Farewell to Krakow

Today my short break in Krakow comes to an end, and I will shortly be checking out of my hotel and heading to the airpor.

I've packed a lot into my three day stay, although I did avoid the obvious tours of the Wieliczka Salt Mine and Auschwitz. There are companies all over the city offering trips to these popular tourist destinations and most hotels, including the one I'm staying in, will arrange a visit, should you so desire.

I have my own reasons for not wishing to visit Auschwitz, which I'll explain in a later post, and whilst a trip down a mine would once have appealed to a younger me, there have been too many incidents in recent years of people becoming trapped underground.

Instead I've done plenty of sightseeing in this wonderfully preserved, cosmopolitan city and walked my little legs off.

Krakow reminds me very much of Prague (one of my favourite cities), except that it is much more compact and easier to get around on foot.

I will definitely be back and might even tempt Mrs PBT's to accompany me. I'm sure the city would also appeal to young Mr Bailey. That's all for now, as I've got some last minute shopping to do and a flight to catch.

ps. This is my second post by phone. It's much easier than I thought, so providing there's a decent internet connection,  similarly brief articles may become a regular feature of future trips.

An unexpected surprise

I've never tried publishing a post before from my phone, but it's 7.30 in the morning here in Krakow and I'm just contemplating dragging myself out of bed, so I thought I'd give it a try.

There will be plenty to read about this lovely old city, with its virtually intact 19th Century (or older ), centre when I get back, but for now let's just say it's great for wandering around, admiring the architecture and just soaking up the atmosphere.

 Beer-wise craft has made its presence felt in Poland, and I've already  enjoyed some excellent, locally brewed examples, but yesterday lunchtime, exasperated to find that several of the places I'd picked in the former Jewish quarter didn't open until 4pm, I succumbed to big brand beer, and was really glad I did.

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I'd already walked past the Wrega - Polish Pub & Gallery and after a morning spent walking around the impressive Wawel Castle complex, followed by a sobering, and rather haunting look around Kazimierz's Jewish cemetery, I was in need of somewhere to sit down, along with a glass of beer plus something to eat.

Wrega was advertising beers from Zywiec - one of Poland's large breweries, but I noticed the presence of  a porter on the menu. I found an occupied table in the shady courtyard garden and ordered myself a glass along with a dish of Polish spinach and cheese pancakes.

The Zywiec Porter when it came, was excellent; dark, full-bodied and with just the right amount of residual bitterness. In short, it was a very satisfying beer. The pancakes too were just right for a lunch that was filling, but not too heavy.

I stayed an hour or so at Wrega, enjoying the food, the beer, the ambience and the sun, just making it back to the hotel before the inevitable thunderstorm.

Well it's a couple of hours later now and I'm up, washed, dressed and been down to breakfast. It feels a little chilly outside but I'll stick with my original plan of wearing shorts as I head back up into the old town for some more exploring and sightseeing.

I'll also be looking out for a few more beery surprises.

Friday in Tonbridge

Friday is always a good day to take of from work. Not only is it the end of the week, but coming before Saturday, it adds an extra day to the weekend. A three day weekend is definitely something I could get used to, but without an unlimited supply of annual leave, there is the obvious danger of running out of days to take off.

The motto of course, is to use annual leave wisely, and make sure it is used for something useful or enjoyable and preferably both!  Friday was such a day, and with my imminent short trip to Poland on Sunday, there were a few things I needed to sort out, along with some last minute shopping.

There was another purpose behind my extended weekend, and that was to conduct some official business which, due to its nature, can only be carried out on a weekday. The business I am referring to, was something Mrs PBT’s and I had been putting off for ages, despite it being something we both knew needed doing.

To elaborate; with both of us approaching our mid-sixties we thought it high time we made a will. The need for such a document was brought home to me 20 months ago, when my nearest and dearest was fighting for her life in an intensive care bed. Prior to her being admitted to the ICU, son Matthew and I had been left waiting in a room whilst the emergency team stabilised her. It was real touch and go, or at least it seemed so to us as the hours ticked by, and during that time our lack of foresight in having drawn up a will really hit home.

Fortunately things came good in the end, although it took an extended period of hospitalisation and rehabilitation before Mrs PBT’s made a full recovery. During this period, and with other more pressing concerns on my mind, our lack of said document once again was put on the back-burner.

