Yes of course I’ve worked out that if I buy a Good Beer Guide very year, the pubs in it change, and that would mean that you would have to race round the UK every year to keep up with ticking all the new pubs in the Guide.
What would be the point of that....when I can take my time ticking the ones in the 2018 copy....(if I’m not too busy visiting Hampshire dining pubs)?
Anyway - I digress....
It was a nice walk from Weatherspoons Standing Order to the Guide Dog, fortified with curry, Peerless Oatmeal Stout and Wychwood Dirty Tackle...
...past the rather grand Star Hotel...
...which according to the stone plaque, once did a competitive stage coach service to London...
...latterly superseded by National Express coaches which probably don’t stop at Alton and Alresford on their way up the M3. Of course what the history books don’t tell you that the stage coach didn’t run on Sundays because of engineering works - nothing changes...
It was a sunny afternoon and instead of the commercial hubbub of the High Street we opted to walk through the relative tranquility of the series of city centre parks running parallel to it...
I would have taken a photo, but after I was handed a leaflet by a nice couple of Jehovahs Witness ladies, I was preoccupied with thoughts of whether they had specifically singled me out for a leaflet, because they thought I needed saving...
Soon we came to the Bevois Valley area, who’s community have invented a new craze of identifying the historic past of all of their local buildings....and adding plaques or murals to commemorate them...
In this unassuming, but historic, suburb of Southampton, hidden away on an equally unassuming backstreet, is The Guide Dog pub...
This cosy little two room pub is extremely modest, and except for it’s proud sign (top photo) and range of ales on the bar, would give no clue to it’s impressive list of awards. Though perhaps the set of GBG’s is another hint...
It was especially quiet on this Thursday afternoon, with just a handful of customers...
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| Handful of customers... |
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| ...ah, there they are.... |
..the very helpful landlord explained that the SteamTown ‘Little Box’ (4%) had in fact been called 'FireBox’ (4.7%) the previous week. However said Firebox was, according to the landlord a little too strong for his customers as a session ale, so Steam Town Brew Co. had produced the ‘Little Box’ version for them. How about that for responding to your customer feedback...!
It was a good story and persuaded us to try a pint of the Little Box which was very good and didn’t seem to be impaired by it’s lost 0.7% ABV at all.
We sat and enjoyed the beer...
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| Like lacings - the branding on the Steam Town glasses magically appears as you drink the beer... |
It also frequented by some disillusioned fans on the way home from the match. On a recent match day there had been a fairly drunken fan intent on fighting anyone, and though the landlord offered him the opportunity to leave with dignity, he couldn’t manage it and needed the assistance of the local constabulary and their law enforcement measures to remove himself from the premises.
Despite this uncommon occurrence, the pub clearly has allegiance to its nearby premiership neighbour...
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| Bobby fires home the winner... |
...the caption for the painting of this historic event reads...
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| All Saints Day... |
The Guide Dog is without doubt a great pub, in a quiet, unassuming, rather than flashy way. A pub in which you could happily while away the hours, with a few quality beers...
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| Informative toilet displays about discipline, post office queuing, and other things... |
..and a chuckle or two in the toilets....
Pub Mirror Moment...
"when I can take my time ticking the ones in the 2018 copy."
ReplyDeleteWise move. Take your own path I say, rather than frantically trying to keep up to Martin, Si and the rest.
"the stage coach didn’t run on Sundays because of engineering works - nothing changes..."
(guffaw)
" I was preoccupied with thoughts of whether they had specifically singled me out for a leaflet, because they thought I needed saving..."
I can confidently say they will pester anyone. :)
"Handful of customers..."
Well, they do say that more than a handful is a waste.
(although I think that refers to something else) :)
"...ah, there they are...."
(slow golf clap)
"How about that for responding to your customer feedback...!"
Impressive!
"It also frequented by some disillusioned fans on the way home from the match. "
Ye olde 'good with the bad' balancing act.
"...of course Life After Football will be able to name all the players in the painting."
(guffaw)
"..and a chuckle or two in the toilets...."
Indeed!
"Pub Mirror Moment..."
Old Peculier. That takes me back (to Urquhart Castle). :)
Cheers
PS - "if I buy a Good Beer Guide very year"
'e' oop! E be missing something above.
(hint: it's 'very' noticeable) :)
"who’s community have invented a new craze "
Whose dear boy.
"and except for it’s proud sign" / "would give no clue to it’s impressive list of awards"
You and apostrophes, eh?
Cheers Russ - I'm proud of that hatrick of grammatical awards ... :)
ReplyDelete"Old Peculier. That takes me back (to Urquhart Castle). :)"
Did they serve it there?
I been there too - with the Old Farts when we did our Whisky Tour week - stayed in Tomintoul, but had a day out to Loch Ness and took the loch cruise boat to the castle.
Not many can match your grammatical awards (kidding!). :)
DeleteAs for Old Peculier and Urquhart Castle; I spent an afternoon back in '81 lazing around under the castle with a six pack of Old Peculier. At the end I could have sworn I saw Nessie! :)
* - I backpacked around Western Europe from Sept '80 to Aug '81. Had some relatives in Kent and a few other places in the UK to stay with (was going to say England but one bunch was in Wales!). The rest of the time it was hostels and cheap hotels.
A great pub!!! Alex Stepney is looking on folornly as the ball goes into the net and glad to see Southampton's best moment is still celebrated... Dave recently asked what an 'estate' pub was like and this one, apart from the fact it has a lot of beer options, probably fits the bil perfectly.
ReplyDeleteGood work on changing your settings!
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