Saturday morning in West Kent

“Rejoice, we’re on our way out”; so screamed the banner headline on the front of the Daily (hate) Mail. I wasn’t sure what we were supposed to be rejoicing about, but I had a good inkling, so without further ado I inverted and turned round the stack of Little England’s favourite daily, leaving would be purchasers to be greeted with an upside-down sports page, and carried on with my shopping. I doubt many residents of Kings Hill would bother buying Middle England’s finest rag anyway, but there’s nothing like making sure.

I don’t expect many of you will have heard of Kings Hill, so to put you out of your misery, it is one of several new villages built in Kent since the 1950’s. It occupies the site of the former RAF West Malling airfield, which was one of the front-line airfields during the Battle of Britain.

The airfield was decommissioned by the RAF in 1969, but it remained in civilian use until the late 1980’s, when work started to transform the site into a new village community of mixed residential and commercial properties. The latter are mainly fancy-looking office buildings; some of which are corporate headquarters for faceless companies. The development work began in 1989 and seemingly continues to this day.

As its name suggests it is situated on a hill, close to the small market town of West Malling. It is a cold and windy place and I don’t like it at all, but it does have a reasonably-sized ASDA, and that was the attraction, for Mrs PBT’s at least, which led to us making the 20 minute journey over from Tonbridge.

The drive over was the second best part of the morning, with the drive home being the best, but at least this did allow us to appreciate the Kent countryside on a cold winter’s day; even if it was from the warmth of the car.

Now Mrs PBT’s prefers to do supermarket shopping on her own.  She is quite insistent on this, so there are no joint moments of indecision in the aisles whilst Thursday evening’s meal choice is debated. This suits me perfectly, but what to do with the time, before I receive my summons to assist her at the checkout?

Shopping locally in Tonbridge, poses no problems as I can head off into the town on errands such as banking, man-shopping or just generally having a look around. With Fuggles now open I can also pop in for a swift half depending, of course, on the time of day.

The other food-shopping destination are the Tunbridge Wells retail parks at North Farm; a destination which is now much easier to reach following completion of the upgrade to the A21 between Tonbridge and Pembury. Whilst Mrs PBT’s is in ASDA, I normally head over to Gregg’s where I can pick up a half-decent cup of coffee and take advantage of their free Wi-Fi.

Kings Hill is a different proposition altogether. Cold and draughty, even during the height of summer, there is nowhere to sit out and watch the world go by. The only other shops are an opticians, a Chinese restaurant and a Costa Coffee. I have resorted to the latter before, out of desperation, but it is pricey and full of “yummy mummies” and their “charming” children. Perhaps they make up the bulk of the Daily Fail’s target audience in Kings Hill, in which case they may have had to look a bit harder on Saturday for their fake-news fix.

 

After disposing of our household’s collected re-cycleable items in the correct bins, I popped into ASDA, to pick up some cheap beer and sort out their newspaper display.  I took my purchases back to the car, and then wandered around aimlessly, not relishing the prospect of handing over my money for an over-sized cup of frothy coffee; but also not keen on returning to the supermarket.

My wanderings took me past Kings Hill’s only pub and it was here that an “A” board caught my eye. Fresh coffee and tea available inside at prices a lot more amenable than Costa’s. The pub in question is called the Spitfire, which is highly appropriate in view of the role played by the aircraft and also RAF West Malling in the nation’s history. The name is doubly appropriate as the pub belongs to Shepherd Neame, and Spitfire is their top-selling ale-brand.

This would be the first time I’ve set foot inside the Spitfire, but given my known aversion to Shepherd Neame beers this is hardly surprising. A decent cup of coffee was a different proposition though, so I decided to bite the bullet and step inside.

As the photo’s show, the Spitfire is a monument to brutalist modernism. This means it does not look out of place amongst the rest of King’s Hill’s buildings. The modernist look extended through to the interior as well, but the pub seemed well patronised, and after ordering my coffee I had difficulty in finding an empty seat and a spare table.

I was happy to hand over my £2.00 for what was a very reasonable cup of coffee. I much prefer to give my money to a “local” brewery such as Shepherd Neame, rather than a multi-national chain like Costa Coffee. The only thing was it seemed as though some of the “yummy mummies” thought the same too. Perhaps it was my fault for choosing to sit in the raised area with the comfy sofas, but there really wasn’t anywhere else free.

