West Kent by bus

Last Friday I joined nine another beer lovers on a bus trip out to a couple of locations to the west of Tunbridge Wells. The trip was organised by West Kent CAMRA, and whilst I am no longer a member of this leading consumer group, I still keep in touch with what the local branch are up to. As with previous bus trips, the objective was to spend a bit of time at some pubs that the branch, as a whole, doesn't often get the chance to visit. The journey was made using normal service buses, and this time around participants who were not old enough to qualify a free bus pass, were able to take advantage of the capped £2.00 fare scheme, which runs to the end of March.

Our first destination was the attractive village of Penshurst, in order to enjoy a few pints at the historic Leicester Arms Hotel, in the centre of the village, before moving on to the small West Kent town of Edenbridge. If time allowed, we would have the opportunity to visit the three pubs in the town centre, before taking the bus, or the train home.

For the bus geeks amongst us, we travelled out from Tunbridge Wells to Penshurst, on the 231 Metro Bus service, and after spending time at the Leicester Arms, transferred to the 233 service to Edenbridge. With an 11:39 departure time from T. Wells, I had plenty of time to make my way over from Tonbridge, also by bus, visit the building society, and grab a coffee, before joining my fellow travellers. There were eight of us in total, although a couple of hardy individuals walked over from Tonbridge and met us at the Leicester Arms.

Our contingent of beer enthusiasts, accounted for the majority of passengers on the bus, as it followed the route out through Langton Green, before turning off towards the hilltop village of Fordcombe. The latter settlement is home to the Chafford Arms, an imposing pub which none of us appear to have visited for several years. In my case, it’s been over 10 years since I last set foot in the Chafford, although I did attempt a visit whilst passing through on a Sunday lunchtime, last summer, only to find both the car park, and the road leading to the pub, bursting at the seams, with parked vehicles.

A lengthy hill, that is both steep and winding, leads out of Fordcombe, down towards the river Medway, which it crosses via an old stone bridge. The road then heads back up across the other side of the valley, across a ridge, before dropping back down into Penshurst. We arrived just after midday; the sun was shining, and it was it was pleasantly warm, so with 95 minutes to spend in the village, the tour leader suggested we take a look at the group of historic houses, just across the road from the Leicester Arms, and virtually next to the village church.

According to our “guide,” these attractive looking properties, which are centred around a small square, form the original Leicester Square. The name originates from the Sidney Family, who held the title of Earl of Leicester between 1618 and 1743. They were prominent landowners in both Kent and central London and gave their name to both squares. The family still own, and live in, the nearby Penshurst Place, an impressive, late 14^th Century, fortified manor house, which is situated just a short hop away from the village centre. You can learn more about the connection between the two Leicester Squares, by clicking on the link here.

Returning to the pub, the Leicester Arms Hotel, is a fine looking, ivy-covered building, dating back to the 16^th Century,  and is just a short hop from the gates of the aforementioned Penshurst Place, right in the centre of the village. It offers 13 well-equipped ensuite bedrooms, a restaurant, and a function room, but happily the front, right hand side of the building still functions as a proper pub. It features a bar, which is open all day, offering a warm welcome to locals and visitors alike. I can personally vouch for the bar, as I have been known to call in, from time to time, on my way home from work.

It was the pub part of the building that we all gravitated to once we’d finished the “cultural bit”, and whilst we weren’t the first customers in the pub, we came a close second. There were three cask ales on sale, Larkin’s Traditional, Harvey’s Best and Brakspear’s Oxford Gold. Several of us, including me, went for the latter, as I knew from previous visits, that this Brakspear’s beer is usually in good condition. My companions reported the same for the Larkin’s and the Harvey’s. We hadn’t been in the pub long, before our two intrepid walkers arrived, along with another member who lives in nearby Leigh.

I took the time to explore the pub a bit further, and headed for the rear of the building where the restaurant is situated. A quarter of a century ago, the Tonbridge-based company I was working for at the time, held its annual Christmas meal at the Leicester Arms, so it was interesting seeing the room in daylight. There was a nice atmosphere in the bar that day, with a good sprinkling of customers, some of them accompanied by their dogs. Being a rural pub, many customers had brought their canine companions with them, and with its bare wooden floors, muddy paws, as well as boots, do no present a problem.

