Friday on my Mind

An unholy alliance of health campaigners and anti-drink crusaders are warning that “Mad Friday”; billed as one of the busiest days of the year for UK pubs and clubs, could see alcohol-fuelled emergencies increase by up to 50%.

"Mad Friday" is the nickname for the last Friday before Christmas, and is probably the most popular night for firms' Christmas parties. Consequently it has become one of the busiest nights in the year for ambulances and the police.

My company’s Christmas meal took place last Friday and, whilst a reasonable amount of drink was consumed, people were generally well-behaved and there were none of the embarrassing incidents sometimes associated with firms’ do’s. I strongly suspect most company Christmas parties were similar. People know how to behave, especially when the boss is around, and with many having to drive home afterwards, soft-drinks are often the order of the day.

None of this, of course, prevents the anti-alcohol lobby from trotting out the same tired stories about drunken mayhem on our streets, and government body, Public Health England, has jumped on the band waggon and released a press statement urging people to sign up for “Dry January”.

Dr Yvonne Doyle, from Public Health England said people drinking "much more than usual" over the Christmas period can lead to "the NHS and police dealing with more drinking-related accidents and emergencies". Really??

"It's not surprising that many of us feel ready to take a break from alcohol," she added. "A period of abstinence could help encourage less harmful, better drinking habits in the long-term - even six months later, evidence from Dry January shows that more than two-thirds of participants are still drinking less". Less than when?


"As the festive season continues, we're urging people to take a break and get their 2016 off to a positive start by signing up for Dry January." What's positive about hitting the already beleaguered pub trade at its quietest period of the year?

The statistics put out by PHE fail to stack up, and with no information on the size, scope or range of people questioned, I strongly suspect that, like all such surveys, the whole thing is manipulated to give the answer the group is looking for.

Do they seriously believe that mature adults feel pressurised into drinking more over the festive period? Are people so utterly devoid of free will that they give in to social pressures to drink more than they might otherwise have done?

Apparently, more than half of us (53%) drink alcohol over the Christmas period even when we don’t necessarily want to. Really?

Of those that drink more than they usually do over the festive season, one in four (27%) agree they feel guilty for drinking more and nearly a third (30%) agree that they feel run down as a result of drinking. Some might well feel a bit run down, (and over-consumption of food and lack of exercise probably play an equal role here), but why would they feel guilty? No one forces them to carry on drinking.

One in five (21%) of us are tired of drinking alcohol by Christmas Eve. In other words, the majority of us (four out of five) aren’t! Many of us are still working on Christmas Eve, so where do these figures come from?

Last year’s Friday before Christmas saw sales of alcohol rise in Britain’s pubs, clubs, restaurants and hotels by 142% - and this does not take into account that the majority of alcohol sales are from shops. And???? So according to these health busy-bodies,  people aren’t allowed to spend time socialising and celebrating with friends,  family or colleagues.

The whole thing really is the usual predictable scare-mongering we have come to expect from the likes of Alcohol Concern, but for government-funded organisations to be sticking their oar in as well, seems to me a gross mis-use of public funds.

I strongly suspect that “Mad Friday” like “Black Friday” before it, will be little more than a damp squib. This sort of nonsense may well keep these prod-noses and health fascists in a job, but when my taxes are being used to tell me how to conduct my life, then I am not amused!

EBBC 2015 Pre-Conference Excursion - Looking Back

It’s been a couple of months now since EBBC Pre-Conference Excursion and I am still struggling to present an overall picture of the day’s events. The excursion took place on Thursday 27th August; the day before the conference kicked off. It was organised by the Belgian Family Brewers; an association of 22 family-owned companies representing some of the best traditions of Belgian brewing. The idea behind the

A taste of things to come

event was to showcase examples of each member company’s products and to attempt to give a brief history and overview of each. With every company keen to promote its own role within the association, this was never going to be easy, and in fact posed a serious logistical challenge for the excursion organisers.

