottest thing on my plate was the English mustard.”

The entrance to the Drill, a drama theatre. It takes its name from when the building was a Drill Hall and it has only recently re-opened following what was feared to be a permanent closure.

I rather liked the head, designed by Rick Kirby.

Located on Free School Lane and next door to the Drill is Lincoln library and I had a quick inspection of the local history section and I was suitably pleased with it. The building was opened as a library in 1914, moving from the Assembly Rooms.

The city’s war memorial which was repaired in 2005 after it started to fall into disrepair.

They took the iron railings during the Second World War to help the war effort and I’m not sure whether that was appropriate or not. Although, in the end, the bulk of this mass collection of metal that they took was just dumped.

And a quick visit to JD Wetherspoon’s, the Ritz. This felt a little bit more rough and ready than their other venue in the city, but I think I preferred this one as it had some characters in it. This former cinema, named Ritz which will come as no surprise, was opened in 1932 and the on-line reviews are again fairly average for the chain.

I’d agree with this customer, but am disappointed that they didn’t upload a photo of their mound of sausages:

“If you are out of a particular item, let the customer know rather than simply decide to substitute it. My mixed grill had no chicken and no lamb, and simply bunging on extra sausages doesn’t make up for that”

And in the middle of another review, someone was complaining in general about the pub and mentioned the pub’s:

“Professional coffee drinkers”

I think I manage that sometimes….

Some of the pub’s decor.

With that it was time to move onto the nearby Travelodge, where I had a cheap room for three nights. The Travelodge room did not surprise and delight me, indeed it annoyed me. This ground floor room didn’t have opening windows so I decided I’d be in a general mood about the room, which wasn’t in a particularly good state of repair and goodness knows what the stain on the curtains was. Anyway, it was cheap.

Departing from my decadent hotel room, I noticed the Lincoln Imps on this closed shop, which was a Boots until recently.

The war memorial again, with St. Benedict’s Church behind it.

This is Lincoln Guildhall, but what’s rather exciting (to me) is that this was the site of the gateway to the town on Ermine Street. The gateway was built in 211 AD and was known as the Stonebow, surviving until the fourteenth century. A new structure was completed in the following century and that in turn was faffed about with in the nineteenth century by the Victorians. It’s still where the meetings of Lincoln City Council take place, a building with considerable historic interest.

The Guildhall’s coat of arms.

George Boole (1815-1864), a local man who was mostly self-taught and he went onto become an important mathematician and philosopher, and I hope my friend Nathan is impressed that even I know of his importance to maths (Boole I mean, I’m not sure how important Nathan’s legacy is to the mathematical community).

Off to the Good Beer Guide listed Cardinal’s Hat pub, which I very much liked, with a suitably interesting keg and cask choice. The service was friendly and the whole pub felt historic and interesting.

Decadent surroundings to enjoy my Voodoo stout from Ossett Brewery, reminding me of my visit to the Rat & Ratchet pub in Huddersfield last year.

Lovely room, I like sitting by books.

The pub has a newspaper for a menu which has their food and drink list as well as some gossip about the pub. I like the idea of this, it might not be entirely practical, but it’s quirky and different.

And as I liked the pub so much, I went for a second drink, the Orbital Horizon from the wonderful Atom Brewery in Hull. Which then promptly reminded me of their pub in Hull, Atom Brewing at the Corn Exchange…. This was a very decent beer, a jam doughnut and chocolate sprinkle pale ale, this is just the sort of drink that I like. I am not threatened by beer with a flavour of doughnuts, indeed, I am very open to the concept.

It had started to rain by the time I left the pub, which was far from ideal. I’d recommend the Cardinal’s Hat and the building is authentically old, having been built in the fifteenth century as a residential property. It was used as an inn from 1521 until the beginning of the nineteenth century, when it became a shop. After the Second World War, it was acquired by St. John’s Ambulance and has recently been restored back into a pub, and a fine job they’ve made of it.

I had wanted to go to another pub listed in the Good Beer Guide, but it was closed due to be short staffed, more on that tomorrow. This is the rear of Lincoln Guildhall.

St. Mary’s Conduit, named after St Mary-le-Wigford’s church which is sits in front of.

The conduit was used from the sixteenth century until the turn of the twentieth century (1906 to be exact) to supply drinking water to local residents. They built it by pinching bits of the stone from the Carmelite Friary which has been dissolved following the Reformation, hence the rather quirky looking nature of the structure. There’s far more information about this at https://www.thecollectionmuseum.com/assets/downloads/IS_arch_19_st_marys_conduit.pdf for anyone interested.

