Fish Sandwich and Condiment?...

Another day in the hazardous but relentless search for another new pub for the 2019 Good Beer Guide tickers...

.....brings me to The Drift Inn, in the New Forest National Park.

Drift Inn

In Essex a ‘drift’ is something you do in your Nissan Skyline, but in the New Forest it is a periodic round up of the four legged occupants......

The Drift Inn is about halfway between Lyndhurst and Beaulieu and is owned by the adjoining Beaulieu Road Hotel.  Beaulieu Road railway station stands behind the pub - still in use on the London commuter line from Waterloo to Weymouth - but as quiet as it ever was in it’s remote location.  The station was intended to serve both Lyndhurst and Beaulieu but is not particularly near to either...

Remote - Beaulieu Road Station - for Lyndhurst and Beaulieu

The car therefore seemed the best form of transport to get us there for a pint and a lunchtime sandwich, and as this was a 'dog friendly' pub we thought we’d test that out by taking a giant one....our Leonberger, Henry....

Henry - giant sized toddler entertainment - arrives at the Drift Inn...

On the way in, Henry attracted the attention of an old chap at the bar who joked that whilst it was a dog friendly pub, he didn’t think that included horses.

We know he was joking because he gave him a couple of dog biscuits from the bar rather than a handful of hay...

We found a quiet table in the corner near the fireplace and ordered a sandwich from the menu (sausage and red onion jam for Mrs GH, and homemade fish finger for me).
The real ale on offer was Ringwood Best or Cotleigh Barn Owl and once again I ‘drifted’ towards the guest ale and ordered a pint of Barn Owl.

Chain drinker lines ‘em up - replacement Ringwood Best with Barn Owl in the background.

I had a sip - winced - and checked the glass carefully for any ‘Sarsons Malt Vinegar’ branding.....

...Nope - definitely a (really poor) Barn Owl, a real ale that had long ago converted itself into a condiment - totally undrinkable.

I should have taken it back and complained but I didn’t....opting for the more subtle approach of leaving the ‘dead' Barn Owl on the table and going straight back to the bar for a pint of Ringwood Best.

The subtlety was completely lost on the bar staff....who presumably thought I was thirsty.... or lining ‘em up for a bit of a session....

Ringwood Best - by a very large margin....

Second time lucky...thankfully the Ringwood Best was good....

.....and the fish finger sandwich was particularly good with a dash of condiment... aka Cotleigh Barn Owl vinegar.

Flag stone floors, trendy boots and puffa jackets - rural tranquility at the bar before the storm of pre-school mums and toddlers...

The pub was quiet at first, but as it was half term week it soon started to resemble a busy day at the local pre-school nursery.  Mums arriving with their toddlers in a desperate bid to get them out of the house and find something to distract them.

Cue Henry - toddler teddy bear magnet.  He was bigger than most of the kids - but there was still a steady stream of them lining up for a pat of the big ’teddy bear’.
Well better keep looking for that prospective 2019 GBG entry... don’t think I found it today - unless the Drift Inn management works out that it needs to check its real ales are still drinkable before serving them to it’s customers,,,,