Canned Job

Well I’m a little behind with my posting, as I’m still working on my “Year in Beer” review of 2018, so for something to be going on with, here’s a very short post about a bargain I picked up at Tesco over the Christmas-New Year break.

You may recall me saying that St Austell Proper Job was one of my “go to” beers over the Christmas period, so whilst picking up a few festive goodies from Tesco – not a store we normally use, (simply because the nearest large outlet is at Sevenoaks), I also noticed these bad boys.

Yes, you are seeing correctly, Proper Job is now available in nicely-presented, 330ml cans. Unlike the bottles, the canned version is not naturally conditioned, but that doesn’t detract from the taste at all.

These six-packs normally retail at £7, but over the festive season, Tesco were knocking them out for just £5 a pack. Needless to say, I stocked up, especially as they’re so handy to slip in the fridge, but sadly I’m down to my last pack now.

I haven’t been back to check, but I would imagine that the £2 off promotion has come to an end. It was good whilst it lasted, but this sort of presentation must be something of a first for a premium ale brand.

All change at the top

It makes a nice change to see some positive news about CAMRA in fact it’s good to see any news, as the organisation has been rather quiet of late, but I’m sure that the story which broke just before Christmas will be welcomed by all of the Campaign’s 191,000 members.

The good news is that CAMRA has finally appointed a new Chief Executive, and the person who will  head the Campaign is none other than Tom Stainer, the organisation’s former Chief Campaigns and Communications Officer.

Tom took up his new position at the start of this year along with Ken Owst, another head office colleague, who has been promoted to Deputy Chief Executive. The appointment of Tom and Ken to their new positions follows the departure of former CEO Tim Page, who resigned last May, in order to return to the charity sector.

Page was appointed in 2014, despite having little experience of campaigning; although he did have considerable skills in fundraising and signing up new members to the charities he worked with. His appointment certainly raised a few eyebrows at the time, and ruffled a few feathers as well, but by concentrating too much on increasing CAMRA membership, there were concerns that Tim was missing the bigger picture.

I’m rather surprised that it has taken the Campaign so long to replace Page, particularly when there was some home-grown talent waiting in the wings,  but I’m pleased that CAMRA have recognised Tom Stainer’s talent  and achievements.

I assume the same applies to Ken Owst, although I’ve never met him, unlike Tom. Whatever the reason(s) for the delay, I’m delighted that the organisation has decided to promote two individuals from within., rather than looking outside again.

Tom has worked at CAMRA since 2006, when he took over as editor of its monthly newspaper, "What's Brewing". His background is in journalism, and he previously worked for  the Morning Advertiser, before being hired by CAMRA. Since joining CAMRA, Tom was responsible for the launch of the successful and award-winning BEER magazine before becoming CAMRA's Chief of Communications and Campaigns.

Tom said: “I’ve worked for CAMRA for more than a decade so it’s an organisation I deeply understand and hold a great affection for… My job now is to help our national executive develop the strategy to continue CAMRA’s growth, support our branches and continue to deliver effective campaigning – especially to ensure the Pubs Code is working as intended, to protect pubs from unfair business rates and to ensure tax on beer served in pubs is reduced.”

Ken Owst has had a long and successful career in retail, and prior to joining CAMRA he served for more than three years as Director of Finance and Corporate Services and Company Secretary for a national children's' charity. Ken joined CAMRA in May of 2018 as Chief Support Officer and will continue to be responsible for support operations at CAMRA's  head office in St Albans. He will also remain as Company Secretary.

Ken added: “Since arriving at CAMRA it has been apparent that all the CAMRA staff are committed and keen to be as effective as possible in supporting our members to organise great festivals and effective campaigns across the country. We need to make sure our systems and staff continue to develop to their full potential, so they can give the most effective help to our volunteers across the country.”

CAMRA national chairman Jackie Parker said: “I am delighted that Tom and Ken will be taking up their new roles as 2019 gets underway, and am confident they’ll provide strong support for our volunteer leadership and lead our dedicated professional team at head office to build on our campaigning successes.”

There’s not much more I can add at this stage, apart from echoing the views of many other CAMRA members about being glad to see the back of Mr Page. What I will say though, is congratulations and best wishes to the two new incumbents, who I’m sure will work hard to get the Campaign for Real Ale back on track.

