We had 5-or-so hours before we had to head to Stadium MK so Mrs PropUptheBar could see Imagine Dragons. Yes, AGAIN!
Arriving by bus in Stony Stratford, the sighting of a delivery robot navigating a road crossing was an early highlight.
These are called 'starship' robots and were launched in 2018 to delivery takeaways and groceries throughout the city. They can even come and sing happy birthday to you, should you so desire.
Stony Stratford is an old coaching town, with a great looking high street resplendent with inns past and present, signs stretching out over the road, and archways leading to hidden yards.
Towards the end of the street was the Beer Guide listed Fox and Hounds, just unbolting the front door as we arrived.
Stony Stratford is an old coaching town, with a great looking high street resplendent with inns past and present, signs stretching out over the road, and archways leading to hidden yards.
Towards the end of the street was the Beer Guide listed Fox and Hounds, just unbolting the front door as we arrived.
To the left through the front door is a lounge, with a drinkers bar to the right.
High tables only, tin advertising signs on all walls, darts and Northamptonshire skittles to the rear, Aussie rugby league on the TV.
The bar counter was something a bit different, incorporating old sturdy cabinets. On top of it, the hand pumps served a tasty Timothy Taylor 'Knowl Spring', in good condition, whilst other options were Fullers 'London Pride', Tim Taylor 'Landlord', and Purity 'UBU'.
Parramatta Eels won the rugby; we finished our drinks. Time to move on.
We poked our heads in to the Cock Hotel, but were on the wrong day for their 'Allo 'Allo menu.
Parramatta Eels won the rugby; we finished our drinks. Time to move on.
We poked our heads in to the Cock Hotel, but were on the wrong day for their 'Allo 'Allo menu.
An alternative option for some pub grub was the Old George...
The George is a good-looking old 16th century coaching inn, a listed building with low beams and rickety uneven floorboards when you head upstairs to the WCs. Steps lead down from the front door, with the bar being a couple of feet lower than the pavement.
The pub had a fair number of locals in, served a decent pint of 'Tribute' (other options being two ales from Ringwood), and served us chili and chips to stave off the rumbling stomach.
We hopped back aboard the number 6 bus, staying on this for 10-minutes to a stop on an industrial estate in Stacey Bushes.
This is one of those beer guide oddities - an entry with no hand pumps - with all beers being key-keg and considered real ale from the forward-thinking folk of MK CAMRA.
The husband and wife team who run the brewery were great hosts, chatting about local pubs in the beer guide, how they got started, and explaining that the key kegs were just as good as cask with the added bonus of not being reliant on shifting them in a couple of days to maintain the quality.
There were six beers on offer, half of them with a Belgian influence. I had a couple of halves of an IPA and farmhouse saison, both good and enjoyable beers.
Then made a complete bodge of trying to take a decent picture...
So we back-tracked on ourselves, taking the bus to Wolverton.
The micro pub is situated in the Triangle Building, a refurbishment of a railway engine workshop, originally built in 1845.
The directional sign didn't made clear we had to drop down to the lower level for the pub, so we missed it by walking along the walkway straight above it
It's back where the bus is parked...
The bus had deposited a gang of Walsall CAMRA members on a day trip to Milton Keynes - sadly no Evo Boozy Saddler with them, as I'd have loved to have said hello.
The Biergarten calls itself 'Milton Keyne's first micropub', although it wasn't really that micro.
One common micro-pub feature was present - the solitary WC. And a coach load of folk on a pub crawl, on a bus with no loo, meant the queue was a monster.
It's also not a biergarten, with just a few tables out front. Inside, there was a mixture of trad seating and sofas, pot plants, beer signs, and a wealth of bottle and can choice in the fridges.
One cask ale was available - Tring's 'Fanny Ebbs Summer Brew', which was in great condition and a nice easy-drinking light ale.
The choice on keg was excellent: Mrs PropUptheBar was happy-as-Larry with a Northern Monk imperial stout with strawberries, whilst we also ordered some loopy fruit juice by Vault City.
Drinks finished, we set off on foot from the Biergarten, eventually finding our way on to the second industrial estate of the day, and the Bucks Star Brewery, which wasn't going to provide the pub photo of the day...
The choice on keg was excellent: Mrs PropUptheBar was happy-as-Larry with a Northern Monk imperial stout with strawberries, whilst we also ordered some loopy fruit juice by Vault City.
Drinks finished, we set off on foot from the Biergarten, eventually finding our way on to the second industrial estate of the day, and the Bucks Star Brewery, which wasn't going to provide the pub photo of the day...
But inside, it's not bad at all - chipboard walls and a display of local artists work giving the place more character than you'd expect in an industrial unit.
Ales are all full of goodness - organic grains, no added sugar, unpasteurised, and unfined.
There was a choice of six on keg, from which I picked a 'Copernicus' 3.8% best bitter, served in a dimpled mug.
We had time for just one more pub, this time of the more traditional variety in Bradwell Village.
Despite being less than a mile from the centre of Milton Keynes, this is very much the local village boozer. It had a decent number of Saturday afternoon punters in, playing pool on one side of the bar, and settled on the bench seating in the room to the other side.
Real ales came from Vale Brewery and, my pick, an Animal (XT) 'Scarab'. A fine crisp pale ale, which was very enjoyable.
We took our drinks through to the quieter lower level of the side room.
I decided against asking if we could perch at the end of the bench - after all the lady looked like she was very comfy...
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| Well, she looks settled. |
And with that, we were done with pub visits for the afternoon.
It was time for us to catch the bus from the village to the centre, check-in at our hotel and find our way to Stadium MK.
Friday had been bright sunshine and 30°+ temperatures. One day later we had grey skies and those people still in their shorts were pretending not to be cold. And as soon as we go to an open-air gig, of course the heavens opened.
It was time for us to catch the bus from the village to the centre, check-in at our hotel and find our way to Stadium MK.
Friday had been bright sunshine and 30°+ temperatures. One day later we had grey skies and those people still in their shorts were pretending not to be cold. And as soon as we go to an open-air gig, of course the heavens opened.
Please tell me those delivery robots aren't real ? What happens if you run it over ?
ReplyDelete"But inside, it's not bad at all - chipboard walls and a display of local artists work" - nope, sounds dreadful.
It's futuristic city MK & the robots are real! That one in the photo diligently waited at the crossing for a break in the traffic, so I think it'd be tough to run it over.
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