Two good pub towns, on the Surrey - Hants border. Part 1, Alton

Last Friday, I participated in an organised outing with a group of ten fellow beer and pub enthusiasts, including Retired Martin, Citra, and 'Prop up the Bar' Nick, all familiar individuals from previous excursions to locations such as Bath and Birmingham. The chosen destination for this trip comprised two towns in close proximity: Farnham as the primary destination, with the smaller neighbouring town of Alton as the secondary one. I had previously been to Farnham, having passed through en route to Southampton for a cruise. 

On that occasion, we stayed overnight, at a Holiday Inn,  near Winchester, prior to taking a taxi to the cruise port, but I also visited the town, back in October 2022, when I completed the North Downs Way, long distance footpath. Emerging from the trees opposite the A31 Farnham bypass, I enjoyed a much-needed pint at the Mulberry, close to the station before heading into town for a few more drinks at the Nelson Arms, which was one of the pubs on Friday's itinerary.

Anyway, on this occasion I would be seeing Farnham in a different light, but first before talking about the pubs, I want to continue travel theme and describe the journey I undertook to get there, from my home in Tonbridge. I travelled across country using the Tonbridge-Redhill line, before switching onto the North Downs Line at Redhill. This then took me to Guildford, where a further change of trains took me through Farnham and then on to Alton.  

 The Tonbridge-Redhill line acts as a useful diversionary route for London - bound trains, when the tracks north of Tonbridge are blocked by engineering works, or other issues affecting the line. This probably explains why it was kept open despite the infamous Beeching cuts of the 1960’s and early 70’s, but it wasn’t until 1994 that the line was finally electrified. Electrification continues as far as Reigate, the next stop after Redhill, but really the whole line should have been electrified, as today this stretch of the North Downs Line is operated by a fleet of noisy and diesel multiple units.

Despite the noise, and the rattling of the rolling stock, travelling back along this line brought back fond memories, from three or four years ago. This was when I was walking the North Downs Way between Redhill and Guildford, and where intermediate stations, such as Betchworth, Gomshall and Chilworth, served as useful staging posts. On each occasion it meant a steep climb after leaving the station, before reaching the top of the escarpment, in order to pick up the trail. Happy days, and with much of that particular stretch of the North Downs covered by beech-woods, pleasant memories as well. Journeying by this cross-country route saved me roughly half of the cost of travelling via London, and with my Senior Railcard, the return fare worked out at an affordable £22.35.

Alton is the end of the line, as far as regular passenger services are concerned, but until 1973, the tracks ran all the way to Winchester. I don’t think this closure can be blamed on the infamous Doctor Beeching, as this was a little after his time, but with hindsight it does seem rather short-sighted to have closed another useful diversionary route. The line did not completely close because a preserved railway currently operates a 10 mile stretch of track, between Alton and New Alresford. This route is referred to as the Watercress Line, as it was once used to transport freshly harvested watercress from the beds in the Itchen Valley, to markets in London. 

Alton is the birthplace of author, Jane Austen and also has a history as a brewing centre. Beer has long been part of its heritage - older drinkers may recall Courage Alton Bitter, Harp Lager also had a factory in the town, which was established by a consortium comprising Guinness, Courage, and several smaller breweries. The objective was to producing a home-grown lager brand, with Guinness's famous Irish Harp symbol used as its logo. 

Whether truncating the line at Alton is to blame for the slightly backwater feel to the town; that “end of the line” effect, but it wasn’t until we got back to Farnham that I noticed the quite striking difference between the two towns. For a start, Farnham has a population of just under 40,000 persons, whilst Alton can only boast around half of that figure. Nevertheless, the latter seemed a good starting point for our day out, even though we only visited three pubs in Alton, as opposed to five in Farnham.

My train pulled into Alton at around 11:40, which allowed sufficient time to walk to the first pub on the itinerary, prior to it opening its doors. Waiting for me at the station, as if he knew I was coming, was none other than Martin Taylor, aka retired martin, ace pub-ticker and GBG completist, as well as one of the most accomplished of pub men that one could wish to know. 

I’d taken the precaution beforehand, of printing off a town map, but with Martin acting as my guide, the pair of us made our way through the centre of Alton, past the hotel he had booked into for the night, to the first pub of the day. This was the Ten Tun Tap House, a craft beer and cask ale pub with its own onsite brewery, situated just off the Market Square.

Housed in a modern, brick-building, with a bare wood minimalist interior, TTTH is a pub with a bright and airy feel to it, along with something for everyone., This included a seat at the bar, a bench in the sun, big tables for large groups plus up to 15 different draught beers – 4 on hand-pump, plus 11 craft keg. Waiting for us at the pub, were the 10 or so other participants, including Citra Mick, plus Nick C. The rest of he group were local CAMRA members, most of whom were described to me as members of CAMRA Discourse.  I confess to knowing absolutely nothing about “Discourse” apart from it being a kind of “talking shop”  or echo chamber for CAMRA members to obsess and pontificate on various pub, beer and CAMRA branch related topics. I’m not going to say any more, as they all seemed a decent bunch, with a similar age to myself, and who am I to pass judgement? I was also their guest, in a manner of speaking. 

I chose a keg beer, called Sad Ken, produced in the brewery at the rear of the pub, primarily because I was in Untappd beer-ticking mode, and the two cask beers from Marble and Iron Pier, were ones I was already familiar with. It was a rather hazy American-style IPA, so I was pleased that I only ordered a half. I was also looking to pace myself over the course of what I knew would be a long day. 

Although I was introduced to the Discourse “mob”, I’m hopeless at remembering names, so apologies to anyone in the group whose name I might have missed – my memory has never been my strong-point!  Before moving on to the next pub, I took a peep through the windows, into the brewery, as well as several photos. Everything looked shiny and new, and in complete contrast to the next pub, which was as traditional as they come. The Eight Bells is a Grade II listed building dates from the 1640s and has been a pub since at least the 1840s when it was known as the Sawyers Arms. This white-painted and unassuming pub, is situated about 10 minutes walk away from the centre of town, amongst a maze of attractive back streets, and virtually opposite the attractive St Lawrence's church.

With a large main bar, plus a couple of smaller rooms leading off to the left of the serving area, the Eight Bells keeps old fashioned hours, with a closed period between 2 and 5pm. It was Local CAMRA Pub of the Year 2023 & 2024, a fact reflected by its interesting range of beers. With two brews from the Flower Pot Brewery at Cheriton, plus offerings from Bowman and Black Sheep, we were spoiled for choice, but I went for the Flower Pots Bitter, and old favourite, but one I hadn't seen for a long time.

And so, to the final pub in the Alton section of the visit, which was the Railway Arms, just a short hop from the station. The Railway is a tied house belonging to Triple fff Brewery, a small, but longstanding company based in the village of Four Marks, close to the Watercress Line. The company was founded in 1997, and in 2008, their Alton's Pride was awarded Supreme Champion Beer of Britain. I of course had to try a glass, along with Moondance, another Triple fff Beer. 

Most of the brewery's beers are either song or album titles, (Alton’s Pride aside), whilst the pub itself, looks like a couple of terraced Victorian cottages, knocked through into one. It is a very popular pub, with a strong local following, and is also the current CAMRA Pub of the Year. We departed shortly before 2pm, and caught the train back down the line to Farnham. It was only a 10 minute ride, but we'll leave the story here for the moment, and continue next time with the pubs of Farnham.