Matthew and I took a drive over to
East Grinstead on
Friday.
I won’t reveal the reason for our visit at this
stage, apart from saying that this pleasant
West Sussex town isn't somewhere I
go to that often. It’s more a point on the cross-country route from
Tonbridge
to
Gatwick Airport, and more often than that, something of a bottleneck.
However, as we discovered,
East Grinstead is a town well worth visiting.
Our route into the town avoided the notorious one-way system
and instead brought us in at
High Street end, an area which is the oldest, and
most historic part of
East Grinstead. Amongst the wealth of attractive
half-timbered buildings, were several good-looking pubs including one belonging
to
Young’s. Although they are now just a pub company, rather than the staunchly
traditional, London brewery that many of us remember them as,
Young’s do seem to be
widening their net. They have recently acquired the
Carpenter’s Arms, at
Three
Elms Lane, on the outskirts of
Tonbridge, and I’m sure they remain on the
lookout for other suitable pubs, should the opportunity arise.
Further down, towards
the shops along London Road, I noticed at the top of an alleyway, the Engine
Room, Brewery Tap and Bar. This is a fairly new cellar bar, specialising in cask
ales, ciders, craft beers, and artisan spirits. The bar is located in the
basement of the Old Mill building situated just off London Road. There was,
until quite recently, a connection between the Engine Room, and the High Weald
Brewery, who were based at nearby Forest Row, but I understand High Weald have
ceased brewing, for the time being, at least.
We didn't call in at the Engine Room on this occasion, as
we’d only paid for a couple of hours parking, any in any case I will save that
visit for another time. East Grinstead is easy to reach by bus, from Tunbridge
Wells, so when we get back from our forthcoming cruise, I shall use my old gits
bus pass to travel over to the town. I will need to pick a Friday though, as
the bar doesn’t open until 4pm, during the rest of the week.
By way of compensation, and quite by chance, we found a
small and rather quirky independent off licence, called
Armstrong's, tucked away
at the top of
London Road. A really good selection of bottled beers was stocked,
as well as a number of the
five litre mini casks, which are always popular this
time of year. It was in celebration of the forthcoming
Festive season that I
bought a small selection of appropriately strong beers, in advance of
Christmas, that included a
Winterbock from north
German brewer,
Flensburg, plus
Noël, a 7.4%
Christmas Ale from local brewers,
Hepworth’s of
Horsham.
According to the shop staff, the latter beer had just come
in, and with a
BBE of
April 2025, plus a
"Best After" (that’s a new one on me),
of
April 2023, I imagine I shall be laying this one down until
Noël 2023, at
the earliest. I also picked up a couple of
Sam Smith’s beers
–
Imperial Stout (an old favourite), plus the brewer’s
Organic Chocolate Stout.
This is something of a rarity, and whilst coming in at a modest 5.0% abv, the
description on the bottle, stating,
“The perfect marriage of satisfying stout
and luxurious chocolate,” means I certainly won’t be laying this one down!
I’m cursing
myself for thinking the 500ml bottle of Sam Smith’s Yorkshire Stingo, was too
expensive at £6.75. I’m sure people pay this for an ordinary pint of bitter, in
some London pubs, so why did I turn down this classic strong ale, that is aged
in oak casks, for at least a year? The brewery claim that the beer picks up fruit, raisin, treacle toffee, Christmas
pudding and slight oaky flavours, before being further naturally conditioned in
the bottle. It
ends up with an abv of 8-9%. Armstrong’s might possibly have some left, by
the time I make that bus trip, but if not, I shall have to try buying a few
bottles on line.
After grabbing a quick sandwich from
Greggs, we decided to
head for home, and stick with the
A264 as our chosen route. On the drive over,
we’d noticed flooded fields at
Penshurst, although the medieval stone bridges,
and associated causeway, had ensured both the road and the village itself,
remained dry. I’d wanted to stop off on the way home at the
Fountain in
Cowden,
for some
Harvey’s Old Ale, but checking up on
What Pub indicated the pub closes from
3 – 6pm, so instead I thought of that old favourite, the Rock Inn at
Chiddingstone Hoath.
We got a bit lost, thanks to
Matthew’s sat nav (always be
wary of a device that will direct you along roads that are no wider than a cart-track),
and ended up in
Penshurst, at the
Leicester Arms, instead. The only cask ale on
was
Larkin’s Traditional, although the bar manager did apologise for the lack
of choice – down to a late delivery, apparently. The beer was on good form, and
there was a nice relaxing atmosphere in the main bar of this
16th
century village inn. The blazing log fire enhanced the cosy feel of this pub
which, whilst functioning as a boutique hotel, still offers a warm welcome to
villagers, walkers along with customers drawn from further afield. It also
provides a handy, occasional overnight stop for one of my colleagues, who lives
at the opposite end of the county.
Most of yesterday was spent tidying the garden after the
recent high winds and heavy rain, and some of today was dedicated to collating
holiday bits and pieces, followed by packing. Tomorrow heralds a busy three-day
week at work, and then it’s off to
Southampton on
Thursday, and that trip across the
North Sea.
From a personal point
of view, I find the closure of Dark Star rather sad, as it is a brewery I have
followed from its early days, back to when its beers first acquired cult status.
I have also made two visits to the Partridge Green brewery, as a member of West
Kent CAMRA. The first visit took place in 2011 more recently in the spring of 2017.
On the last visit in particular, I was impressed not just with the setup, but
also with the knowledge and enthusiasm of the brewers, plus the other members
of staff we met. 
