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!

Richmond, Surrey (Wednesday 15th May 2013)

What to do, what's the weather going to be like? We'd decided to make our 'country walk' tomorrow, so Wednesday was to be our River Thames wander, which turned out to be a much longer walk than tomorrow's, this day, only about 22 miles...

From Dan's in Putney, we walked westwards along the River Thames to Kingston, a few miles, indeed... then up to Kingston Gate and into Richmond Park, on to the Pen Ponds in the centre of the Park, and out to Richmond Gate and a short way down the hill to the famous view above.  

We could have gone into the Roebuck at the top of the hill, another good pub, but decided to wander down the hill and visit one we hadn't been to for quite a few years, The Victoria Inn, Richmond Hill, which used to be a rather too smokey pub in the 'old days', as it is a small one-bar building, though with a garden out the back, and now a Punch Taverns' house. 3 ales here; 2 regulars, Sharps Doom Bar (4%) and Youngs Bitter, or 'Ordinary' (3.7%), and the guest on this day, Thwaites Wainright, a 4.5% golden ale, not bad, and the pub has improved in the smoke-free atmosphere, nice sights out of the window, and bragging a warm landlady, Denise, inside, cheers m'dear!

We then dropped down the hill to the river again, and visited one of our favourites, the Waterman's Arm's, a Youngs' pub, that now outsells it's always well-kept Special (4.5%) and Ordinary (3.7%) with the regular guest here, Twickenham Three Naked Ladies (4.4%); I do like this beer!  The Irish landlord, a regular conversationalist, was away, we believed, but didn't ask, however, we missed his chat and updates.  We then headed back to Putney...

 

Tomorrow, and into the deep excesses of Surrey (honest!) cheers!

Clapham Junction to Putney (Tuesday 14th May 2013)

Not written for a while, because of no access to a pc or laptop, so a few will be published over next few days, starting with my arriving in London to visit the Routemeister...

We first visited this new Young's bar, really, can't be called a pub, which is a shame when taking into account the brewer's history.  The Waterfront, what can I say? It's very 'modern', when I thought 'modern' was out of date now, much glass, as you can see from the photograph. A selection of the usual Youngs ales on, Special, Ordinary and Waggle Dance, of which we had a pint of Special each.  Quite frankly, the barmaid had no idea how to pull a pint, and had to be asked twice to top up the shortfall, the beer wasn't 'off', but it was a bit sad, lacked the usual flavour, was tired... Not that I'm suggesting it was near the end of a cask that must have been on for ages, or that the bar may have a cellar a fair way away from the pump, so a long line, nor that they hadn't sold any yet on that day, just that... I shan't be returning in a hurry. 

 

Anyway, that evening we visited the Bricklayers Arms in Putney, a different kettle of fish entirely!

Alway a great selection of ales here, on the day, dominated by dark beers; a couple of Old Dairy ales, Red Top (3.8%) and Gold Top (4.3%), a few others, plus 4 from Plain Ales Brewery in the West Country. We tried 2 of the Plain Ales, missing out the Mild Not Meek (5.4%) and Inndulgence, a 5.2% "Ruby Porter", Dan just drank the 4.2% "Ruby Best Bitter" that was Inntrigue, which I felt was a bit thin, after which I drank the 4.8% Inncognito, which was very nice, indeed, much more body, a bit chocolatey, with a hint of liquorice. Good stuff...

More to come shortly, cheers!    

London 6th - 8th March 2013

I arrived at Clapham Junction on the 6th, and departed from Clapham Junction on the 8th, as you can see, a bit wet then, so a trip to The Northcote, Northcote Road, now it's a nice safe pub to visit, and not just for me, but a very woman friendly environment, together with a wide range of customers, young and old, as well as my age, in the middle a bit, haha, and, of course, male and female.  I was served a pint of the ale shown below by the delightful Ruby, who has been present on a previous visit too, and she asked me to mention their having a young Brazilian lad working behind the bar too, presumably, for my female readership?