Fortunately, the group with the noisiest and worst behaved child departed, not long after I’d sat down, leaving me free to people-watch and skim through the emails accumulated on my phone. I didn’t see much cask being served; Spitfire (obviously), plus Whitstable Bay Pale were the beers on offer, but I didn’t witness that much lager being poured either. Most of the customers were either like me and having a quick coffee or were larger groups who had called in for lunch.

To end, I can think of far more enjoyable and productive ways to spend a few hours on a Saturday, but needs must and all that. I will remember the Spitfire though as a place to retreat to, the next time Mrs PBT’s decides  to shop at Kings Hill.

Go easy on the roast

I’m still working on the lengthy post I mentioned the other day, and what with Christmas meals, shopping and log-splitting – not necessarily all in the same order, I haven’t progressed the long post at all. So by way of a stocking filler (you can tell Christmas is approaching), here is a slightly off-beat post.

It concerns a couple of beers I had yesterday afternoon, at the work’s Christmas meal. As I mentioned in the previous post, our company dinner was held at the Little Brown Jug at Chiddingstone Causeway, and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say it was one of the best events of its kind that I can remember.

The pub was looking spotless, all decked out for Christmas, and with a welcoming log fire, blazing away in the grate, provided the perfect welcome.  The food was excellent, and I particularly enjoyed my crispy braised pork belly, with smoked mash, celeriac and pear puree, sautéed bacon and kale and mustard sauce. I had a couple of glasses of Chardonnay as well, just to be sociable, but also because only three of us were drinking wine on our table.

The company was good too as, unlike previous years where people tended to sit with members of their own departments, we spread ourselves around. I ended up sitting with colleagues from dispatch, production plus R&D, and it made a nice change to mix and mingle with different people.

But what about the beer? That all important drink which makes a good pub great and an excellent one fantastic. The regular beer on the bar was Larkin’s Traditional, and I ended up on this, but first I fancied something a little different. There was a choice of  two beers from Tonbridge Brewery, but unfortunately they were very similar and both appear to contain an ingredient I am not at all fond of.

Now Tonbridge Brewery are something of a local success story, expanding  from small beginnings brewing in a converted garage attached to the owner’s home on the edge of Tonbridge, to occupying an industrial unit in nearby East Peckham. Through sheer dogged persistence, they have expanded slowly and steadily, without any fanfare or headline-grabbing publicity, into a brewery which now supplies over 200 outlets in Kent.

They produce an interesting range of well-crafted beers, including three which I am really fond of, but unfortunately the two on sale yesterday afternoon, were not to my  liking. Tonbridge have a new beer out, called Countryman. I first spotted it last week at the Elm Tree near Paddock Wood. I didn’t try it then, but seeing it on the bar at the Jug, I thought I’d give it a go.

I should perhaps have been a little wary when our new recruit in the sales department, who was in front of me at the bar, pronounced that it was dominated by a liquorice flavour. She’s only been with us a few weeks; not long enough for me to realise she’s a bit of a beer connoisseur. My pint was already being pulled when she gave her verdict, so I had to stick with my choice and find out for myself.

She was right as there was an over-whelming “burnt” taste to the beer, which I recognised instantly as either roast malt or roast barley. Now roasted grains have their place in darker beers, such as porters or stouts, where they contribute both colour and a rich roasted flavour, but when used in a “bitter” they tend to dominate and mask the more subtle juicy malt flavours along with the hop bitterness derived from choice aroma hops. So I really wish certain brewers wouldn’t insist on using these roasted grains in their bitters ales.

I drank my pint of Countryman, longing for something with a cleaner and more refreshing taste, but the only alternative, apart from the Larkin’s, was the other beer from Tonbridge. This was the brewery’s best selling Coppernob, a 3.8% fairly dry copper-coloured bitter.

I had a feeling that this too contained some roasted grain, and I was right. There wasn’t quite as much as in the Countryman, but it was still too high for my liking. I ended up on the Larkin’s Traditional, slightly disappointed that the pub had selected two Tonbridge beers that were just too similar.

Now I am probably coming across here as both churlish and ungrateful. Churlish for saying this when the management and staff of the LBJ went out of their way to look after us and to ensure we had an enjoyable evening.  Ungrateful because the company picked up the tab for both the food and the drink.

