Garden Hermit Goes...To The Village Pub...

 ...The Black Horse, West Tytherley, Hampshire.

 This could be a sub-series of 'Garden Hermit Goes...' blog posts, the number of which is unknown.  It is based on my, and Mrs GH's, random wanderings to find a village pub for lunch.  May they long continue...

Our most recent random wandering took us to the village of West Tyrtherley, Hampshire, a Doomsday book village, whose church, St Peters, has the oldest bell in the world (nearly).  It is dated to 1260, though it is said that a museum in Bulgaria has a bell which is 1211 - 1216.  

And here it is on the map...

In addition to the pub (more on that shortly), it has a village hall, post office/shop, loads of chocolate box cottages...

 

 ... a good few of which have porch supports made of tree branches...

 

...which might relate to some kind of ancient practice or custom in the locality, I don't know, but perhaps someone else does?.   

Without doubt a very nice Hampshire village.

 Most importantly it has that essential hub of the community, a pub.

The Black Horse is a 17th century coaching inn presumably originally to serve travellers between Romsey and Salisbury (the two nearest towns) and beyond.

Today, there was something going on as the car park was partially fenced off and a group of men appeared to be decorating it (the car park).  Undeterred we parked on the village road and walked across to ask if the pub was open, which they confirmed it was.

 Further enquiry revealed that the decorations were for a centenary celebration for the village football team, West Tyrtherley FC, taking place the day after.  

West Tytherley FC are currently riding high in Div 1 of the Salisbury & District Sunday League, and I wondered whether thhe doyen of lower league (non-league?) football, Pubmeister had visited to watch a match at their ground, the recreation ground just across the road from the pub.

The decorations being put up included this natty display based on the teams nickname 'The Pigeons'

 

Anyway, back to the pub, and inside it definitely showed its history with loads of old character and charm.

I understand that this fireplace, according to the pub website, came from the nearby Norman Court manor house in 1830 and it is said to date back to the late 1600s.

At the bar, suitable country/farm style beers were available...

So I had a pint of Exmoor Ram (3.4%).  A fine naturally crafted golden ale - lovely.

'Butcombe' for me, conjures up a bad memory of their 'optional' service charge, compulsorily and quietly applied to the food and drink bills in their own pubs, (see post here)*.

Even though still scarred by that event, I had a half of Butcombe's Adam Henson's Rare Breed Pale Ale (3.9%)...a pleasant copper coloured pale ale.

Like many pubs there wasn't too many customers at the Black Horse on this weekday lunchtime (at least while we were there), which is a shame.  The food was tasty and good value, cask beers were well kept, a traditional village pub, deserving of more custom.  

At least I hoped that the following days celebrations for West Tytherley FC's centenary, would be a bumper day for the pub too.

The three wise monkeys will probably know!

*Such sneaky service charge practices are of course, avialable at other outlets.

Garden Hermit Goes...Without Tequilla For Lunch

 

 

 Luckily I've never been a fan of tequilla and so I am unable to personally fact check whether this warning is true.  

And when I and Mrs GH saw this sign at our visit to The Silver Hind, Sway, New Forest we didn't like to ask for verification.

 The Silver Hind is a dog and family friendly New Forest pub, which, on perusal of its website,  seems to have a community ethos, with 'whats happening' announcements for meat draws, quiz nights, cheese and wine afternoons, darts night, race nights etc.  

 To tempt in those from outside the village there is also an offer to pay your local parking charges when visiting the pub for a meal.

Our visit was for a bite to eat on a midweek lunchtime, though we found a free roadside parking space next to the pub.

Inside the pub looks like a typical dining pub, one large space separated into 2 or 3 areas and laid out with chairs and dining tables.

The large wood panelled bar had two cask ales, Greene King's Abbott Ale and Hardy Hanson's Kimberley Bitter.  

 I decided on a pint of Kimberley Bitter (3.9%), which was a nice session bitter.

 The pub was fairly quiet, with just a few other diners coming in while we were there.  The food was excellent and the beer battered haddock and chips, which I had, was very filling.

Mrs GH's salmon was nice too

Unfortunately we were too full to try desserts, but this is a great pub for quality food - highly recommended.  The cask beer was good too and I don't recall coming across cask Hardy Hansons in these parts ever before, so that was a nice surprise.

As for the beneficial, or perhaps just unexpected effects of the tequilla, I cannot vouch for, other than to say...

...no clothes were lost in the making of this blog post!

