The Bear at Stratford upon Avon

Guest blogger, Dan, The Routemeister, recently visited The Bear Free House and Kitchen, Swan's Nest Lane, Stratford upon Avon CV37 7LT (website).    

The Bear first opened in 1662 and has been significantly refurbished in more recent times, as you can see from the photograph, it is also by the river! It is a little over 5 minutes stroll from the Royal Shakespeare Company, where the Routemeister had been to see a play written by a contemporary of Shakespeare. Apart from being taken by the lovely French barmaid, he assures me that this is full of genuine locals, not just tourists, and well worth a visit.

Up to 8 ales are available, including Wye Valley Hereford Pale Ale, Purity Pure Gold, and the 3.6% The Bear Best Bitter, apparently brewed especially for The Bear (I can't find who brews it, sorry) and which Dan drank, a decent golden session bitter. The Routemeister says it is well worth a visit if you are in Stratford, Cheers Dan!    

Saturday 8th September - Happy Birthday to me ;-)

Dan and I walked along the Surrey side of the Thames from Putney to Richmond to have lunch at the Waterman's Arms, and a lovely Thai meal it was too ( Pad Ki Moaw, stir-fried noodles with chicken, chilli, garlic and vegetables), Happy Birthday lunch! Also, in addition to the usual Youngs Special and 'Ordinary', the landlord now sells Twickenham Three Naked Ladies, an excellent 4.4% pale bitter which is as good as you'll get it here, and their ales never seem to disappoint me, plus this landlord is the 'real deal', having run the pub for years now, quality.

 

As we walked out of the Waterman's, we met up with an old mate, Colin, who joined us for a large amount of the continuing walk and pub trip... From Richmond, we walked back a wee while eastwards and crossed the Thames to come in from the west, and Middlesex bank, to Isleworth and The London Apprentice! Now, I've discussed the Apprentice before on this blog, so I'll just mention the ales available on Saturday, plus the Westons Traditional Scrumpy (6%) and Country Perry (4.5%).  We were served by the admirable Cat, who, whatever she professes, should be Irish (she'll appreciate what I mean when she reads this, I trust, because it is a compliment from me) and pulled 3 pints of the excellent Purity Ubu for us, 4.5% and a slightly darker than usual ales for me!

 

They also had old stalwarts, Pride, Doom Bar and Thwaite's Wainwright, a great old historic pub,  with a great view across and down the Thames, a West London favourite.

 

 

We continued eastwards along to the Bulls Head, Strand on The Green, Chiswick, a Chef & Brewer pub, so a bit food dominated, where we drank Fullers London Pride; they also sold Tribute, Doom Bar and Landlord, fairly trustworthy ales, if a little lacking in interest for me anymore, but the Pride was in decent form! This is close by the "Beatles' pub", but I've written about that not so long ago, and I really wanted a 'new' pub to visit on my birthday, ie one I'd never been to before, so this was it... 

 

 

OK, Colin had had enough of us by now, so left us, and we carryied on towards Hammersmith, past the Fullers Brewery at Chiswick, past William Morris' Kelmscott House, and we reached The Dove, one of my 2 favourite pubs in Hammersmith, both Fullers' houses... 

 

 

Again, I've written about this pub before, about its history, its overlooking the Thames, its rear 'balcony', it's crackin' bars, the Fullers ales, decent food... What more can I say? Well... In addition to the usual Pride and ESB, they had the seasonal Summer Ale and, one of my favourite Fullers' ales now, Wild River, a crackin' 4.5% bitter!  Enjoyed it here as usual, a Happy Birthday was enjoyed, and we went back to Putney to enjoy a curry...

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

A tale of 2 cities + a town - part 1 - London

11th and 12th June 2012, arrived in London, Clapham Junction to be more precise, on Monday 11th, and left for Sheffield on Tuesday 12th. On my way over to the family 'seat' in Southfields, I soon passed, well nearly got by, I soon entered the Roundhouse, 2 Northside, Wandsworth Common...  

The Roundhouse, as I'm sure I've said before, was an old haunt of mine in my yoof, it's a bit more upmarket now, but very pleasant, with charming barstaff, many thanks to them.  It doesn't open for lunches until the weekend, so be careful if planning a visit (see website); music provided on Saturday afternoons is jazz.

They sell 3 ales, today they had Sambrooks Wandle Bitter, Sharps Doombar and Mad Goose Purity Pale Ale at 4.2%, the last of which I drank before embarking further towards my goal. Pretty much what you'd expect from such a beer, and knowing my tastes, light coloured pale beer, bitter, loved it! 

