Thursday 8 March: THE TAVERN, WELWYN VILLAGE (Malcolm Allen, Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, Rupert Stanley, Andrew Swift, John Westwood)
COMMENT: The Tavern must win the prize for the most succinctly descriptive pub title- no heraldic fripperies, no recognition of local bigwigs, only a one-word statement of the building's function. One of these days I may go into a pub called "The Pub" or "The Boozer", until then the Tavern is the winner in the "no frills pub name" stakes.
Inside there were also no frills except for an evil-looking macaw in a cage. I must be fair, this is quite a frill, even the best appointed pubs seem not normally to go in for macaws as fashion accessories. Be that as it may, the beer and food were fine (though no fish and chips for Elvis) and not expensive. It was made even cheaper by the silver tongued persuasiveness of some Odyssians who got Andrew to see that, having just become a grandfather, he should buy them lunch (or at least a drink). We then had to restrain him from buying the whole meal! Elvis comes up next (grandchild expected shortly). Big attendance needed that day!
To my surprise the Tavern turned out to be another railway pub (the third in a row on the Odyssey, after the Steamer and the Station). It was the Railway Tavern in 1847 when the premises were bought by a Hitchin brewer. It seems in the nineteenth century the kneejerk reaction to any social, political or military event was to open a pub. In midweek I was walking the Thames Path with Anne and we got to Wallingford, Oxfordshire. In the nineteenth century this was a small place of 2,000 people That isn't much bigger than Tewin plus Tewin Wood today. At that time Wallingford had 50 pubs!
Friday, 9 March 2012
Pub Odyssey 60
Tuesday 28 February: The STATION, KNEBWORTH (Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, Steve Stott, Andrew Swift, John Westwood)
COMMENT: The Station provided a rare opporrtunity for reflection on the human condition, or at least its toilet did. I'll come back to that in a minute, but first some basic history.
The Station Hotel was built in 1883 (actually opening before Knebworth railway station, which happened in 1884). The station's arrival wholly changed the position of Knebworth, previously centred on Knebworth House and the parish church; a community called "New Knebworth" grew up around the station which became so dominant that in the end the "New" was dropped, it became "Knebworth" pure and simple, and the original settlement near the big house and the church became "Old Knebworth". The Station Hotel, now simply the Station, is an indicator of that change and the latest of several pubs on the Odyssey which are distinctively "railway pubs". This one had decent pub food and drink, very competitively priced.
Now to the toilet. It was John Westwood who first went in and encountered The Machine. It offered three options for the human condition (or at least the male condition):
3 condoms and ID lube
1 x natural
1 x dots and ribs
1 x Ultra thin
or
"Stimulatring"
Provides the ultimate sexual buzz for him and her. Battery length of up to 40 minutes. Waterproof.
or
"Blue Zeus"
Enhance and Maintain Sexual Vigour. Vitalility and Performance Herbal Supplement.
The machine's owners, Performance Marketing Ltd (yes, that's really their name) further stated
"If you need assistance or would like to report a fault with the machine call 0870-8503528"
My feeling was that if after the three options you still needed assistance it would take more than a phone call to help you.
COMMENT: The Station provided a rare opporrtunity for reflection on the human condition, or at least its toilet did. I'll come back to that in a minute, but first some basic history.
The Station Hotel was built in 1883 (actually opening before Knebworth railway station, which happened in 1884). The station's arrival wholly changed the position of Knebworth, previously centred on Knebworth House and the parish church; a community called "New Knebworth" grew up around the station which became so dominant that in the end the "New" was dropped, it became "Knebworth" pure and simple, and the original settlement near the big house and the church became "Old Knebworth". The Station Hotel, now simply the Station, is an indicator of that change and the latest of several pubs on the Odyssey which are distinctively "railway pubs". This one had decent pub food and drink, very competitively priced.
Now to the toilet. It was John Westwood who first went in and encountered The Machine. It offered three options for the human condition (or at least the male condition):
3 condoms and ID lube
1 x natural
1 x dots and ribs
1 x Ultra thin
or
"Stimulatring"
Provides the ultimate sexual buzz for him and her. Battery length of up to 40 minutes. Waterproof.
or
"Blue Zeus"
Enhance and Maintain Sexual Vigour. Vitalility and Performance Herbal Supplement.
The machine's owners, Performance Marketing Ltd (yes, that's really their name) further stated
"If you need assistance or would like to report a fault with the machine call 0870-8503528"
My feeling was that if after the three options you still needed assistance it would take more than a phone call to help you.
Friday, 24 February 2012
Pub Odyssey 59
Tuesday 21 February: THE LUDWICK ARMS, WELWYN GARDEN CITY (Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile)
COMMENT: A small turnout for quite a reasonable pub, decent cheap food and beer. It's too new to appear in any of my reference books, being a 1950s pub- a "never had it so good" pub you might say, though its hard to imagine the semi-aristocratic, Jane Austen-reading 1950s Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, feeling very much at home there. The imagination reels at the idea of Supermac popping in to see the football (its a sports pub) or to listen to a gig (its a music venue). On the other hand Supermac might have quite enjoyed chatting to the little girl running around the pub who had come in for a pub lunch with Mum and Grandpa. Macmillan was good with children. I read a marvellous story about him told by his niece by marriage, the present Duchess of Devonshire. Apparently Macmillan visited Chatsworth for Christmas when his government was in dire straits (Profumo scandal etc) and by mistake was put at the dinner table between two of his great-nephews, aged ten and eight. The boys didn't know quite what to say to the elderly statesman, then one of them had an idea. "I say, Uncle Harold, I read in Old Moore's Almanac that your government is going down in six months! What do you think?"" Supermac looked at him severely; the dinner table fell silent, and after a long, long pause he replied:
"I think that's probably about right.".
COMMENT: A small turnout for quite a reasonable pub, decent cheap food and beer. It's too new to appear in any of my reference books, being a 1950s pub- a "never had it so good" pub you might say, though its hard to imagine the semi-aristocratic, Jane Austen-reading 1950s Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, feeling very much at home there. The imagination reels at the idea of Supermac popping in to see the football (its a sports pub) or to listen to a gig (its a music venue). On the other hand Supermac might have quite enjoyed chatting to the little girl running around the pub who had come in for a pub lunch with Mum and Grandpa. Macmillan was good with children. I read a marvellous story about him told by his niece by marriage, the present Duchess of Devonshire. Apparently Macmillan visited Chatsworth for Christmas when his government was in dire straits (Profumo scandal etc) and by mistake was put at the dinner table between two of his great-nephews, aged ten and eight. The boys didn't know quite what to say to the elderly statesman, then one of them had an idea. "I say, Uncle Harold, I read in Old Moore's Almanac that your government is going down in six months! What do you think?"" Supermac looked at him severely; the dinner table fell silent, and after a long, long pause he replied:
"I think that's probably about right.".
