Westerham, revisited - Part One

Westerham is an attractive town in the Sevenoaks District of Kent and is located 3.5 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks. It borders both Greater London and Surrey and has roots dating back to before the Norman conquest. In 1227 Henry III granted Westerham a market charter, making the settlement a major player in the buying and selling of cattle in Kent; a tradition that survived to 1961 when the last cattle market was held.

Westerham’s two most famous former residents were, General James Wolfe, and Sir Winston Churchill. Wolfe was a British Army major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759, over the French at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in Quebec. An engagement which ended French domination over much of Canada and handed control of the province to the British. Unfortunately, the battle for Quebec, cost the lives of both Wolfe, plus the commander of the French garrison, the Marquis de Montcalm.

Sir Winston Churchill needs little in the way of introduction and is best remembered for his leadership in guiding Britain and its allies to victory over Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Churchill made his home at Chartwell, just outside Westerham, and apart from the war years, spent 40 years of his life living, and also improving this attractive, country house. Although I have walked through the grounds, at the rear of the property, I have never visited the house itself. It’s one of those situations where you never fully appreciate that which is literally on your own doorstep. One day, though!

Westerham was also home to the Black Eagle Brewery, which stood on the western edge of the town. Known as Bushell, Watkins & Smith, the company controlled 102 pubs, centred mainly on the Kent-Surrey border. It was taken over by London brewers Taylor Walker & Co in 1948, before becoming part of Ind Coope in 1959. Brewing ceased in 1965, and the site continued as a distribution depot. The brewery buildings were demolished in 1989, although the Brewer’s House remains. Yeast from the brewery was preserved at the National Collection of Yeast Cultures and is now used by the present day Westerham Brewery, which was established in 2004.

I first became aware of Westerham, after stopping off at a pub there, in the summer of 1974. I was with my father, and we were on our way back from Southampton, after dropping my sister and her friend off at the  airport. The pair were embarking on a girly holiday in the Channel Isles – possibly Jersey, although after 50 years, I can’t remember which island the girls were staying at. Our route back from Southampton, took us along the A25 from Guildford, and although not a drinker, dad fancied stopping off somewhere, for a drop of refreshment, on the way back.

I had with me, a copy of the first CAMRA Good Beer Guide, which was hot off the press that year, and dad asked me to choose a pub, near to, or preferably on our route. The General Wolfe in Westerham, seemed the obvious candidate, as this pleasant little, white-painted weatherboard pub, was right on the busy A25, a road which, back in days before the construction of M25, formed the main east-west route, to the south of London. The pub also acted as the brewery tap, for the adjoining Westerham Brewery.  After parking the car, dad and I sat in the quiet, wood-panelled front bar of the General Wolfe. I had a pint of Ind Coope Bitter which, even then, was quite rare in cask form, whilst my father had an orange juice.

In the intervening years, I made the odd visit to the General Wolfe, initially as a destination pub on cycle rides out from south London, but later as a stop off. during walks in the nearby Surrey Hills. By that time, the pub had passed to Greene King, when Ind Coope’s successors, Allied Brewers, sold off parts of their less profitable tied estate. I always had a soft spot for the place, probably because it brought back memories of enjoying that pint, with my father. In 2017 the General Wolfe sadly closed, joining another former Westerham Brewery pub, the Old House at Home, that ceased trading in 2000.

The Old House at Home, was situated on a bend, at the bottom of a hill leading into the town, as you approach from the east along the A25. I imagine financial reasons were responsible for the closure of both these pubs, highlighting the unfortunate, but continuing decline of the licensed trade. I have vague memories of enjoying a pint or two at the pub when, mainly as a result of CAMRA outings to the town, I became acquainted with some of Westerham’s other pubs.

The Friday before last, I took a bus trip over to Westerham, using the No. 1 Go Coach service, which runs daily between the town and Sevenoaks, on an hourly basis. The journey takes just under 30 minutes, and runs via Riverhead, Bessel’s Green, Sundridge and Brasted. Before reaching Westerham, the bus turns off the A25, and does a loop via the A233, into the northern part of the town. 

