2 new pubs in the High Weald.

The Routemeister and I decided a shorter walk was required after the 'marathon' yesterday (Rye Figure of 8, last Tuesday), so we didn't add on to the already reasonably challenging walk planned in the High Weald, but we did get in hop fields, and 2 new pubs for us...

Our lunchtime destination was Burwash, where we visited The Bear Inn (website), which had a very interesting looking menu, and the food we saw being dished up to others appeared of good quality and measure.  They also have a good view from their garden, and we had a wee watch of the Ashes cricket match...

Ale-wise, there were 2 regulars, Sharp's Doom Bar (4%) and Harveys Sussex Best (4%).  There was only 1 guest ale this day, but they often have 2 guest ales. We went for the guest, Cottage M.G.A. (4%); they seem to like the 4% strength, probably related to drivers visiting the pub/hotel for food, which did seem to be being devoured by most customers there, other than us, we had a packed-lunch, of course.  I recounted the story of a lad I used to know who had built an MGA from scratch, following finding a chassis and body in decent nick, then scrounging around all over the place for parts; it was an impressive car when he'd finished building it.  The beer itself, described as "a golden cask ale", had a slight nuttiness in the flavour, and was quite refreshing, but lacked hops for a hoppy lad like me; and Dan is becoming a bit of a hop freak too! 

We carried on for a bit of a walk, passing by Rudyard Kipling's old home, Bateman's (named after a brewer, obviously, not), and our second 'tick' pub of the day, The Wheel Inn, Burwashweald (facebook), which is just down the road from Burwash, if driving, but we did our usual circuitous route through fields, to avoid roads as much as possible, and following the established walk from Dan's book.

The Wheel Inn had 3 ales on, 1 regular, the ubiquitous Harveys Sussex Best (4%), and 2 regularly changing guest ales, which, on our visit, were Sharp's Doom Bar (4%) and Morland Old Speckled Hen (4.5%).  We had the Old Speckled Hen, which I hadn't drunk for quite a while, it still remains an enjoyable dark bitter with plenty of flavour. The young barmaid was friendly, as was another customer, sitting at the bar as I asked questions, quite chatty and good to meet, cheers!