Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: King’s Head

  • Coast to Coast 2 [2018] : Day 1 – King’s Head

    Coast to Coast 2 [2018] : Day 1 – King’s Head

    [originally posted in 2018, I’m reposting these posts in August 2024 with the broken image links fixed. I apologise for my youthful inability to detail with more information what real ale I had, but since this is before my Untappd stage I’m not able to check what I had. Also, I realised that I had forgotten to add the photo of my fish and chips. I fully accept that aside from my two loyal blog readers (who I didn’t have at the time) a photo of food is already of limited interest, but a photo from years ago where I’ve forgotten everything about it is of even less interest…. However, for my own archiving purposes I felt the need to add this]

    We decided we’d try somewhere to eat on the evening of day 1 in Kirkbymoorside, and we went to the King’s Head which is an historic former coaching inn. There was a friendly welcome from the member of bar staff and she politely mentioned that we only had a short time to order food.

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    Liam often orders the ridiculously expensive pint of orange juice and lemonade, and although the member of bar staff offered an alternative he wasn’t having it. He wanted half a pint of orange juice and half a pint of lemonade mixed together, and that was what he expected to get.

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    I got a pint of real ale.

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    For food I had the fish and chips, a choice that I often make, whilst Liam had some sausages and mash with lashings of delicious gravy. The food was of a great quality, whilst the prices were very reasonable so it we felt that we chose well.

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    It’s quite rare for the owners of a building to really explain its history, so I was particularly pleased to see this. It helped put the building into some sort of context, and it’s strange to think that the current entrance to the building is where the horses used to come through.

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    [I’ve added this over four years on, so I can’t remember what it was like, looks good though!]

  • Norwich – King’s Head

    Norwich – King’s Head

    I should have written about this on my blog before, but the King’s Head in Norwich is one of my favourite pubs and is absolutely worthy of its place in the Good Beer Guide. Friendly, warm, welcoming and always with sufficiently interesting beers for me. They’re more on the real ale end of the spectrum than the craft beer end, but the quality is high and the choice is balanced and well thought out.

    The beer list is reduced given the current situation, but there was a coffee stout and this pleased me greatly. OK, the S&P Beano Coffee Stout might not be world-class, but it’s a solid 4/5 on Untappd for me. As usual, perfectly kept and at the appropriate temperature.

    Not that the pub has much choice in the matter, but it’s sad to see the bar billiards table like that.

    The pub was busier than this for much of our stay, but I took the photo of the back bar when people weren’t in it, that makes things easier. The whole health issue was handled well, table service was offered, beer menus at the table, extra drinks offered pro-actively, payment taken at the table, everything clearly laid out. Marvellous, all very professional.

    The front bar, feeling quite empty and there’s now a one-way system operating throughout.

    And more photos of the front bar. As every, a marvellous pub which is understated, professional and a reliable location for a dark beer (and others for customers who so desire). I was tempted as usual by the pork pies, which are back on the menu, but managed to resist on this occasion. But, their pork pies are a culinary delight, served with mustard and pickle…… Ah, it’s good to be back in pubs….

  • Isle of Wight Trip – Day 1 (Yarmouth – The King’s Head)

    We thought it’d be a nice idea to have a little walk around Yarmouth and by mistake Liam, Ross and myself fell into the King’s Head. It felt a warm and comfortable place, nothing modern, but it seemed sufficiently welcoming.

    Well, I’m now becoming used to being disappointed by the beer selection, and there was no change here. Actually, I do like Timothy Taylor beers and Boltmaker is OK, but that’s about it, it’s OK. The beer was well kept and at the appropriate temperature, with a perfectly acceptable flavour. But the real ale selection was poor and the craft beer selection non existent.

    The pub was near closing time when we were there, but they carefully called last orders and we didn’t feel rushed out. The pub is part of the local Character Inns estate and is one of their newer openings. EI, who own the pub, may have been lucky to find a decent tenant, as the local CAMRA branch said:

    “We all know, that as far as rents are concerned, as long as a pub is empty, the cost to the group will never be recovered because nobody but a suicidal billionaire would take on an Ei lease at the same rent as the outgoing incumbent.”

  • Bristol – King’s Head

    There’s some history to the King’s Head on Victoria Street in Bristol (it has its own Wikipedia page) which was a long time ago a private property, but which was later turned into a pub. And the Victorian interior which dates to around the 1860s is gorgeous and remains relatively untouched, sufficient for the pub to be listed on the National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.

    There’s a corridor along the side of the pub which runs to the back of the building, with the Tramcar Bar taking up the central space. It’s really quite staggering that this was never removed during the twentieth century in the name of progress, as it is a bit clunky, but historically it’s marvellous.

    A photo of the aforementioned corridor.

    It was towards the end of the night, so the photos aren’t quite as straight as perhaps I’d ideally like. But another photo of the historic interior.

    Underneath the old mineral waters sign is this old Dublin Stout sign, which I assume was from Burton Ales.

    I didn’t place the drinks order, but I think from memory I had the London Pride (or at least it tasted like London Pride, so my money would be on it being London Pride), which was well-kept and at the appropriate temperature. There was nothing there which was particularly unique, although it was nice to see a beer from Harvey’s Brewery in Lewes as I was in the town just a couple of weeks ago.

    The service was friendly and I can imagine the furtive conversations which have been held here over the last couple of centuries. It’s a comfortable environment, although the pub is relatively small, so there isn’t a great deal of space.