On the way, it passes the entrance to the present day Westerham Brewery, which revived brewing in the town, back in 2004. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a bus stop in the vicinity, which is a shame, as the newish venture features a well-stocked, brewery tap. I still haven’t visited the premises but had been banking on reaching it using public transport, rather than getting behind the wheel and driving there.

Returning to Westerham itself, I visited all three of the remaining pubs in the town centre and seeing as there’s still quite a lot to write about, I’m going to bring this post to a close, and tell you about a trio of excellent pubs, all with plenty to say, in a subsequent article.

Still pursuing that elusive pub lunch

It’s back to that old chestnut of the cheap pub lunch, or rather the lack of it! Boak & Bailey have written on the subject recently and reached pretty much the same conclusion as the rest of us - decent and affordable pub grub is no longer a given, at least in areas of the country. As regular readers will know, I have made my own thoughts about food in pubs, quite clear over the years, see “Is a cheap and cheerful pub lunch too much to ask for?” Unfortunately, it is, especially in London and the south east, where cheap, decent and honest lunches have almost vanished from the region’s pubs and bars, although this isn’t the case in other parts of the country.

Visits over the past few years to Bath, Birmingham, Burton, the Black Country, Manchester and Sheffield have demonstrated that what the rest of the country enjoys, those who live in this corner of the kingdom, lack. Unless you know where to look, that is. However, that can be difficult, at times, although the best option here is to look out for special offers, such as reductions on certain days of the week, rather than at peak times.

On Friday, for example, I spent a couple of hours in the small, and attractive west Kent town of Westerham. I visited all three pubs in the town centre, and in due course will be writing a post about my visit. For now, it’s worth mentioning a couple of promotional offers that I noticed in the Greene King run King’s Arms, a former coaching inn situated in the heart of the town. For details, see the attached photos, although being of a certain age, it’s worth highlighting the “Senior’s Menu” menu offering that runs Monday to Friday 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm allowing diners to choose from a selection of smaller portion main courses. Two courses for £10, or three courses for £12.50.

Now, the King’s Arms is an imposing 17 room hotel, with a contingent of kitchen, waiting and bar staff taking care of guests’ needs. It is therefore good commercial sense to make full use of their set-up to sell a few extra meals, at lunchtimes. Not so for your town centre local though, or perhaps not even for your idyllic country pub. Last year’s post attracted a significant number of comments, including several from people in the licensed trade, which laid bare some of the problems faced by pub owners when it comes to providing food for their customers.

Apart from the obvious requirement to maintain high standards of food hygiene, the biggest issue seems to be finding, and then being able to afford, a decent and reliable chef. If you are sensible, and don’t want all that hassle, then stick to the pre-prepared stack of cheese rolls, baps, cobs or whichever bakery term is appropriate for the region. Wrapped in clingfilm, and displayed on the bar, in a basic, transparent cabinet, what could be more welcoming for punters in search of a bit of “blotting paper” to soak up some of that beer.

Alternatively, if you wish to be a little more, up-market, then why not go down the charcuterie option, as the Fuggle’s beer cafés in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells have done?  Although mainly offering a selection of cheeses and cold meats, both outlets have facilities for limited hot snacks such as toasted sandwiches and hot dogs. On Thursdays, the latter are on offer at just £6.00 each and given that the “dogs” inside the rolls are proper German Bratwursts, this is a good offer, and one I have taken advantage of several times over the past year.

Last Thursday was no exception, but what made the offer even better on that occasion, was a free pint of Larkin’s Best Bitter – itself a rare find, as I shall explain later. Fuggle’s operate a "loyalty card" scheme in both their outlets, which is exclusively for cask ale lovers. Participants are given a card, containing 10 spaces - one for each pint of cask ordered. The bar person will stamp the holder’s card, at time of purchase. Once all 10 spaces are stamped the card holder is entitled to a free point of cask. The scheme only applies to cask ale and a full pint must be ordered to acquire a stamp. There are no time limits involved, but the free pint awarded at completion of the card, must also be cask, rather than keg.