To get an overall impression of how the day worked out it is necessary to consider that there was no way in which we could have visited all 22 of the breweries which belong to the Belgian Family Brewers Association. Instead we had four stopping points spread over the course of the day which were arranged so that between six and seven brewers were represented at each halt; with representatives from each company present to talk about their brewery, the beers they brew and to talk us through a tasting of some of their products.

Travelling in style

This was all well and good in theory, but somewhat ambitious and over-optimistic in practice, as small delays at each stop, and the length of some of the presentations, meant that the planned schedule seriously over-ran. When torrential rain and traffic problems on the Belgian motorway network are factored in, it is no surprise that we ended up arriving back in Brussels some two hours later than originally planned.

However, in the greater scheme of things, these were just minor irritations, and the day ended up being interesting, educational and jolly good fun; even if it was something of an endurance trip at times! It’s safe to say that we all came away with a much greater knowledge of Belgian brewing in general, and of the special role played by the Belgian Family Brewers in ensuring the methods, traditions and customs associated with some of the country’s best known beers continues to be passed on from one generation to the next.

A tent in a field on a wet August afternoon

We set off from the conference hotel on one of the wettest August days imaginable; something which ended up exasperating the aforementioned traffic problems. The coach we were travelling in belonged to the Belgian National Football Team - the “Red Devils”, and was painted up in the team’s colours and their logo; so despite the weather we were really journeying in style.  Our first stop was a hop garden planted in the grounds of the Palm Brewery headquarters, in the village of Steenhuffel.

The coach dropped us just off the road and then, following our guide, we hiked along a track towards a large marquee set up facing one of the aforementioned hop gardens. This was our base for lunch and also for the associated beer tastings and presentations. The marquee was rather an upmarket affair, with a wooden floor, a bar with full catering facilities in the background and a large TV screen to aid with the presentations.

It's quite a posh tent, mind you!

There were high tables, cleverly grouped around the larger supporting tent poles, so we divided ourselves up into appropriately sized groups around these tables and stood awaiting the first beer samples and the first of the five courses which were served for lunch. We also listened attentively to the first presentation which welcomed us to Steenhuffel, before launching into the history of the Palm Group of Breweries. 

To be honest there was rather too much in the way of facts and figures to be taken in; not just with the first presentation, but with all of them, and whilst they all had their own story to say, as the day progressed we all started to suffer from information overload. 

One of many presentations

Although I was taking notes, they weren’t that detailed; my presence on the trip being purely for enjoyment, and whilst I certainly wanted to enhance my knowledge of the Belgian beer industry, I was not there in some paid journalistic role where I would be expected to provide a full report on the day’s activities. What I can report is that, given the setting, the emphasis at this stop was on "hops". Beers and representatives from the following breweries were present in the marquee at Steenhuffel: Van Eeke, Het Anker, Lefebure, Huyghe and Duvel.

Sampling session at Lindemanns

The lunch which accompanied the first series of presentations, was excellent; as were the beers selected to go with each course. We later discovered that the marquee had not been erected solely in our honour, but had been put in place for an event scheduled to take place a few days later, when the hops in the adjacent fields would be picked, and then taken away to be used in the brewing of the Belgian equivalent of “green hop” beer. As it happened, the weather on the chosen day (Sunday) was glorious, so I would imagine that everything passed off as planned.

We made our way back across the fields to the awaiting coach, and then set off for our next scheduled halt at the Lindemanns Brewery in Vlezenbeek , in the heart of the “Lambic country” of  Payottenland. This was when the carefully-timed schedule began to go astray. The fact that the welcoming speeches, beer tastings and the presentations which took place at Lindemanns, also over-ran didn’t help either.

and the new!

The old

Unfortunately there was insufficient time to look around the brewery, 

with its brand-spanking new brewing plant, but we were given a quick look at the maturation room where the beer conditions in large oak vats, or Foeders, many of which date back several decades. Unsurprisingly the emphasis at this stop was on "yeast", and the other Belgian Family Brewers present were: De Brabander, Omer Vander Ghinste, Timmermans and Verhaeghe.

