Third time lucky - Parts 1 & 2

It was a case third time lucky last Sunday afternoon when, after a spot of shopping in Tunbridge Wells, Matthew and I decided we could do with a drink. It wasn’t exactly serious shopping, but rather an excuse to get out of the house and leave Mrs PBT’s in peace. We didn’t realise at the time, but Eileen was in the early stages of a bout of cellulitis. You might not have heard much about this condition, but if not treated quickly it can be serious, and even life-threatening.

I won’t go into details here, although if you want to know more, then take a look on this link, but what I will say is that between us Mrs PBT’s and I know quite a few people who have had cellulitis, and that most of them are male. Eileen has been prescribed a course of strong antibiotics, so strong in fact that they have left her feeling nauseous, and completely off her food. I’m jumping the gun somewhat here, as on Sunday, whilst suspecting cellulitis was the cause of my wife’s malaise (she’d experienced this condition previously, about, three years ago), we weren’t quite completely certain, and besides, I want to get back to the narrative and tell you more about the three pubs we visited.

Upon reaching Tunbridge Wells, we headed to the south of the town and the area next to the former Tunbridge Wells West station. The site is occupied by a large Sainsbury’s superstore at one end, and by branches of both Lidl and Homebase at the other, and it was the latter shops that we called in at. For the record though, Tunbridge Wells West station still stands, with the large, former booking hall and waiting rooms, surmounted by an impressive clock tower, now home to a Smith & Western, "cowboy-inspired" restaurant, alongside a small hotel.

The Spa Valley Railway, now operate a heritage service of mixed steam and diesel trains along the former BR branch-line to Eridge, and it was the latter station we were heading for, by car though, rather than by rail. The line to Eridge, formerly connected the West station with Tunbridge Wells Central, although following the removal of the rail link, the “central” suffix has been dropped. The line itself closed pretty late in the general scheme of things, after having survived the notorious Beeching cuts of the mid-1960’s, by some 20 years or so.

It was a useful diversionary route, so its cull by the notoriously anti-railway government of Margaret Thatcher, was both unjustified, unnecessary, and almost certainly was driven by the redevelopment potential of the large goods yard and train depot, next to the West Station. As mentioned earlier, the former west yard was snapped up by Sainsbury’s, with the large area of adjacent flat ground forming an ideal car park.

Since those dark days of 1985, the heritage enthusiasts of the SVR have managed to reopen the former line in stages, initially to Groombridge and then eventually to Eridge, where it connects with the Southern mainline to Uckfield. I am mentioning the SVR primarily because their preserved railway line crops up several times in this narrative. Also, as mentioned earlier, it was Eridge we were heading for, in order to visit the Huntsman pub, next to the station.

This former King & Barnes pub, is now a free-house, having been sold on by Dorset brewers, Hall & Woodhouse, who took over, and the closed the much, lamented K & B Brewery, in Horsham, back in the early 2000’s. I’ve soft spot for the Huntsman, which probably dates back to the last time I travelled from Tonbridge to Eridge, on a British Rail train. This would have been shortly before the line closed in the mid 80’s.

I’ve only returned to the Huntsman on a handful of occasions since then, although I’ve been meaning to revisit for quite some time. The last time I set foot in the pub, was on a return from a winter ales festival, held at the Coopers Arms in Crowborough, but prior to that Matthew and I had visited the Huntsman a decade or so previously. On that occasion we were in the company of friends from West Kent CAMRA, and the visit followed on from a ride on the Spa Valley Railway. We enjoyed a decent lunch at the pub, along with some equally fine Badger ales, before walking across country to the picturesque Crown Inn, overlooking the green at neighbouring Groombridge.

This time we headed south from Tunbridge Wells, before turning off the busy A26 road at the bottom of a valley. We then followed the road for a short distance past Eridge station and parked the car. As we walked along to pub, we could see across to the sunken garden at the side of the pub. It seemed deserted, which set alarm bells ringing, and when we reached the entrance, there was no sign of life and just a rather ominous notice on the door.

“Sorry, we are unable to open the pub today, due to a power outage,” or words to that effect, which meant my second attempt, this year, to visit the Huntsman, ended in failure. "Never mind,” I said to Matthew, we can visit the High Rocks instead. Returning to the car, we followed the narrow road from the pub, in a roughly westerly direction, whilst keeping an eye out for a turning on the right, to the High Rocks.

We didn’t see one, and not long after, ended up in Groombridge. We could have stopped at the aforementioned Crown, but parking can be a little tricky there, so we continued up the hill towards Tunbridge Wells, through Langton, and the edge of Rusthall. Plan C was to call in at the Beacon situated along the quaintly named Tea Garden Lane. It must be a decade or more since I last set foot in the Beacon, but back in the day it was a favourite watering hole for local CAMRA members, due to it stocking the then, rather rare, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord.

A lot can change in 10 years, or even in four, because the pub was last surveyed by the local CAMRA branch in January 2019, but since that time the Beacon appears to have morphed into a very upmarket, wedding venue. It was all very pleasant, but the place is no longer a pub catering to the casual drinker. We walked up the steps leading to the terrace bar, passing through what looked like the reception area, as the Beacon now offers accommodation.

At the bar, we directed through to the terrace, by a member of the waiting staff. I said that we only wanted a drink, to which the reply was, “That’s fine, I will bring you the drinks menu.” This duly arrived, but it seemed to be wine only. When I mentioned the Beacon’s former reputation for “real ale,” the young man gave me a look that straight away said he didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. “It it’s beer you want, we do have Coors,” he said, with a faint hint of expectation in his voice.

I politely declined his offer and told him we’d be heading elsewhere.  This was a shame, as the view from the Beacon’s terrace was stunning, with vistas right across what is known locally as "Happy Valley," and it is this natural feature through which the Tunbridge Wells- Eridge line runs – (Spa Valley Railway!). As if to illustrate the point, we heard the whistle of a steam train as it passed through the wooded course of the River Grom below us.

I called this piece, "third time lucky," and indeed we both were when we made our way to the third hostelry of the afternoon. However, despite the title of this post, I shall have to leave describing the “lucky” third pub, until next time, as I’ve waffled on rather too long with this one. To be continued.

Footnote: It appears that a communication problem was responsible for the perceived “no beer” situation at the Beacon, as following the post, a friend phoned the Beacon and was told, by the manager, that they currently have on two Cellar Head keg beers, English Pilsner, and Session IPA, plus a few of their "lovely" bottles.

I also discovered that the “drinks menu” given to Matthew and I, was a photocopy of just one side of the menu, and was missing the bulk of the information relating to the snacks, charcuterie, lunch, cocktail and the "Draught.” The latter, of course was the beer. So full apologies to the Beacon, even though this mix-up could easily have been avoided.

Further details can be found in the extensive correspondence between Stafford Paul and me in the comments section.