2019 - Looking ahead

Well after last year’s dramatic turn of events at the beginning of January, I learnt my lesson about not making too many plans, either in advance or ideas that are so rigid that they appear set in stone. When you’re not sure quite what life may have next in store for you, it does pay to be a little flexible, so this year I’ve left things a lot more flexible. So even though nothing has been confirmed yet, I’ve still been looking ahead through 2019 and sketching out a few ideas, which I thought I might share with you.

Looking at a map of Europe, I realised there are more than a few countries I’ve yet to set foot in. Most of these are in eastern Europe, where I’ve only scratched the surface, but there are still two significant Scandinavian countries (Norway & Sweden) which I haven’t visited.

Mrs PBT’s has been talking about a mini-cruise; one which acts as an introduction to cruising - a “taster cruise” if you like. My wife’s sister and her husband are experienced and avid cruisers, but as neither of us are sure whether this will be our thing, a mini-cruise would be the ideal way to find out.

We were originally looking at Hamburg as our cruising destination, but a short voyage across the North Sea to Norway, with the option of flying back, sounds better to me. This would afford the opportunity of ticking off another European country, whilst experiencing life afloat at the same time. I would certainly like to see the fjords at close hand and enjoy a bit of Norwegian culture..

Poland is another European country which has long been on my list of places to visit, and whilst Krakow, Warsaw or Gdansk might seem the obvious cities to travel to, the south-western city of Wroclaw is the one which is commanding my attention at present.

Wroclaw hosts a beer festival with a growing in reputation, called the  Festival of Good Beer. I’ve known about this event for a number of years, but back in August, whilst I was at the Beer Bloggers & Writers’ Conference in Virginia, I met up with Polish Beer Blogger, Tomasz Kopyra.

Tomasz and I were the only European representatives at the Virginia event, and I got talking to him whilst we were at the end of conference party at Lost Rhino Brewing. I had met Tomasz before, albeit briefly, at the 2015 European Beer Blogger’s Conference in Brussels, but the whilst tasting our way through a myriad of different beers at Lost Rhino, I asked him about the Wroclaw Festival of Good Beer.

Tomasz of course, strongly recommended a visit and, bearing in mind we had both consumed a fair amount of beer that evening, offered to point me in the right direction with regards to finding a hotel etc. The beer festival is the biggest such event in Poland and takes place in June, and getting there should not pose too much of a problem.

Both Ryanair and Wizz-Air operate direct flights to Wroclaw from the UK; either from Stansted or Luton, but given Ryanair’s problems last year I’d prefer to give Wizz a go, especially as several of my east-European colleagues have first hand experience of this Hungarian airline and given it good reviews. I’m trying to persuade son Matthew to accompany me, as I’m sure he’ll enjoy a visit to somewhere a bit different,  so once dates are confirmed I will look at booking flights.

On his Zythophile website, Beer Writer, Martyn Cornell produced a lengthy write-up of his 2015 visit to the festival, which he attended as the guest of Tomasz Kopyra. Reading through Martyn’s article again, has certainly whetted my appetite, not just for the beer, but for the food as well.

There is also the historical and cultural aspect, as Wroclaw has had a turbulent past, despite being one of the most culturally and architecturally diverse cities in Central Europe. Wroclaw was known as Breslau until 1945 when, at the end of the Second World War, the city, and most of Silesia were transferred to Poland. Breslau/Wroclaw had been reduced to rubble at the end of the conflict, but since then the city has been painstakingly rebuilt.

Moving on, I’ve got quite a stash of Nectar Points that I’ve built up, so I’m thinking of putting them towards a Eurostar trip. Belgium, rather than France, is the obvious country, particularly for anyone interested in beer, and if Mrs PBT’s feels sufficiently up to the rigours of continental train travel to accompany me, Ghent or even Antwerp would be my preferred destinations. Also, seeing as Belgium is not a large country, it would be easy to nip across into Luxembourg, if only for the day, thereby knocking off yet another country.

Later in the year, Mrs PBT’s wants me to drive us up to Scotland, stopping off at a few places on the way up and the way back. Nothing more definite than that has been decided at the moment, although we will probably stop off  in Yorkshire for a few days, to visit her relatives.

Matthew has been badgering me, for some time, about a return visit to the Czech Republic, so that is another location we will have to try and fit in. Could another cross-border trip be arranged? This time to neighbouring Slovakia.

As I hinted at earlier, it’s early days yet and much depends on what happens both here in the UK and abroad. I won’t mention the “B” word, but we’re now less than 90 days away from the government’s self-imposed departure date from the world’s largest trading block. If the Pound decreases any further in value, then Eastern Europe is certainly looking a lot more financially attractive for holidays, than countries in the Euro-zone, so it could be Poland and Czechia, rather than Belgium and Norway!