Pub Odyssey 58
Tuesday 14 February: THE STEAMER, Welwyn Village (Mike Horsman, Elvis pile, Bob Polydorou, Steve Stott)
COMMENT: It may have been Valentine's Day, but this was in no way a romantic destination for anyone, including Odyssians. The Steamer is a small pub which has attached to it a Chinese restaurant. The pub had, I'm sorry to say, a rather "failing" look about it (few customers, no tea or coffee even though advertised inside and outside the pub- the machine had broken apparently); however, the Chinese food was excellent and since they provide a takeaway service the Horsmans will probably be using their facilities again. The connection between the failing pub and the high quality Chinese was not umbilical- you paid for their services seperately- but I couldn't help regretting the absence from the Odyssey this week of Andrew Swift, who would undoubtedly have treated us to his best thoughts about the failure of British enterprise and the way the Chinese are taking over the world, etc, etc.
The Steamer has a picture on the sign of a "steaming" horse pulling a loan up the hill on which the pub stands, but that's a romantic fantasy. The pub is a railway pub. It opened for business about 1850 as the"The Steam Engine", linked to the creation of the Geat Northern Railway. That's about the time that other railway pubs on the Odyssey, the two Cowper Arms at Digswell and Letty Green, were also founded.
COMMENT: It may have been Valentine's Day, but this was in no way a romantic destination for anyone, including Odyssians. The Steamer is a small pub which has attached to it a Chinese restaurant. The pub had, I'm sorry to say, a rather "failing" look about it (few customers, no tea or coffee even though advertised inside and outside the pub- the machine had broken apparently); however, the Chinese food was excellent and since they provide a takeaway service the Horsmans will probably be using their facilities again. The connection between the failing pub and the high quality Chinese was not umbilical- you paid for their services seperately- but I couldn't help regretting the absence from the Odyssey this week of Andrew Swift, who would undoubtedly have treated us to his best thoughts about the failure of British enterprise and the way the Chinese are taking over the world, etc, etc.
The Steamer has a picture on the sign of a "steaming" horse pulling a loan up the hill on which the pub stands, but that's a romantic fantasy. The pub is a railway pub. It opened for business about 1850 as the"The Steam Engine", linked to the creation of the Geat Northern Railway. That's about the time that other railway pubs on the Odyssey, the two Cowper Arms at Digswell and Letty Green, were also founded.
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Pub Odyssey 57
Tuesday 7 February: THE CORK, WELWYN GARDEN CITY (Mike Horsman, Chris Parkinson, Elvis Pile, Bob Polydorou, Steve Stott, Andrew Swift)
COMMENT: This is the first time on the Odyssey that we have been into a pub which used to be a bank. I've done it before in London, and very splendid such pubs can be- the Old Bankof England in Chancery Lane, for instance, with its spendid woodwork and ceramics and frescos. The Cork was emphatically not like that; it was somewhat basic and as one of us said, maybe a place at times to avoid eye contact with the rest of the clientele. Not however at this lunchtime; the clientele looked perfectly friendly and included a baby in a highchair with whom I was actually trying (and failing) to establish eye contact. The staff were friendly too and our young waitress showed I thought exemplary patience in trying to get the food orders from a selection of fuddy-duddies (us) who were showing signs of early onset age-related confusion (or so she must have thought). But in fairness I must say after all this that the food and beer were fine and very cheap.
The Cork is owned by a pubco called Stonegate who actually are the people who inflicted on the English pub scene the now celebrated faux-witty pub sign "Slug and Lettuce", the title of one of their pub "brands"; however, another of their brands abandons weak witticism for grim realism, being called "Scream". Well, they said it. Stonegate are also capable of barefaced impudence; the Cork is one of their pubs in a brand called "Great Traditional Pubs". There is no touch of greatness about the Cork, and it is about as close to a traditional pub as I am to being a dancer in "Hot Gossip". It's all so brazen you've got to admire it. And when its all said and done we had a convivial lunch with decent food and beer served by staff who had the right attitude. You could go to a lot of genuinely traditional pubs and not get as much.
COMMENT: This is the first time on the Odyssey that we have been into a pub which used to be a bank. I've done it before in London, and very splendid such pubs can be- the Old Bankof England in Chancery Lane, for instance, with its spendid woodwork and ceramics and frescos. The Cork was emphatically not like that; it was somewhat basic and as one of us said, maybe a place at times to avoid eye contact with the rest of the clientele. Not however at this lunchtime; the clientele looked perfectly friendly and included a baby in a highchair with whom I was actually trying (and failing) to establish eye contact. The staff were friendly too and our young waitress showed I thought exemplary patience in trying to get the food orders from a selection of fuddy-duddies (us) who were showing signs of early onset age-related confusion (or so she must have thought). But in fairness I must say after all this that the food and beer were fine and very cheap.
The Cork is owned by a pubco called Stonegate who actually are the people who inflicted on the English pub scene the now celebrated faux-witty pub sign "Slug and Lettuce", the title of one of their pub "brands"; however, another of their brands abandons weak witticism for grim realism, being called "Scream". Well, they said it. Stonegate are also capable of barefaced impudence; the Cork is one of their pubs in a brand called "Great Traditional Pubs". There is no touch of greatness about the Cork, and it is about as close to a traditional pub as I am to being a dancer in "Hot Gossip". It's all so brazen you've got to admire it. And when its all said and done we had a convivial lunch with decent food and beer served by staff who had the right attitude. You could go to a lot of genuinely traditional pubs and not get as much.
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Pub Odyssey 56
Monday 30 January: THE RED LION WOOLMER GREEN (Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, Bob Polydorou, Andrew Swift, Roger Toms)
COMMENT: This pub was nice, very cheap, good pub food and remarkably well patrronised for a Monday in January. There weren't many frills but the essentials were fine and obviously they had a winning formula, to judge by the number of punters present. The pub first appears in 1780; the freehold was later held by the famous diarist John Carrington who had as landlady the marvellously named "widow Crow". On January 23 1804, a week more than 208 years before we arrived, Carrington stood outside the Red Lion while the Duchess of Ankester's corpse stopped there on its way to burial in Lincolnshire. "Herce and 3 Coaches" noted Carrington (I love his spelling). Nothing so dramatic while we were there. However, the current building isn't the one Carrington knew.. In 1927 it was rebuilt on its former ground plan. 1927 was a vintage year for pubs in Woolmer Green, the Chequers was rebuilt in the same year apparently. In fact when you look at the two pubs you can see the architectural similarity.
COMMENT: This pub was nice, very cheap, good pub food and remarkably well patrronised for a Monday in January. There weren't many frills but the essentials were fine and obviously they had a winning formula, to judge by the number of punters present. The pub first appears in 1780; the freehold was later held by the famous diarist John Carrington who had as landlady the marvellously named "widow Crow". On January 23 1804, a week more than 208 years before we arrived, Carrington stood outside the Red Lion while the Duchess of Ankester's corpse stopped there on its way to burial in Lincolnshire. "Herce and 3 Coaches" noted Carrington (I love his spelling). Nothing so dramatic while we were there. However, the current building isn't the one Carrington knew.. In 1927 it was rebuilt on its former ground plan. 1927 was a vintage year for pubs in Woolmer Green, the Chequers was rebuilt in the same year apparently. In fact when you look at the two pubs you can see the architectural similarity.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Pub Odyssey 55
Tuesday 24 January: THE BEEHIVE, WELWYN GARDEN CITY (Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, David Room, Andrew Swift)
COMMENT: The Beehive was a surprise in various respects. I had a feeling that as we moved towards the last third of the 87 pubs originally identified they would get grimmer and grimmer, since we had "used up" the nice ones earlier on. Not so; the Beehive was very nice, extremely well refurbished, large (100 covers), good beer, good cheap food, a carvery, etc etc. It was a great success so far as we were concerned. As Andrew said, it would be a worthy competitor for the custom of the many nice village pubs which get so much trade from Welwyn Garden City. The staff (specifically the landlady) were interactive and friendly as well. I pass over the fact that Chris Haden found viagra on sale somewhere in the pub; you'd have to ask him where.