I don’t know what it was that prompted me, apart from perhaps a desire to take Friday off, but earlier last week, I phoned the firm of solicitors we have used in the past, and made an appointment. The solicitor we consulted went  through the whole process with us, and will now draw up the will on our behalf. We will then have to check everything through, before returning to his office so he can witness us signing this important legal document. 

It was all far more straight forward than we had both supposed, and left us asking ourselves, why the hell hadn’t we done this before? We took the opportunity afterwards to do the weekend food shopping, so as to leave Saturday free for “fun stuff," like a trip to the coast, or something similar.

Shopping meant a drive over to Sevenoaks, but when we got back I still had a number of errands to complete. These ranged from collecting a prescription from the pharmacist, purchasing an Advanced Train Ticket for my journey to Gatwick on Sunday and last, but not least, getting myself a guidebook to Krakow. Talk about last minute dot com!

I therefore headed down into Tonbridge, on foot. It’s a while since I spent a bit of time looking around my adopted home-town, so after completing the bulk of the above tasks I decided to see what was happening on the local pub scene.

I’ll kick off with the biggest piece of news first, which is the work being done to restore the historic Ivy House pub.  This attractive old tile-hung building is one of the oldest buildings in Tonbridge, with parts dating back to the 15th Century. It has been closed for the past 18 months, after its previous owners "Kent Inns of Distinction,” failed to make a go of running it as a gastro-pub, cum-restaurant.

Last November, it was bought by a new owner with a proven track record of running a successful pub. Planning permission was necessary before the renovation and improvement work could get underway, but things seem to be progressing at a pace now, as I noticed whilst driving past the other day.

As I was in that part of town, I stopped by to take a few photos, before carrying on for a short distance along the High Street, to Fuggles Beer Café. It’s been quite a while since I last called in, so I stepped inside to see what was on offer. It was mid-afternoon, so the place was quite quiet, but I noticed  saw a fellow CAMRA member sitting there, with his two dogs, whilst nursing a pint.

I acknowledged him before making my way to the bar, where two beers in particular,  caught my eye. One was Plateau, from Burning Sky, whilst the other was “Do It Together,” a Mango Tea Pale Ale from Moor Beer Co. The barman said the latter was fresh on, so I went for that one first, despite its 5.2% ABV. The beer was every bit as good as you’d expect from Moor Beer, with that hint of mango referred to in the name, and was worthy of a 3.5 NBSS.

I sat down and joined my friend, who filled me in on the latest local CAMRA news. He confirmed that the construction work I’d noticed at the back of the Ivy House was, as I’d thought, the new toilet block.  Neither of us know when the pub is going to re-open, but this side of Christmas is looking quite likely. I will wait before revealing the identity of the new owners, although if you really want to know, it is mentioned on WhatPub.

I left Fuggles at the same time as my CAMRA friend, and headed over to Mr Books, Tonbridge’s long established independent bookshop. The shop changed hands a couple of years ago, following the move of founder, Mark Richardson (the MR in the shop’s name), back to his native Lincolnshire. As well as running the shop, Mark also wrote his own blog, starting at a similar time to my own (2008).

Mark’s effort was titled Tonbridge Blog, and featured news and views about Tonbridge, ranging from major issues to the odd quirky ones and, as with all blogs, readers were encouraged to post comments and thoughts of their own on the topic in question. The shop appears to be doing well, with the new owners having opened the place out, removing the slightly claustrophobic feel of being hemmed in by stacks of tall book shelves.

Unfortunately for me, my quest for a second-hand travel guide to Krakow proved fruitless, so after having been in virtually every charity and second-hand bookshop in Tonbridge, I had to resort to one of the big boys, and pay full-price. I left Mr Books and headed back down the High Street, to WH Smith.

Definitely one for another day, but with a significant amount of money having been spent on restoring this attractive late-Victorian building, combined with its prominent position overlooking the River Medway, just off the  town’s “Big Bridge,”  Verdigris is a worthy and very welcome addition to Tonbridge’s burgeoning hospitality scene.

On way passed the former Castle Hotel, now trading as upmarket restaurant, called Verdigris. The establishment is the creation of top chef, Scott Goss who has made quite a name for himself after working with Gary Rhodes. I’m sure Mrs PBT’s knows a lot more about him than I do, especially after he appeared on the BBC’s Great British Menu, but what I can say is Scott has a policy of using locally sourced, sustainable, free-range,  organic ingredients, wherever possible. Whether that floats your boat or not, I don’t know, but reviews on Trip Advisor are generally glowing.