June 12, 2022
Sunday : Off to Peterborough on the Train

Using the railways seemed exciting a few weeks ago, there was a rail sale, the network seemed in good shape and I got a ticket to go from Norwich to Peterborough for just £4. Rolling forwards, there looks like a summer of turbulence on the rail network with strikes and other outages, it’s really not ideal for those without cars. On a brighter note (for me, as I’m not sure anyone else would care), this was the first day with my new phone, so the photo quality may, or indeed may not, be marginally better. Just to show how unobservant I am, this is the first time that I’ve noticed you can sponsor a flower box (or whatever they’re called) in front of the railway station.

The train on the left is going to London Liverpool Street and the train on the right, which I was catching, was going to Liverpool Lime Street. I mention this as the conductor made three announcements on board about the difference, so there must have been a number of passengers getting confused. It made me wonder which destination I’d prefer, and I’d be happy with either, but I think it’s time that I go to Liverpool again. Although there’s a direct train there, it’s usually cheaper and even quicker to go down to London and back up. Actually, it’s a shame that the conductor didn’t give some numbers about how many people got on the wrong train, to spice the story up a bit. Is this a regular problem he has?

It was a relatively quiet service and these trains must be some of the last not to have power sockets of some kind. The conductor, who seemed quite chatty with his announcements, also mentioned at Ely not to be worried that the train goes into the railway station in one direction and then back again in reverse on the same track. I have mentioned to people in the past not to be worried about this (not pro-actively, I don’t tell people on the off-chance they don’t know, they have to look concerned for me to intervene) so I liked that the conductor explained the reversing technique used here.

We arrived on time into Peterborough and this pleased me, as there’s little point in hoping for Delay Repay when the ticket only costs £4. I’ve been to Peterborough on numerous occasions before and surprised and delighted my readers (or reader) with stories of the previous expeditions, so I won’t linger unnecessarily.

The frontage of Peterborough Cathedral, one of the more underrated religious buildings in the country. Incidentally, I was pleased during lock-down to be asked by the cathedral if they could some of my previous photos on their blog, always useful to know someone is reading something on here.

I didn’t go in again, but I’d recommend going in as it’s free of charge, and the guided tour is only £5 and that gives an extra depth to the history of the building.

The main square in Peterborough, with the sun still shining.

Back in the Travelodge at Peterborough and they kindly gave me a heap of milks and decaff coffees on request. Richard decided to come to Peterborough for the evening, reliving his nearly weekly trips to London last year to hear what gossip was going on about him, and we were both highly amused (admittedly one of us more than the other) when he found that in his room they hadn’t put any cups, coffees or teas, although they had remembered the kettle.

After Richard had arrived into Peterborough and had a good laugh about his room (and got replacement things at reception), we had a quick walk around the Cathedral.

When I visited Peterborough before a couple of years ago, my favourite bar was Stoneworks. The service here was excellent again, but I don’t like entirely their way of displaying beers, it’s not easy to read like that, but they also don’t mention what type of beer each one is. The staff member did offer recommendations, but it’d be much better to display whether it’s a sour, porter, IPA, or whatever.

Trying to unpick their menu, and they really should be on Untappd, meant I ended up with the Sup from Whiplash, which was fine, but I’d had it before, and I suspect there were better options on the menu. No doubt Nathan would have been able to tell me what every beer was, since he seems to have stored most of Untappd in his memory. The bar has quite a rustic design to it and it’s also one of those places which feels ideal for a relaxed Sunday afternoon, so I still like Stoneworks and would recommend it. And I also like the effort they’ve made in having branded glasses.

A perhaps slightly over-engineered sculpture which is meant to commemorate Henry Penn, a local man who cast bells in his foundry. There’s plenty more information about this man and his work at https://www.pennhenry.co.uk/. And I can’t really complain about this artwork, even though I just did, as it taught me something new and that can’t be a bad thing. By writing that, I more mean that artworks should educate or inspire in general, not be specifically designed to teach just me things. I have to clarify, as otherwise someone will email me.

Next was a repeat visit for me to Charters, which has a bar and restaurant on different floors.

I’m pleased to say that Richard didn’t get seasick, although I think the boat is pretty rigidly placed in the water and doesn’t much move at all.

As a comment more about my phone camera, I’m pleased that it doesn’t blur the light around bulbs and the image quality is much cleaner than my previous phone. Technology is moving on quickly and it’s hard to see how phone cameras will be able to improve in the future, although I’m sure that they will.