Brasserie Dupont

The rain had stopped by the time we re-boarded the coach, and then it was quite a lengthy drive to our next stop, the picturesque Dupont Brewery in the village of the same name. We entered a renovated old farm building, which forms part of the brewery, and then sat down around a long table. The Dupont Brewery dates from 1844, and is best known for its Saison Dupont. The host team had been joined by brewers from five other breweries, all keen to present their wares and tell us about their breweries. Consequently more glasses of beer were placed in front of us, and from this point on, everything started blurring into one.

Sampling session at Dupont

There were just too many beers to taste, too many presentations to listen to and consequently far too much information to take in, but I was taking notes (old habits die hard), so I can confirm representatives from the following companies were there to tell us about their breweries: Bosteels, St-Feullien, DeRyck, Brouwerij Roman and Brasserie de Silly. The guideline notes relating to this stop, indicate an emphasis on “more”, whatever that is supposed to mean!

From what I recall, it was no great distance to the final stop on our tour, namely the Dubuisson Brewery and the home of Bush beers. Here we were treated to something more solid in the form of a sit-down meal in the brewery restaurant. It being Belgium, and this being an excursion organised by the Belgian Family Brewers, we had that most Belgian of meal - Boeuf  Carbonnade with chips. It was rather good, and as well as a Dubuisson beer (Surfine - Saison) to drink, we sampled beers from De Koninck, De Halve Maan, Van Hosebrouck and Sint Bernardus.  We also met the head brewer from the latter brewery, and it was here that I first heard the tale about the brewery’s claim to be the brewer of the original Sint Sixtus-Westvleteren.

A Belgian classic for dinner

The evening finished with a tour of the extensive cellars beneath the brewery, where the beers quietly mature and condition in row after row of oak casks. The latter are, in the main, former wine barrels, primarily from Burgundy and once containing the famous Nuits St Georges wine. With the emphasis at Dubuisson on barrel-ageing, the focus at this final stop of the tour, was understandably on "oak".

I slept for most of the journey back to Brussels, awakening just as we arrived back in the city centre. This was some two hours or so later than scheduled. It had been a long, but interesting day, packed full of all sorts of beery goodies, and there would be more to come the following morning, as the conference proper was due to kick off!

Maturation cellar at Dubuisson

Looking back at both the various brewery leaflets I collected along the way, together with the notes I made (more comprehensive than I first thought), I believe there is sufficient information to do a more detailed write up on the four locations, with obvious emphasis on the beers sampled plus, where available, some back ground history of some of the breweries. This will be a project to keep me busy over the Christmas break, so it may be a few weeks before the first of these posts appears on the blog.

West Kent CAMRA Christmas meal - 2015

Not many photos, but today the Bailey family joined ten other West Kent CAMRA members and friends for the annual branch Christmas meal. This year’s venue was the Brecknock Arms at Bells Yew Green; a small and comfortable Harvey’s pub, just one stop on the train from Tunbridge Wells.

The pub provided the perfect location, combining the relaxed informal atmosphere of a village local with good food and equally good drink. This year’s dinner was an unqualified success and a complete contrast to five years ago, when we last visited the Brecknock for our Christmas meal. On that occasion the pub’s heating had broken down, and we sat huddled close to the fire, trying to keep warm!

There were no such problems this time and, if anything, we were almost too warm and cosy, particularly in view of the unseasonably mild weather outside. Eileen, Matthew and I went for the traditional roast turkey, which was very good. Also good were the Harvey’s beers, and with the Sussex Best being joined on the bar by XXXX Old Ale and draught Christmas Ale, I was in beer heaven!

Prior to our meal, we were joined for drinks by intrepid walkers Craig and Phil – plus dog, who had walked over, across the fields, from Tunbridge Wells. The Brecknock is that sort of pub; in fact everything a village pub should be, and it is great to see this Victorian local thriving again, following a period of uncertainty and several indifferent owners.