To the pub historian the Beehive was a surprise in other respects as well. In my ignorance I'd assumed it was associated with the creation of suburban Welwyn Garden City, therefore built in the interwar years or the 1950s. Again, not so; the landlady said it was an ancient pub which went back to the eighteenth century or earlier. W. Branch Johnston, in his book "Hertfordshire Inns" is succinct and unflattering. "In 1842 a remote beerhouse on a country lane". In the tradition of multi-tasking characteristic of rural pubs in pre-modern times, at least one early licensee was also a grocer. The name, the "Beehive" is not common but there are other pubs round the country with this name. It probably only means there were hives close by when the pub was founded but in some places it was used an a symbol of industrious behaviour associated with bees- a Cheltenham "Beehive" has on the sign "By Industry We Live". Debatable in modern Britain.
COMMENT: The Beehive was a surprise in various respects. I had a feeling that as we moved towards the last third of the 87 pubs originally identified they would get grimmer and grimmer, since we had "used up" the nice ones earlier on. Not so; the Beehive was very nice, extremely well refurbished, large (100 covers), good beer, good cheap food, a carvery, etc etc. It was a great success so far as we were concerned. As Andrew said, it would be a worthy competitor for the custom of the many nice village pubs which get so much trade from Welwyn Garden City. The staff (specifically the landlady) were interactive and friendly as well. I pass over the fact that Chris Haden found viagra on sale somewhere in the pub; you'd have to ask him where.
To the pub historian the Beehive was a surprise in other respects as well. In my ignorance I'd assumed it was associated with the creation of suburban Welwyn Garden City, therefore built in the interwar years or the 1950s. Again, not so; the landlady said it was an ancient pub which went back to the eighteenth century or earlier. W. Branch Johnston, in his book "Hertfordshire Inns" is succinct and unflattering. "In 1842 a remote beerhouse on a country lane". In the tradition of multi-tasking characteristic of rural pubs in pre-modern times, at least one early licensee was also a grocer. The name, the "Beehive" is not common but there are other pubs round the country with this name. It probably only means there were hives close by when the pub was founded but in some places it was used an a symbol of industrious behaviour associated with bees- a Cheltenham "Beehive" has on the sign "By Industry We Live". Debatable in modern Britain.
Monday, 23 January 2012
Pub Odyssey 54
Thursday 19 January: TOWNSHEND ARMS, HERTFORD HEATH (Chris Haden, Mike Horsman,Chris Parkinson, David Room, Steve Stott, Andrew Swift, John Westwood)
COMMENT: Back in England for No 54, nice pub, nice meal (not cheap) and nice pub dog about the size of a donkey who got really interested in Chris P's dog Sally. This is taking the older woman syndrome to ridiculous lengths since Sally is, I reckon, easily old enough to be his grandmother. However, it didn't come to anything with all the chaperones around eating and drinking.
The Townshend Arms, planted across the line of the Roman road called Ermine Street, was called the Green Man till 1823 when it adapted the name and arms of Viscounts Townshend, the 18th and 19th century owners of Balls Park. This family produced several figures notable in English history particularly Charles, second Viscount Townshend (1674-1738) who was an important and unusually honest and uncorrupt statesman who also rejoiced in the nickname "Turnip Townshend". This was not because he was dense or unsuccessful (he wasn't) but because, apart from being a leading political figure, he was also an agricultural improver who was responsible for dramatic improvements in productivity due to the use of turnips, clover, etc and a "fallow field" system. However, the other best known Townshend, General Sir Charles Townshend (1861-1924) really was a turnip, one of the worst and least successful generals of the First World War (and you needed to be really bad to achieve this distinction) losing a whole army to the Turks.
COMMENT: Back in England for No 54, nice pub, nice meal (not cheap) and nice pub dog about the size of a donkey who got really interested in Chris P's dog Sally. This is taking the older woman syndrome to ridiculous lengths since Sally is, I reckon, easily old enough to be his grandmother. However, it didn't come to anything with all the chaperones around eating and drinking.
The Townshend Arms, planted across the line of the Roman road called Ermine Street, was called the Green Man till 1823 when it adapted the name and arms of Viscounts Townshend, the 18th and 19th century owners of Balls Park. This family produced several figures notable in English history particularly Charles, second Viscount Townshend (1674-1738) who was an important and unusually honest and uncorrupt statesman who also rejoiced in the nickname "Turnip Townshend". This was not because he was dense or unsuccessful (he wasn't) but because, apart from being a leading political figure, he was also an agricultural improver who was responsible for dramatic improvements in productivity due to the use of turnips, clover, etc and a "fallow field" system. However, the other best known Townshend, General Sir Charles Townshend (1861-1924) really was a turnip, one of the worst and least successful generals of the First World War (and you needed to be really bad to achieve this distinction) losing a whole army to the Turks.
Pub Odyssey 53
Thursday 12 January: THE WRESTLERS, HATFIELD (Chris Haden, Chris Parkinson, Elvis Pile, Andrew Swift, John Westwood)
COMMENT: I missed this one, being in the Canary Islands, but those who turned up seemed very happy with the pub. That's good, because a recent review in the "beer in the evening" site might have given food for thought. The commentator stated "seems drug-free which is rare in south Hatfield". That's what I call damning with faint praise!
However, even faint praise might have been in short supply in the eighteenth century when the pub was probably founded (it might be older but the first known mention is 1735). It was about as basic as its possible for even a beerhouse to be, having no cellars; the beer was stored in an outhouse covered with earth. By 1836 it had gone up in the world, having stabling for 12 horses.
The name, the Wrestlers, is a bit unusual (though there are pubs with this name in London and Cambridge apparently) but relates to a sport popular in Britain since the Middle Ages. John Taylor, the water poet (also poor speller) offered the following thought
"Wrastling is a Manly exercise
A Game Olympick, both for Praise and Prize
But hee that is most Skilfull, Strong or Tall
And wrastles with the wine,
shall surely Fall"
COMMENT: I missed this one, being in the Canary Islands, but those who turned up seemed very happy with the pub. That's good, because a recent review in the "beer in the evening" site might have given food for thought. The commentator stated "seems drug-free which is rare in south Hatfield". That's what I call damning with faint praise!
However, even faint praise might have been in short supply in the eighteenth century when the pub was probably founded (it might be older but the first known mention is 1735). It was about as basic as its possible for even a beerhouse to be, having no cellars; the beer was stored in an outhouse covered with earth. By 1836 it had gone up in the world, having stabling for 12 horses.