 Garden Hermit Goes...To The Turf Cutters.

Turf (peat) cutting is now largely a thing of the past, except in Ireland, and for a few specific activities elsewhere, such as for distilling peated single malt whiskies.

However once upon a time turf cutting was a common practice to provide fuel for rural homes. 

 

East Boldre on lower left (pub shown with pint pot symbol) - Bing maps.

 The Turfcutters Arms is the only pub in the small New Forest hamlet of East Boldre, which sits between heath land to the west, and cultivated/pasture land down to the shallow valley of the Beaulieu River to the east.  It's name harks back to ancient times when New Forest locals cut turf on the New Forest heathland, for fuel.  

Certain New Forest folk (known as commoners), still have various rights on the New Forest,  the main one still in use is the right to allow their ponies, donkeys, cows and occasionally pigs to graze on forest land.  The list of 'Commoner's Rights' still includes the Right of Turbary' - the right to cut peat for fuel.  However the New Forest National Park leaflet I was reading says: 'Now no longer practiced'.  

Anyhow there's a little bit of history, but now back to the Turfcutters Arms. 

 This is a lovely old pub, comprising a small right-angled bar, and several interconnecting small rooms, with old wooden or stone floors, and various nooks and crannies.

 Classic old pub furniture, tables, chairs, bar stools and bench seats abound, and the walls are covered with old black and white photos of local New Forest life...

New Ransomes threshing machine 1929

 ...there is even an 'East Boldre Oral History Listening Station'...

Listen to local history with a pint!

 Whilst the pub is well used by tourists and people outside the village, this is clearly also a typical village community pub.

I was here with Mrs GH for lunch, but first a beer...

Hedge Hop, Double Drop and Scrumdown

 ... and there was a nice choice of 3 real ales on the pumps.  I went for the Greene King Scrumdown Golden Ale (4.1%), apparently 'perfect to enjoy with the rugby'.  A very pleasant ale, which certainly seemed to have a golden glow...

Glowing...

The pub food was excellent, but once again I forgot the 'before' photo, but here's the 'after' photo...

Guess the meals

 

The pint of Flack Manor Hedge Hop (4.9%) premium ale was also very good, with its strong malty taste.

Hedge Hop premium ale

This pub is full of character and oozes local history and on a weekday lunchtime, it was fairly busy, but it is still one of those fairly quiet, calm pubs where I could have sat for hours with a pint soaking up the atmosphere. 

Atmospheric history

 

Garden Hermit Goes ...North Pt III...To The Brown Cow.

 

 

The final pub visit on this short excursion north to Pontefract, was to The Brown Cow, Ackworth, West Yorkshire.

The Brown Cow. (Image - Google street view)

 

Ackworth, just happens to be the birth place of one of Yorkshire's great cricketing heroes, Yorkshire and England fast bowler Graham Stevenson.

This is a 'traditional pub and dining' establishment, and myself, son Andy and daughter-in-law, Leah, went along early on a Saturday evening for a meal.

The Brown Cow is a large pub with double gable frontage, and was once a hotel. Inside it is generally one large open space, with tables and chairs around the walls and plenty of standing space near the large bar.  

 It appears that this is a local community pub as well as pulling in diners from further away, and they have Quiz nights, and themed food nights, e.g steak nights, Italian menu nights, happy hour, England Euro matches on the TV, etc.

Tables and plenty of space for standing punters near the bar

 

 Staff were present to wait on the tables, though the first job was to go to the bar and have a look what real ales were available.

 

A fine pair...

 

Timmy Taylor's BoltMaker (4%) and Yorkshire Blonde (3.9%) by Ossett Brewery were on the pumps, and during the evening I tried them both (not at the same time).  Both beers were as excellent as they look in the photo.

Let's see those again...

Pale, delicate and crystal clear

 

 

Classic Yorkshire bitter

 

 Needless to say, early Saturday evening custom was building up with drinkers and especially diners steadily arriving.

The food was really good pub fare, but unfortunately I ate it without remembering to take a photo (must have been hungry).  Luckily I remembered to take photos of the puddings...

...the cheesecake and ice cream was just right...

Perfectly proportioned and delicious pudding

...Andy, never having been one to refuse a culinary challenge, had the towering Knickerbocker Glory (top photo), the biggest pudding on the menu, by far, and we could tell that the waitress was keen (nay...amused) to see whether he would be able to finish it all. We even had a sneaking suspicion that they had oversized it slightly on purpose.

