This is a great old pub with some interesting history going back to 1585. The pub has many good features, but my favourite has to be the superb cosy inglenook fire.
There was a friendly atmosphere in the bar that was full of locals, the pleasant burble of conversation that seemed to come from more people than where in evidence in the pub. We were sat in the restaurant side of the pub, which was almost empty but considering that it was the day after boxing day it is not exactly surprising.
The pub had some good beers I had the Larkins Traditional Ale which was a very drinkable session ale. I had the steak and ale pie with chips and slightly watery winter vegetables, the pie was generously laden with steak and a rich, delicious gravy. The steak would have benefitted from cooking for an extra 30 minutes stewing and I always feel short changed when a pie only has a lid and no sides or base even when it is delicious. The wife had the lasagne which was alright without being spectacular.
Overall a good pub with excellent beer and tasty food, friendly atmosphere and a perfect place to finish the 2009 Good Beer Guide before starting to look at the 2010 Guide.
Archive for the ‘GBG 2009’ Category
The Crown Inn, Groombridge Kent
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010Cheshire
Monday, July 27th, 2009The West Cheshire Beer Fest hosted by Spitting Feathers brewery was held at Common Farm in Waverton near Chester a couple of Saturdays ago, and I was lucky enough to have a ticket to the afternoon session. There were two reasons that I was lucky, first the tickets sold out and second it started to rain just as we were leaving (before the evening session) and most of the venue was outside.
There were mainly beers from West Cheshire, but 4 “Foreign” beers from the far flung corners of the world including Rugby and Bury. The beers were excellent as you would expect from the brewery, my favourites were the Spitting feathers “Old Wavertonian”, Woodlands Brewing Co “Bees Knees” and Northern Brewing “Deep Dark Secret”.
The venue for the beer fest was Common Farm, the home of the brewery and a working farm. We spent some time when the weather looked a bit dodgy watching the second ashes test in the barn. Then when the weather was better, we sat on the lawn watching a faceoff between a group of chickens and three sheep dogs. The dogs were making a concerted effort to herd the chickens whilst the chickens tried to peck the noses of the dogs, neither group having any success with the other.
I know it is not normal to talk about the urinals, but the ones here were too special to ignore. They were outside, temporary arrangements surrounded on two sides by wind breaks with the other, non entrance side overlooking the camping field (no one had put a tent at that end). They discharged through a complicated pipe system into a large barrel marked Fosters.
There was also some superb beer fest food. I was unfortunately too slow off the mark to get any of the excellent looking Hog Roast, but thankfully there were still enough sticky spare ribs left to lessen the pain. The pigs had been fed on the used brewing barley. This recycles the grain really well, so you get great beer and then great pork.
We then headed into Chester, and went to a couple of pubs including the Old Harkers Arms which is a large pub hidden down a back street that we had to take a step off the beaten tourist track to find. Luckily it was on the way to the station and we had planned ahead for the drinking by letting the train take the strain.
The pub successfully achieves the feeling of an old pub despite being a recent conversion. It is a really friendly and busy pub. The descriptions of the beers on black boards was really good, it tips you off to what is on the pumps on the other side of the bar as well as describing the beers. There was a good range of beers, the Cheshire cat from Weetwood was a tasty blonde beer.
Essex, The Victoria Tavern Loughton
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009The Victoria Tavern in Loughton, Essex, is interestingly on the central line and also in Epping Forest, which gives it a pleasant out of town rural feel. The pub and garden has a very busy atmosphere with a friendly staff. It was a Friday evening so it was nice sitting in the evening sun that was caught by the garden.
I had Tim Taylors Landlord and found it to be quite nice. When kept and served well it is a great pint - The Victoria didn’t let me down at all.
We had a bit of a retro pub dinners night. I had the steak and ale pie with mash (I was almost in the east end) and the wife had scampi and chips. The pie was rich and had generous pieces of steak in really satisfying gravy. The mash was superb, it was some of the best tasting smooth potato mash. The scampi was sweet with a crisp and crunchy coating.
Lincolnshire, Batemans Brewery
Thursday, June 25th, 2009Batemans Brewery Visitor Centre and tour was a great way to enjoy the “Good Honest Ales” of Batemans. We had a spot of lunch in the bar before the 2pm tour. The lunch was ham and cheese toasty sandwiches with a pile of chips and a cheeky Dark Mild. We had to rush, hence sandwiches, due to being let down by the tea rooms that we had planned to lunch in, that closed between 12 and 2. I know that things work at a different pace in the countryside, and there is a very rural feel to Wainfleet home of Batemans, but I never thought that I would see a tea room that closed for lunch.
If we had been given more time there was a comprehensive pub food menu and I was lead to believe, by a very friendly old lady at the bar, that the steak and ale pie with mash and gravy was so good that she wanted a spoon to get the last of the gravy dregs from her plate.
