tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6722137562852954269.post7861652337659205594..comments2024-03-29T12:39:30.010+00:00Comments on Paul's Beer & Travel Blog: Spotted Dog - Smart's HillPaul Baileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09678639237696546268noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6722137562852954269.post-17149007225565970062017-01-17T23:48:47.042+00:002017-01-17T23:48:47.042+00:00We're heading that way now in Lancashire, the ...We're heading that way now in Lancashire, the county next door, where rural bus routes are being slashed; rural communities will increasingly have to rely on cars - tough if you haven't got one. So much for reducing emissions. My pass is valid only in Merseyside and on the train to Chester, but since I got it, my car use has nearly halved.RedNevhttp://rednev-rearm.blogspot.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6722137562852954269.post-86830616264489371602017-01-15T15:49:44.223+00:002017-01-15T15:49:44.223+00:00I think we’ve had this conversation before, Nev. T...I think we’ve had this conversation before, Nev. The way things are going with this country at the moment, I can see Theresa Mayhem (or her successor), dropping bus passes altogether – along with all subsidies for rural bus routes.Paul Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09678639237696546268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6722137562852954269.post-73781633231924596472017-01-15T14:09:05.309+00:002017-01-15T14:09:05.309+00:00Long live Merseyside: we still get bus passes at 6...Long live Merseyside: we still get bus passes at 60!RedNevhttp://rednev-rearm.blogspot.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6722137562852954269.post-9995228254660787412017-01-14T21:13:36.892+00:002017-01-14T21:13:36.892+00:00Neville, I think the pub has evolved over time to ...Neville, I think the pub has evolved over time to be the way it is. The box-like section, which faces onto the road, has seen various uses over the years. These include function/meeting room, a small and intimate restaurant and a shop selling locally-grown organic produce. <br /><br />Greengrass, I am probably a bit older than you think, and if a previous government hadn’t abolished the automatic right to free bus passes for the over 60’s, I would now be well into my second year of travelling around the county at the tax-payer’s expense!<br /><br />I move to Tonbridge in late 1984, and I am assuming this was after the Blacksmith’s closed. I have heard people talk about this pub, but have never been sure of its location. A few decades ago, there were several stories circulating about the trees behind the Spotted Dog. One was they had been planted out of spite, by the person who owned the land. I’m not sure why, but it was the kind of story the press love. I hadn’t realised the trees were second generation; talk about time flying.<br /><br />Larkin’s will be surrendering their lease on the Greyhound, next weekend. There will be a big leaving/farewell party on Saturday 21st January, to which all are invited. Enterprise have a buyer for the property, but are being very cagey about its fate.<br /><br />Anonymous, thank-you for the update on Young’s. Your contact at Wandsworth claims that “Eventually after much tweaking, they (Charles Wells) have started to get it closer to the original.”<br /><br />After 10 years, they’ve had long enough to do this which, I’m afraid, still leaves me slightly sceptical, and the whole sorry affair behind the closure of Young’s brewery, and the move to Bedford, fills me with unease.<br /><br />I’m not sure I will be going out of my way to try it, as even before the move, I feel much of the character had already been lost from the beer.<br />Paul Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09678639237696546268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6722137562852954269.post-46960602628398270762017-01-14T08:51:04.789+00:002017-01-14T08:51:04.789+00:00Hi Paul
Re Youngs bitter. I was at the Ram brewer...Hi Paul<br /><br />Re Youngs bitter. I was at the Ram brewery yesterday where John Hatch (ex Young's site manager)is still brewing to keep the site as the oldest continual brewery in the country. I asked him what he thought of Youngs bitter and he said that they have eventually after much tweaking started to get it closer to the original - may be worth trying.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6722137562852954269.post-41492567990326407652017-01-13T18:59:07.543+00:002017-01-13T18:59:07.543+00:00Good pub in its day but like Plough at Leigh livin...Good pub in its day but like Plough at Leigh living on its past achievements. Its heyday was when the chef Borichevski was running the kitchen, but that was a long time ago, probably before you were old enough to drink. <br />The trees that you mention are the second plantation, the previous ones were felled one night by a gentleman who now drinks in the Kentish Horse & The Rock, you probably know him. Unfortunately he now finds it difficult to walk so is no longer capable of wielding a chain saw. The Blacksmiths Arms just up the road was a much better pub but now a private house.<br />Do you have any news on The Greyhound?<br />Also the Half Moon at Hildenborough is under new management (still Enterprise Inns) & the Harvies is well kept.Greengrassnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6722137562852954269.post-17652714604752945662017-01-12T15:08:17.553+00:002017-01-12T15:08:17.553+00:00It's certainly an unusual-looking pub.It's certainly an unusual-looking pub.RedNevhttp://rednev-rearm.blogspot.co.uk/noreply@blogger.com