The boat sitting (I’m not very nautical, I don’t know the official term) happily in the River Nene.

I made a mistake here as I was excited to see a bar in Peterborough where I hadn’t been and listed its beer on Untappd. We decided to spend some time here after popping into the Wetherspoons next door where I could choose what beers I wanted from their Untappd listings. To cut a long story short, we entered Blind Tiger and they then told us that they were closing so couldn’t serve us. In fairness, they closed at their advertised time of 20:00, I just hadn’t guessed that they’d shut so early on a Sunday, which is my fault, not theirs. I was disappointed, I was already expecting to write in some detail (it’s relatively rare to find any venue in provincial towns that list their beers on Untappd, and rarer to find their logo on the window) about the bar, but, it wasn’t to be. It also meant that I didn’t go anywhere new during the evening, but there we go, this was near to being a venue that I would have perhaps returned to on many occasions.

It was too early to go back, so we went to the Ostrich Inn pub where the service was friendly and attentive. I’m puzzled by the placement of this board, as I couldn’t read it when we got to the pub because people were seated in front of it. It’s a nicely laid out board when visible though.

I won’t linger writing about the pub given I already have in the past, but I went for the Chop & Change from Vocation Brewery which was well kept. There’s an informal atmosphere to this pub and although its live music isn’t my thing, it’s clearly got a strong backing from the local community. Some interesting decor, history about the venue and a laid-back vibe, all rather lovely.

And photos of Peterborough whilst playing with my new phone, checking how they came out in the dark, and I thought the photos looked OK. Expect to see lots more photos in the near dark over the coming weeks until I get bored on testing the image quality.

And a final drink of the night in the College Arms, a JD Wetherspoon pub, where I went for a well-kept Benchmark from Bedlam Brewery, alongside a rather delicious pack of Mini Cheddars. It shows how decadent Richard is, not only did he order a jug of cocktail, but he also then complained when he didn’t get a glass. I think many of their customers would have happily drunk their cocktail either directly from the jug or by using the straw, but Richard was having none of it.

June 11, 2022
Friday and Saturday : Plasterer’s Pizza and the Delights of Gorleston Pubs

This blog is getting very disjointed I know, that’s all of the staying in Norwich causing that…. Anyway, my Friday evening involved meandering along to the Plasterer’s Arms, one of my favourite pubs in Norwich. It was the Legstretchers social event that was kindly organised by Maria and I think 12 or so people were there. Despite running Legstretchers for four years and being an active walker (sort of), I must admit to having been to more socials than walks over the last year, I’ll try and correct that at some point.

On the food front, as that’s my favourite aspect, the pizzas were a little small, but were perfectly tasty and I was delighted to be given the extra slices that others didn’t want. I must have looked the hungriest. Again. All told a very lovely evening, especially seeing some people who I haven’t been able to catch up with for a while.

Then on the Saturday there was the excitement of a day in Gorleston with Nathan. At Norwich bus station, I accidentally commented to the bus driver about how expensive First Bus have become and I think that annoyed him, so I probably shouldn’t have passed on my wisdom that public transport fares are going out of control. The driver said that it was cheaper than a taxi, which I accept is true, but that is hardly setting the value for money bar particularly high. It was a busy service but we found seats, although we moved to the back seats when the bus got to Great Yarmouth, as unlike in the Inbetweeners, there was no-one to throw us off.

Several photos in this post are the ones that I took for Untappd, they’re not designed to be entirely representative of the beauty (or not) of the pub that we were in. This is the William Adams, operated by JD Wetherspoon, which was open the earliest for beer. I’ve visited this pub several times before, but never mentioned on this blog much else about it. It’s a relatively small pub for the chain, built on the site of a former chapel (and some graves were found when there was an archaeological dig) and is on one floor only, with the exception of the toilets.

The pub is named after a local hero, a lifesaver who managed to rescue 140 people from drowning, which is an exceptional amount given he wasn’t a lifeguard or member of the RNLI. Instead he worked as a swimming instructor on the beach and used that job to save anyone who was in trouble. He died in October 1913, aged just 49 and there is a now a road as well as this pub named after him, although I’m unsure which he’d be most pleased about. I’d like a pub named after me, or a railway station.

I had a quick look at the reviews, which are towards the higher end of the Wetherspoons scale (yes, it’s reached that point that I can judge that….) and one of my favourite themes came up:

“This [pub] one seems to be run by over zealous bouncers/thugs intent on squashing any fun out your evening by making sure groups of 35 to 45 year old ladies don’t laugh to loudly or have to leave the building?”