The turn-around in the pub’s fortunes, is down to new owners, Sally and David Fawcett who have transformed the Brecknock since taking over back in February. Together with their friendly staff, they coped admirably not only with our party of 12, but also with another group of diners in the other bar.

We left the pub, shortly before 4.30pm, to catch the train back to Tonbridge. A few intrepid souls alighted at Tunbridge Wells, announcing they were going up the hill to Fuggles, for some Otley O6 Porter. They are probably still there!

For some background information on Harvey’s outstanding Christmas Ale, click on this link to a video blog about the beer, from the company’s Edmund Jenner.

What Am I Supposed To Do With These?

What am I supposed to do with these? Well, drink them is the obvious answer, but it’s not so obvious with one of the beers. At 13% ABV, and packaged in a corked 75cl, screen-printed bottle, Bush – Scaldis Prestige de Nuits is a beer which isn’t going to take any prisoners. Matured in large oak casks, which had previously contained the famous Nuits Saint Georges wine, this special beer then undergoes a further conditioning in the bottle.

I was given the bottle when I visited the Dubuisson Brewery, in the village of Pipaix, in the Belgian province of Hainaut. The visit formed part of the European Beer Bloggers Pre-Conference Excursion, and was the final stop on what proved a packed and very beery day. We had dinner at the restaurant attaché to the brewery, and afterwards (or was it before?), we were shown the cellars beneath the brewery where the beer matures in these impressive oak casks.

The cellars - Dubuisson Brewery

All well and good, and never look a gift horse in the mouth, but there is no way I am going to drink that volume of a 13% beer on my own. My family won’t help, as my wife doesn’t drink and my son is an out and out Stella-drinking “lager lout”. We are not expecting any visitors over Christmas either, so I think the beer will just have to be laid down until a suitable occasion arises.

As for the other beer; well that too was a gift, and ironically enough it was acquired on the same beery trip, but this time at our first port of call. This was a rather up-market marquee, overlooking a hop garden planted in the grounds of the Palm Brewery headquarters, in the village of Steenhuffel, to the north of Brussels. We had stopped there for lunch, plus several beer tastings, on one of the wettest August days imaginable. The marquee had been erected for an event scheduled to take place a few days later, when the hops in the adjacent fields would be picked, and then taken away to be used in the brewing of the Belgian equivalent of “green hop” beer.

The other large 75cl bottle contains a “triple-hopped” beer, called Palm Hop Select. According to the label, the beer is hopped three times, the last addition being the “home-grown, aroma rich, Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops from Palm’s own Belgian hop field, are added”. These were the lovely ripe, bright-green cones we could see, hanging in abundance, just a short distance away. I need to find my notes from the trip, but I’m pretty sure this beer was the first we sampled that day.

At a mere 6% I will probably manage this one OK, but it will still require care in pouring as it is another bottle-conditioned beer, so the final question to ask is why do some brewers fill their beer into such large bottles? There is no single correct answer, but brewers do this for reasons of exclusivity, (as in the case of these two beers), but they also do it to enable the beer to be shared amongst friends, (something essential when dealing with a 13% ABV beer!). A beer packaged in one of these large bottles, also makes a nice gift; especially at this time of year. Finally, and probably most important of all, the above reasons all mean that brewers can sell these large bottles at a premium price.

The Doomslayer of Sevenoaks

Always smiling - Barry Dennis

When long-serving landlord, Barry Dennis, decided to remove Sharp’s Doom Bar from the bar of his Sevenoaks pub, customers and friends thought he was mad. Barry had been getting through between five and six firkins (9 gallon casks) a week of Doom Bar at the Anchor; one of the few remaining traditional town pubs in the heart of this affluent Kent town, so to drop one of his best-selling beers, seemed to many like he had taken leave of his senses!