I then visited the Pig & Whistle, on the corner of Penwith Road and Merton Road in Southfields SW18, a Youngs house, which I remember as a kid being an off licence, shop and a house. I had a pint of the Ordinary, which was in fine condition, and a slice of Chocolate and Zucchini cake, which was also pleasant!

On Tuesday, I caught a train up to Sheffield, but, as Kieran wrote such a fine piece on the new Fullers pub at Kings Cross station, The Parcel Yard, I thought I should visit too, being in the area (St Pancras). 10 ales on 12 handpumps, including the usual Fullers and Gales ales you would expect, and guests from Adnams (Ghostship at 4.5%), Butcombe Bitter, and a 'seasonal' Fullers Hope and Glory (4.7%), yes, a 'jubilee' ale, slightly sweet and malty, with a nuttty and dry aftertaste.

Cheers! 

Birmingham 14 April - mark 1

Mark 1 - with thanks to Stephen H, a visit to Birmingham, and looking forward to Kieran's 'Mark 2'...

The Trocadero, Temple Street, Birmingham.

Having arrived in Birmingham at just after 12 noon, for the West Brom match we set off to find a decent pub and were not dissapointed. Our first stop was 'The Hill' in Bennetts Hill, just off New Street, where we started off by having a pint of Sharps Doom Bar but moved quickly onto a pint of Mad Goose 4.2% by the Purity Brewing Company. Mad Goose was new to me and I found it to be a pleasant light but very flavourable beer. We then moved onto the 'Trocadero' in Temple Street where I sampled a pint of Marstons EPA at 3.6% again a light ale but very tasty but my favourite of the day was a pint of Old Leg Over brewed by Daleside of Harrowgate, which at 4.1% proved to be the best of the day.

Matt at the Square Peg... From the Trocadero, we moved onto to join up with some of the R'sss fans who had set up base camp at the Weatherspoons, 'Square Peg' in Corporation Hill, a bit of a mistake as it was packed with QPR and Bristol City fans but we managed to get a pint of Abbot Ale but that was about as good as it got.

Cheers Steve!

The Roundhouse - Penultimate stop today (10th)

The Roundhouse, Wandsworth Common North Side, is another old haunt of mine, had a few beers here, and seen a few groups too, and it remains a place for gigs, but also is an eatery, and has been done up winebar-ish, nice though. The food looks good, available lunch and evenings, apparently a great roast on Sundays; not the cheapest prices, but reasonable for the area, and around the Junction is a bit more upmarket than in my yoof!

The place was packed with young things along the left as you come in, leaving the right hand side vacant for us, and some others that came in soon after us.

There were 3 ales on offer, the Wandsworth brewed Sambrooks Wandle (regular), Hogs Back TEA (virtually a regular, apparently on about 80% of the time), plus a guest, for us it was Purity's Pure Ubu, a cracking 4.5% golden ale!

Pub of the Week - The London Apprentice, Old Isleworth

The London Apprentice dates to Tudor times, being rebuilt in the early 18th century. Their website reports that it was patronised by a number of eminent people in the past, including Henry VIII, Charles I, Charles II and Nell Gwynne, Lady Jane Grey and Oliver Cromwell, all of whom had close links with nearby Syon House. 

My brother and I had walked a larger circular route, including the north bank of the Thames from Richmond Bridge to Putney Bridge, stopping on the way at The London Apprentice, cracking pub! 

There are 6 ales served by handpumps at the bar, regulars include Fullers London Pride, Adnams Broadside and Sharp's Doom Bar. There are also 3 rotating guest ales, on my last visit these included Young’s London Gold, Brains SA and Purity Mad Goose, the last being in very good form and very much enjoyed! Keg beers are served too, of course, and include Staropramen, Leffe and Hoegaarden, for people with more European tastes. 

We enjoyed ourselves immensely, the bar staff were very friendly, though it was early in the shift (before noon), so it did start getting busier whilst we were there, and investigating the building was a pleasure too. We had only ever seen it from the south bank of the river on a significant number of occasions before our visit, when we kept agreeing we must cross the river sometime. We were suitably shocked and impressed at its history and fine features, not to mention enjoying the beer. One of the advantages of Isleworth is that it is also easy to get to Twickenham or Brentford, only a short distance away. Enjoy it yourselves!