I can assure you that I am neither and, as stated earlier, I had a brilliant  time.  I don’t want to criticise Tonbridge Brewery either, as they have some excellent beers in their portfolio (Union Pale, Alsace Gold, Blonde Ambition and Ebony Moon), plus there was nothing at all wrong with the quality of the Countryman or the Coppernob.

All I am trying to say is, I don’t like the use of roasted grains in bitters or best bitters and really wish brewers would desist from using them in this fashion.

Footnote; other beers springing to mind where I detect the presence of roasted barely/malt, include Wychwood Hobgoblin, Goacher’s Dark,  Bath Ales Barnsey and most so-called “Red Ales”.

So Christmas begins

I’m working on a rather lengthy post at the moment, so in case I don’t finish it this evening, I wanted to say it’s my company’s Christmas “do” tomorrow afternoon. There will therefore be no blogging on Friday evening, when I eventually stagger home.

This year’s event follows a familiar pattern, of work in the morning, before we all march off up the road to the Little Brown Jug pub; around five minutes walk away. There will be a sit-down, three-course Christmas meal, accompanied by the odd glass or three of beer or wine.

The Little Brown Jug is opposite Penshurst station, in the small village of Chiddingstone Causeway, where our factory is based. The station will be handy for a train back to Tonbridge, tomorrow evening, but I think most of the workforce, who don’t live locally, will be relying on someone to drive them home.

There does seem a strange reluctance amongst many people today to use public transport, which is foolish, as in these straightened times the bus and train companies are likely to cite “lack of use” as a reason to cutback on services.

OK, rant over and back to the Christmas theme. The Jug is a Greene King pub which is leased to a local company called Whiting & Hammond. It has a reputation for good food, and beer-wise normally stocks Larkin’s Traditional, from the brewery just a few miles down the road.

This time of year I’d prefer something a little stronger, such as the rarely seen 4.4% Larkin’s Best, but we will have to wait and see as to what else is on, (most likely Rocking Rudolph, that faux Hardy & Hanson beer from the GK stable). With the company picking up the tab though, I shouldn’t be churlish, and there’s normally the odd half-decent bottle of wine floating about.

When I first started with the company, eleven and a half years ago, we had a couple of lunchtime Christmas meals, at the Bottle House up at Smart’s Hill. However, getting staff to and from this attractive, but very isolated country pub proved a logistical nightmare, and also an expensive one due to the cost of taxi hire, so the company then switched to holding an evening “do”.

We were allowed to bring our partners to these events, but as the workforce grew in numbers, these evenings also worked out expensive. The current afternoon celebration works quite well, and although some may have described me as a grumpy old git, I do actually enjoy mixing and socialising with my colleagues, (well most of them, anyway!)

That just about sums up our company Christmas meal, but the family and I will be looking forward to another celebratory dinner the following weekend; this time with friends from West Kent CAMRA. The Brecknock Arms, at Bells Yew Green, conveniently close to Frant station, will once again be hosting our event. With Harvey’s Old and Christmas Ale on draught, that too could prove to be a boozy event.

The paradox of choice

Whilst in Lewes the other week I picked up a copy of "Sussex Drinker"; the quarterly news-magazine published by the combined Sussex CAMRA branches. Seeing as my son and I were in the company of friends from Maidstone & Mid Kent CAMRA, I also picked up the latest edition of “Draught Copy”; their own magazine, which also appears on a quarterly basis.

I hadn’t really looked at these magazines until the other night, when flicking through them I was amazed, and also somewhat taken aback, by the numbers of breweries there are in the two counties. Kent currently has 39 operating breweries whilst Sussex can boast a staggering 60!

Now I know other writers, such as Curmudgeon and Boak & Bailey have written about this before, but the number of breweries in this south-eastern corner of England is surely way too high, and in the long term, unsustainable.

With beer sales in decline, fewer people going to the pub and indeed pubs continuing to close at an alarming rate, where exactly is the market for all these beers or, more importantly, where are they managing to sell their beers?

Of course some of these 99 breweries are brew-pubs, or one man bands. Others specialise in bottles and concentrate on selling their beers into farm shops or at farmers’ markets, but this must be a pretty precarious way to earn a living. On the other hand, there are also quite a few success stories amongst this number,

But where will it all end? It was rather sad to read in “Sussex Drinker”,  of the demise of Ballard’s Brewery; one of the pioneers of the small brewery movement, a phenomenon which actually predates the much more recent micro-brewery explosion.  Ballard’s started brewing in 1980, so were not far short of their 40^th anniversary.