The name, the Wrestlers, is a bit unusual (though there are pubs with this name in London and Cambridge apparently) but relates to a sport popular in Britain since the Middle Ages. John Taylor, the water poet (also poor speller) offered the following thought
"Wrastling is a Manly exercise
A Game Olympick, both for Praise and Prize
But hee that is most Skilfull, Strong or Tall
And wrastles with the wine,
shall surely Fall"
Pub Odyssey 52
Friday 6 January 2012: THE PRINCE OF WALES, HERTINGFORDBURY (Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Gerry Murphy, Elvis Pile, David Room, Roger Toms, John Westwood)
COMMENT: I'm writing this one so long after the event that I'm having trouble remembering much about it except the sight of John Westwood, complete with cap and rucksack, jauntily striding up the hill to the Prince of Wales faster than I could cycle up it on my bike. The Prince of Wales, first pub of 2012, has a different name but obviously relates to the same personage as the last pub of 2011 (the Plume of Feathers, Pub Odyssey 51, is an emblem of the Prince of Wales). The Hertingfordbury Prince of Wales isn't a particularly old pub, coming into existence sometime between 1852 and 1890. In this it contrasts both with the Plume (probably from 1596) and the other Hertingfordbury inn, the White Horse which under various names and on various sites goes back to 1643.
I mentioned in the entry on the White Horse (Pub Odyssey 49) a distinguished inhabitant of the Hertingfordbury graveyard, the last woman sentenced to death for witchcraft in England. Another graveyard inhabitant might be more fun, the great eighteenth-century brewer Ben Truman (1700-1780) whose image was used on beer labels and advertising till the 1970s, presenting him as a jolly fat man with a peg leg. There's no such thing as bad publicity. The 33rd President of the United States, Harry Truman (1884-1972) between 1945 and 1953 maybe the most powerful man in the world, was proud to claim he was a descendant of the great English beer baron (though maybe he wasn't really)..
COMMENT: I'm writing this one so long after the event that I'm having trouble remembering much about it except the sight of John Westwood, complete with cap and rucksack, jauntily striding up the hill to the Prince of Wales faster than I could cycle up it on my bike. The Prince of Wales, first pub of 2012, has a different name but obviously relates to the same personage as the last pub of 2011 (the Plume of Feathers, Pub Odyssey 51, is an emblem of the Prince of Wales). The Hertingfordbury Prince of Wales isn't a particularly old pub, coming into existence sometime between 1852 and 1890. In this it contrasts both with the Plume (probably from 1596) and the other Hertingfordbury inn, the White Horse which under various names and on various sites goes back to 1643.
I mentioned in the entry on the White Horse (Pub Odyssey 49) a distinguished inhabitant of the Hertingfordbury graveyard, the last woman sentenced to death for witchcraft in England. Another graveyard inhabitant might be more fun, the great eighteenth-century brewer Ben Truman (1700-1780) whose image was used on beer labels and advertising till the 1970s, presenting him as a jolly fat man with a peg leg. There's no such thing as bad publicity. The 33rd President of the United States, Harry Truman (1884-1972) between 1945 and 1953 maybe the most powerful man in the world, was proud to claim he was a descendant of the great English beer baron (though maybe he wasn't really)..
Monday, 2 January 2012
Pub Odyssey 51
Wednesday 28 December: THE PLUME OF FEATHERS, TEWIN (Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Gerry Murphy, Elvis Pile, Bob Polydorou, David Room, Steve Stott, John Westwood)
COMMENT: Last pub of the year, in our local, and only one week missed all year on the Odyssey which is pretty good in my opinion. In the summer months we may have been down to three attenders, or even only two on one occasion, but our grit and resolution saw us through. Apart from being the last meeting of 2011, Pub Odyssey 51 had another distinction, for the first time a female person turned up- Anne picking up Mike to take him to Bury St Edmunds, actually to another pub. Its a hard life when you're retired.
The Plume of Feathers is an ancient pub which celebrated its 400th anniversary in 1996. It isn't quite certain that this was accurate; the Plume probably, but not certainly, was the one alehouse "allowed" to Tewin by the county justices in 1596. The building appears to have seventeenth century elements. In 1712 it was the Crown and Feathers, with two cottages attached, but by 40 years later it had adopted its present sign. After some troubled times and changes of ownership it has settled down in the last few years to be as pleasant and apparently as successful as any of the 51 pubs we have visited this year. Stability of management has in my opinion a lot to do with this- Nigel and Gary have been there a long time now.
The Plume of Feathers is yet another royal emblem (like the Rose and Crown, the White Hart, the Red Lion, the Blue Lion, the Golden Lion, the White Boar, etc etc.). The Plume of Feathers is a reference to the Prince of Wales, originally to the plume of three ostrich feathers worn by Edward, the Black Prince (1330-1376) an exceptional military leader who had many victories over the French in the Hundred Years War but who became the first Prince of Wales not to succeed to the throne when he died a year before his father, King Edward III.
COMMENT: Last pub of the year, in our local, and only one week missed all year on the Odyssey which is pretty good in my opinion. In the summer months we may have been down to three attenders, or even only two on one occasion, but our grit and resolution saw us through. Apart from being the last meeting of 2011, Pub Odyssey 51 had another distinction, for the first time a female person turned up- Anne picking up Mike to take him to Bury St Edmunds, actually to another pub. Its a hard life when you're retired.
The Plume of Feathers is an ancient pub which celebrated its 400th anniversary in 1996. It isn't quite certain that this was accurate; the Plume probably, but not certainly, was the one alehouse "allowed" to Tewin by the county justices in 1596. The building appears to have seventeenth century elements. In 1712 it was the Crown and Feathers, with two cottages attached, but by 40 years later it had adopted its present sign. After some troubled times and changes of ownership it has settled down in the last few years to be as pleasant and apparently as successful as any of the 51 pubs we have visited this year. Stability of management has in my opinion a lot to do with this- Nigel and Gary have been there a long time now.
The Plume of Feathers is yet another royal emblem (like the Rose and Crown, the White Hart, the Red Lion, the Blue Lion, the Golden Lion, the White Boar, etc etc.). The Plume of Feathers is a reference to the Prince of Wales, originally to the plume of three ostrich feathers worn by Edward, the Black Prince (1330-1376) an exceptional military leader who had many victories over the French in the Hundred Years War but who became the first Prince of Wales not to succeed to the throne when he died a year before his father, King Edward III.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Pub Odyssey 50
Tuesday 20 December: THE SARACENS HEAD, HERTFORD (Malcolm Allen, Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Gerry Murphy, Elvis Pile, David Room, Steve Stott, Andrew Swift, John Westwood)
COMMENT: Christmas week and a big turnout braving the near-zero parking around the Saracens Head. We all made it. This was a nice small pub with a roaring fire (on the TV screen), decent pub food but a cliff edge attitude to real beer. When we arrived two of the three real ales were off. The Adnams which was still on was good, but I was on tenterhooks in case, for the first time in 50 pubs, the pub ran out of real ale while the Odyssians were in need. Well, I thought, at least it would teach the (many) latecomers to be on time. Sure enough, the Adnams did run out, but they immediately brought on Greene King IPA, so we all breathed again.