 

Another year almost over

Well New Year’s Eve has crept up on me, almost unexpectedly, and somewhat frustratingly I am rather behind with my posts. The fact that my laptop died the other day hasn’t helped, but I’m banking on a colleague being able to fix it for me, when we return to work later in the week.

Somewhat ironically, I bought the machine from him just over a year ago, and as he offered a year’s warranty, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the problem isn’t terminal. So at the moment, it’s back to the trusty old desk-top.

Another reason for being behind, is that this Twixmas, Mrs PBT’s and I have packed quite a bit into our enforced lay-off from work, including a number of day’s out, the odd minor home improvement, a spot of pruning and tidying up the garden (that was me), plus a brisk country walk to a smashing little pub (me again).

In previous years I have produced an annual look back at the year just gone, under the title of “The Year in Beer”. The emphasis of this post, of course, is that of beer and travel, and despite a slow start, I fully intend to write one which looks back on 2018. Fortunately, this opportunity for reflection doesn’t normally appear until January, so I’ve still got a bit of time to get writing.

I much prefer this approach to summarising the year, than the “Golden Pints” thing,  which several years ago was very popular amongst beer writers. 

Thankfully it now seems to have died a long-overdue death, but apologies to anyone who still takes the trouble to produce this type of year end summary.

So as another year dawns, and the year draws to a close I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a Prosperous, Creative, Fulfilling, Healthy, and above all Happy New Year.

And Then There Were Three

“And Then There Were Three” - is the ninth studio album by Prog-Rock heroes Genesis, and the third album recorded by the group without former lead singer, Peter Gabriel. The album was also the first Genesis album to be recorded by the group as just a trio, coming hot on the heels of the departure of inspirational guitarist, Steve Hackett.

For may fans it marked the change from the longer progressive rock material, which the band were best known for, to shorter, more pop-oriented pieces. Despite this the album still includes a number of memorable compositions, and contains at least two of my favourite Genesis tracks.

So, I hear you ask, what has this got to do with beer and travel? Well the name of the album is a reference to the number of walkers who turned out yesterday for a post-Christmas and pre-New Year ramble, but despite being diminished in numbers our trio of intrepid hikers, still managed to have a good time.

The rather loose-knit CAMRA Branch I belong to keeps in touch by means of a number of WhatsApp groups; well most of us do, as we’ve got a handful of members who are still living in a pre-digital, pre-Smart Phone age. Fortunately most can be contacted by email, but in the run-up to Christmas I asked a question on our Weekend Walking WhatsApp Group, with reference to a possible walk between the two main events of the festive season.

Nothing much came back in the way of response, apart from  a reply from one particular friend. This was a suggestion for a walk to the Swan-on-the-Green, at West Peckham. Apparently the Christmas Ale at this long-established brew-pub, was uncommonly good, and the respondent recommended we try it.

Christmas came and went so the same friend and I put out another post to the walking group members, following up on the previous ones. Unbeknown to us, two other friends, who are not on WhatsApp, had put forward an idea of their own to walk to the Dovecote at Capel.

Things only sorted themselves out the afternoon before the date of proposed walk and, as I was in Whitstable at the time with no phone signal and no Wi-Fi, I was unable to respond. Basically three members of the group had dropped out; one due to work commitments, one for family reasons and the third due to illness. Ironically the latter individual was the friend who’d originally suggested West Peckham.

What happened in the end was, the two friends who’d suggested the Dovecote as the venue for our walk, discovered that the pub was closed for an extended period following Christmas, and wouldn’t be re-opening until 29^th December. They also found out that the Swan closes at 3pm weekdays.

Instead the pair suggested we walk to the Greyhound at Charcott, and although I’m a fairly regular to this re-opened and re-vitalised pub, due to its proximity to my workplace, I agreed. With just three of us confirmed, and the other choices either not available or unrealistic, the Greyhound was definitely the best option, so we arranged to meet at Tonbridge station the following morning, just before 11am.

We boarded the train and alighted at Leigh, just one stop down the line from Tonbridge. We walked up into the village and then took a path which leads through the churchyard, before heading off in a northerly direction. The weather was dull and overcast, which was a shame after the previous day’s sunshine, but it was still relatively mild for the time of year.