However, just over two weeks ago it was announced that Ballard’s would be closing, but their beers would continue being brewed by the Greyhound Brewery in West Chiltington, which is just down the road from Ballard’s home at Nyewood, West Sussex. Francis Weston, Ballard’s brewer for many years, will oversee the transfer of the recipes to their new home, whilst the brewing plant has been sold and is being shipped out to Serbia, of all places.

“Sussex Drinker” also reported on the closure of the Beachy Head Brewery, due to the imminent retirement of its founder and brewer, Roger Green.  Then of course there is news of start-ups, such as Brewing Brothers in Hastings and Brew Studio at Sompting.

As others have pointed out, we must be close to saturation point with regard to breweries; if we haven’t reached it already, and although the choice of beers which are now available appears a good situation to be in, the converse is actually true. These days when confronted in a pub, by an unfamiliar beer on the bar, I am likely to think twice before ordering a pint, whereas at one time I wouldn't have hesitated to give it a try.

Too much choice, actually means less in a perverse way, and the fact that the beers brewed by some of these new breweries are mediocre at best, actually helps no-one, as for a while at least, it ties up bar space which could be taken by beers brewed by people who know their trade.

Ultimately, some of these poorer efforts will fall by the wayside, but in some instances not before one or two of the better breweries have been driven out of business by too much competition chasing far too few outlets. This really is an example of competition actually stifling choice and not working in the consumer interest.

The pattern of what is happening in Kent and Sussex is being repeated up and down the country, with most areas of Britain potentially offering a range of beers which would have seemed unimaginable a decade or so ago. But will this amazing choice ultimately "kill the goose that laid the golden egg", or will we see the long predicted, but yet to materialise, shake up in the brewing industry, and the cutting out of the slack?

The Elm Tree - Paddock Wood

The area of the county covered by West Kent CAMRA is quite substantial. Granted it’s not as large as some branches have to manage, particularly in the more sparsely populated areas of Britain, but there are still parts of our area which receive very little in the way of local support from CAMRA.

The small town of Paddock Wood is one such place, despite it having a good rail service, and the surrounding rural area seems at times, almost unknown territory. The town’s name cropped up during a discussion at last week’s branch business meeting, when a committee member put forward a rural pub which he thought worthy of further consideration.

The pub in question was the Elm Tree; a short drive from the centre of Paddock Wood, but in quite an isolated situation. A number of us agreed we should check it out, so after having breakfast at the Causeway Hall in Chiddingstone Causeway, my son and I decided to pay the pub a visit.

I have been to the Elm Tree a couple of times before, and the last time I called in it has a rather non-descript Shepherd Neame pub. I was therefore rather pleased  to discover the pub is now a free-house. It stands on a staggered junction on the quirkily-named  Mile Oak Road, and now looks far more appealing than it did during its time under Shep’s.

For a start the exterior has been painted an attractive creamy-yellow colour, rather than the corporate white which is used for most Shep’s houses. We pulled up in the car-park, pausing to look at the attractive garden area, before making our way inside. Apart from a lone punter sitting at the bar we were the first customers. The interior seemed bright and stylish, and there was a log burner blazing away to our left which provided a welcoming warmth.

The bar was adorned by four hand pumps offering the choice between Whitstable Bay Pale, Old Dairy Red Top and two beers from Tonbridge Brewery; Capel Pale and Countryman. I opted for the Red Top, Matt went for a strange hybrid called Spitfire Lager.

My beer was very good, so I’d imagine the landlord had correctly pulled some through at the start of the session. I don’t know what Matt’s was like, but he did finish before me. We had a brief look round, noticing that virtually all the tables had been laid out for diners, along with the names of those who had booked Sunday lunch.

There were a couple of stools at the bar, so we grabbed those along with a bag of Piper’s Crisps each. As we sat there chatting, the first party of diners arrived, followed closely by the second. At this point the landlord’s wife/partner appeared from behind the bar and began taking drinks orders.

I noticed a number of things whilst this was going on, the first of which that most of the diners opted for red wine to drink; either that or lager. The cask ales were all priced at £3.60 a pint, as there was a notice to this effect. Apart from me, only one other customer was drinking cask, and he was on the Capel Pale (good choice!).

The Elm Tree is obviously a popular destination for Sunday lunch, and at just £10.99 a head this was perhaps not surprising. Being a relatively small pub, booking is essential; especially for the Sunday roast. It states this on the pub website, and we saw for ourselves that a family had to be turned away as they hadn’t booked.