Although a little pricey, the breakfast menu at Verdigris looks appealing, especially as it features smoked-haddock kedgeree. I might have to give it a try one Sunday morning. I’ve also discovered that you can just pop in for a casual drink, if desired, and seeing as it one of the few local stockists of Hofmeister lager, this again sounds tempting.

Today (Saturday), as referenced above, we had our trip to the seaside. I drove the family down to Dungeness, for an excellent lunch of fish and chips at the Pilot Inn, which overlooks the beach. Not only was the food top notch, but the B17 "house beer," from Romney Marsh Brewery was in fine fettle as well.

The weather didn’t quite turn out as forecast, as there were some heavy showers, but our route across the Weald of Kent, and then on to Romney Marsh was the perfect reminder of how lucky we are to live in this scenic corner of the south east. We returned via Camber and Rye, thereby taking in part of Sussex on our way home.

To Krakow

September 1^st is regarded as the meteorological start of autumn, and the sudden drop in temperatures since the weekend, along with today’s blustery conditions, has certainly given conditions outside a real autumnal feel.

It’s not quite time yet to start battening down the hatches, or putting the garden furniture away, but with evenings starting to encroach on the day it won’t be too long before it’s time to do those tasks and get the wood-burner lit.

Fortunately there’s still time for a late summer-early autumnal getaway, so this weekend sees me flying off to Krakow in southern Poland, for a long-overdue and well-deserved mini-break.

It will be my first time in Poland, a country I have wanted to visit for some time.  I chose Krakow because, unlike the nation’s capital Warsaw, the city was largely spared the destruction of the Second World War. Consequently much of the Krakow’s old town remains intact, so for people like me, who appreciate historic towns, there will be lots of attractive sights and fascinating old buildings to maintain my level of interest and stop me from flagging.

By Jorge Lascar - Sukiennice and Main Square as seen from St. Mary's Basilica, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26948762

I’ll be travelling alone, as Mrs PBT’s isn’t particularly into sight-seeing and neither is she a fan of multiple pub visits. Instead she has booked us both on a cruise at the end of October. This means I will have free-reign to explore Krakow’s many pubs and bars, and indulge myself with some of the region’s finest local beers.

The weather’s looking rather changeable, so it might not be the blue skies, warm temperatures and wall-to-wall sunshine I am looking for, but whatever the climate, it will be good to get away from the frenzied atmosphere surrounding work, at the moment, and the equally frenetic mood of the dis-United Kingdom in general.

Curry night at the Nelson

I realise Tonbridge’s Nelson Arms has featured quite regularly on this blog, but that’s because it’s a good pub and a success story as well. It’s another example of a pub coming back from the dead, after being written off by the owning brewery or pub company, but once in the right hands, it’s thriving.

I found myself  back in the Nelson last Thursday evening, as my local CAMRA branch was making a presentation to the landlord. But there was also another, more compelling reason to tempt me in, and that was Thursday night “Curry Night,” and I wanted to give one of the pub’s famous curries a try.

Now it might seem a little strange for a back-street local to be serving food in the evenings, but the Nelson is just that bit further away from the town centre, to make it not quite in the thick of it when it comes to pub crawls and circuit drinking.

So in order to drum up additional trade, the pub offers hot meals from 4pm onwards, mid-week and from midday through to mid-evening time, at weekends. As well as a selection of curries on Thursdays, Tuesday is “Pie Night;” and they’re proper pies at that, if you know what I mean.  The Nelson has also made quite a name for itself with its Sunday lunchtime, roast dinners.

Knowing that the CAMRA presentation would take place at 9pm, I arrived at the pub at around 7.30pm.  This would allow ample time for a meal, plus a few beers before the start of the official business.

A friend joined me for dinner, which allowed us both to take advantage of the two curries for £15 offer, (normal price £10 each). We both opted for the Keema Lamb Mince, which came with Pilau rice, plus a couple of large poppadums each. The lamb was nicely spiced without being over-powering, so in view of this, I’m tempted to give some of the pub’s other curries a try – see photo opposite for details.

