The Little Gem shines through, once more

Continuing with my theme of Friday pub outings, I decided to visit a pub that I remembered, from when I lived in Maidstone. This would have been from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. The pub in question is the Little Gem in the village of Aylesford. As its name might suggest the Gem, is a smallish establishment, which at one time, was reputed to be the smallest pub in England.

I first became familiar with the Little Gem in the late 1970s, when I moved to Maidstone, from London, when I bought my first house. Not long after moving in, I made contact with the local CAMRA branch, and began going along to their social meetings. They were obviously short of volunteers, because within the space of a year, I was co-opted onto the branch committee and began playing a more active role within the organisation.

Now for some reason, several prominent members of the committee had rather a downer on the Little Gem, with some even accusing it of being a “beer exhibition” pub. By that, they meant the pub was stocking far too many cask ales, certainly in relation to its size, and there was a danger of then being unable to turn them all over, thereby compromising quality. I understand this argument far better today, than I did nearly 40 years ago, but it did mean that the Gem never reached the heady heights of appearing in the Good Beer Guide, and received precious little support from CAMRA.

I don’t think the management of the Little Gem were that bothered, as it continued to remain popular with its own band of devotees., and six years after joining the committee of Maidstone & mid-Kent CAMRA, I severed my official links to the branch, when I moved to Tonbridge. I kept in touch with several members, on a personal basis, as they had become good friends, but over time I became less and less familiar with the pub scene, in and around the country town.

This meant I was completely unaware the Little Gem had closed its doors for the last time, back in 2010, and to this day remain ignorant of the reason for its closure. Time though, marched steadily on, and the next decade the Gem remained empty, unloved, and uncared for. I discovered this for myself, in 2016, when I dropped my car off for a major service, at main Skoda dealer on the Quarry Wood Estate, just off the A20. 

Whilst the work was being carried out on my vehicle, I took a walk into nearby Aylesford, for a look around, and also to kill some time. I was also looking for a tearoom where I could grab some non-alcoholic refreshment, and it was then that I walked past the Little Gem. The doors and windows were all boarded up, and the place looked all sad and neglected (see above). I did a some digging, when I got home, and discovered that the building’s owner, who did not live locally, had applied to the local authority for change of use to a private dwelling. There was also an asking price of £230,000 on the building, as it stood.

Several months’ later, I was heartened to come across a Facebook campaign, called "Saving the Little Gem." Over the course of the following years, I kept an eye on the group, which had 900 followers at the time. Then, just when progress seemed to have ground to a halt, the Gem was bought at auction, in 2019. Even better was the news that owner had been granted permission, from the local authority, for the building to be turned back into a pub. A year down the line, and with no signs of work being done, the building once again changes hands, and this time it was bought by local brewers, Goacher’s, who are based at Tovil, just outside Maidstone.

With a substantial amount of renovation work to be carried out, to restore this 12^th Century pub in keeping with its Grade II listed status. The Little Gem finally reopened for trading 18 months or so ago, and after reading some good reports, but also with my own fond memories of the place in mind, a visit was long overdue. So, last Friday, I finally got round to ticking this aptly name “gem" off from my “must visit” list.

Although I have a bus pass, it was far easier to take the train to Aylesford, as there is a direct service from Paddock Wood (one stop away from Tonbridge). The train travels up along the picturesque Medway Valley Line, which follows the course of Kent’s largest river. I arrived at Aylesford station shortly after midday, and from there it was a 20-minute walk into Aylesford village. I experienced a short wait at the level crossing, before making my way across the ancient stone bridge, which fortunately is no longer used by traffic. Before turning right into the village, I paused briefly to look at the George – a former coaching inn which closed during the 1970s. I read recently that when the pub closed, its licence was passed to the Little Gem which, at the time, had been a tea room.

It wasn’t far from there to the Gem, and once inside, it was heart warming to see the pub restored to its former glory. The building dates from 1106 and has plenty of the exposed beams and low ceilings, one would expect from an early 12^th Century constriction. A step down into the pub, through a low doorway, leads directly into the main room and bar, situated on the ground floor. A large inglenook fireplace, adjacent to the entrance, provides a warm welcome in winter, although the fire was struggling to provide much in the way of heat, when I called in.

Upstairs there is a split-level balcony room, on a mezzanine floor, overlooking the ground floor bar. Although small, this upper seating area makes a good addition to the main bar area below. The bar counter is sited to the left of the fireplace, where cask ale is dispensed from two hand-pumps on the bar counter, and from two or three chilled casks on gravity dispense on the bar back shelf. The Little Gem represents the third tied house for Goacher's and serves a good selection of the company’s beers.  I started off with an excellent pint of Fine Light, followed by an equally acceptable pint of the brewery’s Old Ale. At 6.7 % abv, this rich, dark, and warming strong ale was a full three percentage points stronger than the Light, but in view of the weather, was just the thing.

There were just a handful of drinkers when I arrived, but it didn’t take long for the bar to fill up. The majority of customers were middle aged, but not exclusively male, and there were a number of canine companions in attendance as well. The seasoned barmaid took it all in her stride and manged to find time to answer some of my questions, along with listening to me enthusing about how well the pub had been restored, and how little it has changed.

The only criticism I would make was the temperature inside the place. On a freezing cold day, the open fire was always going to struggle to keep the pub warm, and whilst I did spot a radiator in the corner, I can understand why the management were reluctant to use the central heating. Putting my coat back on was sufficient to ward off the cold, and the purchase of one of the Gem’s homemade sausage rolls, also helped warm up the inner man.

I could have stayed for a third pint, but with the Old Ale almost equivalent to two pints of Fine Light, I allowed discretion be the better part of valour. I only just made it back to the station in time, as the level crossing barrier was once again closed. Fortunately, luck was on my side for once, and my train was running a few minutes behind schedule. I still haven’t worked out quite why the Victorian engineers, who constructed the Medway Valley Line, sited the station so far outside Aylesford itself, but there are plenty of other examples of this, throughout the south east.

Despite this conundrum, I’d managed to experience a pub that had been brought back from the dead, and enjoyed a brisk walk, both ways, in the process.