Getting back in the swing

Last week, following our return from Northumberland, we were treated to a reminder from mother nature, that autumn was finally upon us. Strong winds, cold temperatures, and driving rain during the start of our first week back to normality, served as a reminder that we are now just a month away from the final quarter of the year. The creeping loss of daylight, especially during the early evening, is another indicator that the nights are steadily drawing in, and that it won’t be that long before we’ll be driving home from work, in the dark.

Although I generally regard autumn as one of my favourite times of the year, the unexpected cold snap, and accompanying wind and rain brought on a deep sense of melancholia which left me feeling listless, lethargic and lacking in inspiration. What to do then, to shake myself out of it?  A visit to a local pub seemed a good idea, and after a drive over to Riverhead, for the weekly shop at Tesco’s, plus the remains of the previous evening’s Chinese take-away for lunch, I left the house and headed off into town.  Actually, I walked to the nearby bus stop because not only was I feeling lazy, I was convinced that I’d picked up the cold Mrs PBT’s claimed she was suffering from.

A bus came along surprisingly quickly, within a couple of minutes in fact, and with the aid of my bus pass, cost me exactly nothing! The next decision was get off the bus opposite Boots, for the Nelson Arms, or stay on to the far end of the High Street, and alight opposite Fuggles? The Nelson won, primarily because its location meant a walk through the Sports-ground, but with a good range of cask to choose from, and the prospect of a dark beer or two, my mind was made up. It had been five weeks since my last visit to the "Nelly", as it its known locally, even though it only seemed like yesterday, and the pub was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday afternoon.

A residents street party was taking place at the far end of Cromer Street that overlooks the rail tracks, although no one in the pub knew what it was in aid of. The main attraction for me though, was the rich, dark and full-bodied Derailed Porter, from Five Points Brewing. Coincidentally my previous visit to the Nelson had been just prior to taking the train into London, for the BGBW Summer Party, at the Five Points Brewery That aside, Derailed Porter was an excellent beer, that some writers (not me, I hasten to add), would describe as “chewy.”

As mentioned above, the pub was surprisingly quiet, considering both the day and the time, with much of the custom coming from the street party outside, with people popping in, ordering a quick pint – on the promise of returning their glass, when empty, but for me it was a nice time to be sitting there, basking in the quiet, and relaxing atmosphere that goes with a mature pub, that is assured of its stature and position in both the local and the wider community.

As on my previous Saturday afternoon visit, a month or so earlier, I bumped into a former chairman of my local CAMRA branch, who appears to include the Nelson on his Saturday afternoon drinking circuit. We spent an interesting 20 minutes or so catching up on beer related topics, that included a new brewery in Shoreham (its beer is available at the Samuel Palmer in the village) as well as next month’s Spa Valley Railway Beer Festival. Ian is putting the beer order together for the event, and Alnwick Brewery, which we visited during our Northumberland trip, features on the list. Alnwick act as wholesalers for other small breweries in the north-east, region, as well as the Scottish Borders, so there should be some interesting beers on sale at the festival.

The following day, I called in briefly at my workplace, primarily to make use of the builder's skip standing in the carpark and dispose of some unwanted items (junk) that have been gathering dust in the shed since time immemorial. This short visit proved the perfect excuse for a drink at a nearby (relatively speaking) pub, that has long been one of my favourites, even though I don’t often manage a visit there. I’m talking here about the Rock at Chiddingstone Hoath, a small and quite isolated community, situated on high ground to the north-west of Tunbridge Wells.

The pub itself is around 500 years old and is a former drovers' inn that has retained many original features. As one would expect, there are plenty of exposed beams, that complement the brick flooring of the main bar. The main focus of the pub is the wood burning stove and the adjacent, ring-the-bull game. There have been some minor alterations to the bar, primarily to allow access to the garden at the rear, and kitchen has also been upgraded.

I’ve known the Rock for the past 40 years, and have witnessed several changes of ownership, along with various alterations, most of which, I’m pleased to say, have been relatively minor. For a time, the pub was leased to Larkin’s Brewery, who are based a mile or two down the road in Chiddingstone village, but it is now a thriving free house which still stocks Larkin’s, along with a couple of other beers. A recent and very welcome addition, is the over-spill car park, occupying a small field, on the opposite side of the road. It certainly makes visits by car, to the Rock a lot easier. When Matthew and I called in on Sunday, Harvey’s Best and Sussex Pale from Lakedown Brewing were on sale, alongside the local Larkin's offering. I gave the Lakedown brew a try, as despite having seen it on sale in a number of local pubs, I had never tried the beer. Described by the brewery as a modern pale ale, loaded with English Cascade & Ernest hops for an aromatic finish, it ended up being the perfect lunchtime pint. You can read more about Lakedown Brewing, here.

Given the fine weather, we took our pints outside and sat in the pleasant garden at the rear of the pub. It was good to see the Rock busy with customers, taking advantage, like us, of the early autumn sunshine, and given the pub’s isolated position the bustling trade was a good sign. 

On our drive back to Tonbridge, we passed by the Bottle House, another classic country pub, albeit a rather upmarket establishment these days. This too seemed popular, with vehicles parked along both sides of the lane, despite the pub’s substantial car park. Both visits – town and country, provided evidence that the pub trade is in good health, at least is some parts of the country, although it’s safe to say the same seems to apply to parts of the North East as well, if our recent visit to Northumberland is anything to go by. Long may this situation continue!