As usual, there was an interesting range of beers on sale, with offerings from Gun Brewery, Goacher’s, Kent Brewery, Titsey Brewing and Young’s. I started with Goacher’s Real Mild  3.0 NBSS, before moving on to Scaramanga Extra Pale from Gun Brewery and then Elysium New England IPA from Kent Brewery. I scored both the last two beers at 3.5 NBSS.

There was a good turnout, with around a dozen local CAMRA members coming along to show their support. The presentation was for Runner-up Cider Pub of the Year. 

Biddenden, Chiddingstone and Double Vision are amongst the ciders stocked by the Nelson, and whilst I’m obviously pleased for the pub and devotees of fermented apple juice, I have to confess my interest in cider is pretty minimal.

I suppose I should be pleased that the aforementioned ciders are traditional in nature and from local producers, but my view is that CAMRA should stick to promoting beer, and leave cider drinkers to start their own organisation. We’ve been through this before, and it’s not going to happen, but I wanted to say it all the same.

So overall, it was a very good evening, with the chance to catch up with some old friends and acquaintances, as well as enjoying some good beer and equally good, Asian-inspired cooking. The only downside was an early start the following morning, but at least it was Friday!

Greene King - again!

There’s more to come regarding Greene King, as we attempt to ascertain how a well respected regional brewery came to be regarded as a "bête noire" in the eyes of many beer drinkers. Before doing so it's worth remembering that over the course of the past forty years, that East Anglia-based Greene King, transformed themselves into Britain's largest, independently-owned brewer and pub company, so they were bound to pick up a few enemies along the way.

Things didn't start out too well between CAMRA and Greene King, as despite the company brewing some distinctive and well-regarded beers, they were very much the “villain of the piece” as far as the Campaign was concerned. Their policy of favouring “top-pressure” dispense in the majority of their tied pubs, was a definite no-no in the CAMRA’s eyes, as despite the beer being cask-conditioned, the use of extraneous carbon-dioxide to deliver it from cask to glass, led to the exclusion of many of their houses from CAMRA guides - both local an national.

This policy was slowly relaxed over the years, and relations between CAMRA and Greene King gradually improved, although it wasn’t too long before the Suffolk company again blotted its copy-book, this time in 1987, with the closure of the brewery of Rayment & Co Ltd.

The latter were a small brewery based in the small Hertfordshire village of Furneux Pelham. (See image opposite). Greene King had acquired the brewery in 1928, along with its estate of 35 public houses, but it continued to brew its distinctive “Pelham Ales” right up until closure.

There was no reason to close it, apart from a small, country brewery not fitting in with the image that Greene King saw for itself, of a modern go-ahead company. Ten years later, the group’s much larger subsidiary brewery, at Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, suffered the same fate.

I mentioned this closure in my first post about Greene King, and I again want to look at my own relationship with the Bury St Edmund’s based company, and note how it has changed over the years.

Fast forward from that article, to the mid 1980’s when I was living in Tonbridge with a new wife, and a new job. I’d become involved with the local CAMRA branch which, in those days, only covered Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells. Things were ticking along on pretty much an even keel, when the news broke that Greene King had bought a number of pubs in Kent and Surrey from Allied Breweries.

Not long after, the company opened a depot on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells,  to supply their new acquisitions. As secretary of the local CAMRA branch, I received an invite to the official opening, rubbing shoulders with the mayor and other local dignitaries.

Following the opening of the depot, GK beers started appearing in free trade outlets as well, and were generally welcomed. I certainly had no problems with their beer, and even enjoyed a trip around the Greene King brewery in Bury St Edmunds. The visit was organised by the landlord of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” -  the Tonbridge pub I used to drink at. The daft name came about as a result of a previous landlord being called "Tom," but after his successor started stocking Greene King beers, the opportunity to visit the brewery came about.  

I’m not sure why things began to sour between GK and CAMRA, but I suspect it might have been because of the buying spree the former embarked on during the late 1990’s – early 2000’s. During this period Greene King acquired Hardy & Hansons, Belhaven, Ridleys and Morlands. The takeover of the latter brewery brought Ruddles beers into the fold, because Morlands had acquired the Rutland-based company a few years previously.

Of the breweries listed above, Belhaven is now the only  still brewing. As well as brewing distinctive and much-loved local beers, these breweries were places full of character and steeped history. During the 1990’s, I had the pleasure of visiting Ridleys, Morlands and Ruddles, never imagining they would end up being bought, and closed down by Greene King.