Barry had his reasons though for, as he told me, he always believed in supporting the “little man”. Like many licensees, he had taken on Doom Bar, back in the day when Sharps were a relatively unknown small brewer, from a tiny Cornish village called Rock. The easy-drinking Doom Bar was an instant hit with the Anchor’s regulars, and pretty soon it became a permanent fixture on the bar.

Doom Bar was also a hit in many other pubs up and down the land; so much so that Sharp’s had to step up production at their Rock Brewery in order to keep up with the demand. As this beer, which is named after the dangerous “Doom Bar” sandbank at the mouth of the Camel Estuary in north Cornwall, became a common feature in the nation’s pubs, Sharps caught the attention of multi-national brewing giant, Molson Coors who bought the brewery in February 2011, for £20 million. Sales of Doom Bar continued to grow after the takeover, increasing by 22 per cent during 2011, making it the UK's fastest growing ale for the third year in a row. In 2015, it was revealed that the bottled version of Doom Bar had not been produced in Cornwall since 2013, and was brewed in Burton-upon-Trent.

This revelation was the last straw for Barry, so earlier this year he took the decision to ditch Doom Bar in favour of a beer with more integrity and also one which could be sourced locally. I was one of the people he confided in, but when he told me how many casks the pub was getting through each week I told him he would be crazy to drop the beer. Barry nevertheless decided to go ahead, but rather than jumping in feet first, he did his homework.

Ideally he wanted to go with a Kentish brewer, but when Sussex micro Turners came up with a proposal to brew a beer especially for the Anchor, he jumped at the chance. Turners had featured as a “guest ale” on several occasions at the Anchor, and their beers had been well received by the pub’s customers. Barry gave them the remit of coming up with a mid-strength, easy-drinking bitter which would appeal to the pub regulars, and in particular the Doom Bar drinkers.

A total of six test brews were produced, which were trialled amongst the Anchor’s customers, over a period of several weeks, before both Turners and Barry plumped for a 4.0% ABV fruity, traditional Sussex bitter. A competition was also held to choose an appropriate name for the beer, and one of the pub’s regulars came up with the name “Pride of Sevenoaks”. The beer was launched during the last week in November, with representatives from the brewery, plus the local press in attendance.

Unfortunately I couldn’t make that evening, as my family and I were off to Austria the following day, but at the beginning of this week our local CAMRA branch arranged an impromptu social at the Anchor, which gave me the ideal opportunity to go along and try the new beer for myself. Being a Monday, it was Texas Hold ‘em Poker night, and the pub was quit busy, but my friends were waiting, sitting at the bar, when I arrived. Barry was there of course, holding court behind the bar, and he pulled me my first pint of Anchor Pride of Sevenoaks. It was mid-brown in colour and reasonably well-hopped against a strong fruity background. I could understand why the beer was a suitable replacement for Doom Bar, and I would add that it has more character as well.

Although it is still early days, Barry said the beer is selling at roughly the same rate as Doom Bar, so it is obviously going down well with the Anchor’s regulars. I had a further pint, before finishing the evening with a pint of Harvey’s; purely because I wanted a beer with a few more hops. Barry did his usual, bringing out plates of sandwiches, hot dogs and sausage rolls. Although these were primarily for the poker players, there was still plenty left for the rest of the pub’s clientele.

Footnotes: 

Barry Dennis is the longest serving licensee in Sevenoaks. He comes from a family of publicans, and has been behind the bar of the Anchor for the last 35 years. Barry has certainly seen some changes since he first took over this traditional town pub in the town’s London Road, back in 1979. The Anchor was then a Charrington’s pub; serving Charrington IPA and Draught Bass. Barry remarked, the other evening, as to just how lively this legendary Burton beer used to when first tapped and how it was almost orange in colour, (pale amber would probably be a more appropriate description).

