Happiness

In The Doric Arch (not quite the pub it was when it was The Head of Steam - no bar billiards) with Elaine and, until a moment ago, Robin and Victoria.

Castle Rock Harvest Pale. Yum.

Pubs near railway stations (Part 1 of an occasional series)

I have been spending a lot of timing to-ing and fro-ing between London and Birmingham recently, visiting colleagues (Friends? Associates? Collaborators?) but these trips are always rushed, and often involve charging across the concourse, pannier in hand, to, and then back from, the ticket collection machines. If I collided with you on my way to platform for at 0818 in the morning, I can only apologise. I only had 90 seconds left, you see.

So, nothing from Birmingham. However I can recommend, at Euston, The Doric Arch, which is part of the overall station complex, accessed from ‘plaza’ outside the station, towards the south-eastern corner of this public space. While, to my mind, a less splendid pub than it was when it was called “The Head of Steam” and had a bar billiards table, it still has an excellent range of beers. The Euston Tap (confusingly built inside the remainders of the actual Doric arch) is small but brilliant for craft beer. There is a Cider Tap opposite. Not sure what that sells.

Returning to the theme of bar billiards, 17 or so years ago, Exeter St David’s had four pubs close by, each with their own charms (The Red Cow offered real cider, the Artful Dodger was like travelling back to a time when woodchip wall paper was the must have internal finish and The Jolly Porter had bar billiards). Today only the 'Loco Bar' in The Great Western Hotel remains. The Great Western is one of my all-time favourite drinking establishments, offering, as it does, a wide range of beers, a number of semi-drunk Post Office workers, rugby on TV and stilton garlic bread! It was shabby back then, and (judging by reviews) is even shabbier now. So probably close to the pinnacle of shabb.

The pub which inspired this posting is The Vat and Fiddle close to Nottingham. Not quite visible from the main station entrance, one must trust in Google maps (other software available). But it’s only 160 yards, and by the time you cross the road one can see not only the pub but also (and rather more clearly) The Castle Rock Brewery, which sits directly behind the pub and provides most (but not all) of the excellent range of beers available. Possibly the nearest brewery tap to a UK mainline railway station.

London Bridge is in Borough, and therefore has a vast range of brilliant pubs close to it. I recommend The Market Porter and The Rake, both of which are buried in the bowels of Borough Market. The Royal Oak is excellent but not quite close enough to the station to be mentioned, so I won’t.

I’ve never been to TheNorfolk ("Surprisngly good [sic]") but The Bricklayers Arms on Bergholt Road is owned by Adnams and is close enough to Colchester station to stagger to/from. Given that Colchester is my home town I thought it worthy of note.

I’ve never had particular cause to drink close to Oxford station but I recall The Kite being (a) close and (b) nice enough. It’s been a long while, mind you. I think it was owned by Morrells when I was last there. Morrells Heritage was favourite beer at the time. Sadly those times are long past.

On the nostalgia front, I have no idea if the terrible public space/death-trap outside the front of Leeds station has been rebuilt into something more pedestrian-friendly but whether or not it has, it should be possible to locate (perhaps with some difficulty if much needed redevelopment has not actually happened) The Scarborough Hotel (which is not, as I recall, an actual hotel) which had one of the most remarkable, and rapidly changing, ranges of beers of any pub I can recall. It can be quite … characterful after Rugby League matches at Headingley.

The Three Guineas within Reading station used to allow immediate access to Platform 4. I’m not sure this is still the case but it’s still worth a visit if you have 15 minutes and a thirst. Now part of the ever expanding Fuller's Empire. Someday all your base will belong to Fuller's. It could be worse.

Before Yeovil Junction

I finished the "Killer" Sudoku 7 minutes into the journey. It's not like I'm a genius or anything, it was already three-quarters done. It was a Sunday afternoon and I'd already spent an hour on it, sitting in front of the fire, drinking tea.

So here we are. Thee hours of tedious training lies before us.

I've drunk as much beer as I could useful, or wisely, consume this weekend, and I was sent packing with sandwiches, so the buffet trolley holds no interest. The papers are read. And it's too dark to play "I Spy".

The Exeter St Davids to London Waterloo stretch is one of the slowest lines in England. It's single track over large stretches, as if the idea that people would want to travel back to Exeter had never occurred to them. You end up sitting outside Yeovil, waiting for the outbound train to fly past before you can continue.

Just spent a lovely 48 hours in the tiny village of Lopen, Somerset. It must count as a village, because it has a church, though no shop or pub. You have to make your way up a busyish single carriageway road with steeply incline sides to make it to the local pub, the Poulett Arms. The cutting makes it impossible to leap to one side if a lorry comes careering round the corner, and if you try to find the footpath marked on the OS map, a local landowner comes and chases you away. Best, IMHO, to make either for the Lord Poulett Arms (close relation) in Hinton St. G. or the Royal Oak, in Over Stratton. It's a bit further, but the chances of being run down are less.

The Lord P. wins the award of pub of the weekend, for lovely gravity dispensed Branscombe and a magnificent interior. Honourable mention to the Muddlзd Man, for services to pub signs, and the Lord Nelson, for fish pie and venison burger.

I think the plan has to be to go back, with a bicycle, and cycle from pub to pub.

Only two hours left on this blasted train.