Woolly Pheasants and Wooden Spoons

An interesting combination by anyones standards but both part of the decor at The Wooden Spoon in Downton, Wiltshire....and before you ask - no - Downton doesn’t have an Abbey...

 

..but it does have a Moot - originally a 12th century Norman earthwork castle built by the Bishop of Winchester....

....the rather fine 17th Century Moot House....

...and a Norman Church...

Downton’s church not abbey

Downton, close to the Wiltshire/Hampshire border, is a small town sitting astride the beautiful River Avon...

River Avon

...whose ripe old history can be seen everywhere with rows of old houses, and the major industry in the town for much of the 20th century the Tannery (which also produced a ripe old smell).  A more modern antiquity is also present in the form of a K6 red telephone box which apparently is listed, but has not yet been converted to residential use.

The Wooden Spoon, was originally the New Inn built in the 18th century and renamed by Whitbread when they acquired it when taking over Strongs Brewery of Romsey, in the bad old days (1960s).

Wooden Spoon

The pub has two main rooms, a smallish snug/bar to the left of the front door and a larger room as a dining area on the right extending the the rear.  The bar serves both rooms and there is plenty of old woodwork such as the shelving around the bar top, home to various bits of copper and brassware and a brace of knitted pheasants (top photo).

Bar from dining area.  Mrs GH insisted this old chaps trousers were approaching 'half mast' on his way to the toilet (which I failed to photograph).  On his return however they were back at 'full mast’ - scandal averted..

The snug was small and seemed fairly full of lunchtime drinkers so we opted for the space of the dining area.
As we weren’t eating we checked that we were ok to sit at one of the dining tables. The landlady said it was fine unless it was needed for diners, and thanked us for asking.
Even on this sunny Sunday, the dining area was almost empty so the ‘unless there are diners’ caveat and the ‘good not fast food’ sign seemed a little unnecessary....

Frenchman with garlic to ward off evil fast food

Cask Marque accredited, the pub had a modest choice of real ale at the dining area bar.  The friendly bar man exchanged small talk about the weather and explained that they usually had Ringwood Brewery or Downton Brewery beers.
As the town has two breweries of its own I was surprised not see Hopback Brewery beers featuring with Downton Brewery but perhaps Marstons greater marketing muscle gets them a place at the bar.

Best Bitter and Pickled Mouse (sounds like a dubious food pairing?)

On this occasion the guest beer was Arundel Brewery’s Pickled Mouse (4.1%), which  seemed more interesting than Ringwood Best, ever willing as I am to try something different.  It’s a pleasant, easy drinking beer (good) perhaps a little lacking in malt body and flavour though (hmm - could the ‘always full of flavour’ Furze Dale Brewery beers be influencing my palate?).

A Pickled Mouse in a highly decorative ‘Pride' glass (London Pride must have been a previous guest beer...)

When you see pubs like this with a small and well patronised ‘drinking’ area and a larger but less used dining section you wonder if they’ve got the balance right, but I expect the dining trade floods in during the summer months.  A really nice old pub this, in a beautiful small town wearing its history on its sleeve, taking you back to a bygone age...

...the view down the high street says it all....