So, apart from the obvious, other ales included Youngs Bitter (3.7% and called 'Ordinary' by us older Youngs drinkers, or someone like me who worked in a Youngs' pub in my yoof, when their ales were still brewed in Wandsworth) and Sharps Doom Bar (4%). I'm sure I must have drunk this before, anyway, I tried a pint of the Adnams Ghost Ship, a 4.5% reasonably pale coloured bitter, though not quite the "ghostly pale ale" the brewery describes it as, but a decent bitter nonetheless; and, of course, a pint of the local Sambrook's Junction, a 4.5% medium coloured bitter, what I always think of as a typical London bitter colour, I'm sure you know what I mean, and it tastes like a typical London bitter, very nice too, cheers! 

Previously, my brother, The Routemeister, had met me in The Candlemaker, Battersea High Street, on the 6th, where Kathryn appeared shortly after our arrival (I think that's how to spell her name, sorry if I'm wrong, K) and we were served by a very friendly Antipodean, Holly, who also has family links to South East Sussex. We each had a pint of the Sambrook's Pale Ale, a nice pale and hoppy 4.2% bitter from the local brewer.  They also had available the same brewery's Wandle, a 3.8% session bitter, Kings IPA (5.2%), which I'd have loved to try, but a bit strong for the middle of the day, and their own brewery, Laine's Best Bitter (4.1% and reported on before).  

Finally, we had a drink at The Bricklayer's Arms in Putney, where there were still many ales on from their 'Yorkshire Beer Festival', too many to mention now, but have a look at their website (site) for more information. We had a pint each of Great Heck Brewing Dispensible, a 4.5% pale beer, we were a little disappointed with, as, frankly, it needed more hops. Also, I was a wee bit upset I'd missed the Kelham Island Pale Rider, though I was to drink their Easy Rider at my local, the Dolphin, in Hastings, less than a week later (both ales I have brewed when I worked for Kelham Island). 

 

Cheers!

29 Feb - Crooked Billet, Wimbledon Common

Trip to London for possible money-making purposes (sadly didn't work out), but had to include lunchtime and evening trips to pubs...

Lunchtime, my brother Dan and I walked up to Wimbledon Village and visited the Crooked Billet, on the edge of the Common. This is a crackin' Youngs pub, next door to the Hand in Hand (below), another very good Youngs pub which, under a previous ownership, used to be the only place I knew you could get Ruddles County before it fell under the spell of one of the new 'Nationals', Greene King.

OK, Youngs are now part of one of the new 'Nationals' too, following their merger/whatever the legal definition is, with Charles Wells of Bedford, so, all but the 2 guests listed below are actually brewed by Wells now; as brewers, Youngs and Courage RIP.

I like both of these pubs, but we only visited the Crooked Billet today, and didn't even drink Youngs Special, which I usually would, their ales on the bar including, Special and Ordinary from Youngs, Bombardier and Directors, their other regulars, and 2 guest ales, Doom Bar (OK, but can be drunk anywhere these days, and is only OK to my palate), and the 4.4% Twickenham Naked Ladies, what a great find for me, though I know it's been available for a while now, my first taste.

Naked Ladies, a nice image, but a big hit of hops to the nose when you first taste it, not so 'ladylike', quite a pale ale, but more bitter than I thought it would be. I like this beer!

The Hand in Hand, always worth a visit too, another good pub, just a few doors down from the Crooked Billet, in Crooked Billet, Wimbledon Village, SW19.

County Arms, Wandsworth Common

Another Young's house, that was no doubt a coaching inn, or something, a hundred to a hundred and fifty years ago. Big old pub, typical Victorian pub/inn, on the main road coming from Wandsworth Bridge, and sitting just in front of the prison!

We all drank the excellent Young's Winter Warmer, best I've tasted this winter, and I've had a few pints of it at various pubs too. They also served Young's Ordinary, Special, and Wells' Bombardier.

At the back is an enormous eating/restaurant part of the pub, and a cracking beer garden too, if a bit too close to a very busy road these days.

Kieran doing a bit of pole dancing within the County Arms ;-)

The Nightingale, SW12

The Nightingale, Nightingale Lane, a little along from Wandsworth Common railway station. A cracking Young's pub that my brother had never visited (he mixed it up with the Surrey Tavern). Great pint of Special, Kieran had a bottled Young's Double Chocolate Stout (and what an amazing beer that is!), and they also had 'Ordinary', Bombardier, Sambrooks Porterhouse Porter, and Addlestone's for cider drinkers.

I do have an anecdote from working for Securicor CIT, but that's for another day...