To my mind, this is an excellent way of promoting cask beer, and a nice gesture on behalf of Alex Gregg, the owner and founder of Fuggle’s. Last Thursday, Larkin’s Best was one of the cask ales gracing the bar at the Tonbridge outlet. I knew this in advance, as Fuggle’s list all their draught beers – both cask and keg, on their joint website. 

I said earlier that Larkin’s Best Bitter was a rare find, and I say this because this excellent, full-bodied beer is hardly ever seen in local pubs. Most of them prefer to stock the weaker, and to my mind, inferior Traditional, which at 3.4%, is a full percentage point lower in strength than the Best, a feature that is reflected in both the body and the taste of the beer.

Larkin’s founder, the sadly deceased Bob Dockerty, always claimed that “Trad”, as it is known in the trade, was popular in rural pubs, due to its low strength. Drinkers could enjoy a couple of pints of this beer, and then drive home, safe in the knowledge they were unlikely to fail the breathalyser. This may well have been the case, but for those times when you are NOT driving, Trad fails to satisfy and is not really the beer for those who like a bit of body in their beer. Imagine my sense of anticipation then as the barman pulled my rich, foaming, and full-bodied pint of Larkin’s Best, and I’m pleased to report it tasted every bit as good as it looked.

The hot dog too was enjoyable (see photo above), and I went for the German option which came with Sauerkraut, crispy onions, curry ketchup, and mustard. I gave the curry ketchup a miss, as I’m not a fan of tomato sauce. With that excellent pint of Larkin’s Best, it was the perfect combination for an early lunch. I’m sure that other landlords, could put on a similar offering, especially as there’s little in the way of additional expenditure, such as expensive cooking equipment, extraction and separate preparation areas required.

 

It's a perfect five!

I had an exceedingly rare experience the other day, when I awarded a beer on Untappd, with a score of 5.0. Those of you that are familiar with this beer ticking app will know that a 5.0 is the highest score possible, and as with CAMRA’s beer scoring option (for members only), on its What Pub app, five is a score that is rarely given. The lucky beer was one that I’d been keeping in my stash for some time, and was a bottle-conditioned barley wine, called A Over T, brewed by Hog’s Back Brewery at their plant in Tongham, Surrey.

 I’m not quite sure how or where I acquired this bottle, but it was a 2021 vintage. Described as a multi award winning barley wine, the Best Before Date, on the bottle neck wasn’t really legible, but 3-4 years on from its brew-date, the beer was certainly very drinkable. Actually, that is an understatement, as that 330 ml bottle of A Over T was more than just drinkable, it was absolutely amazing and definitely worthy of an Untappd score of 5.0!

This beer represents only the third time I've ever given a score of five on Untappd, a fact I know to be true, as the app has feature where you can look back and search though all the scores you’ve given over the years (it’s easy with a score of 5.0, but something of a nightmare when there are umpteen 4.0’s, or 3.5’s). So before moving on to describe A Over T in more detail, what were those other two top-scoring beers?

Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche Dopplebock, brewed in Bamberg, Franconia, by the legendary Schlenkerla Brewery, is one of them, and it was on sale at Tonbridge Fuggle’s, over the Christmas and New Year period. I enjoyed a glass of this rich, and warming 8.0% abv, oak-smoked beer, on New Year’s Eve, and the reason for giving it top marks was its tremendous depth of flavour. A beer to savour, and one which brought back pleasant memories of drinking in Bamberg’s legendary Schlenkerla Tavern.

I stumbled cross the third top scoring beer in July 2019 when, at the end of a three-day walk along a stretch of the North Downs Way, I stopped off in Canterbury, for a well-earned pint. The pub I chose was the Old Buttermarket, an historic pub, right in the centre of the city, which overlooks a small pedestrianised square, right opposite the cathedral gate. The tables and chairs set outside always look inviting, especially in summer, and after a tiring 10 mile walk into the city that pint of Pilsner Urquell at the Old Buttermarket, was one of the finest pints of beer it has been my privilege to drink – and I don’t say that lightly!

