West Kent by bus - with the old codgers

I set foot outside the confines of the house last Sunday, for the first time in nearly five days. The “man flu” I referred to in a previous post, had developed into something more akin to proper flu, which rather put paid to any plans I might have had on the home and garden front. Mrs PBT’s was also feeling under the weather and had a suspicion that we might have picked up a dose of Covid whilst on the cruise.  A couple of quick lateral flow tests confirmed that Covid was not responsible for our woes but, as I remarked to my wife, the nasty head cold we were both suffering from, felt far worse than the bout of Covid I went down with back in February.

Neither of us left the house, and with me not due back at work until Monday, there was no real need to. Eileen ordered an online grocery shop, and we both got on with doing the bare minimum necessary to keep ourselves, and the house, ticking over. I knocked out several blog posts, and after finishing the unpacking, retrieved the step ladder from the shed, and placed the cases back into the loft.

I was aware of an old codger’s bus trip, organised by the local CAMRA branch for Sunday, and as the itinerary included visiting a pub, I that really was on the outer fringes of my radar, I was
determined to make sure I was fit enough to attend. Come the day I felt fit enough to attend, even though I certainly wasn’t firing on all four cylinders, so leaving myself plenty of time, I headed down to the bus stop, to await the 401 service to Westerham.

For the bus geeks of this world, Hams Travel, who are based at Flimwell, on the Kent-Sussex border, operate the route between Tonbridge and Westerham, on Sundays, affording the rare opportunity of visiting the villages to the west of Sevenoaks, that aren’t reachable by public transport during the rest of the week. This was ideal, as it would allow us to visit two pubs that we don’t often get out to, with the added bonus of sufficient time for a meal at the second one.

At the stop, outside Tonbridge Lidl, I met up with three friends, with a fourth due to join us at the Tonbridge Castle stop. The bus was around 10 minutes late, which was annoying as it would limit our time at the first pub. This was the Stanhope Arms, at Brasted, a village local with an attractive brickwork facia, tucked away at the top of a lane, close to the village church. Amazingly despite having lived over 40 years in this part of West Kent, I had never been to the Stanhope and was largely unaware of its existence.

For those who don't know, Brasted, it is an attractive, linear village that straddles the busy A25 road. The latter runs from Wrotham Heath near Maidstone to the outskirts of Guildford, and prior to the opening of the M25, this undulating single carriage road was the main east-west artery to the south of London, linking the West of Surrey to the West of Kent. Although there is still a fair amount of through traffic, it's hard to imagine the road being capable of carrying the huge number of cars and lorries that now use this stretch of the London orbital motorway. Mrs PBT’s and remarked on this fact, as we drove along this stretch of the M25 last week, on our journey home from Southampton.

Apart from the Stanhope there is now only one other pub remaining in Brasted. This follows the closure of the King’s Head and, more recently, the Bull. Both were owned by Shepherd Neame – a company with a poor track record when it comes to hanging onto pubs. The closure of these two hostelries, leaves the imposing White Hart, which is on the left if you are travelling from Sevenoaks, as the only other pub in Brasted. The White Hart today, is a rather upmarket gastropub, but during the Battle of Britain, due to its proximity to Biggin Hill airfield, it was frequented by many of the young airmen who took on the Luftwaffe, in that epic struggle

The bus dropped us in the centre of Brasted, close to the turning into Church Lane, and from there it was a 10-minute walk to the Stanhope Arms. Waiting for us outside, was local CAMRA member Tony, who was just popping in for a quick pint, having been landed with dog sitting duties, whilst his wife was away. I was the only individual out of the six of us who hadn't been to the Stanhope, but I was very impressed with what I found. The others too also thought that recent alterations to the pub have been a big improvement.

We stopped outside for the obligatory photos, but as you can see, the row of parked cars does tend to spoil the appearance of this attractive village pub, which is situated in the heart of Brasted, next to the local church, St. Martins. The pub is named after the lord of the manor, General Stanhope, who went on to become Earl Stanhope, and it retains the rustic charm of an old country pub, with several modern additions.

There are actually quite a few of the latter, as a few years ago, the Stanhope was extended and extensively modernised, but without losing its essential character. It also became a free house, following a succession of different owners – Greene King, Ind Coope and Westerham Brewery. Beers from the successor of the original Westerham Brewery, are often available, but last Sunday the choice was from Black Sheep, Old Dairy, Wainwright’s, and Bexley Brewery.

We secured ourselves a table at the rear of the main bar, overlooking the garden, but unfortunately it was a tall “posing” table, of the type where you have to shuffle on and off the equally tall stools. The pub was busy with diners – it was Sunday lunchtime, after all, and the menu looked enticing, although I imagine booking would have been essential. However, due to the bus timings, there would have been insufficient time for a meal at the Stanhope, so we grabbed a meal instead at the second pub of the day – more of that later.

Being a CAMRA organised visit, the opportunity was taken to update the Stanhope’s What Pub entry, and to have a brief chat with the landlord. The latter was keen to stress the family-run nature of the business and the fact that are a pub that serves food, rather than a restaurant that serves drinks. There is a large garden attached to the pub, plus a separate barn available for parties and weddings. Live entertainment is another option. A roaring log fire in the winter is a sought-after area, where customers can enjoy the home cooked cuisine and cask ales.

Regrettably we only had time for two pints – or at least I did, some people being much faster drinkers than me. Some are faster walkers, as well, but we left the pub in plenty of time, and were at the bus stop ready and waiting for the bus to arrive. Our next destination the award-winning Windmill, in the village of Sevenoaks Weald, which lies to the south of Sevenoaks town. I describe the Windmill as “award-winning” because that's what it was under its previous owners, Matt and Emma. The couple have subsequently move on, and now run the Nelson Arms, in Tonbridge, and whilst one or two members of our party had visited the Windmill since the change of owners, the majority of us had not, and were keen to see what changes, if any, had taken place.

The bus stop is just over 5 minute's walk from the pub, which was looking very festive, when we arrived. I’d been the only member of the group to phone ahead, and book a meal – Sunday roast, as it happened, but the rest of the party were OK, due to the “no-show” by a booking for nine people. The staff at the Windmill were therefore pleased to see four of these meals would now not be going to waste, but imagine their frustration, and annoyance, at the group who’d made the original booking.

A discussion amongst us revealed that this no show, couldn’t care less, attitude is much more common within the hospitality sector than people think. The five of us were fine though, and glad of the opportunity to sit down, and enjoy a tasty roast dinner, something that was much appreciated on such a cold day. The Windmill had an interesting selection of beers on, including Proper Job and Larkin’s Porter, but the comment was made amongst ourselves that perhaps one or two less ales, would have been better. This was particularly evident with the Larkin’s Porter, which was just on the turn. It wasn’t bad enough to take back, and I thought the slight “twang” gave the beer a more authentic taste, seeing that porters were originally aged until they developed that slightly sour “edge.”

I was outvoted on that one, as a couple of friends reminded me that modern-day brewers, including Larkin’s, do not adopt this approach. I finished my “aged” porter, before switching to Proper Job, a beer that was in fine form, and one that we don’t often see on handpump, in this part of Kent. I don’t recall which beers were available on the other bank of handpumps, but as stated above, there was a consensus that it was slightly too many.

As for the pub itself, well not that much has changed, although the advertisements for various Belgian beers are no longer present. There was a lively presence of regulars, and village folk in the main bar, along with several dogs. The Windmill continues to function as one of the main focal points of Sevenoaks Weald and is well worth calling in at if you are ever in the area. We stayed in the pub until 5pm, when we said our farewells and made our way along to the bus stop.