The Saracens Head is rather obviously a pub name that relates to the famous Crusades mounted by European Knights to reconquer the Holy land from the Muslims; nine crusades in all, between 1095 and 1271. (The Europeans characteristically called Arabs or Muslims "Saracens"). The name got into pubs in an oddly roundabout way. Most European noble families had members who went on crusade, including English noble families. On return from crusade, the family often incorporated a saracen's head into their coats of arms. Pub names and signs are, as we have seen before on the Odyssey, closely related to noble families and their coats of arms (think of the Red Lion and the White Hart for instance). In time the saracen's head migrated to pub names and signs in the same way as other elements from coats of arms.
All this may seem long ago and far away, but it isn't really. There are many reasons for the high degree of tension in our times, often erupting into actual violence, between many Muslims and the Western World. However, the memory of the Crusades in the Islamic world is not the least important of these reasons. The Muslims regard the Crusades, with considerable justification, as an aggressive and barbaric attack on them, their territory and their culture marked by appalling massacres and most brutal behaviour. Of course, as always happens, the Muslims in response behaved with similar brutality towards the Crusaders. Relations between the Christian West and the Islamic world, by no means always bad before the Crusades, plummeted to new depths during and after these religious wars. There is a good case for regarding the events of September 11 2001 as being just the latest round in a grim process in which the crusades provided one of the worst periods.
However, fascinating as all this is (to me at least) it has very little bearing on the Saracen's Head in Hertford. It's not an ancient pub at all, it only goes back to about 1845 when it was the tap for the long-vanished Crown Brewery, which stood behind it. In 1852 it was kept by Richard Skegg, plumber and glazier. (Glazing has a local history, Hertford Glass was close by.) Presumably someone just called the pub the Saracens Head because they liked the name! So much for history!
COMMENT: Christmas week and a big turnout braving the near-zero parking around the Saracens Head. We all made it. This was a nice small pub with a roaring fire (on the TV screen), decent pub food but a cliff edge attitude to real beer. When we arrived two of the three real ales were off. The Adnams which was still on was good, but I was on tenterhooks in case, for the first time in 50 pubs, the pub ran out of real ale while the Odyssians were in need. Well, I thought, at least it would teach the (many) latecomers to be on time. Sure enough, the Adnams did run out, but they immediately brought on Greene King IPA, so we all breathed again.
The Saracens Head is rather obviously a pub name that relates to the famous Crusades mounted by European Knights to reconquer the Holy land from the Muslims; nine crusades in all, between 1095 and 1271. (The Europeans characteristically called Arabs or Muslims "Saracens"). The name got into pubs in an oddly roundabout way. Most European noble families had members who went on crusade, including English noble families. On return from crusade, the family often incorporated a saracen's head into their coats of arms. Pub names and signs are, as we have seen before on the Odyssey, closely related to noble families and their coats of arms (think of the Red Lion and the White Hart for instance). In time the saracen's head migrated to pub names and signs in the same way as other elements from coats of arms.
All this may seem long ago and far away, but it isn't really. There are many reasons for the high degree of tension in our times, often erupting into actual violence, between many Muslims and the Western World. However, the memory of the Crusades in the Islamic world is not the least important of these reasons. The Muslims regard the Crusades, with considerable justification, as an aggressive and barbaric attack on them, their territory and their culture marked by appalling massacres and most brutal behaviour. Of course, as always happens, the Muslims in response behaved with similar brutality towards the Crusaders. Relations between the Christian West and the Islamic world, by no means always bad before the Crusades, plummeted to new depths during and after these religious wars. There is a good case for regarding the events of September 11 2001 as being just the latest round in a grim process in which the crusades provided one of the worst periods.
However, fascinating as all this is (to me at least) it has very little bearing on the Saracen's Head in Hertford. It's not an ancient pub at all, it only goes back to about 1845 when it was the tap for the long-vanished Crown Brewery, which stood behind it. In 1852 it was kept by Richard Skegg, plumber and glazier. (Glazing has a local history, Hertford Glass was close by.) Presumably someone just called the pub the Saracens Head because they liked the name! So much for history!
Monday, 12 December 2011
Pub Odyssey 49
Monday 12 December: THE WHITE HORSE HERTINGFORDBURY (Malcolm Allen, Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, David Room, Andrew Swift, Roger Toms)
COMMENT: The White Horse is definitely a hotel, not a pub, which was made clear to us when we had our meal and beers (fine, as usual) in a vast restaurant in which we were the only customers. If we had swept away the other empty tables we could have had a ballroom in which Andrew could have entertained us with a display of Salsa dancing. At least, he could have done if he had been on time instead of 40 minutes late as usual. Andrew being late and Roger Clarke never replying to his emails are two of the fixed points of Tewin village life and both got fully discussed along with the state of the world economy, Jeremy Clarkson's status as iconic oaf, Mike's bionic legs, and Chris Haden's future as Santa Claus.
Unsurprisingly, the White Horse was a coaching inn, a staging post on the road from Reading to Cambridge. It has a Georgian facade but bits of the building are more than 400 years old. Hertingfordbury, like Datchworth with its V1 last week, makes a contribution to the strangeness of English history, in this case a grim story. In the churchyard is the unmarked grave of Jane Wenham, often stated to be the last person sentenced to death for witchcraft in England- at a court in Hertford in 1712. Jane, fortunately, was not hanged or burned. She was reprieved and later Queen Anne gave her a pardon. It is estimated that about 35,000 people were executed for witchcraft in Europe between 1450 and 1750, over a thousand of them in Britain. Between 75-80% of the victims were women. A woman, Janet Home, was executed in Scotland as late as 1727. So Jane Wenham was lucky to escape.
COMMENT: The White Horse is definitely a hotel, not a pub, which was made clear to us when we had our meal and beers (fine, as usual) in a vast restaurant in which we were the only customers. If we had swept away the other empty tables we could have had a ballroom in which Andrew could have entertained us with a display of Salsa dancing. At least, he could have done if he had been on time instead of 40 minutes late as usual. Andrew being late and Roger Clarke never replying to his emails are two of the fixed points of Tewin village life and both got fully discussed along with the state of the world economy, Jeremy Clarkson's status as iconic oaf, Mike's bionic legs, and Chris Haden's future as Santa Claus.
Unsurprisingly, the White Horse was a coaching inn, a staging post on the road from Reading to Cambridge. It has a Georgian facade but bits of the building are more than 400 years old. Hertingfordbury, like Datchworth with its V1 last week, makes a contribution to the strangeness of English history, in this case a grim story. In the churchyard is the unmarked grave of Jane Wenham, often stated to be the last person sentenced to death for witchcraft in England- at a court in Hertford in 1712. Jane, fortunately, was not hanged or burned. She was reprieved and later Queen Anne gave her a pardon. It is estimated that about 35,000 people were executed for witchcraft in Europe between 1450 and 1750, over a thousand of them in Britain. Between 75-80% of the victims were women. A woman, Janet Home, was executed in Scotland as late as 1727. So Jane Wenham was lucky to escape.