Barry is a real showman, conducting proceedings from behind the bar acting like a “Master of Ceremonies”. He never seems to stand still, and there is always something going on at the Anchor. Monday is the aforementioned Texas Hold ‘em Poker night, but the pub holds open mike nights for budding musicians, regular blues evenings, darts, presentations from various brewers, charity events and meat raffles. Barry is also a keen supporter of the town’s Stag Theatre, which is almost opposite the pub.

Turner’s are a brewery based at Highfield Farm, in Ringmer, East Sussex. They were established in 2010, and commenced selling their beers a year later. There are eight core beers; some of which are seasonal, but their best seller is their Ruby Mild. Turner’s beers have appeared at JDW outlets in both Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells, and have also been a regular feature at the Bedford – opposite Tunbridge Wells railway station. Their website can be accessed here, but it is not terribly informative, (presumably it is still under construction).

West Kent CAMRA AGM 2015

Saturday the 5^th December was the date for West Kent CAMRA’s Annual General Meeting. I thought I’d better go along and show my face, and it was a good job I did, as my presence increased the number of attendees to 16!

We learned at the meeting that the branch now has 582 members, so where were the other 566? A pretty poor show and something of a slap in the face for all the hard work put in by the current committee. The only real saving grace, over the past year, was that members did turn up, in quite large numbers, to help at October’s Spa Valley Railway Beer Festival; a joint event between this Heritage Railway organisation and West Kent CAMRA.

Constitutional Club

As in previous years, the meeting took place at Tunbridge Wells Constitutional Club; a venue well suited for such an event,  with several meeting rooms, plus a range of four different cask ales. Yesterday's beers were Harvey’s Best, Everard’s Tiger, Wychwood Dog’s B*ll*cks and Pig & Porter “Thief of Time” Porter. The Harvey’s was in fine form, but the offering from locally-based Pig & Porter my favourite was my favourite.

It’s worth noting that Pig & Porter are now the sole occupants of the 10 barrel plant, formerly by the now defunct Royal Tunbridge Wells Brewery. I say sole occupants because, for a while, the company shared the site with a contract lager-brewing company, based in one of the Baltic States, (I can’t remember which one). Having started out as an events company, supplying both beer and food (burgers and hog roasts a speciality), for weddings, birthdays, parties, shoots, point to points and corporate events, Pig & Porter seem to have upped the brewing side of the business, and are now producing a range of quality beers. They are certainly a welcome addition to the local beer scene.

Back to the meeting, and there was a struggle to fill vacant committee posts. This has been a problem in the past, but this year it seemed particularly acute. How to address this is an issue facing not just West Kent CAMRA, but other branches as well. The rest of the meeting was taken up with reports from various committee members, and whilst it is encouraging to learn that the branch finances are looking healthy, this does not really benefit the local membership as the majority of this money will have to be paid over to CAMRA HQ at St Albans. Perhaps if some of it could be spent on a “Jolly” for West Kent members, rather than wasted on publicity material for pointless campaigns, we might see a few more of them!

Once the main business was concluded, we adjourned downstairs for the buffet. I may sound like “Mr Grumpy” here, but the food supplied was barely sufficient for the 16 members who turned up; so had the turnout been double, we’d have been left fighting over the egg sandwiches and chicken nuggets!

I remained downstairs and sat reading the paper, whilst the rest of the attendees returned to the meeting room for that most contentious of issues (especially in the eyes of die hard activists), the nominations for the 2017 Good Beer Guide. I was told by one departing member, who’d had to leave early, that things were getting rather heated, so it seems I missed some of the fun, but the fact that branches are having to look ahead to 2017, when the 2016 Guide doesn’t hit the bookshops until October next year, says all that is need to be said about this antiquated white elephant of a publication. (Lighten up chaps, it’s not worth spilling blood over, and neither is it worth doing the editor’s job for him!).

