Thursday 29 November 2018

Five Find a Lost Island Pt 5 - The End of the Great Adventure


Darkness was drawing in, as our FOF adventurers left the Cowes Ale House, making it even more difficult to find the lost Island of Wight...

...and the next pub....


...luckily the Painters Arms was just across the street so Julian didn’t need his island map or to log into Google Maps.

The pub was a nice building, but there must have been something about it that made the FOFs wary. Fortunately we had a professional decorator in our midst and everyone agreed he was just the right man to do a quick recce.

Unfortunately the Painters didn’t meet his expectations and so we moved on...


Very specific admissions policy..

The next pub also posed something of a dilemma as there seemed to be a fairly unusual admissions policy in force...
...after a brief assessment of the situation, and quickly eliminating the other options, Julian felt there was a chance we could pass ourselves off as children, especially as it was getting dark...

...so making ourselves look as small as possible (except for Timmy who’s small already) we entered The Union Inn...

The FOFs hold an emergency meeting about the admission policy...

It worked...the other children looked remarkably like us and paid no attention, and luckily there were no goats and chickens to bleat or squawk on us...

...but Winston gave us a stern stare from the wall...and seemed to be trying to tell us something...was he referring to beer when he commented on 'craft' in 1947...?
"Craft is common both to skill and deceit"

The pub is said to date back to the 1700s and it seems to have all the credentials of an old seafarer's establishment on an old narrow street in the town, and the interior looks the part with its low ceilings and old wooden beams.  Nowadays it has something the average ancient mariner could only have dreamed of - 'boutique rooms'...

It's also said to have been a favourite 'port of call' for the Royal Navy press gang, so who knows how many locals, as well as dogs, chickens and goats, ended up in His Majesty's Navy...

Children ...no goats or chickens...

As it’s a Fullers pub a review of the hand pumps wasn’t really essential...

Guess the beer names (clue - they’re all on RetiredMartin’s ‘Beers You’ve Heard Of’ list...) 
The pint of London Pride, had traveled well to the lost island and was at least good...

Pride...
We looked at our watches anxiously, wondering if we would get lost on the way back to the ferry. Dick said “You can even get lost on the way to the toilet after a couple of pints of beer, and the others knew he was right...

Before the press gang arrived we played it safe and left quietly - no bleats, or squawks or screaming tantrums...


Of course there always has to be an end to an adventure but the FOF’s weren’t going to give in that easily...

...after all there was that ‘cask beer of yesteryear' to try in the Vectis Tavern on the way back...

Beer with a proper chicken logo....

...which was served in an outrageously unacceptable half pint lager glass...
The glass isn’t the star...
...unfortunately I can’t remember what it tasted like - I think it was probably good...

..but I can remember that Dick then insisted on having a customary single malt as a nightcap, and luckily remembered seeing one in the Fountain Inn earlier...

Night cap...
Finally the FOFs managed to leave the lost island and catch the last ferry to Hythe.  Arriving back at Hythe Pier, they hopped on the little wooden pier train to bed...

Either my spectacles aren't working...or your hand has gone blurred...

And so the FOFs wonderful adventure had come to a happy end...

"We'll have other adventures together, the five of us- won't we?"
They will - but that's another story!

(Enid Blyton's words at the end of 'Five on a Treasure Island'- I hasten to add...)


(any similarity to the adventures of Enid Blytons Famous Five are purely coincidental.  Any harm to chickens, goats or children in the making of this adventure was only temporary and they had fully recovered by the next morning...)



Random photo - not relevant to the story in any way...

Wednesday 21 November 2018

Five Find a Lost Island Pt 4 - The House of Ale

Our brave adventurers, the FOF, fortified with Fuggle Dee Dum (or Stella in the case of the lager 
drinker)...
...were continuing their discovery of the Lost Island of Wight...

Magnificent flying machine...

...Not, fortunately, in a yellow Sopwith Camel, as that would be too dangerous and as Julian said sternly...'You should never drink and fly...(except if you're on a package holiday flight...)"

Flanked by a myriad of retail units, the FOFs succumbed to temptation and took a few moments out from their serious adventuring, to do a little window shopping.

Faces pressed to the window they admired the toys...
Period sailing ship...

...and stylish nautical clothing...
...for wealthy seafarers (yachties)...

...but unfortunately these were well beyond the reach of the FOF's pocket money.

"Never mind" said Dick, "Lets get on with our adventure

And so they did, and soon they came to The Cowes Ale House...

(Add your own caption)

"It looks rather like another shop"  said Alan doubtfully, examining the front.  

"Well it's a micro-pub.  They're usually old shops that turn into places that sell beer"  said George, having read all about them in a book called 'The Micropub - from Herne to Eternity'.  

Inside, the FOFs received a warm welcome from the island locals at the bar...

...warm welcome...when they'd finished checking their phone messages...

The casks of ale were lined up on the back wall making it a tad difficult to read the names without binoculars...
Ales with unreadable names...

But the barman kindly explained the beers on offer (which he must do often) and so a pint of Wight Squirrel (4.3%) it was, from island brewery Yates...

Red...like the squirrels...

Wight Squirrel was very good, and of course is red...a red rye beer named after the rare red squirrels which inhabit the lost island.  

The Cowes Ale House is typical of the classic 'micropub in shop' style....the daylight shone in through the antique shop front, the yellow lights lit the gloom of the interior, and the gentle murmur of conversation wafted across the room, broken by the occasional chortle signifying that a classic micropub joke had been told...
Classic...
There was also some fine breweriana...

Lost historic brewer of the lost island...

Early single horsepower beer delivery van...
While Alan drank his craft lager and acclimatised to his surroundings on his first micropub visit... there was just time to read the local magazine about cask ale (and vintage buses)...


... the last ferry and bedtime was looming and the FOFs had to press on with their journey of discovery on the lost island...

Thursday 15 November 2018

Five Find a Lost Island - Pt 3 Anchor Away!


Phew - back at last - think I must have got lost on the lost island for a moment there - or suffered temporarily from writer's block.  I bet Enid Blyton didn't suffer from either problem...

...or maybe I'm just getting a bit distracted by Brexit.  Deal or no deal?  Where's Noel Edmonds when you need him...

Image result for Deal or No Deal
Hello...is that Jean-Claude...?
Anyway back to the story....So there we were looking for pub number 3...no that's not it....

Alternative medicine...

...nope, not that either....
V-Dub bar...
...and that looks as though it might have been previously, but not any more...
Possible past pub....

..ahh - here it is - The Anchor Inn...


It seems The Anchor Inn is an entrant in the 2019 Good Beer Guide.  Don't ask me how I know, as I don't own a copy of this celebrated tome....
GBG - Proudly displayed on the rear entrance...

....so if he ever finds the lost island Retired Martin should be visiting soon...

The Anchor Inn goes back a few centuries and was originally called The Three Trumpeters (don't ask me how I know that either) but certainly felt as nautical as its current name suggested, with antique wood and sailing ship pictures everywhere...

...and knots...and I thought that sheepshank was a joint of meat...so that was very educational...

Of course the serious business in a GBG 2019 pub is to savour the radical beers you've never heard of (as Retired Martin would say)...

Beers you never heard of....
Luckily one of the FOFs was on the ball and pointed the way to the islands own brew...

Follow the pointy finger....
The Goddards Fuggle Dee Dum turned out to be a fine pint (very good)..

Nice glasses...nice beer...

...and much nicer than Moose Liquor (though I suspect Russ may have a view on that...)


Could we keep up the pace...?
Would we find more island brewed beer...?
Would we get home before bedtime...?

Don't miss next weeks exciting episode (which might actually appear next week)...