Pub Odyssey 48
Monday 5 December: THE TILBURY, DATCHWORTH (Malcolm Allen, Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Chris Parkinson, Elvis Pile, Andrew Swift, Rupert Stanley, Jeff Tipper, Roger Toms)
COMMENT: Back at the posh end of the market at the Tilbury, but a good occasion with excellent beer and food quickly provided for a big group; but not cheap. We were honoured by a guest appearance from the deviser of the "Pub Odyssey list" of 87 pubs, Chris Parkinson, who after the labour of drawing up the list wasn't able, because of work, to come to any of the first 47 meetings! Talk about labouring for the benefit of your fellow man and not yourself!
The Tilbury website is keen to tell you how good they are (and they are good) but doesn't tell you anything about the history of the pub. The pub's site at a crossroads would normally be a sign of great antiquity as would the fact that Datchworth is on a really old road, a Roman road in fact, from St Albans to Puckeridge. However, its not so simple. There was in the eighteenth century a pub called the "Tilbury Fort" near Datchworth church- named after Queen Elizabeth I's great speech to her troops at Tilbury on the Thames in 1588 as they waited to repel the Spanish Armada. In the early nineteenth century the licence was transferred to the current site and the pub then there, called the Three Horse Shoes, was renamed the Tilbury (God knows why). In 1975, again God knows why, the name was changed to the "The Inn on the Green". Now it's gone back to being the Tilbury. All a bit of a tangle and its hard to see who gained anything from it. But be it ever so remote, the connection is with Good Queen Bess and stuffing the Spanish Armada in 1588.
Datchworth has some other entertaining historical oddities. The last enemy-action incident of any kind on British soil in the Second World War occurred in Datchworth at 9am on 29 March 1945 when a V1 flying bomb struck a nearby field.
COMMENT: Back at the posh end of the market at the Tilbury, but a good occasion with excellent beer and food quickly provided for a big group; but not cheap. We were honoured by a guest appearance from the deviser of the "Pub Odyssey list" of 87 pubs, Chris Parkinson, who after the labour of drawing up the list wasn't able, because of work, to come to any of the first 47 meetings! Talk about labouring for the benefit of your fellow man and not yourself!
The Tilbury website is keen to tell you how good they are (and they are good) but doesn't tell you anything about the history of the pub. The pub's site at a crossroads would normally be a sign of great antiquity as would the fact that Datchworth is on a really old road, a Roman road in fact, from St Albans to Puckeridge. However, its not so simple. There was in the eighteenth century a pub called the "Tilbury Fort" near Datchworth church- named after Queen Elizabeth I's great speech to her troops at Tilbury on the Thames in 1588 as they waited to repel the Spanish Armada. In the early nineteenth century the licence was transferred to the current site and the pub then there, called the Three Horse Shoes, was renamed the Tilbury (God knows why). In 1975, again God knows why, the name was changed to the "The Inn on the Green". Now it's gone back to being the Tilbury. All a bit of a tangle and its hard to see who gained anything from it. But be it ever so remote, the connection is with Good Queen Bess and stuffing the Spanish Armada in 1588.
Datchworth has some other entertaining historical oddities. The last enemy-action incident of any kind on British soil in the Second World War occurred in Datchworth at 9am on 29 March 1945 when a V1 flying bomb struck a nearby field.
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Pub Odyssey 47
Tuesday 29 November: THE WHITE HART, HERTFORD (Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, Andrew Swift, John Westwood)
COMMENT: I really like the White Hart. Its an obviously ancient pub, in an attractive central square in Hertford, Salisbury Square. The earliest reference to it I know is on 6 March 1802 when John Carrington, the Hertfordshire diarist, went there to pay for "3 Lds peas" and bought four more- another indication of the role pubs and inns played as a venue for commercial transactions in past times. But the pub is clearly much older than this. A bit puzzlingly, its described in earlier times as being in "Market Square"- whether this means it changed venue or whether Market Square was merely renamed Salisbury Square, I don't know.
However, although ancient, the White Hart has been well modernised by McMullens as a sports pub with three large screens to which I quite often cycle down to watch the football on Sky. This is a very nice experience. The pub is frequented by large numbers of Arsenal and Spurs supporters. I remember a lovely Saturday lunchtime with a game between these two north London giants, the fans, noisy and partisan, but friendly, sitting down in family groups to have lunch and watch the game. Their kids dressed in Van Persie and Gareth Bale football outfits were running around the pub in severe danger of kneecapping the the bar staff as they brought out the food. (Incidentally, not only Arsenal and Spurs. Last Sunday, Liverpool v Manchester City, there were a couple of little Luis Suarezes running about.) The staff are good fun too, friendly and helpful in my experience, on the Odyssians' visit bringing out the drinks as well as the food to our table thus saving us lazy geriatrics from even having to walk to the bar to get our beer.
COMMENT: I really like the White Hart. Its an obviously ancient pub, in an attractive central square in Hertford, Salisbury Square. The earliest reference to it I know is on 6 March 1802 when John Carrington, the Hertfordshire diarist, went there to pay for "3 Lds peas" and bought four more- another indication of the role pubs and inns played as a venue for commercial transactions in past times. But the pub is clearly much older than this. A bit puzzlingly, its described in earlier times as being in "Market Square"- whether this means it changed venue or whether Market Square was merely renamed Salisbury Square, I don't know.
However, although ancient, the White Hart has been well modernised by McMullens as a sports pub with three large screens to which I quite often cycle down to watch the football on Sky. This is a very nice experience. The pub is frequented by large numbers of Arsenal and Spurs supporters. I remember a lovely Saturday lunchtime with a game between these two north London giants, the fans, noisy and partisan, but friendly, sitting down in family groups to have lunch and watch the game. Their kids dressed in Van Persie and Gareth Bale football outfits were running around the pub in severe danger of kneecapping the the bar staff as they brought out the food. (Incidentally, not only Arsenal and Spurs. Last Sunday, Liverpool v Manchester City, there were a couple of little Luis Suarezes running about.) The staff are good fun too, friendly and helpful in my experience, on the Odyssians' visit bringing out the drinks as well as the food to our table thus saving us lazy geriatrics from even having to walk to the bar to get our beer.
Thursday, 24 November 2011
Pub Odyssey 46
Tuesday 22 November: THE NORTH STAR, near Oaklands (Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, Andrew Swift, Jeff Tipper, John Westwood)
COMMENT: There is something a bit mysterious about the name of this pub The "North Star" was a famous railway engine, the first and last "Broad Gauge" engine on Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway. But the GWR operated many miles from Hertfordshire, why name a pub here after one of its engines? The pub itself is clearly a between-the-wars construction, built like so many then to resemble a very large commuterland house, in this case in "stockbroker Tudor" style. It would have been designed to catch either, or both, of road and rail traffic on the major arteries going north. As usual, McMullens provide very little information about the pub, but unusually for them they did provide an information gem on one of their beers, an excellent dark beer called "Pope's Porter".
This beer, according to a McMullens card beside the handpump, celebrated the only English pope, Adrian IV (ruled 1154-59). Adrian was born in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, with the name of Nicholas Breakspear, became a monk and eventually a successful cardinal and diplomat before being elected pope.
McMullen commented
"Adrian IV often had to deal with the troublesome Normans and reputedly sent for Hertfordshire ale to quell any uprisings. He died in 1159 choking on a fly in his wine. Should've stuck with the beer!"