 

Most, but not all of those present adjourned to Fuggles following the meeting. The latter has certainly established itself as Tunbridge Wells’ premier beer establishment since it opened two years ago. It was pretty busy when we arrived, but we managed to get a table. I stuck to the cask offerings, despite several of the craft range taking my fancy. In no particular order I enjoyed Celt Experience Iron Age 3.5%; Bristol Beer Factory Milk Stout 4.5% and personal favourite of the day Magic Rock High Wire 5.5%.

The one downside of Fuggles is it gets rather noisy; not from music being played over the speaker system, but just from the presence of so many people. With little in the way of soft furnishings, the one long room has a tendency to echo, and towards the end of our stay there. It became difficult to hear what other people were saying. It was time to move on.

The final port of call, prior to heading back home, was the Opera House; Tunbridge Wells’ Wetherspoon’s outlet. It wasn’t quite as packed as might have been expected on a Saturday night. I was flagging by this time and just had a soft drink, but I understand from my colleagues that the Old Dairy Red Top was rather good. As for the branch, well it remains in good hands for the immediate future, but unless we can attract the new blood which is so desperately required, then its long term survival seems far less certain.

The Woodman - Ide Hill

It’s strange how sometimes you can be living somewhere and not really know what is literally at your feet. I’ve resided now in the pleasant town of Tonbridge for 30 years; literally half a lifetime, so there aren’t many pubs in this part of West Kent which I haven’t visited.  Until yesterday evening, the Woodman at Ide Hill was one of them, but all that changed when I joined some of my work colleagues, plus visitors from Japan, for a meal at this attractive, but isolated free-house.

The company I work for is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan’s second largest dental manufacturing company. Every year, at around this time, a number of top officials from our parent company make the trip over from Japan for a directors’ meeting. Other meetings take place as well, but it is something of a joke amongst us that the visitors really come to do a spot of Christmas shopping; even though Christmas is a festival which is not really celebrated in Japan!

No matter, as it is always good to meet up with our overseas colleagues and to spend time together discussing projects and issues of mutual benefit. One longstanding tradition is that of going out for a meal with our guests, so yesterday evening we  headed over to the Woodman at Ide Hill; the venue selected by our General Manager for this year’s informal evening get-together.

Ide Hill is a small village situated on one of the highest points of the Greensand Ridge about five miles south-west of Sevenoaks. To the west of Ide Hill, but separated from it by an area of woodland, is the tiny hamlet of Goathurst Common, and it is here that the Woodman is situated. It was a wild and windy night as our taxi driver negotiated the narrow country lanes which traverse this densely wooded area, so we were glad when the lights of the pub appeared as we pulled into a clearing. It was then that I caught my first sight of the Woodman.

It’s hard to describe the exterior of the pub, as not only was it dark when we arrived, but we entered and left by the rear. It was evident that the interior has recently had a make-over, and whilst there were signs of obvious antiquity, it was difficult to discern which parts were original and which were modern additions made to look old by the use of old and reclaimed oak beams.

The interior certainly seemed Tardis-like, and with two levels. The bar was at the lowest level and to the rear of the pub. There was reasonable, but not terribly imaginative selection of cask ales – Harvey’s Sussex Best, Otter Bitter and the dreaded Doombar, whilst the keg offerings included Meantime London Pale Ale, Pilsner Urquell, Moretti and Noble Lager (from Greene King). I stuck with the Harvey’s - my first drop of English ale since returning from Austria 10 days before, and can report it was in excellent condition.

The food was good too and we had a most enjoyable evening with our Japanese visitors.  The pub itself was strangely quiet; although I imagine the foul weather had put people off from venturing out, but without our party of 13 it would have been virtually empty. One nice touch was a group of local carol singers had been booked to entertain the guests (and, I suspect to practice as well), and whilst they were singing some distance from where we were sitting, their presence (and carols) added a nice pre-Christmas touch to the evening.

Having whetted my whistle, I intend making a return visit to the Woodman, but in daylight next time. There are some good walks around this part of the Greensand Ridge, and a lunchtime stop at this tucked away pub would add to the pleasure of a ramble through the woods and hills of this attractive part of the county.