I must say I liked it and will definitely return. According to Google Maps it is just over a mile’s walk from Paddock Wood station and apart from a short stretch at the end, there is pavement all the way.

The owners seem to be doing everything right; the pub is nice and clean, there is a friendly welcome from behind the bar, the beer I had was good (3.0 NBSS), and I’m sure the food is equally good. I have already reported this back to my CAMRA colleagues.

There was just one thing bothering me though and that was the  presence of a large sign outside the pub stating “Public House. New lease available. To Let”. I didn’t enquire as to why, but according to the estate agent’s website, the pub is “Available to be let by way of a new lease for a term by agreement at £12,000 per annum payable quarterly in advance”.

“Alternatively, the owners will consider other commercial uses, whether catering or business use, subject to planning consent”.  

The reasons for putting the pub up to let, are thus still unclear, but when compared with other commercial premises, the rent appears cheap. Whatever the reason though, it is annoying to have found a decent pub, which is relatively easy to get to and which combines a pleasant rural outlook with a good beer and food offering.

C’est la vie, as they say!

Good Beer Guide at the crossroads?

It’s difficult to know where to start with this one, as the subject matter has many inter-woven threads, and the post could end up being a long one.  I’m keen to avoid this happening, so I’ll do my utmost to stay on topic, which just happens to be that perennial favourite – the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.

Regular readers will probably know I haven’t bought the Guide for some years, although that could change when I activate the App on my phone. But even without an up to date edition I can see a pattern emerging as the 45 year old publication continues to evolve.

From reading various blogs, and also talking to regular users of the Guide, it is evident that entries have changed over the past few years; certainly from when I last bought a copy. Not that long ago, Wetherspoon’s were very much in vogue, with many branches putting forward their local Spoon’s as an entry in the guide. A few years later, JDW outlets had become less common and micro-pubs were all the rage, and I believe that to a certain extent, they still are.

Now it is the turn of the brewery-tap. When talking about a tap, I’m not referring to what us older drinkers would think of as a “brewery tap” ie. the nearest pub to the brewery. Many people have fond memories of pubs like the Ram Inn, which was the “tap” for the adjacent, but now sadly closed Ram Brewery of Young & Co, or the George & Devonshire, which is the “tap” for the  happily still thriving Fuller’s Brewery next door.

Instead I am alluding to the increasing number of independent brewery taprooms, particularly in  London, where the brewery’s beers (keg as well as cask), can be sampled and enjoyed in the confines of the brewery or adjacent bar.

With these changes many would argue that the GBG is sticking to its roots by remaining as a Good Beer Guide (as stated on the cover), rather than as others see it; a Good Pub Guide. So far so good, but from what's been pieced together so far, along with my own experiences, this focus on beer has led to the Guide being described, somewhat unfairly, as the Good GUEST Beer Guide.

There is a suspicion amongst certain beer writers that pubs are being selected purely on the basis that they offer a wide range of, often obscure, beers rather than on the over-riding factor of beer quality. Several have complained that pubs are now deliberately stocking more beers than they are capable of turning over, in order to secure a place in the GBG.

In contrast, those pubs adopting a more sensible and realistic approach to stocking are being left out in the cold. This seems particularly applicable to pubs tied to one of the surviving family brewers, which serve just one or two beers.

There are obviously no winners here, especially with in the case of over-stocking, as one or two of the less popular beers will inevitably stick around longer than they should. The quality obviously suffers, and as no one likes a duff pint, people end up voting with their feet.  The one or two beer outlets also feel disadvantaged, even though they are doing the right thing.

Irrespective of whether these stories are true, many in the licensed trade believe that stocking a wide range of beers is the key to securing a place in the Good Beer Guide,  despite various denials from CAMRA. However, if certain CAMRA branches are doing this, they are doing themselves and the organisation as a whole no favours at all. They are not helping the pub trade either.

The perception that CAMRA favours multi-beer pubs over single beer ones, must have some basis in fact; although whether it is reality, is a different matter. The growing number of reports about indifferent or downright poor quality beer in many of these “beer exhibition” type pubs is cause for concern though, and certainly does little to promote cask ale as the drink of choice in the nation’s pubs.

I feel that this one is  going to run and run, so I’ll leave it there for the moment, and just touch briefly on a couple of other criticisms concerning the Good Beer Guide at the present.