It's a good story but the spoilsport Wikipedia suggests that Adrian probably died of quinsy (a complication of tonsillitis). I've also seen suggestions Adrian was poisoned, quite a likely explanation; medieval cardinals and popes were often as lethal in their political methods as medieval kings. Perhaps the tradition persists; conspiracy theories abound about the sudden death in 1977, after a reign of 33 days, of Pope John Paul I.
In all this historical guff I should have said the food and beer were good and as usual we had a good time!
COMMENT: There is something a bit mysterious about the name of this pub The "North Star" was a famous railway engine, the first and last "Broad Gauge" engine on Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway. But the GWR operated many miles from Hertfordshire, why name a pub here after one of its engines? The pub itself is clearly a between-the-wars construction, built like so many then to resemble a very large commuterland house, in this case in "stockbroker Tudor" style. It would have been designed to catch either, or both, of road and rail traffic on the major arteries going north. As usual, McMullens provide very little information about the pub, but unusually for them they did provide an information gem on one of their beers, an excellent dark beer called "Pope's Porter".
This beer, according to a McMullens card beside the handpump, celebrated the only English pope, Adrian IV (ruled 1154-59). Adrian was born in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, with the name of Nicholas Breakspear, became a monk and eventually a successful cardinal and diplomat before being elected pope.
McMullen commented
"Adrian IV often had to deal with the troublesome Normans and reputedly sent for Hertfordshire ale to quell any uprisings. He died in 1159 choking on a fly in his wine. Should've stuck with the beer!"
It's a good story but the spoilsport Wikipedia suggests that Adrian probably died of quinsy (a complication of tonsillitis). I've also seen suggestions Adrian was poisoned, quite a likely explanation; medieval cardinals and popes were often as lethal in their political methods as medieval kings. Perhaps the tradition persists; conspiracy theories abound about the sudden death in 1977, after a reign of 33 days, of Pope John Paul I.
In all this historical guff I should have said the food and beer were good and as usual we had a good time!
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Pub Odyssey 45
Tuesday 15 November; THE BULL, WATTON AT STONE (Malcolm Allen, Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, Bob Polydorou, David Room, Rupert Stanley, Andrew Swift, Jeff Tipper, John Westwood)
COMMENT: A big turnout for a recently renovated pub; in fact a much bigger turnout than I had expected and booked for but the pub coped well and the food and beer were good (Woodforde Wherry available, first time I had seen it on the Odyssey I think).
"The Bull" sounds the most English and agricultural of pub names but it isn't necessarily so. In fact it very likely relates to that very un-English institution, the papacy. The first "Bull" pubs, in the Middle Ages, were apparently referring to a papal bull, the lead seal attached to papal edicts (Latin bulla). Nor was this the only pub name which referred to the Pope. Any pub called the "Cross Keys" is showing a papal symbol. St Peter, the first Pope, is often shown holding the keys to the Kingdom of God. For some reason "Bulls" and "Cross Keys" survived the Protestant Reformation in England whereas a lot of pubs called "The Pope's Head" or "The Cardinal's Head" hastily changed their names to "The Kings Head" or "The Bishop's Head" to avoid unpleasant questions from the authorities.
I don't know if the "Bull" at Watton refers to religion or agriculture but my bet would be religion. The pub is another Grade II listed building which goes back to the mid-16th century and has a "priests hole" hidden behind the large fireplace (a priest's hole was a hiding place for Catholic priests in the period in the sixteenth and seventeenth century when they had to move and preach in secret in England because persecuted and indeed often tortured and executed by the Protestant government.)
COMMENT: A big turnout for a recently renovated pub; in fact a much bigger turnout than I had expected and booked for but the pub coped well and the food and beer were good (Woodforde Wherry available, first time I had seen it on the Odyssey I think).
"The Bull" sounds the most English and agricultural of pub names but it isn't necessarily so. In fact it very likely relates to that very un-English institution, the papacy. The first "Bull" pubs, in the Middle Ages, were apparently referring to a papal bull, the lead seal attached to papal edicts (Latin bulla). Nor was this the only pub name which referred to the Pope. Any pub called the "Cross Keys" is showing a papal symbol. St Peter, the first Pope, is often shown holding the keys to the Kingdom of God. For some reason "Bulls" and "Cross Keys" survived the Protestant Reformation in England whereas a lot of pubs called "The Pope's Head" or "The Cardinal's Head" hastily changed their names to "The Kings Head" or "The Bishop's Head" to avoid unpleasant questions from the authorities.
I don't know if the "Bull" at Watton refers to religion or agriculture but my bet would be religion. The pub is another Grade II listed building which goes back to the mid-16th century and has a "priests hole" hidden behind the large fireplace (a priest's hole was a hiding place for Catholic priests in the period in the sixteenth and seventeenth century when they had to move and preach in secret in England because persecuted and indeed often tortured and executed by the Protestant government.)
Pub Odyssey 44
Tuesday 8 November: THE SIX TEMPLARS, HERTFORD (Malcolm Allen, Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, David Room, Andrew Swift, Jeff Tipper)
COMMENT: I travel fairly frequently into London so J D Wetherspoon pubs are familiar to me. I remember a few years ago, before the financial meltdown, sitting in a JDW near Liverpool Street station watching as young versions of Attila the Stockbroker (they looked about 17) came in and slapped huge wads of banknotes on the bar; the one with the smallest wad had to buy the drinks. Probably all the teenage Attilas are struggling to hang on to their jobs now. Going back to that JDW would tell me more about the progress of the recession than any number of speeches by Mr Osborne.
The Attilas may not have been very lovable (they made Lord Sugar's apprentices look like a set of Albert Schweitzers) but they certainly gave central London JDWs an atmosphere. Atmosphere was a bit lacking the the Six Templars. The food was OK, the selection of beers first class, the service good and prompt- no complaints at all really; but it was a bit like having a pub lunch in a bank. We made our own atmosphere, there being seven of us, and had a good time, but I wouldn't have called it cosy or intimate. A Wetherspoons looks its best crammed to the gunnels with people, loud, cheerful, even raucous, but in Hertford it probably doesn't get like that very often.
These are not criticisms, I think J D Wetherspoon is a Good Thing. They are great supporters of real beer and have done a lot to bring the product into the modern world. Also, for someone like me who loves the oddities and eccentricities of British life J D Wetherspoon has made a big contribution. What could be more eccentric than a pub chain founded by Tim Martin, a 6 foot 6inch Irishman-New Zealander (went to 11 schools in Ulster and New Zealand) who sports a mullet haircut and called his pub chain J D Wetherspoon after one of his teachers who couldn't control his class and told Mr Martin he would never be a success in business? You couldn't make it up. But Wetherspoons is on the side of the angels, promoting cask beer, low prices, long opening hours and no music. In 2011 they hit the £1 billion sales mark; long may it continue.
COMMENT: I travel fairly frequently into London so J D Wetherspoon pubs are familiar to me. I remember a few years ago, before the financial meltdown, sitting in a JDW near Liverpool Street station watching as young versions of Attila the Stockbroker (they looked about 17) came in and slapped huge wads of banknotes on the bar; the one with the smallest wad had to buy the drinks. Probably all the teenage Attilas are struggling to hang on to their jobs now. Going back to that JDW would tell me more about the progress of the recession than any number of speeches by Mr Osborne.
