Back in the frame

I’m looking forward to my return to work tomorrow, which comes exactly two weeks after my recent surgery. I’ve been following the consultant’s advice to listen to my body and ease myself into things gradually and have been going out for a walk on a daily basis. On Thursday I got behind the wheel of my car for the first time since the op, and headed out on a couple of errands. There were "no dramas," as the Aussies would say, and it was good to be back in the driving seat once more.

Later that afternoon, I took a walk down to the Nelson Arms, in order to meet up with a couple of friends. I hadn’t seen one of them for quite some time, as he lives overseas for part of the year, returning to the UK when the weather becomes unbearably hot in the part of the world where he resides. He is also moving away from Tonbridge, in order to buy a property on the south coast.

So with the catch-up arranged by our other friend, who lives locally, and several other friends and acquaintances of our south coast pal turning up to say their farewells and wish him well in his new abode, we ended up with quite a crowd of us in the Nelson. There was a good line-up of beers on the bar, with two offerings from Salisbury-based Hopback Brewery topping the bill. 

Hopback, of course, are best known for their Summer Lightning, a very pale coloured and heavily hopped beer, which was one of the first “Golden Ales” to grace the bar tops of the nation’s pubs. Nelson licensee, Matt, had gone one better, and rather than having Hopback’s best known beer on sale, substituted two other beers from the same brewery. These were Crop Circle – another pale beer, clean-tasting and very refreshing, whilst the other was Entire – a rich, dark stout, packed full of roast malt flavours.

Of course, I had to have a pint of each, interspersing them with a pint of Buxton Best. The latter was pleasant enough, but if I’m honest, not really in the same league as the two Hopback beers. The conversation and general banter was good, with the pub nice and busy for late afternoon-early evening. Amongst the clientele were two former customers of mine, from the days (16 years ago now), when I ran the Cask & Glass off-licence, in Tonbridge. It was encouraging to see that neither had lost their appreciation of good beer!

By this stage of the proceedings, I needed something to help soak up the beer, so after asking at the bar, and confirming that food was available from 6pm onwards, I ordered myself a “Ruby.” I’m sure I don’t need to explain the rhyming slang meaning of a “Ruby,” but there is a little twist involving the curries offered by the Nelson.

I remembered this from past meals at the pub, but for the uninitiated, the Nelson’s curries are not served with rice, but instead come in a bowl, with a large, side-helping of crisp, naan bread. I opted for the chicken curry. It might have been a Madras, as it was certainly hot enough, but more importantly, it was tasty and there was plenty of it.

As the session wore on, people slowly began to drift away. The second of the two friends whom I had originally arranged to meet up with, had to shoot over to Tunbridge Wells, or Rusthall to be precise, as the West Kent CAMRA social he had helped to organise, was taking place that evening, and his presence was required. The other friend also had to leave, to catch a train back to the flat he is currently renting on the south coast, as he waits for a completion date on his new property.

I sent son Matthew a text, as he had already kindly offered to come and pick me up. He happened to be close by, so as I hadn’t finished my beer, I thought I’d better buy one for my chauffeur. Matt went for a pint of Paulaner Helles from Munich, whilst I also squeezed in a quick half of N.I.P.A. (Northiam Imperial Pale Ale), from Rother Valley Brewery. The latter company are based at Northiam, on the Kent-Sussex border, and brew a diverse range of interesting, traditional ales, that are available throughout West Kent and East Sussex. They will be celebrating their 30^th anniversary next year, so must be doing something right.

The N.I.P.A. was certainly in fine form and was a good beer to be finishing on, especially on a hot evening. My enforced lay-off from drinking hadn’t dented my enthusiasm, and despite knocking back four excellent pints of southern England’s finest, I felt right as rain the following morning.