Before taking my glass outside, I took another mouthful of the beer, just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I wasn’t, the beer was absolutely brilliant, and I couldn’t believe my good fortune. I sat down at one of the tables facing the cathedral gate, feeling totally relaxed and at one with the world. This wasn’t just down to the smugness of having completed my walk, but much more to the excellence of the beer.

The strange thing is that I’ve put away many glasses of Pilsner Urquell, including on two separate visits to the brewery in Plzeň itself. During a visit to what was then Czechoslovakia, back in 1984 when the country was still firmly behind the Iron Curtain, the Pilsner Urquell brewery was still pretty much low-tech. With fermentation in wooden vats, and maturation in large pitch-lined, oak casks, the beer should have tasted amazing, and quite possibly it did. Forty years on, and it’s impossible to remember, especially following a visit to a part of the world where everything was noticeably different.

Back to Hog’s Back plus that amazing bottle of A Over T, and this is what the brewery have to say about it. “Brewed in small batches and matured in the brewery cellar, like a fine wine. A Over T is made from high quality English malted barley Kent Golding hops are added for bitterness, plus aroma whilst Bramling Cross hops further enhance the character, resulting in deep rich and complex flavours of sultanas orange peel and plums.”

“Enjoy it like you would fortified wine in a wine glass or Brandy balloon, which will concentrate its wonderful aroma. It goes particularly well with full flavoured mature cheeses, rich cakes and puddings, and can also be savoured on its own at the end of an evening.”

If you ever come across a bottle, then buy it, or alternatively call in at the well-stocked shop, next to the brewery. Open seven days a week, it’s an obvious, beer lover’s paradise, but if you live outside a 30-mile radius of the brewery, then delivery by a local courier is another option. Whilst on the subject of Hog’s Back Brewery, back in the dim and distant past history of West Kent CAMRA, I organised a coach trip to the brewery, where our group was given a guided tour of the plant. There was also plenty of samples to try, and in a novel approach the samples were different, depending on which part of the brewery we were in.

To explain, at the start of the tour we were each given a clean, half-pint, badged Hog’s Back glass. The idea was, there were pre-poured jugs of beer at various key points of the brewery, and the beer dished out became progressively stronger as we made our way around the plant. So, to start off, we were given TEA (Traditional English Ale), then Hop Garden Gold, Rip Snorter and then OTT (Old Tongham Tasty). I don’t think A Over T featured on the lineup, but it was a good idea to start off on the weaker stuff, before ending up with one of the stronger brews.

Hog’s Back cask and bottled beers were regular stock items at the “Cask & Glass” off-licence, in Tonbridge, when it was under our ownership. Sadly, the business is no more, and whilst the building still stands, it now houses an osteopath. As for A Over T, it isn't the most subtle of abbreviations, but it stands for "Aromas Over Tongham."

An unexpected meeting, and some unexpected news, at the Nelson

My first visit to the Nelson Arms since before Christmas followed a late start, last Friday morning. The delayed start was the result of the type of misunderstanding that sometimes occurs between couples, and this one, involving Mrs PBT’s and me was definitely a communication issue. As I’m sure many of you know by now, I have been working part time, since the autumn of 2021, and for me this means a three-day week at the factory (Monday- Wednesday), and then Thursday and Friday at home.

Mrs PBT’s keeps herself occupied, and her pension topped up, by looking after peoples’ books. By this I mean, she keeps a check on accounts kept those who are self-employed. The majority of her clients are tradesman, and in particular builders and other craftsmen. The work Eileen does is mainly checking client’s accounts are in order, and advising them of when the next income tax, and VAT payments are due. I’ve written before about the haphazard record keeping of some of these characters and how she sometimes has to create order out of the chaos of a carrier bag full of invoices and receipts, all liberally sprinkled with brick or plaster dust.

She’d originally pencilled in Friday, to sort out the paperwork of one of these characters, which would have left me free to head off somewhere, in search of a pub. By Thursday afternoon the situation had changed, as the carrier bag containing the necessary paperwork and not turned up, so a joint decision was made to go out, somewhere together. With no buses or trains to catch, we both overslept the following morning, although unbeknown to me, the elusive carrier bag had turned up, on the front step!