The Attilas may not have been very lovable (they made Lord Sugar's apprentices look like a set of Albert Schweitzers) but they certainly gave central London JDWs an atmosphere. Atmosphere was a bit lacking the the Six Templars. The food was OK, the selection of beers first class, the service good and prompt- no complaints at all really; but it was a bit like having a pub lunch in a bank. We made our own atmosphere, there being seven of us, and had a good time, but I wouldn't have called it cosy or intimate. A Wetherspoons looks its best crammed to the gunnels with people, loud, cheerful, even raucous, but in Hertford it probably doesn't get like that very often.
These are not criticisms, I think J D Wetherspoon is a Good Thing. They are great supporters of real beer and have done a lot to bring the product into the modern world. Also, for someone like me who loves the oddities and eccentricities of British life J D Wetherspoon has made a big contribution. What could be more eccentric than a pub chain founded by Tim Martin, a 6 foot 6inch Irishman-New Zealander (went to 11 schools in Ulster and New Zealand) who sports a mullet haircut and called his pub chain J D Wetherspoon after one of his teachers who couldn't control his class and told Mr Martin he would never be a success in business? You couldn't make it up. But Wetherspoons is on the side of the angels, promoting cask beer, low prices, long opening hours and no music. In 2011 they hit the £1 billion sales mark; long may it continue.
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Pub Odyssey 43
Tuesday, 1 November: OLD CROSS, HERTFORD (Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, Steve Stott, Andrew Swift, JohnWestwood)
COMMENT: This super pub provided a really nice, and really cheap, occasion. £9 each for a total of two pints each plus as many sandwiches as anyone could want to eat! Normally the Old Cross doesn't provide food, at Tuesday lunchtime anyway, but through the good offices of John Westwood the landlord provided the sandwiches.
I thought the Old Cross was terrific. It represents one branch of the great real beer movement, beginning in the 1970s when the British public rose in revolt against crap like Double Diamond and Watneys Red Barrel and demanded proper beer, made in the correct way and properly presented. The success of this movement, fronted of course by CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale), has been amazing. Nowadays "real beer" is defined pretty much as CAMRA wants (the ultimate marketing triumph, all other not-approved products are by definition non-real or inferior); The total number of breweries is four times what it was when CAMRA was founded in 1971 and more since any time since the 1940s. Although pubs face tremendous challenges in the recession and are faced by predatory government taxation, real beer sales have held up much better than other forms of alcoholic purchases. The strength of the real beer movement is demonstrated in many ways; craft-type pubs like the Old Cross; big commercial operations like J D Wetherspoons (our next week visit); huge festivals, attended by tens of thousands, like the Great British Beer Festival or the Cambridge Beer Festival; but above all by the fact that nearly all pubs seem to have real ale on offer. There is a lot about CAMRA I don't go for, although I have been a member for decades, my reservations being succinctly summed up by the beer writer Pete Brown when he said that stereotypical CAMRA activists were "bearded, beer-bellied, wear chunky sweaters or tight,stained T-shirts, are pedantic, Luddite and have difficulties relating to girls". Having said all that, we owe them a lot.
And the Old Cross was great. As I stood watching them brewing their own beer in a back room before stepping back into the bare but pleasant parlour to drink it at £2.20 a pint I knew I was in the right place.
COMMENT: This super pub provided a really nice, and really cheap, occasion. £9 each for a total of two pints each plus as many sandwiches as anyone could want to eat! Normally the Old Cross doesn't provide food, at Tuesday lunchtime anyway, but through the good offices of John Westwood the landlord provided the sandwiches.
I thought the Old Cross was terrific. It represents one branch of the great real beer movement, beginning in the 1970s when the British public rose in revolt against crap like Double Diamond and Watneys Red Barrel and demanded proper beer, made in the correct way and properly presented. The success of this movement, fronted of course by CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale), has been amazing. Nowadays "real beer" is defined pretty much as CAMRA wants (the ultimate marketing triumph, all other not-approved products are by definition non-real or inferior); The total number of breweries is four times what it was when CAMRA was founded in 1971 and more since any time since the 1940s. Although pubs face tremendous challenges in the recession and are faced by predatory government taxation, real beer sales have held up much better than other forms of alcoholic purchases. The strength of the real beer movement is demonstrated in many ways; craft-type pubs like the Old Cross; big commercial operations like J D Wetherspoons (our next week visit); huge festivals, attended by tens of thousands, like the Great British Beer Festival or the Cambridge Beer Festival; but above all by the fact that nearly all pubs seem to have real ale on offer. There is a lot about CAMRA I don't go for, although I have been a member for decades, my reservations being succinctly summed up by the beer writer Pete Brown when he said that stereotypical CAMRA activists were "bearded, beer-bellied, wear chunky sweaters or tight,stained T-shirts, are pedantic, Luddite and have difficulties relating to girls". Having said all that, we owe them a lot.
And the Old Cross was great. As I stood watching them brewing their own beer in a back room before stepping back into the bare but pleasant parlour to drink it at £2.20 a pint I knew I was in the right place.
Pub Odyssey 42
Tuesday 25 October: THE MILLSTREAM, HERTFORD (Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, Rupert Stanley, John Westwood)
COMMENT: The Millstream was a real find, a nice little pub with an attractive conservatory and a well-kept garden behind it, friendly helpful staff and good food and drink. It's a bit of a surprise because in an obscure blocked-off road in the Hertford suburbs you might think it might struggle for custom, but the landlandy said that in summer the attractions of the conservatory, garden, food and drink meant that it was safer to book if you were coming at lunchtime. That's good news, but it might not square with the fact that when we were there, admittedly in late October, I saw only one other customer, a somewhat somnolent Dormouse-type character (I'm still reading Alice in Wonderland) at the other end of the bar. We had a good time anyway.
The Millsteam, sometimes called the Old Millstream, is another pub about which it's difficult to get any historical information. McMullens seem less good than many other operators in providing this. It's probably a nineteenth-century pub, which seems to have changed both its name and location in Port Vale in the 1880s and 1890s (for a while it may have been called the Old Windmill). The names given to the pub are a clear indication of the rural nature of the area at that time.
COMMENT: The Millstream was a real find, a nice little pub with an attractive conservatory and a well-kept garden behind it, friendly helpful staff and good food and drink. It's a bit of a surprise because in an obscure blocked-off road in the Hertford suburbs you might think it might struggle for custom, but the landlandy said that in summer the attractions of the conservatory, garden, food and drink meant that it was safer to book if you were coming at lunchtime. That's good news, but it might not square with the fact that when we were there, admittedly in late October, I saw only one other customer, a somewhat somnolent Dormouse-type character (I'm still reading Alice in Wonderland) at the other end of the bar. We had a good time anyway.
The Millsteam, sometimes called the Old Millstream, is another pub about which it's difficult to get any historical information. McMullens seem less good than many other operators in providing this. It's probably a nineteenth-century pub, which seems to have changed both its name and location in Port Vale in the 1880s and 1890s (for a while it may have been called the Old Windmill). The names given to the pub are a clear indication of the rural nature of the area at that time.
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