I think most people can imagine the back story here.

“S@#t place. No signs to say no kids after 9pm avoid at all costs.”

And this 1/5 review and although there are actually signs, are there many pubs that still welcome children in after 21:00? Nathan had a muffin thing, whilst I had already eaten, this is a reliable breakfast stop to be fair.

Next was Bar 1 and the staff member was friendly, apologising that it looked a bit of a state, but he explained a rugby team had just left. That’s a fair excuse for a slightly messy pub, but he was already cleaning it. It seemed a slightly odd name for a pub, but it’s well reviewed and seems to be popular in the local community, so that’s a win for everyone. Given it was only just midday, I was quite impressed at the amount of beer that the rugby team must have consumed.

The Timothy Taylor’s Landlord was perhaps a little past its best, but sufficiently drinkable for me not to worry about returning it. The glass did though have lipstick marks on it which definitely weren’t mine. Not ideal, but I liked the pub’s environment.

I’d say this is a decent pub for those wanting to watch sport and I liked the interaction from the staff member. The beer selection wasn’t particularly exciting, but the prices were reasonable.

Next was the New Entertainer, a quirky pub in numerous ways, including the shape and the main entrance which is at the rear of the building and leads straight out into a road. Not ideal after several pints. I wasn’t expecting much from this pub, but I very much liked it, it felt like one of those venues that you could easily make friends if new to an area. I went for the Fastolf Pale from Humpty Dumpty Brewery without much initial excitement, but this was very well-kept and had something of a depth of flavour. The pub is well reviewed on-line and although it perhaps felt initially like a local pub for locals it was all well managed, I’d certainly recommend it and they had three different real ales on.

Next was the Oddfellows Arms which was closed when we hadn’t expected it to be earlier in the day, so we returned later on. It took us a little while to work out how to get in, but it transpired that this is the back of the pub.

And this is the front of the pub.

This was perhaps the most modern of the pubs that we went to in terms of the beer options, this is the Camphillsner from Ampersand. Laid-back and friendly, I liked this venue. As an aside, I’m currently in Poland (Siedlce to be exact) and am on track to actually catch up with all my writing deficiencies this month. There will be a lot of time spent with my laptop in bars and cafes. What a time to be alive and all that stuff.

And a little bit of history, this is the oldest house in Gorleston, the medieval guildhall.

Next was the Feathers, a Craft Union pub, which has about as much craft beer in it as B&Q.

The service wasn’t what I would call overly welcoming, but it also wasn’t rude and in fairness it was busy, it’s a real community pub and there are low prices. Back on the Landlord from Timothy Taylor’s, it was well kept and tasted as it should, so no complaints there. The drinks options just aren’t very decadent for my liking, but it serves a purpose.

Next was the Dock Tavern and Nathan ensured that we were noticed by not being able to work out how to open the door. Actually, in fairness to Nathan (and I am very fair indeed) that’s the situation that I usually get myself into, so I have sympathy. Although that didn’t stop me doing an apologetic look at the locals to get some sympathy at the whole arrangement. The service at the bar was warm and engaging, with the Nog from Woodforde’s Brewery being well kept.

Nathan put this, the Short Blue, on our list of pubs to go to as a bit of a wild card, because it is well reviewed, but it isn’t known for its beers.

It was unfortunately a disappointment, the service wasn’t really there and the selection of real ales was limited to Woodforde’s Wherry. The beer was on the turn and if the pub had another ale I would have returned it, but as it was just drinkable, I persisted. The positive reviews appear to be for the food, but we weren’t there for that and it wasn’t available on the day of our visit anyway. But, we visited and gave it a chance, but it was more expensive than the other pubs and I can’t say I’ll be hurrying back.

With that it was time to walk back to the bus, past Mr Chi’s.

Beautifully kept exterior of the Subway.

Back on the bus, we were very excited to see Liam’s bridge as we drove by on the bus.

And there it is.

We had been tempted by the KFC in Gorleston because we’re into fine dining, but as the bus to Norwich turned up at that point, we decided to eat in Norwich. Subway was the location we picked, Nathan is a former regular here and I had a free six-inch sub, so win-win. Very delicious it was too.

Next it was Riley’s for pool and look at the delicious Guinness…. I like their careful pouring of the product in the appropriate glass.

