Friday in Tonbridge

Friday is always a good day to take of from work. Not only is it the end of the week, but coming before Saturday, it adds an extra day to the weekend. A three day weekend is definitely something I could get used to, but without an unlimited supply of annual leave, there is the obvious danger of running out of days to take off.

The motto of course, is to use annual leave wisely, and make sure it is used for something useful or enjoyable and preferably both!  Friday was such a day, and with my imminent short trip to Poland on Sunday, there were a few things I needed to sort out, along with some last minute shopping.

There was another purpose behind my extended weekend, and that was to conduct some official business which, due to its nature, can only be carried out on a weekday. The business I am referring to, was something Mrs PBT’s and I had been putting off for ages, despite it being something we both knew needed doing.

To elaborate; with both of us approaching our mid-sixties we thought it high time we made a will. The need for such a document was brought home to me 20 months ago, when my nearest and dearest was fighting for her life in an intensive care bed. Prior to her being admitted to the ICU, son Matthew and I had been left waiting in a room whilst the emergency team stabilised her. It was real touch and go, or at least it seemed so to us as the hours ticked by, and during that time our lack of foresight in having drawn up a will really hit home.

Fortunately things came good in the end, although it took an extended period of hospitalisation and rehabilitation before Mrs PBT’s made a full recovery. During this period, and with other more pressing concerns on my mind, our lack of said document once again was put on the back-burner.

I don’t know what it was that prompted me, apart from perhaps a desire to take Friday off, but earlier last week, I phoned the firm of solicitors we have used in the past, and made an appointment. The solicitor we consulted went  through the whole process with us, and will now draw up the will on our behalf. We will then have to check everything through, before returning to his office so he can witness us signing this important legal document. 

It was all far more straight forward than we had both supposed, and left us asking ourselves, why the hell hadn’t we done this before? We took the opportunity afterwards to do the weekend food shopping, so as to leave Saturday free for “fun stuff," like a trip to the coast, or something similar.

Shopping meant a drive over to Sevenoaks, but when we got back I still had a number of errands to complete. These ranged from collecting a prescription from the pharmacist, purchasing an Advanced Train Ticket for my journey to Gatwick on Sunday and last, but not least, getting myself a guidebook to Krakow. Talk about last minute dot com!

I therefore headed down into Tonbridge, on foot. It’s a while since I spent a bit of time looking around my adopted home-town, so after completing the bulk of the above tasks I decided to see what was happening on the local pub scene.

I’ll kick off with the biggest piece of news first, which is the work being done to restore the historic Ivy House pub.  This attractive old tile-hung building is one of the oldest buildings in Tonbridge, with parts dating back to the 15th Century. It has been closed for the past 18 months, after its previous owners "Kent Inns of Distinction,” failed to make a go of running it as a gastro-pub, cum-restaurant.

Last November, it was bought by a new owner with a proven track record of running a successful pub. Planning permission was necessary before the renovation and improvement work could get underway, but things seem to be progressing at a pace now, as I noticed whilst driving past the other day.

As I was in that part of town, I stopped by to take a few photos, before carrying on for a short distance along the High Street, to Fuggles Beer Café. It’s been quite a while since I last called in, so I stepped inside to see what was on offer. It was mid-afternoon, so the place was quite quiet, but I noticed  saw a fellow CAMRA member sitting there, with his two dogs, whilst nursing a pint.

I acknowledged him before making my way to the bar, where two beers in particular,  caught my eye. One was Plateau, from Burning Sky, whilst the other was “Do It Together,” a Mango Tea Pale Ale from Moor Beer Co. The barman said the latter was fresh on, so I went for that one first, despite its 5.2% ABV. The beer was every bit as good as you’d expect from Moor Beer, with that hint of mango referred to in the name, and was worthy of a 3.5 NBSS.

I sat down and joined my friend, who filled me in on the latest local CAMRA news. He confirmed that the construction work I’d noticed at the back of the Ivy House was, as I’d thought, the new toilet block.  Neither of us know when the pub is going to re-open, but this side of Christmas is looking quite likely. I will wait before revealing the identity of the new owners, although if you really want to know, it is mentioned on WhatPub.

I left Fuggles at the same time as my CAMRA friend, and headed over to Mr Books, Tonbridge’s long established independent bookshop. The shop changed hands a couple of years ago, following the move of founder, Mark Richardson (the MR in the shop’s name), back to his native Lincolnshire. As well as running the shop, Mark also wrote his own blog, starting at a similar time to my own (2008).

Mark’s effort was titled Tonbridge Blog, and featured news and views about Tonbridge, ranging from major issues to the odd quirky ones and, as with all blogs, readers were encouraged to post comments and thoughts of their own on the topic in question. The shop appears to be doing well, with the new owners having opened the place out, removing the slightly claustrophobic feel of being hemmed in by stacks of tall book shelves.

Unfortunately for me, my quest for a second-hand travel guide to Krakow proved fruitless, so after having been in virtually every charity and second-hand bookshop in Tonbridge, I had to resort to one of the big boys, and pay full-price. I left Mr Books and headed back down the High Street, to WH Smith.

Definitely one for another day, but with a significant amount of money having been spent on restoring this attractive late-Victorian building, combined with its prominent position overlooking the River Medway, just off the  town’s “Big Bridge,”  Verdigris is a worthy and very welcome addition to Tonbridge’s burgeoning hospitality scene.

On way passed the former Castle Hotel, now trading as upmarket restaurant, called Verdigris. The establishment is the creation of top chef, Scott Goss who has made quite a name for himself after working with Gary Rhodes. I’m sure Mrs PBT’s knows a lot more about him than I do, especially after he appeared on the BBC’s Great British Menu, but what I can say is Scott has a policy of using locally sourced, sustainable, free-range,  organic ingredients, wherever possible. Whether that floats your boat or not, I don’t know, but reviews on Trip Advisor are generally glowing.

Although a little pricey, the breakfast menu at Verdigris looks appealing, especially as it features smoked-haddock kedgeree. I might have to give it a try one Sunday morning. I’ve also discovered that you can just pop in for a casual drink, if desired, and seeing as it one of the few local stockists of Hofmeister lager, this again sounds tempting.

Today (Saturday), as referenced above, we had our trip to the seaside. I drove the family down to Dungeness, for an excellent lunch of fish and chips at the Pilot Inn, which overlooks the beach. Not only was the food top notch, but the B17 "house beer," from Romney Marsh Brewery was in fine fettle as well.

The weather didn’t quite turn out as forecast, as there were some heavy showers, but our route across the Weald of Kent, and then on to Romney Marsh was the perfect reminder of how lucky we are to live in this scenic corner of the south east. We returned via Camber and Rye, thereby taking in part of Sussex on our way home.