The most serious is that of pubs not adhering to their published opening hours; an extremely frustrating and annoying experience, when a visitor has travelled a long way, only to find a particular pub shut. This seems to occur mainly at lunchtimes or in the afternoon; the very sessions that are most practical, and most appealing, to travellers from afar.

These annoyances are probably due to the lengthy intervals between the initial survey for the guide, and its eventual appearance in print. For example, branches are currently surveying pubs for the 2019 Good Beer Guide, even though it won’t appear in print until next autumn.

One way to speed up the production process, and thereby improve the accuracy of entries, would be to eliminate the “Breweries Section” in the back of the Guide. This bulky and increasingly superfluous section occupies a large chunk of the GBG and takes ages to compile. It’s very presence is the other major criticism put forward by many commentators.

The list of all the UK’s breweries, along with the beers they produce, did once form an essential part of the Guide, but as the number of breweries has increased nearly tenfold over the GBG’s 45 year existence, so its usefulness has diminished.

Virtually every brewery, including the proverbial “ man in a shed”, has a website capable of being updated far more regularly than the GBG, and containing far more information about a brewery’s products than anything the Guide could contain; so why the continuing need for this waste of wood pulp?

Things move extremely slowly within CAMRA, and despite the recent stepping down of Roger Protz, as the Good Beer Guide’s long serving editor, we are unlikely to see any change until 2020 at the earliest.

In a rapidly changing world, the GBG really needs to adapt in order to survive, and it may end up having to redefine itself. Despite protestations that it is what it says on the cover – a Good BEER Guide, many of the people who buy it see it as a guide to good pubs which also happen to serve good beer.

Life was much simpler back in 1974 when the Good Beer Guide first launched, and it was an indispensable guide to somewhere serving an unadulterated pint of good cask ale, in a sea of cold, fizzy and invariably tasteless keg offerings. Good beer is everywhere now and so CAMRA, as the Guide’s promoter, needs to look closely at the purpose and indeed the whole raison d’etre of its flagship publication.

Lewes - Part Two; return by bus, train and mini-bus

Whilst it’s still fresh in my mind, I might as well launch straight into part two of my Lewes article. Not only that, but I am out tomorrow evening, attending a business meeting of the my local CAMRA branch.

We had just left the Swan Inn, when I left off last time, and were heading back towards the centre of town. We were on flat ground, at the bottom of the defensive outcrop of the Downs, on which Lewes is constructed,  passing the town’s football ground and the station on our way. The history buffs amongst you might be interested to learn that we also passed Anne of Cleve’s House, shortly after leaving the Swan.

Anne of Cleve’s, of course, was Henry VIII’s  fourth wife; the one he infamously described as looking like a “Flanders’s mare”. The marriage was never consummated and Henry granted Anne an annulment. The house in Lewes formed part of the settlement, although Anne never visited the property, let alone lived there.

I mentioned in the first part of this narrative that we had a choice of two pubs; the King’s Head or the Lansdown Arms. The former was ruled out, following a hint earlier from Jo,  that the beers were on the pricey side, so we continued on to the Lansdown. I had been in the King’s Head before, when my companion and I spent the night in Lewes, whilst walking the South Downs Way. I remember it as a very pleasant pub serving good food and, from what I could see as we walked past, little had changed. However, given the time constraints I was happy to give it a miss and try the Lansdown instead.

 

The Lansdown Arms is an attractive pub, sited on a prominent corner location, close to Lewes station. The large sign out side describes it as “An atmospheric drinking den to whet your palate and tend to your needs”. It then goes on to say, in bigger and bolder letters, “The heart of an incredible community”.

I certainly got the feeling the Lansdown was a proper community pub, with its quirky interior, and multi-level drinking areas. There were two beers from Long Man on tap, along with Harvey’s Old. I opted for the Long Man American Pale Ale. This generously hopped, pale ale, weighs in at 4.8% ABV, and is packed with rich citrus and other fruit flavours. It is well worth seeking out, and was in good form (3.5 NBSS), on Saturday afternoon, .

I had been tempted to have a pint of Harvey’s Old instead, but I knew I'd be able the drink that at the pub we were planning on stopping at on the way home. Little did I know! We commandeered a couple of the long, scrubbed wooden tables next to the window; close enough for those who wanted to watch Scotland thrashing the Aussies at rugby (well worth seeing I must say!), but not so close that conversation was stifled.