By the time I’d showered, grabbed some breakfast, it was too late to take the bus anywhere and more importantly, return on the same afternoon. Plans to visit Westerham, Chipstead, or Hook Green were abandoned, and instead I headed down into Tonbridge, leaving Mrs PBT’s to her bookkeeping. Not long after leaving the house, I realised that I was overdressed for the slightly milder weather we experienced that weekend. A few degrees Celsius can make a significant difference to the warmth provided by a light fleece compared to a heavy one, and as I’d pulled on the latter, I ended up being warmer than I wanted to be.

As mentioned at the start of this piece, I was aiming for the Nelson Arms, Tonbridge’s multi award-winning, and carefully restored, back street local. This would be my first visit since before Christmas, and I was looking forward to trying something a little different. I wasn’t disappointed as there were two interesting beers that took my fancy. These were, Rother Valley Blue, a porter with a rather bitter aftertaste, plus Ripper, an 8.4% draught barley wine from Lowestoft-based Green Jack Brewing. Given its high octane, the latter beer was only sold in halves – although there was nothing stopping customers ordering multiple halves.

The pub was fairly quiet, although there were some diners in the snug. I managed a short conversation with Matt the landlord, who seemed quite surprised when I told him I was no longer a CAMRA member, and even more surprised when I revealed that I’d resigned at the tail end of 2019. I told him that despite 45 years of unbroken membership, I had no regrets about leaving - quit whilst you're ahead, as the saying goes! Talking about leaving, I was just drinking up, when my friend Eric popped his head around the door. I hadn’t seen him for a long time and had asked Matt earlier whether or not he’d been in recently. It turned out that both Eric and his wife had been poorly during the run up to Christmas, so forgetting Mrs PBT’s instruction not to get too close to people I threw caution to the wind and enjoyed a bit of a catch up with this old drinking buddy and walking companion.

Eric informed me that the Punch & Judy – a slightly labyrinthine back street pub, behind Tonbridge Police Station, is now serving a first-class pint of Harvey’s Sussex Best.  My friend said that the landlady of the Punch had taken the eminently sensible decision to just stock two draught beers. So, alongside the Sussex Best, the PJ serves Foster’s Lager, and that’s it. What’s more the pub is selling the Sussex at £4.75 a pint - cheaper than you’d expect to pay in a Harvey’s tied house. With just two draft lines to worry about, both beers are in tip-top condition, although Eric didn’t actually try the Foster’s. So, food for thought, and welcome news that there is another Tonbridge pub offering a decent pint of cask, and at a decent price as well.

The following day, I drove Eileen over to the large Tesco superstore at Riverhead. She didn’t have a lot of shopping to get, so there wasn’t really time for me to nip for a crafty pint, although I did carry out a brief reconnaissance trip. Instead of heading south from Tesco’s carpark, I set off in the opposite direction, towards Dunton Green. Just five minutes’ walk away, and on the other side of the road, is the Miner’s Arms, a 19^th century pub, originally built for navvies working to construct the nearby railway. The Miners is now a family-friendly village local pub with a strong sense of community. Given its proximity to Tesco’s, I can see myself nipping in to the Miner’s for a crafty pint, the next time my wife is doing the grocery shopping.

Higson's - a former Liverpool legend, fondly remembered

Here’s a photo that will appeal to old readers in particular, but this trio of bottles is a recent purchased picked up from my local Home Bargains store before Christmas. Confused? You ought to be, especially as the name Higson’s was at one time synonymous with the city of Liverpool. When was that, I hear some of you ask, well the brewery of Daniel Higson Ltd was first registered in Liverpool in 1888 before moving to the Windsor Brewery, in Upper Parliament Street, in 1914. Nine years later, Higson’s acquired the Toxteth brewery of Robert Cain & Sons Ltd.

A number of other breweries were acquired during the years that followed, but in the main, these were relatively small, local concerns. Then, in 1983, a new brew-house capable of brewing lager was constructed. Unfortunately, this new asset attracted the interest of Manchester based Boddington's, who bought the company and its 160 tied houses in June 1985. It wasn’t long before an even bigger fish appeared on the scene, in the form of brewing giant Whitbread. The latter bought the combined Boddington’s group in 1989 and promptly closed the Toxteth site a year later.  

