To infinity & beyond - the old codgers bus trip to the fringes of Sevenoaks

Although I am no longer a CAMRA member I still keep in touch with friends and acquaintances from the local branch (West Kent). I am also still on the mailing list for their newsletter, and it was a piece in the latest one that caught my eye.

The news was branch members would be resuming their occasional trips out by bus, the purpose of which was surveying/visiting outlying pubs on the fringes of the branch or those in locations that members rarely visited. Bus would continue to provide the mode of transport and seeing as most of the active members are of pensionable age, most also possess Old Codgers bus passes.

As I now fit into that category, and no longer work on Fridays (and Mondays), joining in on one or two of these jaunts has now become a distinct possibility.  The group had a trip planned for last Friday, taking in Dunton Green and Hildenborough, which are village suburbs of Sevenoaks and Tonbridge respectively.

With the bus times and joining arrangements set out in the newsletter, all I needed to do was turn up on the day, but for the record the itinerary involved catching the 402 Arriva service which runs between Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks. We would then use one of the GO2 buses that run between Sevenoaks bus station and the large Tesco Superstore at Riverhead.

This latter would allow us to visit the Miner’s Arms at Dunton Green, which is just a 5-minute walk away. Coincidentally I had been in Dunton Green 10 days previously, at the end of my “catch-up” walk along the North Downs Way. On that occasion I had called in at one of the village’s other two pubs – the Duke’s Head, on the assumption that it was the better of the two pubs currently open.

That turned out to be a mistake, as I will recount later, but after allowing plenty of time to walk along to Tonbridge Castle, for the 11.27 bus, it ended up being cancelled. I’d bumped into a couple of friends (both now retired) in the High Street, and not knowing at the time about the cancellation had decided to board the bus a stop earlier. There would also be a couple of people boarding in Tunbridge Wells, and it was then who alerted us to the issue.

It was a case of the best laid plans going astray, but also a day when there were three cancellations affecting the 402-bus service, which is supposed to run half-hourly.  Arriving 30 minutes behind schedule at Sevenoaks bus station, did indeed mean a change of plan, but nothing too major. Knowing there would be a later bus to Tesco, gave us the opportunity of having a quick pint in the town, and where better than the Anchor.

The latter is an old favourite and a long-established town centre local. Barry Dennis has been running the Anchor for over 40 years and is Sevenoaks’ longest serving licensee. He told us later that he holds that distinction for Admiral Taverns’ as well. The six of us were greeted like long-lost sons, as we stepped across the threshold, and you know with Barry that his sentiments are always genuine.

There were a couple of cask beers on tap, with the promise of a third to come, but we had to explain why we wouldn’t be staying too long. No matter, Barry sat down for a chat with us anyway, and even bought us all a top-up half. Wantsum Imperial IPA was one of the cask offerings, but I went for the No.3 West Coast IPA from XT Brewing. The latter is a new brewery from Buckinghamshire, and based on the above IPA, a rather good one. Pale, hoppy and packed with Chinook, Columbus, and Cascade hops from the American Northwest, this was a beer that did what it said on the tin.

It was interesting, and encouraging to learn from Barry, how trade at the Anchor was recovering post-Covid. The re-opening of the Stag Theatre opposite, had certainly helped, although the footfall and patterns of trade still hadn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels. Barry remained optimistic, and I feel he is right in this, but with a bus to catch we couldn’t stay to discuss the issue further.

A quick saunter back to the bus station
saw us boarding the GO2 bus down to Tesco, followed by a short walk along to Dunton Green and the Miners Arms. Set in the middle of the village, the pub was built for the Irish navies constructing the nearby railway - hence the name. Looking at the pub from across the road, the first thing that struck me was the restored Edwardian sign, with its reverse relief, gold-leaf lettering, advertising “Kidd & Sons Fine Ales, Stout & Porter,” a reference to the long-departed, former owning brewery.

Stepping inside too, provided another pleasant surprise, with one long bar counter, running virtually the entire length of the bar. Renovation work was taking place both outside and in, and from what I gathered, the Miners is under new ownership. There was a friendly welcome from behind the bar, and with beers from Tonbridge, St Austell and Old Dairy on offer, there was something to please everyone.