Shortly before 1.30pm, it was time for us to hand over our empty glasses, leave the pub and walk across the road to the bus stop, to catch our next bus, the 233 Metro Bus service to Edenbridge. Once again, our party constituted the majority of the passengers, but there were still plenty of seats for us to sit down and enjoy a pleasant journey through the Kent countryside, to Edenbridge. We came in at the top (northern) end of the town, passing several pubs as we carried on down the High Street.

We would potentially be visiting two of them later on, but for the meantime we were focussed on the Old Eden, a 16^th Century pub, situated next to the river Eden. We’d decided that the Eden would be our best option for something to eat, but we were still cutting it a bit fine with our 2pm arrival time. The website states that the kitchen is open until 3pm, but with eight out of ten of us wanting feeding, it potentially represented a tall order for the catering staff.

We were OK, although it was only after the barmaid checked with the kitchen that our request for food was met. Even then there was no fish and no pies left on the menu. I went for the old pub standby of sausage and mash, with peas and onion gravy, an option that several of my companions, also went with. The bar staff suggested that we sat upstairs, where there is a semi-open, mezzanine-type area, set amongst the roof space. At least one of the taller members of the party came a cropper whilst walking under one of the low cross-members.

Beer wise, the choice was Adnam’s Ghost Ship or Harvey’s Best. I started with the former because, whilst I am not a massive fan of Adnam’s best selling beer brand, it was a long time since I last sampled it in cask form. It was alright, but if I’m brutally honest, I prefer the company’s older, and more traditional brews, such as Southwold or Broadside. The fact that I switched to Harvey’s for my second pint, says it all, really.

 It's a long time since I last visited the Old Eden, but the pub seemed to be doing alright. There was a group of lads, downstairs, playing pool, whilst at the other end of the bar, there were the proverbial, “ladies that lunch”. I suspect they had polished off the fish, and they must certainly have eaten all the pies, but as with the Leicester Arms, it was good to see the place buzzing.  After our meal it was time to move on, and on the way out I apologised to the bar staff for us turning up, “mob-handed” without any notice.

They seemed OK about it, although I suspect they would have preferred us booking in advance. I discussed this afterwards with the trip organisers, but their point was that due to the turn-up and go nature of these bus trips, it is difficult to gauge prior demand for food. The last thing they wanted, was to advise a pub that 10 people would be coming, and then only half that number actually turn up on the day. The situation is different to what occurs with a booked and paid for in advance mini-bus trip, which basically means there is no hard and fast answer.

So where to next? The choice was either the Ye Olde Crown – another traditional, town pub, dating back to the 16^th Century, or the Secret Cask – a shop-conversion, micropub. From it website, the Crown looks very comfortable and cosy, but the consensus seemed to be to go for the micro, because of its enhanced beer range. Having visited the Crown previously, I fell into the micropub camp, although had time allowed, I would have gone to the traditional pub as well. A couple from our group did pop along, as an advanced party, and reported that Ghost Ship (again!) and Whitstable Bay were the cask offerings.

The Secret Cask it was then, it is Edenbridge's first micropub, and occupies the premises of a former florist's shop. The pub opened in August 2018, and internally there are two rooms. Some might describe them as cosy, whilst others might say they were cramped, but to tempt the drinker there is a changing selection of four cask beers (regional from Kent, Sussex, Surrey, London) served by gravity from a small bar, alongside four craft beers on keg. I made the mistake of inadvertently opting for one of the latter – AM:PM from Thornbridge.

Described as a sessionable beer with all the flavours and body of an IPA, the beer was too cold and too gassy for my liking. I should have paid attention when ordering, but the temperature and the gassiness worked in my favour, as they served to slow down my rate of drinking. There’s not much more I can say about the Secret Cask, apart from moaning about the inadequate, unisex toilet facilities that seem a compulsory feature of most micropubs. Also, apart from our group, there were only two other drinkers in the place, and they soon left. We were quite raucous at times, so I imagine that we might have put off any drinker who just fancied a quiet pint, and a bit of solitude.

For the majority of the party, it was time to depart and wait for the 233 bus back to Tunbridge Wells. This made little sense for the Tonbridge contingent, so myself plus the two walkers decided to take the train instead. This gave us an extra half hour in at the Secret Cask. It was quite a hike from the pub, up to the top station – a route I was familiar with from when I was walking the North Downs Way. Nick and Chris live in the same road as me, so we know each other well, and when we arrived back in Tonbridge, called in for a quick nightcap at the Nelson Arms (Kent Brewery Old Ale), before walking back home together, to our respective houses.