I now want to turn the clock back to 1973, which was the year when, amongst other things, I first became acquainted with the name of Higson’s. It’s quite a convoluted story so please, "bear with", as they say. In the autumn of that year, I was a “fresher”, (hate that term), at the University of Salford,  I lodged with my aunt Pat (my mother’s sister), for a number of reasons, but all relating to the acute shortage of student accommodation in the Manchester area at the time – as well as Salford University, there was Manchester University, UMIST (a subsidiary of the latter) and Manchester Polytechnic (now known as Manchester Metropolitan University). I was admitted to Salford University through UCCA clearing after failing to get the necessary grades for Warwick, but with space on my chosen course not confirmed until late September, finding somewhere to live was proving difficult, to put it mildly. 

This was where my mother intervened, and after speaking to her sister, my aunt kindly offered me the use of her spare room, until I found somewhere more permanent. My aunt and uncle, plus my two cousins, who were both younger than me, lived in Romiley, a pleasant workaday town, in the foothills of the Pennines a few miles outside Stockport. Romiley is a fair distance from Salford but well connected to central Manchester by train. So, a 20-minute walk to Romiley station, a train ride into Manchester Picadilly, and then a bus through the city centre, to Salford Crescent, meant I usually arrived in plenty of time for the first lecture of the day. 

As an aside, I hadn’t realised, at first, that there were two rail routes between Romiley and Manchester, the main, and most direct one being via Bredbury and Belle Vue. The second, and slightly longer route was via Hyde and Guide Bridge, and I nearly freaked out the first time I boarded this service, as I thought I’d caught the wrong train. There were no, in-train, announcements back in the mid-70’s, and no helpful maps showing rail routes either. Passengers were just expected to know these things, so you can perhaps understand my initial panic. 

At weekends, many of my friends and fellow course-mates either lived on the other side of Manchester or returned to their parents' homes, as they resided within commuting distance of Salford. This left me at a loose end, on Saturday and Sunday, so most Saturdays I took the bus into Stockport, just for something to do. This involved a look around the shops, a visit to the town’s colourful market, and then a quick pint or two, but where to go? There were no beer guides, or lists of recommended pubs in those days, so it was a simple question of picking one at random, or rather picking one that looked both friendly, and potentially welcoming. It's not always easy to get those things right, but let’s not forget that north country folk generally have those qualities in greater abundance, than their more reserved southern counterparts.

But what about the beer? Again, I knew very little about the region’s beer, apart from there being a dozen or more local breweries whose names I’d never heard of. Prior to me going up to Salford, a school friend who was much more interested in beer than I was, told me to try Boddington’s. There didn’t seem to be many Boddington’s pubs close to the university, and the “cream of Manchester” as it was later called, seemed thin on the ground in Stockport, as well. As might be expected, local brewer Robinson’s were well represented in their home town, and as there was a Robbie’s pub a short walk from my aunt’s place, I soon put their beers to the test.

I can’t remember the name of this pub, despite trying to locate it on a map, so I get the impression it is no longer trading.  The road layout seems to have changed as well, although Barrack Hill, where my aunt lived, is still shown on the local map.  So, if any Stopfordians reading this, can remember an unassuming Robinson’s pub, in a corner location on the road heading north out of Romiley, towards Bredbury, then please let me know.

Back to Stockport, and opposite Mersey Square Shopping Centre, just across the busy A6 Wellington Road, was the now sadly closed, George. This large, pub with a prominent position on a street corner, was a lone outpost for Higson’s - a brewery that back in 1973, I had never heard of. But after walking past this substantial, two-storey pub, my interest was piqued, and I summoned up the courage to venture inside. I’d already discovered that the Vault, was the equivalent of the Public Bar, back home, so I pushed open the door to one of the other two bars. This was probably the Lounge, and on a busy Saturday lunchtime (no all-day opening back then), it was packed to the gunwales.