This spate of acquisitions and closures, led to the firm being nick-named “Greedy King,” but now it is the king that has fallen. However, unlike Asahi who purchased Fullers, earlier in the year,  CK Asset Holdings are an investment company, not a brewer. They will undoubtedly seek to recoup some of cash they have paid for Greene King, and the  concern is, they will start selling off pubs; especially some of the smaller and more traditional ones.

We are unlikely to see the fallout from this deal for a while, as I think I’m right in saying it has still to be approved by Greene King shareholders. But with the pound at an historic low, thanks to you know what, we almost certainly haven’t seen the last of foreign investors snapping up British companies, at bargain basement prices.

Digesting England by the pound

I suppose the £4.6bn takeover of Greene King, by Hong Kong-based, CK Asset Holdings, now makes Marston's Britain’s largest brewer, but for how long? In the dog-eat-dog world of a Brexit-driven weak pound, it is anybody’s guess, and more and more a case of "Selling England by the pound."

In the meantime the Wolverhampton-based Marston's group appears to be doing well, and over the Bank Holiday weekend, Mrs PBT’s and I visited one of their newest establishments for Sunday lunch.

Eileen’s brother lives in Gravesend with his girlfriend and, as they hadn’t seen us for a while, we were invited over for a spot of lunch.  We were aware that a table at a local carvery had been booked, but that was all we knew, so on one of the hottest Sundays of the summer, we jumped in the car and drove over to Gravesend.

It’s a pleasant drive which, dependent on the route,  takes you through some really pleasant countryside and some rather attractive settlements. Places like Shipbourne, Ightham and Meopham are real, picture post-card villages, with some attractive looking pubs; most of which are known to an old hand like me!

We arrived shortly after 1pm; the journey having been largely traffic-free, and after the usual pleasantries, cups of tea etc, we set off to find the “mystery” carvery. We took my car for the simple fact that it was the largest, and after a quick thrash along the busy A2 towards Ebbsfleet (that’s where all the traffic was),  we turned off towards the international station.

I was on familiar territory now, as Ebbsfleet International, with its Eurostar services, has been the departure point for company visits to Cologne, in order to attend the International Dental Show. En route, my brother-in-law had dropped a clue, by mentioning the word “Marstons,” so I was guessing that our destination would probably be one of the company’s new-build, eateries. 

I was correct, and after turning off the main road, we turned into a new housing development that I’d noticed back in March. Another turning, at the top of a hill brought us to the “Spring River” pub and the adjacent Marston’s Inn.

This was an hotel and a quite imposing hotel at that. Constructed more in the vein of a Travel Lodge than a Premier Inn, this was the first “Marston’s Inn” I had seen. The pub though looked much more familiar, being similar in nature to the two Marston’s pub-restaurants I have visited in Norfolk.

The establishments in question are the  Copper Beech in Cotessey – close to the Norwich Showground and the much newer Greenstone in Dereham.  Both my parents were fans of the Copper Beech, and I'd visited the pub with them on several occasions, so as we walked up to the entrance of the Spring River, I knew very much what to expect.

It was just as well that a table had been booked, as the place was heaving – despite the heat. Somewhat predictably all four of us went for the carvery option. Equally predictable was the fact that my three companions all opted for beef, whilst I went for pork; a wise move as it happened.

One thing I really enjoy about a proper roast Sunday dinner are the vegetables which make up the bulk of the meal; them and the lashings of gravy! I piled my plate high before sitting down with the others. My roast pork was nice and tender, which was more than could be said of my companions beef, but with all of us nicely full, we didn’t bother with a sweet.

Drinks had of course been ordered, and whilst the selection was pretty much the Marston’s standard range (Hobgoblin, Wainwrights and Pedigree), I am pleased to report that the latter was on top form. I scored it as 3.5 NBSS, and would have given it a 4, had it not been pulled through a wretched sparkler!

As I said earlier, the pub was full and bustling with lots of hot and sweaty people – England at its best, but like their other establishments, Marston’s have done a good job with the Spring River. With further housing development already underway closely, and the area earmarked for more, the group is onto a winner. What’s more,  the strategically sited hotel means travellers using Eurostar services can spend the night prior to catching one of  the first services to the continent, the following morning.