After a strong start from Nathan, I caught up and we drew 4-4 before the lights went off at the table. Nathan insisted on playing in the dark and so he claimed the final frame even though it was nearly impossible to see. I didn’t say anything of course, I pretended he could have the victory, but I bet Ronnie O’Sullivan wouldn’t have counted frames he played in the dark.

A quick one in the Malt and Mardle, a wonderfully friendly venue and I’ve done an interview with them. A rather lovely IPA from Brew By Numbers, with the service being warm and conversational as usual. This micropub is well worth a visit, and indeed, I got them extra customers the previous evening when I kept recommending them.

The Artichoke was busy so we were forced to sit outside, with two women coming to ask if they could sit on the other end of the table. Then their two friends plonked themselves down between us, which equally annoyed Nathan and me (we get annoyed easily, sometimes by the same thing and also by bad beer), but we’re too laid-back to say anything or even look slightly annoyed.

I’ve been meaning to go to the Star Fish Bar for a while, as it’s located the rather excellent Leopard pub. It was all a bit generic and basic, although at slightly expensive prices. Nothing disastrous, but it’s way off the quality of Lucy’s, I now demand a butcher’s sausage and no generic rubbish.

Nathan won at bar billiards, I’ll give him that. We played this one in the light. He’s getting a lot better to be fair. Nathan only knew about 28 other customers in the King’s Head, so a lower number than normal. He’s very social.

Pickled eggs and beer, what a combination. Anyway, I thought that we were on top form on this expedition, full of exciting new ideas and the like, one of my favourite days out in a while. All really rather lovely.

June 10, 2022
Fleet – Prince Arthur

I’ve now completed all the Good Beer Guide listed pubs in Farnborough, although there are only three and one of those is effectively in a shed that the council has stopped the public from visiting. Going to Fleet for the day, there’s only Good Beer Guide pub listed there and it’s the JD Wetherspoon outlet, Prince Arthur.

I’ll use JD Wetherspoon’s history of the reason for the pub name:

“Fleet’s development as a town was due, in large measure, to the nearby army camp at Aldershot. In the 1890s, its commanding officer was Prince Arthur, third son of Queen Victoria. During his time in charge, Prince Arthur lived in Fleet. This was the first shop in Fleet with two entrances and had ‘a good turnover of groceries, including butter and tea’.”

There’s an odd thing about JD Wetherspoon pubs that you can, after several years of training by going in them so regularly, get the vibe almost as soon as entering. There are the glossy new pubs with shiny plugs, dimmer switches, every style of menu at the door, then there are the pubs that look as though they’re near to falling down, mostly the older ones in London that they’re straining to use every inch of space as they’re so busy. There are fabulous interiors in historic buildings and then pubs such as this, mostly from the turn of the century, when they were a little less decadent in the design amidst a wave of new openings. And these ones tend to have the best staff, they’ve almost moulded into the community in which they serve, the staff knew the customers and most of these are locals. These pubs are not flashy, but they’re reassuringly present and it’s noticeable that some of their most loyal older customers sit near to the entrance excited to see their friends come in. I like these pubs.

That egg looks far from ideal and I’m not quite sure why they’re serving them over easy in some attempt to perhaps replicate dining in the United States, but fortunately, the yolk was still runny. I’m not saying that my morning would have been ruined if I couldn’t dip the toast in the egg, but I would have muttered quietly to myself (and would have probably sent the egg back as I’m annoying like that). All else was fine with the breakfast and for the money it was entirely fine, we’re looking at under £5 for unlimited coffee and a traditional breakfast.

Half a pint of Illustrious from Irving & Co Brewers, a small brewery from Portsmouth. Quite a fruity pale ale, this one had a pleasant aftertaste, was well-kept and was priced at the ridiculously good value of £1. The staff here were friendly and personable, with more conversations between team members and customers than I’ve seen in a JD Wetherspoon outlet for quite some time, it had the feel of a community pub.

It’s a relatively large pub which stretches back some way, with numerous power points dotted around the place which is quite handy. The online reviews of the pub are quite reasonable, although they’ve annoyed the usual selection of customers over the years, including the:

“Shoddy short shelf life beers which often run out due to them buying up leftover stocks. Poor quality, end of life produce.”

Which is a persistent lie that only recently seems to be dying out…..

I’m conscious that some people dislike JD Wetherspoon, but the quality of the service, the range of the products, the cleanliness of the venue and the value combines to form a reliably positive experience. This particular pub does need a refurbishment at some point as it’s getting a little tired, but it seems a very sensible addition to the Good Beer Guide to me.

February 21, 2022