I could probably have squeezed another half in, but with a half hour bus journey ahead, and no opportunity to expel excess fluid, I wisely decided to just have the one. We departed in plenty of time to catch the 4.36 pm bus, as previously planned, but when we reached the stop, we saw a message flashing up on the digital information board, telling would-be passengers that there was currently no service to either Crowborough or Tunbridge Wells, as the A26 was closed following a serious accident.

 

Talk about the best-laid plans, but we  nevertheless waited for the bus and asked the driver what the score was. He advised us to board, and stay on as far as Uckfield. He would then radio in to control to find out what was happening. This suited Matt and I as we knew that if it came to it, we could get a train home from Uckfield, even though it would mean a 25 minute walk in order to change stations at Edenbridge.

This was not much help for our Maidstone companions, but we boarded as suggested and waited for further information once we arrived in Uckfield. After speaking to his controller, the driver advised us to board the London bound train and alight at Crowborough. Our tickets would be valid and there would be buses running back to Tunbridge Wells.

Matt and I decided to stick with our friends, but when we left the warmth of the train at Crowborough, there was no sign of any buses, and a phone call to the bus company also drew a blank.  Fortunately, the person nominally in charge of the trip managed to contact a local taxi company who sent an eight-seat mini-bus to take us back to Tunbridge Wells.

Working out at just £3.00 a head, this was an absolute bargain, and 20 minutes later we were dropped off in Tunbridge Wells, as the station. The Maidstone contingent had a bus due in around 10 minutes, and although Matt and I had just missed a train, there was another due in 30 minutes plus a nice warm waiting room to take refuge in beforehand.

So what about our intended pub-stop on the way back? This was supposed to be the Pig & Butcher; an imposing Victorian pub owned by Harvey’s Brewery in the village of Five Ash Down, a few miles to the north of Uckfield. I was particularly looking forward to stopping there, as I had missed out seven years ago, at the end of a lengthy walk along the Wealdway long-distance footpath.

After hiking across Ashdown Forest on a baking hot June day, my friend Eric and I found ourselves at Five Ash Down. We knew we could get a bus back to Tunbridge Wells from there, but the sight of the Pig & Butcher, opposite the bus stop was also rather tempting. We were just about to cross the road, when we saw a double-deck bus approaching in the distance.

With no timetable, and no Smart-Phone with internet connection back then, we made a split second decision to flag the bus down. We were both foot sore and weary after walking for four days, from the River Thames at Gravesend, and the prospect of not knowing when the next bus might be due, plus the dangers of dallying too long in the pub, unfortunately meant giving the Pig & Butcher a miss.

We made the right decision, but ever since I’d wanted to call in and give the pub a try, and missing out again was both frustrating and annoying. The bulk of the trip had been fine though, and proved a most enjoyable way to spend a cold November Saturday. It was especially good to visit a few of Lewes’s lesser-known pubs, rather than the usual suspects of the Brewer’s Arms, the Lewes Arms and the Gardener’s.

I do plan a return visit to the town in the not too distant future; one which will include a stopover at the Pig and Butcher.

Lewes by bus - Part One

Lewes is surprisingly easy for me to reach by public transport, so I’m rather baffled that I don’t travel there more often. The number 29 service bus, operated by Brighton & Hove Buses runs at half-hourly service between Brighton and Tunbridge Wells, and whilst I still need to get to the latter, I can do this easily by either bus or train.

The fare is also remarkably cheap at £6.50 for a day return or, as my son and I found out just £5.00 each for a family day pass. We travelled down to Lewes with a select group of six members from Maidstone CAMRA, who we met up with in Tunbridge Wells.

Sitting on the upper floor of the comfortable double-deckers which B&H Buses use for this service, gives some splendid views of the surrounding countryside, and on a day like yesterday with not a cloud in the sky, allowed us to see right across to the bulk of the South Downs, looming way ahead in the distance. The return journey was not so good though, but I’ll cover that later.

We arrived in East Sussex’s county-town shortly after 1pm, but chose not to get off at the bus station. Instead we stayed on the bus as it journeyed up School Hill, into the heart of this ancient town, and finally alighted close to the Black Horse pub; our first port of call.

Now I’ve not got particularly fond memories of this pub, having used it as over-night accommodation whilst walking the South Downs Way, nine years ago. Back then it was a rather rough and ready, former Beard’s pub (an old Lewes brewery, which hung onto its pubs long after it ceased brewing), which had ended up in the hands of Greene King, after they bought the Beard’s estate.