Happily he did finish, with (apparently) a tad of gastronomic discomfort as the prize. 

The Brown Cow is a good, friendly pub, with real ale and good food at decent prices.

And so Garden Hermit goes south again...

 Garden Hermit Goes...North Pt II...Back To 1903

After arriving at Pontefract on Friday teatime and a quick 'Thai Fusion' takeaway meal - don't ask me - but it tasted ok...

... I went with my son Andy to his badminton club meeting, and while I was there even spent a few minutes trying to beat all the feathers off the shuttlecock with the metal edge of the racket (long, long time since I've played!).

 The important part of the evening though was the trip to the pub after badminton club, the 1903 at Hooton Pagnell,, which is a 'bar and kitchen'.

I had visions of a room full of worktops, a sink, fridge/freezer etc etc with a bar, but no - it's just a trendy modern name, and it actually looked remarkably like a pub inside, which was reassuring.  Let's call it a pub...

Looks like a pub...

 Inside, the first thing to catch my attention was a large plaque on the wall with the name of the pub and, underneath, a piece from Hilaire Beloc's essay 'On Inns' (see top photo).  Probably as relevant (or more so) now than it was in the early 1900s, and surely a clarion cry for that great pub and real ale campaign group CAMRA.  Beloc was clearly well ahead of the game in worrying about pubs.

Anyway the 1903 Session Blonde 3.9% (Chin Chin Brewing Co) was bang on after a strenuous evening watching people play badminton, cool, light and refreshing....

The second thing to grab (everyone's) attention, was a women with a group of people, who had a very loud laugh that was uncannily similar to a neighing horse. Unnerving...

I needed a half of the Cow Whisperer Milk Stout 4.6% (Chin Chin Brewing Co) after that, which was smooth and perfect for calming the nerves.

Time passing quickly...

Time passed quickly, as discussion amongst club members inevitably focused on their unbeaten top of league performance, and the possibility of staying unbeaten and winning the league (which they subsequently did),...

... with the occasional interjection of nearby 'neighing'.

The 1903 is a nice bar/kitchen/pub/inn* and the beer was excellent ( this is Yorkshire after all)!

* delete as appropriate.

Garden Hermit Goes...North Pt 1 - Stop For A Bass

 

 While planning a journey north for a weekend with my son and daughter-in-law in Pontefract, (West) Yorkshire it occurred to me that I may be passing close to Bass country, as covered extensively in the adventures of Britain's Beermat in his blog 'Life After Football'.

After a bit of research on the internet it became clear that I could...

1)  Call in at one of two pubs selling Draught Bass, just off  J23 M1, or,

2)  Stop for my usual 'comfort break' at the Roadchef services at J15a.

It wasn't the most difficult decision I have ever made, and I arrived at The Horse, free house pub and restaurant, at about lunchtime on a Friday.  The pub is at the side of the busy A512, just a mile off the M1 on the outskirts of Shepshed, Leicestershire.  

The Horse pub

Ordering a pint of Draught Bass felt almost surreal, like I had come across some kind of oasis.  

"A pint of Bass please" said a voice that didn't to be mine, and I watched the pour and the mist of bubbles slowly rising to the top of the glass sporting its iconic gold edged red triangle...was it a mirage?...

 

Blurred - but not a mirage

 No...just another rubbish blurry photo - it was real.

Stop me if you think I'm getting a bit emotional here, but I can't remember when I last had a proper pint of Bass in my hand! *

Absolute nectar...

 

Bass and flat cap - what a pairing!

.. I thought I'd better have a quick bite to eat too...

Lunch

There was a steady stream of Friday lunchtime diners arriving while I was there, and a few regulars at the bar engaged in typical bar banter - whatever that is.

Locals grappling with the 'free pie' issue

At one point in the banter the landlord seemed to offer one of the regulars a free pie, and whilst the general consensus at the bar seemed to be 'you can't go wrong with a free pie', the offer is turned down with a mumbled 'my freezer is full'.  Mystifying...

 

When you wish lunch could have lasted longer.. Proper Bass lacings though.

The Horse is a really nice little pub and perfectly placed to break that journey north with a Bass.  

Just a fleeting glimpse of Britain's Beermat's world of Bass pubs - 

- but I won't miss the Roadchef services.

* I've remembered - it was at the Peg and Parrot, Totton (no longer serving Bass as far as I am aware) - see my old blog post on Wordpress - 'There Be Treasure'