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Tunnel
House, Coates, Gloucestershire.
Every once in a while you stumble across places like
this. Tucked away along a dirt track, just off the Fosse
Way, but so far in amongst the trees it could be just
about anywhere and you wouldn't know it. Sapperton Canal
Tunnel is in the front grounds, and the house itself
was built to accommodate the workers who built what
was one of the longest tunnels in the country. Maybe
a little over-populated with students from the nearly
Royal Agricultural College, but Cotswold Bitter from
the Wickwar Brewery, Archers Village Bitter, Wye Valley
Bitter and Stowford Press cider can, combined, forgive
a multitude of sins or students.
More Pictures: 123
Mitre,
Islington, London.
A London pub on the Islington High Street, a hive of
activity on Arsenal game day. This pub is part of the
'Scream' national chain. Stripped down inside, with
that wine bar look, but unfinished, plus all electronic
beer, no care & attention issues for the bar staff.
If we found this pub out in the countryside, we would
throw our hands up in despair, but with the company
I was keeping that day, watching soccer on a big screen,
on our way to watch Arsenal, well, it just about fitted
the bill!
Why We Were in Islington: 12
Compton
Arms, Islington, London.
A block off Islington High Street, this is a much-revered
pub, almost like a country pub in the middle of one
of the biggest cities in the world. Ruddles and 6X and
even a couple of others I would happily quaff. Low slung
ceilings, nice dark wood, and very, very busy. George
Orwell, Arthur Koestler, Sir John Betjeman, Malcolm
Muggeridge and Flora Robson have all been all regulars
at the Compton Arms.
East
Dulwich Tavern, East Dulwich, London.
Well, this was certainly an experience. Large, cavernous
pub that has reinvented itself every Tuesday since 1978,
with varying degrees of success. While I find extremely
mixed reviews of the 'EDT' on the web, I suggest you
still give it a chance, since this week it might be
just fine. On this occasion however, their one draught
beer, Youngs, was, how shall I put it?... crap. I struggled
to concisely describe the decor, somewhere between post-modernist
and kitsch.
Falcon
Inn, Painswick, Gloucestershire.
We have such happy memories of the Falcon. We stayed
overnight here, as it is the mid-point of the Cotswold
Way, and what an evening it was! The lawn bowls team
came in at one point, celebrating a victory over some
other pub, whom they had been playing regularly for
about 400 years. The pub overlooks a beautiful churchyard,
that still has cannonball damage from the Civil War
in the 1640's.
More Pictures: 1
(Courtesy of
www.gloucestershirepubs.co.uk)
Royal
Oak, Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucestershire.
Another pub on the Cotswold Way, the landlord at the
time was very friendly and helpful, and did not seem
to mind that we brought in big rucksacks and boots.
Jean and Brian Ingram would be the ones (they moved
from The Star Inn in nearby Kingswood in 1976). Beer
from the Wickwar Brewery goes a long way to winning
my heart!
Bridge
Hotel, Buttermere, Cumbria.
Pubs can bring back such memories, not just of the pubs
themselves, and not even of just the friends you shared
them with, but a whole journey, or holiday, or even
a whole time. In this case, there are two outstanding
memories - watching lawn chairs being blown around,
bouncing hectically across the patio - and of Cumberland
sausage, of which the Bridge Hotel reasonably claims
to produce an excellent version.
Dolphin,
Bath, Somerset.
A little discovery. As children, my friends and I must
have played along the canal behind this pub a thousand
times, but I cannot say I even noticed the pub. Today
is a lovely old place, with a long bar, and little rooms
to hide the diners away in. Chatted a long time with
the locals about locals pubs they would recommend, and
petted the two Border Terriers tied to the bar. The
name of the pub is a little unusual, being so far from
the sea, but it turns out that 'Dolphin' is another
word for the large metal posts sunk into the ground
that one would tie a canal barge to.
More Pictures: 12
Dalesman,
Sedbergh, Cumbria.
A welcome break on a long, long walk. The Dalesman is
right in the middle of the picturesque market town of
Sedbergh, with the Lake District to the west and the
Yorkshire Dales to the east. It has a bit of a feel
of a town pub about it, and caters strongly to the tourists
who flock here.
Wheatsheaf,
Braunston, Northamptonshire.
One of two pubs in Braunston proper, the other being
the Old Plough. The Wheatsheaf does a good traditional
Sunday roast dinner, and has live music, though where
they put the bands and a crowd must be something of
a challenge. I sampled the pub on a lunchtime in a triangular
walk between Welton, Braunston and Daventry.