I opted for the Über Brew from Old
Dairy. Pale, refreshing and hoppy, and served in good condition as well. With pint in hand, I followed a few of the others for a look outside.  We were all surprised at the size of the pub’s garden, and also at the work that was being carried out. Much of it seemingly related to providing outdoor drinking space during the period when Covid restrictions were first lifted. The two, tropical island style huts, complete with thatched roofs, are quite substantial structures and definitely worth a second look.

I don’t know whether it was the sudden influx of six thirsty blokes, or the mention of updating the Miner’s What Pub entry, but the landlady produced a platter laden with hot nibbles, of the chicken nugget, onion rings and chip variety, all of which were gratefully received and wolfed down with relish. Whatever the reason, it was a nice touch, but all things come to an end and there was another bus to catch and another pub to visit.

The GO2 bus took us back into Sevenoaks and it was then a case of boarding the next 402 service towards Tunbridge Wells. We weren’t going that far though, and instead alighted a short distance out of Sevenoaks, as the road climbs up, past the fringe of Knole Park and towards the summit of Riverhill. There, on the right-hand side of the road, is the White Hart, an attractive old coaching inn with an imposing double-frontage.

Because of its location, this Brunning & Price outlet is the type of pub one could drive past without ever stopping, and for many years I did just that, but despite its upmarket credentials, and emphasis on food, the White Hart is certainly a place well worth pulling over for. Its open plan wood-floored interior is set on several different levels and is divided up into many cosy and tucked away corners.

For a number of years, the pub became the default destination for my company to entertain visitors, of an evening. This particularly applied when we had directors, and other senior members over from our parent company, in Japan. It WAS a good place for entertaining and the food was always of a high standard, but the beer invariably was disappointing.

The main fault was the use of sparklers, the devil’s own device when it comes to spoiling good beer – especially southern ales such as Harvey’s and Long Man that were not designed to be served in this fashion. Being a northern-based chain, it was probably second nature for Brunning & Price to be using sparklers, but their use invariably meant short measure, as well as a pint with the stuffing knocked out of it.

On Friday I was delighted to see they were no longer in place, and that full measures were the order of the day. The pint of Harvey’s Best that I had was good, once it had warmed up, as it was served at far too low a temperature. However, those who had the Brunning & Price house beer, believed to be brewed by Manchester’s Phoenix Brewery, were disappointed, as was the friend who tried the American Pale from Lister’s. The comment was it reminded him of the beer from a certain long-standing brewpub, close to Norwich station, and straight away I knew what he meant.

The White Hart is what it is, and that Friday afternoon it was proving very popular with quite a mixed set of people. It is obviously well-run and staffed by pleasant and highly trained individuals, and as such you can’t fault it, but unlike our next and final point of call, it is not a local.

The Half Moon at Hildenborough, just a few stops further on in the direction of Tonbridge, is very much a pub that exists to serve the local community. Set back from the road, this white-painted, pebble-dashed pub is currently next to a major construction site. This follows the relocation of the Volvo car dealership, that had stood there for many years.

Internally there is an island bar with drinking and seating areas on either side. There are plenty of exposed beams and wood panelling, most of which are painted in Pub Curmudgeon’s favourite colour of grey! It must be over 30 years since I last set foot in the pub, that time being when I worked in Tonbridge, back in the early 1980’s. It was one of the few Whitbread pubs stocking Fremlin’s Tusker – a fine, premium strength beer in its day, but one which suffered from lack of promotion.

On Friday, Harvey’s Sussex Best was the sole cask ale, and very good it was too. Being served at a slightly warmer temperature, it was an improvement on the pint I had at the White Hart. Most of our party sat down on the comfortable chairs to the left of the bar, although being peckish a couple of us ordered some “comfort food.” My cheesy chips were excellent value, and prodigious in quantity, so much so that I ended up sharing them around.

Being an unofficial CAMRA fact-finding trip, one member of the group spent time chatting to the landlord, with the aim of updating the pub’s rather sparse, current entry on What Pub. He discovered that the Half Moon is a real community local. We could see plenty of evidence of this, from the Halloween decorations and the TV sport being shown in the opposite corner, so it was good to see the effort the licensees are putting in. Perhaps the new houses, being constructed next door, will provide additional customers.

The 402 bus back to Tonbridge, was affected by the same “operational issue” as two others, earlier in the day, but apart from that the day was a good opportunity to visit pubs not normally frequented by the branch. It also provided ample evidence of the resilience and bounce-back of four quite different, but interesting pubs.