The tour of the brewery was interesting. The guide was friendly, funny and full of interesting answers to questions. During the tour we had the chance to squash some hops in our hands and smell hoppy for hours. We tried eating some of the malted barley, I was surprised by how horlicksy the pale ale malt tasted. The tour goes around the old Victorian brewery and the modern stainless steel plant that is currently used, the size of the brewing vessels was awesome. The most interesting part for me was the allowances room where the brewery staff can claim their daily allowance of beer.
The bar is in an old windmill that has not been used as a windmill by Batemans but came with the land when they relocated to the current site. This creates a strange round room with the bar jutting in from one side (I know there aren’t really sides on a circle but how else would you describe it?). The beer was superb, I enjoyed the Dark Mild, GHA and XB. All of the beers were excellent.
Nottinghamshire
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
Pub and Ploughmans
Muskham Ferry
is a good village pub in a slightly strange location it is not in the centre of the village, but down a lane next to the river. It used to be the ferryman’s house when there was a chain ferry service for villagers to cross the River Trent. This means that when you go down the dead end lane the first thing that you see is the car park and rear of the pub, much less inviting than the river facing front of the pub.The pub was converted from ferryman’s house in the 1850’s. It has the feel of a good local, at the bar two of the locals were exchanging rhubarb and recipes for crumble. There were several boats at the moorings on the river and their occupants were also enjoying the pub’s hospitality. There are three changing guests, I had a platinum blonde which was a good hoppy beer.
We sat in the beer garden between the front of the pub and the moorings. I had the ploughman’s lunch it came with two local cheeses, Red Leicester and Stilton, which were both delicious. It hit all the essential ploughman’s notes except it was missing a piece of good pork pie, I think that a slice of pork pie really makes a ploughman’s.
Surrey
Monday, April 13th, 2009This was a fun evening out in Woking with friends. The Sovereigns was picked as a good starting point to the evening and it did not disappoint at all.
The Sovereigns is a large town centre pub with a very comfortable and friendly feel. There were 4 real ales available including one from Beartown in Congleton. It is nice to see familiar beers when you are away from home, even though the idea of this train spotting for beer is to try new pubs and beers. There was a Ginger Beer which was not very gingery, but I am comparing it to the very good Ginger Mable, and it was quite a good beer without the real bite I was expecting. The beers otherwise were well kept and tasty with a good range.
The pub has a pleasant modern feel despite being the oldest pub in Woking dating from 1840. There was a lively feel that was in part due to it being Saturday evening, but it was easy to see why The Sovreigns was local CAMRA pub of the year previously.
Oxfordshire
Thursday, March 12th, 2009The Highway Inn Burford is a great pub on the main highway through the picturesque village of Burford in the Cotswolds. There is a good range of real ale from Hook Norton and Wheat beer & Lager from the Cotswold brewery. I had the Wheat Beer and it was a really superb Weisse beer in a giant tall glass. The Hook Norton was good, it was nice to have local beer and lager in the pub.
The pub has an upmarket feel, the decoration is a pleasant mix of the modern and country pub, it also has a pleasant mix of gastro pub and village local. There was a big open fire in the corner near the bar. The pub had a very pleasant friendly atmosphere, which was made by the very friendly Landlord and Lady.
The food is excellent pub food, the wife had the pork and apple burger which was much more that a flat sausage, it was a thick succulent burger with really good porky flavours. This came with a small mountain of chips and some salad. I had the lamb’s liver and bacon, which came on top of an island of mash in a lake of gravy, in an enormous bowl like plate. The liver was perfectly cooked, its smooth texture providing superb contrast with the crisp salty bacon.
The First Good Beer Guide County of the Year : Cambridgeshire
Monday, February 23rd, 2009The Bongs of Big Ben on the radio behind the bar signal the beginning of a new year. It was superb to be able to chalk up the first county of the year in the first second of the year.
The Free Press is a good local pub in a Cambridge side street. The 6 real ales were well kept and there was a good choice including a Mild that is a regular. It had a welcoming friendly atmosphere with a roaring open fire that was stoked and refuelled by a local that had skills that seemed to come from either a past before gas central heating or a side line in pyromania.
There are board games in the pub, which were surprisingly popular considering it was New Year’s Eve. There followed some lively singing as the landlord put his iPod on to play after midnight and everyone was joining in with the frivolity as the night disappeared into a haze.
The CAMRA Good Beer Guide County Quest
Thursday, February 12th, 2009I have taken up a form of Beer Train spotting. My method is the ticking off the counties in the CAMRA GBG, I am working through the GBG visiting pubs in each county in England (also some in Scotland and Wales). It is more fun than standing on the end of cold windswept platforms.
The task with the non English Countries is to try and get one county in each of the other Countries (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Islands).
As a comparison in 2007, the first year that I tried this pub train spotting I managed only 10 English Counties and 1 in Wales. Like the Brain in Pinky and the Brain, I have plans. In my case not to take over the world, but to start knocking off the other parts of the country.