The path basically skirts around the boundary of Hall Place, a Victorian, Grade II listed mansion set in a former deer park, beside a large lake.  The house overlooks the village of Leigh and back in the day, the village would have accommodated many of the estate staff. The house with its ancillary buildings, ornate gate lodges and 1,000 acres of mixed arable and parkland, was placed on the market in 2015, for £15 million.

We eventually emerged from the woods, at the rear of the stately pile, and headed off across some open pasture. Unfortunately this section of the walk was rather muddy, especially where the ground had been churned up by cattle. The latter were tucked away somewhere in a nice warm barn, but they’d left quite a mess, particularly around the  gates connecting the various fields.

 

I have walked this route on several occasions in the past, so knew where we were going, so I was pleasantly surprised when the friend who was leading the walk took us along a new path. This diversion meant that, apart from a very short section, we would not need to walk along the road into Charcott; a definite bonus given that the road is narrow in places and bounded by high banks.

The track we headed up, took us past a couple of very desirable properties, but after passing these we headed off across a couple of fields. Fortunately this pastureland had not been grazed, so the grass was long, thick and just right for removing all that mud which had accumulated on our boots.

This alternative route brought us into Charcott, from the opposite direction to normal, and effectively to the rear of the Greyhound . This was just before 12.30pm. There were a reasonable number of people in the pub, but it wasn’t too busy. That situation was to change later.

Before finding a table, we ordered ourselves a well-earned pint. There was an interesting selection of ales on tap, but to the disappointment of my two companions, no Larkin’s Porter. I told then they should have called in, like I did, the week before Christmas. However, as consolation for dark beer fans, there was Christmas Pudding Winter Warmer – a 5.8%, dark ale, produced by Kent Brewery and packed with spices to resemble the traditional festive dessert.

One member of our group went for this beer, whilst myself and our other companion started off on the 3.8% PALEolithic US Hopped Ale from Caveman Brewery. This proved to be a good choice, pale in colour and refreshing in taste and, for a beer of relatively low strength, packed with plenty of flavour.

We were just about to sit down by the fire, when landlady Fran, came over and asked if we would mind sitting in the dining area, at the rear of the pub. This was because she was expecting a large group of walkers and their dogs. Whilst our canine friends are welcome at the Greyhound,  they are not wanted in the dining room.

All this talk of food made us realise we were a trifle peckish, and in a display of laddish solidarity, to a man we all ordered the same dish –  that old pub classic, scampi and chips in a basket. The meal was actually presented in an enamel dish – much easier to clean than a basket, and whilst I felt a tiny bit guilty following the “chip episode” the previous day in Whitstable, the food was just right.

Two of us tried the second pale ale, this time a 4.5% offering from Sussex-based Greyhound Brewery called Cosmos Light Premium A.P.A. It was nice, but didn’t seem to pack in half as much flavour as the previous and much weaker beer from Caveman.

The pub had filled up nicely by the time we were ready for our final pint of the afternoon, and this had to be the Christmas Pudding Winter Warmer. I am not usually a fan of adding spices to ale, but it seemed to work with this one. At 5.8%, one was enough for me, but our friend Kevin seemed OK after three pints of it.

We left the Greyhound just after 3pm. The sun had broken through the gloom whilst we were inside the pub, and it was pleasant to watch it slowly sinking in the sky as we walked across the disused Penshurst Airfield, towards Penshurst station. It was then a short 10 minute train journey back to Tonbridge.

So nothing out of the ordinary, but still a very pleasant visit to a cracking pub which is almost on our doorsteps.

Whitstable re-visited - Or will it be chips?

It’s 10 years since I last set foot in Whitstable, so when Mrs PBT’s suggested a trip to the seaside, I decided a return visit to a town which is sometimes referred to as “Shoreditch on Sea”, was long overdue. A quick check on Google revealed that Whitstable was just over an hour’s drive from Bailey Towers, so with the sun attempting to break through the murk, we jumped in the car and off we went.

The traffic was heavier than expected, especially along the section of the M20 between Junctions 4 and 7. Work is taking

place to convert this part of the highway to a so-called “smart motorway”, which basically means the hard-shoulder will become an additional lane for traffic, and if you break down “smart technology” will close the carriageway behind you so that your vehicle doesn’t get swept aside by that juggernaut thundering along a few inches from your rear bumper!

Those of us living in the Garden of England have heard a different story, which says the real purpose of this work is to convert the motorway into a giant lorry park. Now why would that possibly be needed, especially as the contract is unlikely to be finished before 29^th March?

