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!

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 It's very 'modern', when I thought 'modern' was out of date now, much glass, as you can see from the photograph.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!