My longing for a pint of English ale, in an English pub, is finally satisfied.

After over three weeks’ worth of blogging about cruising and visiting foreign parts, we come back down to earth now with a bang, in the form of a brief respite from exotic locations, blue skies and hot sunny days afloat. In common with all good things, our three-week cruise sadly came to an end when we docked at Southampton, early on Friday morning.

A rather damp Saturday was spent unpacking followed by a shopping expedition to Tesco, in order to restock the food cupboard. Sunday dawned bright and sunny, so after a brief lie-in, I was up, and out of bed, at least half an hour before Mrs PBT's. By the time she eventually surfaced, I had a machine load of washing on the go, had finished emptying my suitcase, and returned virtually all of the items taken with me on the cruise, back to their rightful place.

My wife was some way behind me, although we were not in a race with one another, and to be fair, she probably packed twice as much clothing as I did. She had also packed for both warm and cold conditions, as I later discovered, when I started emptying one of her cases. As it turned out, the cardigans, scarves etc, all designed to keep her warm on deck when the winds were blowing, and the rain lashing down, were not needed, as apart from the last three days we were blessed with wall-to-wall sunshine and temperatures that were positively balmy.

Afterwards, I did a spot of tidying up in the garden. There were several bowls worth of tomatoes to be picked, and Eileen ended frying some of them up for a light breakfast/early lunch. You can't beat sun ripened tomatoes freshly picked from the garden, and with some thick, crusty bread to mop up the juices, this was just the thing to set us both up for the day ahead. By mid-afternoon I had achieved most of what I’d set out to do in the garden, and decided it was time for a well-earned pint of traditional English ale. Consequently, I headed down into Tonbridge to the Nelson Arms which, as many followers of this blog will be aware, is one of the best pubs in town. To underscore this status, the Nelson was recently announced as one of four finalists, in the 2023 CAMRA National Pub of the Year contest.

I am not sure when judging for the final round of the contest takes place but having got this far, and into the top four finalists, is a fantastic achievement and something that Matt, Emma, and the rest of the team at the Nelson, can be immensely proud of. Being Sunday lunchtime, I expected the Nelson to be busy, but even so I was taken aback at just how many people were crammed into the pub. With no chance of a seat, I squeezed myself in at a corner to the left of the bar counter and waited to be served.

As always, there was a good selection of beer on offer, but the one that caught my eye was Shere Drop, from Surrey Hills Brewery, and a beer I've always held in high regard. The pint that the bar staff pulled up for me, certainly didn't disappoint, and whilst it wasn't strictly true to say that it hardly touched the sides, I still managed to knock it back quite rapidly. It’s hard to say whether my thirst was due to the warm and sunny late October conditions outside, my brisk walk down from home, or a combination of both, but whatever the reason that pint slid down a treat. It was definitely one of the best beers I’ve had in a long, long time.  

I noticed a friend from CAMRA, sitting round the corner and enjoying Sunday lunch with his wife and either mother or mother-in-law, and popped over to say hello, but not wishing to intrude on an extended family meal, I only stopped for he briefest of chats. Jon asked if I'd gone over to the Spa Valley Railway Beer Festival, which was taking place over the weekend. I told him I hadn’t, as I had just returned from holiday. He replied that he hadn't been to the festival either but had heard that prices were on the steep side. The high prices were confirmed on Monday, by a work colleague, although she did say the beers were in good condition.

Either way, I’m pleased for both the local CAMRA branch, and the staff of the Spa Valley Railway, all of whom work tirelessly to make the event a success. For my part, I was just pleased to be spending my time in an unspoiled, traditional town pub that could be on the verge of scooping the highest award that any pub can wish for, rather than being crammed in at a crowded and, at times manic beer festival, regardless of how many beers might be on sale.

Returning to the Nelson, the pub certainly appeared popular that day, with sports fans in the left-hand bar, and diners enjoying a Sunday roast, or an afternoon drink in the rest of the pub. Despite the hustle and bustle, Matt still found time for a brief chat with me, before being called away to take another food order help the waiting staff clear space for the next influx of hungry local residents. Taking time to acknowledge customers, both old and new is always the sign of a good landlord, and Matt is definitely one of the best.

Following on from the Surrey Hills offering, I decided to go for a pint of Gales HSB, a beer that is something of an old favourite, but which has made a comeback in recent years, thanks to promotion from “new” owners, Fuller’s. I wrote about HSB back in the summer after it made a couple of appearance locally, turning up in both Tonbridge and Lewes. It was in fine form at the Nelson as well, on Sunday, so perhaps I should have stuck with it, instead of going all experimental.

By this I am referring to an “Elderberry Porter” called Ebulum, from Rother Valley Brewery, which wasn’t quite as appealing as it sounded. Having sampled homemade elderberry wine in the dim and distant past, I should have remembered that these berries have a high tannin content, which can impart a very astringent mouthfeel to the finished product. Ebulum was no exception, and although an interesting experiment on the part of the brewery, it really didn’t work for me.

The beer was OK, and certainly not undrinkable, but at the same time I was glad to have only ordered a half. By the time I'd ordered this third beer, several of the dining parties had left the premises and eventually I had a very nice and comfortable easy chair tucked away in the snug bar, which is almost a separate room, to the far right of the main bar. It was an extremely pleasant way to while away a Sunday afternoon, and just what I needed to set me up ready for the rigours of a return to work after a three-week absence.