From memory today’s trip was the first time in decades that I have driven to that section of the North Kent Coast., as on previous occasions I have travelled by train. That was because drink was involved on most, if not all of those visits, but given the driving involved, this visit ended up being a very sober affair.

I’m not complaining as I’ve plenty of beer at home, should I feel the urge, but more importantly the purpose of our visit was to get some sea air in our lungs, some sun on our faces, to get something to eat (fish & chips?) and to see just how much the town of Whitstable has changed over the past decade.

Ten years ago I wrote on my now defunct Paul's Beer Travels blog that Whitstable had become second home territory for an increasing number of affluent Londoners; colour supplement readers and the like! There had been an inevitable rise in property prices, and this influx of high-spending "outsiders" had led to a sharp increase in what pubs and restaurants are charging their customers.

I based this statement on my observations at the time and, if anything, the "gentrification" I noticed a decade ago has increased. Whitstable still isn't quite Southwold, but it's fast becoming so.

This time around we arrived in the town  just after 12.30pm, and drove down to the harbour, before parking up in a small car-park, just off the High Street. We made our way to the sea wall, joining a throng of what Retired Martin would call the “Pashmina Brigade”, all out for a stroll with their trophy dogs, trophy husbands/lovers and assorted trophy kids. If you are into people watching (a habit I acquired from my parents), you would find this parade both fascinating, and perhaps a little disturbing as well.

More important than watching the “beautiful people” out for their constitutional, was finding a place to eat; somewhere not prohibitively expensive and somewhere not thronged with people waiting for a table to become vacant. We passed two establishments that I’d been in before.

A decade ago, Pearson’s, a former Good Beer Guide-listed pub, had been full of Whitstable's answer to the "beautiful people". What’s more, my blog recorded that there were no Gadds (Ramsgate Brewery) beers  available, but the Harvey’s had been quite tasty.

Opposite Pearson’s is the Royal Native Oyster Stores, owned and run by the Whitstable Oyster Company Ltd. The brick building is the company’s original head quarters, and is now their flagship outlet. I’d overheard people saying there was a lengthy wait for food in there yesterday, but despite more "beautiful people", it really is worth stepping inside for a look, especially if you like oysters.

You will find this shellfish in abundance, with oysters galore being split open and served up on dishes of flaked ice, along with crabs and lobsters also being prepared behind a glass counter, ready to be served up to diners in the restaurant next door. We remained aloof. Call us philistines, but none of us have been brave or foolhardy enough to try oysters and whilst Mrs PBT's and I like crab and lobster, neither were what we had in mind yesterday.

Instead, we spotted a place, attached to the side of Whitstable Yacht Club, just off the land-side of the sea wall. Laid out on the shingle was a collection of all-weather (metal) tables and chairs, with a plastic canopy above for shelter in inclement weather. There was a small serving hatch, plus a chalk board menu offering all manner of “comfort food”. What’s more there were a few vacant tables and no-one queuing to place their orders.

We grabbed a table and I went to order the food – fish & chips all round. Unfortunately this little pop-up café had run out of fish. After a brief conflab Mrs PBT’s and I opted for a fish-finger sandwich, whilst Matthew went for a sausage in a bap. Now for whatever reason I neglected to order the chips. This was possibly because I thought that chips were included, or possibly because I’d decided I didn’t really need chips as well.

There was a 20-30 minute wait for the food (the kitchen looked tiny with only room for two people), but the family didn’t mind at first – not until the subject of chips came up. “Do the fish finger sandwiches come with chips?” asked my good lady wife. I looked across to the menu board, hanging on the wall, before replying in all honesty that it didn’t look like they did. “Well didn’t you order a portion to go with the main?” was the next question. What could I say apart from “No”?

I can manage most things in life with relative ease, but for some reason, ordering food on behalf of others really throws me. Multiple food orders are even worse, and trying to second guess their preferences, if what they ordered originally is not available, is a real pet hate of mine. What makes it even worse, is getting all the stick when it’s wrong.

So my reply to those family members who were too comfortable sitting where they were, rather than coming up and ordering with me was, they ought to try second guessing. Gripe over, but I told them that after all the Christmas food they’d eaten over the past few days, the last thing they needed was chips!

The food when it came was hot, well-cooked and as tasty as fish finger sandwiches can be – even without chips, and being able to sit and eat outdoors in late December, was an unexpected bonus. With not a breath of wind, and hardly a cloud in the sky, the sun shining out through the slight haze, across one of the calmest seas I’ve ever seen, was a real magical moment. That mirror-like sea, was amazing, although the photos I took don’t really do it justice.