With nowhere to sit down, I stood at the bar, feeling like a pork pie at a Jewish wedding. Now this is where after 53 years, my memory fails me, although whether or not the George had traditional hand pulls, or the metred electric dispense that was common at the time, in most areas north of Watford, isn’t really that relevant to the narrative, but Higson’s Mild and Bitter were available, alongside Draught Bass. Again, relying on memory, the latter may well have been labelled as Worthington E – a common practice in the Bass empire at the time. As for a Bass beer on sale, at a pub belonging to an independent brewer, I’m guessing this must have been some long-standing trading arrangement. 

I ordered a pint of Higson’s Bitter, and found its taste most agreeable, but I’ve no idea whether I had another pint, or perhaps tried the mild, but given the amount of customers in the pub, the Merseyside brewer’s beers were certainly very popular. The following term, I’d found some lodgings, “digs” as they were politely referred to, closer to the university. Situated just off the Eccles New Road, almost opposite Salford’s famous Hope Hospital - now renamed, Salford Royal, the rooms at Mrs Pierce’s left a lot to be desired, and the food served up, doubly so. Students, back then, were made of sterner stuff, so I had no real problem sharing a room with a final year student, who snored profusely, but who also had a van. I paid him, whatever the going rate was, for a ride into the campus, most mornings, although I usually took the bus back to the lodgings.

During my final year, I moved in with a group of friends, who were renting a slightly tumbledown, Victorian cottage, on the edge of Kersal Moor – an area of moorland in northern Manchester. Known as Church Cottage, the property was owned by the church, and rent paid to the local vicar. To cut a long story short, the property was occupied by six of us students, with numbers fluctuating slightly depending on which of the resident’s partners (male of female), was around at the time.  Two of the residents were members of a rock group, called Quasar, including their lead guitarist, a "scouser" called Dave. Dave introduced us to a couple of his Liverpudlian mates, both of whom were studying at Oxford. The pair were also budding rock musicians, so it was natural there should be not just contact, but some mixing between the Salford and Oxford contingents, with other house members such as me, acting as hangers on.

There were various meet ups, in both Oxford and Liverpool, and it was during a visit to the latter that myself and the other non-scouser’s became acquainted with the Crow’s Nest. This was a deservedly popular, three-room, former Higson’s pub, in the Crosby area of the city. Although I only made a couple of visits, the Crow’s Nest struck a chord with me, and I am pleased to report that the pub is still trading under local community ownership of the. It is also Grade 2 listed and is classed by English Heritage as a two-star public house, with late 19th century origins, with an interior of very special national historic interest. The photo here is lifted from What Pub, and I’m sure you will agree it’s a fine-looking building that is obviously an asset to the surrounding community.

Regrettably, the George in Stockport has not fared anywhere near as well and the closed pub is currently awaiting demolition. The site is due to be redeveloped with plans for a substantial multi-storey building containing a large number of apartments. A sorry end for this former, lone outpost for Higson’s ales, but what about the Higson’s beers I found on sale at Home Bargains?  

The historic Higson’s brand was originally revived in 2017, by Love Lane Brewery, who were based in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle district. Love Lane entered administration but was acquired by TJ Morris, the Liverpool-based company behind Home Bargains. An abandoned warehouse was converted into an 18,000-hectolitre brewery with the capacity to produce 3.2 million pints, along with a gin distillery, bar, and eatery. Hence, the Home Bargains connection. The three beers I purchased – Bitter Ale, Brown Ale and Golden Ale are new recipes inspired by the original Higson’s brews, using modern ingredients and brewing technology. 

As it’s 40 years, or so since I drank the original Higson’s beers, and bearing in mind that the Toxteth brewery ceased production in 1990, any taste comparisons between old and new are meaningless. The original company was well-regarded among drinkers in Merseyside, and many expressed disappointment and frustration when the brewery closed. I trust you have found this lengthy and rather self-indulgent look back, at a former Liverpool institution, interesting and entertaining. I certainly enjoyed piecing it together, even if it did mean deep into the memory well, a task which, admittedly, wasn’t easy after the best part of half a century!