Mickleham and Leatherhead, Surrey (Thursday 16th May 2013)

The Routemeister and I had decided to walk from Box Hill & Westhumble station, via Box Hill (a fair old climb!) to Mickleham and Leatherhead, quite early on passing Denbies Wine Estate (site), which we shall visit on another trip to include Dorking.

We then pushed on to Mickleham, first visiting St Michael's church, which originally dates back to Saxon times, but is now built up from Norman times with added bits here and there, and always some addition from the Victorians, of course!  Opposite the church is The Running Horses pub, Old London Road, whose website is currently being worked on, but for future reference is at www.therunninghorses.co.uk 

The food here looked pretty good, but not cheap, and Ringwood ales were served up, so not too bad for us; we would have a part of our packed lunch after we'd left the pub, back in the churchyard.  There were also Fullers London Pride (4.1%), well documented, and Brakspear Bitter (3.4%), but we wanted something a bit stronger. From Ringwood were their Best Bitter (3.8%), and the 4.2% "blonde ale" Boondoggle, which we definitely each enjoyed a pint of; a pale full-bodied bitter.

We then walked cross country, passing another vineyard, which appeared to be allowed to fall fallow, to Leatherhead. As soon as we entered town there was another 'Running Horse', this time a Shepherd Neame pub, and the Penny Black in North Street, an old Post Office, built in 1895, and now a Youngs pub (site), which we did visit.  In addition to the Youngs ales were Portobello Star, which I have mentioned in the recent past, and their own Waggle Dance, Ordinary (Best) and the 4.5% Special, which was a very nice pint indeed, and friendly bar staff too.

 

Looking forward to returning to this part of Surrey, but for now, cheers!

Lewes Revisited

OK, the Abergavenny Arms isn't in Lewes, but it's not in Wales either, well, not this one, it's in East Sussex (Rodmell)... During an eventual 10 mile circular walk from Lewes, we had a drink in the Abergavenny Arms, that sells food, and ales, of course! It can serve 3 ales at a time, but only 2 today, the ubiquitous Sussex Best, but also the West Sussex ale from Hammerpot, Shooting Star (3.8%), a medium coloured bitter, not too bad ;-)

We sat outside, not too bad a day... and the landlady was being interviewed/filmed for... No idea why! LOL The pub has it's own website at www.abergavennyarms.com

Well, we walked the walk, a bit hard at first, going up to the South Downs Way, but, after the Abergavenny Arms, mostly on the flat all the way to Lewes, where we came to the Snowdrop Inn, OK, been here before, but why not come back?? Loadsa real ales; Dark Star APA (what else would I drink, in the circumstances) and Black Coffee Pilsner... yep... Harveys Sussex Best and Porter, and Dorking Brewery's Red India Ale (5%) and BEL (5.5%), a pseudo Belgian ale... Love the place!

We ended at the Harveys' Brewery Tap, the John Harvey Tavern, which is a typical old pub inside, flagstone floor, wooden panels, floor, beams and pillars, ales from gravity feed (3 on handpump), indeed, you can pretty much purchase whatever ales Harveys has on sale here... We had the Old Ale, good choice ;-)

My only complaint is that, despite the interior, the John Harvey doesn't feel like a pub... It's so bright, with too much (large) modern glass windows... and the view of the car park, not good...

That's it for now... knackered ;-)