The decision of my companion and I to stay at the Black Horse was due to our walk coinciding with an event at nearby Glyndebourne. This had left accommodation in short supply, so let’s just say it provided a bed for the night, plus breakfast the following morning, and leave it that.

Much can happen in nine years, and I’m pleased to report that today the Black Horse is an excellent and thriving free-house offering a good range of cask ales, from several different brewers. With two log fires on the go, it offered just the warm and comforting welcome we’d been looking forward to after our journey.

There was quite a range of ales on sale, probably too much for some, but the Burning Sky Plateau which Matt and I had was in excellent condition (3.5 NBSS). We found a couple of tables at the far end of the right hand area of the bar. I suspect this was once a separate bar, back in the day, but with a nice log fire roaring away in the grate I felt nicely at home and fully expecting to be staying a while.

At this stage I should point out we were joined by a lady called Jo, and her dog. Jo was known to my Maidstone friends as she had once run a pub in the town. It was here I think that the confusion started, as Jo was aware of our visit and had let the pub know. They were obviously expecting us to eat, and I must admit so was I. One of the barmaids said as much, because the tables had been reserved for us.

It was slightly embarrassing then when my companions decided there was nothing on the menu which took their fancy. It looked fine to me; plain and simple pub grub, and reasonably priced at that, but the majority decision was to eat at the next pub, and that nearly turned out to be a mistake.

A couple of my friends tried another beer – Crème Brule from Dark Star, but I thought it best to pace myself especially as people were donning coats, ready to leave. I felt a slight embarrassment as we left, not that the decision to eat elsewhere was mine. I would still have like to have stayed for another beer though, and something to eat.

Our newly-joined companion, plus hound, guided us to the next pub; the Swan Inn situated in the Southover district of Lewes. For those not familiar with the town, it is built on a hill, over-looking the River Ouse. A partially ruined castle is sited at the highest point of the town and, when time allows, it is well worth buying a ticket and climbing to the top of the keep in order to appreciate the spectacular view over the town and across to the South Downs on the other side of the valley.

Time wasn’t on our side though, so we followed our guide through a maze of back alleys and pathways, known locally as "twittens", past the modernist, and totally out of place, bulk of County Hall, down the side of the hill to the quiet streets of Southover. There we said goodbye to Jo, who was due to do her regular stint behind the bar at Lewes Football Ground, a short distance away.

We found our way to the Swan, a delightful, old-fashioned two-bar local, owned by Harvey’s of Lewes. On entering I began to question my companion’s wisdom in not eating at the Black Horse, as this rather cramped Victorian gem was packed. We queued at the bar to order our drinks, and with four Harvey’s beers on offer, were spoilt for choice.

The fact that the Swan had the dark and delicious XXXX Old Ale on tap, made the decision a no-brainer for me, and what’s more the beer was in fine form, coming out again at 3.5 NBSS. It was also my first drop of Old this season.

We made our way through to the other bar, which was slightly more basic and must once have been the Public Bar. Fortunately a party of people were just leaving, so we were able to claim their vacated table. The menu was written on a board in the other bar, but fortunately I’d captured it on my phone. It looked remarkably similar to the one at the Black Horse, but slightly pricier, so was there karma at work here?

The lad and I opted for that old pub favourite, scampi, chips and peas. Others went for the ham, eggs and chips. The food arrived quick; it was nice and hot and the portions were plentiful, so all in all things worked out right in the end. I had time to grab myself a quick half of Bonfire Boy; Harvey’s strong (5.9% ABV), darkish seasonal special for the month of November. It was full bodied, warming and packed full of flavour; just the ting in fact for a cold winter afternoon. I scored it at 3.0 NBSS.

I highly recommend the Swan; it attracts a good crowd with a food and drink offering of a high standard. The landlord has a record deck behind the bar, and was playing a selection of  old acoustic blues numbers; not quite my cup of tea, especially as they were a bit mournful, but a welcome change from the usual piped “muzak”.  That over-worked term “atmospheric” best describes the Swan, and  as with the previous pub, I was reluctant to leave.

We then had two pubs to choose from, prior to our planned 4.36 pm departure. As there is still a fair bit of narrative to come, including a section on the trouble we had getting back to Tunbridge Wells, I will take a break here and continue in a subsequent post.