After finishing our lunch, we walked down one of the slipways to the water’s edge, just to make sure we weren’t dreaming. My feet had started to get cold, so we took a slow stroll back to find the car, pausing en route to admire some of the small converted fishing huts which can be rented out for £75 a night. Peeping in through the windows did show a rather cramped interior, plus staircases which looked more like ladders than stairs.

We took a slightly different route back, staying on the M2 motorway all the way until Junction 2, for the A228. I did this to take us over the impressive Medway Bridge, with its views towards Rochester on one side and the High-Speed Rail Link on the other.

It was getting dark by the time we arrived back in Tonbridge, and to end the evening Mrs PBT’s cooked us a very nice turkey curry to make up for those missing chips!

Boxing Day 2018

The time between Christmas and New Year (Twixmas), is always a slightly strange one. I have an enforced lay-off from work, as my company shuts down from Christmas Eve until New Year. It’s not as if they carry out any maintenance or other essential work, but close it does and staff have to keep back 3-4 days, depending on how the Bank Holidays fall, from their annual leave to cover this.

Apart from the obvious Christmas celebrations, I like to use this free time wisely, and in the past used it to take a short European city-break. This was normally to a destination in Northern Europe; so it was somewhere cold, but somewhere very atmospheric and Christmassy. I ceased this practice six years ago, after my parents' health began to decline. Instead, I would spend a few days with them, up in Norfolk.

With mum's passing, and dad moving into a care home, that's all gone by the board, but in view of the recent trials and tribulations affecting travel over the Christmas period, I'm rather pleased this festive season, not to be going anywhere. So with the first three days of Christmas now over, and my return to work not scheduled until the 2^nd January, there are still six days of the holiday remaining.

I took a stroll down into Tonbridge earlier, leaving my wife and son indoors. I was starting to get restless after a day sitting around doing nothing, and needed to get out of the house. It wasn't quite a case of suffering from “cabin fever”, but it was getting fairly close.

The town was quiet, the main car parks less than half full and the shops I passed almost devoid of customers. People were either still at home, tucking into their leftover turkey and "bubble & squeak", or they were all up in Oxford Street, at the January sales; they certainly weren't in Tonbridge spending their money!

I took a walk through the sports-ground, my aim being to make a beeline towards the Nelson Arms. I wasn't sure that it would be open, and I didn't even really fancy a drink, but I thought I ought to pop in and see how licensees Matt and Emma were getting on; after all it had been some time since my last visit. 

Apart from the dog walkers, and the family groups congregating around the swings, the sports-ground was quite empty. With the sky overcast and a light drizzle in the air, it wasn't the most of pleasant days to be out and about, but I expect the majority of people i passed were, like me, just glad to get out of the house for a while.

I made my way along to the Nelson. There were some lights on inside, so I turned the corner and gingerly tried the door. To my surprise it opened, but on stepping inside, instead of finding a pub full of customers, there was just a small group of people sat around a table in the "Public Bar" area, with several dogs at their feet. One of the group stood up to greet me and I immediately recognised him as Matt the landlord.

He told me the pub was actually shut, and him and the other members of his family I could see were off for a walk over to Hayesden Lake. I apologised for disturbing them, but Matt said it was fine and invited me in for a quick drink. Not wishing to delay the walking party I asked for a swift half, which Matt kindly gave me on the house. Sambrook's Powerhouse Porter 4.9% ABV, my choice of tipple was excellent and a definite 4.0 NBSS.

Matt had another Sambrook's beer on tap, in the form of Junction 4.3% ABV, which is a reddish-coloured "premium ale".  Matt said the beer was going well, but another of his beers is also proving to be a surprise best-seller. Goacher's Gold Star 5.1% ABV, had originally been supplied to the Nelson in 4.5 gallon pins (Matt takes quite a few beers in this size of cask, whenever possible), but sales took off, and Gold Star is now stocked in the much more usual 9 gallon firkins.

As stated above, I didn't stay long, as I didn't want to delay the dog-walking party. I also thought that Matt's family would be thinking that a publican's life is never his own, even when his pub is supposed to be closed. Boxing Day, was just such a day; as I would have realised, had I read the "A" board outside, which clearly displayed the Neslon's opening times over the Christmas period. Talk about, "Should have gone to Spec-Savers"!