Winding my way from Wendover

A Friday afternoon spent in a quintet of Bucks pubs.
A trip encouraged by the £2 bus fare cap, which some would say is a bargain for the 23-mile journey from Oxford to Aylesbury.  Whilst others may need to be paid more than £2 to endure an hour on the bus.  Or to end up in Aylesbury.

I do have a slight grump that Red Rose Travel aren't participating in the fare cap scheme and charged me £3.50 for the onward trip to Wendover.
Oh well, I guess the extra £1.50 is for the sightseeing tour around the Elm Farm estate.

After all that bus travel, I was glad to alight in Wendover, where I made my way to the towns current Good Beer Guide entry, the King and Queen.

King & Queen (17 South Street, Wendover, HP22 6EF - web)
Although it's close to the train station it's a little off the beaten track, so I guess I'm lucky they were open for a Friday lunchtime pint.  Not that there were many folk around - just myself and two other punters. 
I settled in the small and pleasing front bar, with it's good old traditional pub carpet and a superb inglenook fireplace.  Plenty of quirky decorations dotted about, as well as a glass screen through which you could peer into to the cellar - skeletons and all!

Beers on the bar were Timothy Taylor 'Landlord', Youngs 'Original' and Verdant 'Lord Summerale'.

Oooo...I've gotta pick the beer with the Wicker Man on the pump clip.  The lady serving me looked non-the-wiser when I mentioned the movie, as I remembered that not everyone knows the 2006 Nic Cage horror classic (best check I've got that right before publishing).
Verdant have brewed this in collaboration with Weird Walks, whose guides were on sale on a display in the pub.
And these generated some entertaining friendly chat, which then progressed onto the many movies and TV shows which have been filmed nearby.

Departing from the King & Queen, there wasn't much in the way of choice for another pint in Wendover.
The proper-looking pubs, the Pack Horse and White Swan, didn't open for another couple of hours.  I was too scruffy to join the wedding party in the Fullers Bel & the Dragon at the Red Lion (that name - yuck😡).
So I resorted to the one on the main road with the floral display.

The George & Dragon (4-6 Aylesbury Road, Wendover, HP22 6JQ - web)
The Thai lady laying knifes and forks on a table looked quite shocked when I walked in.
"Can I help?"
Just popping in for a beer.
"But we shut in 30 minutes"
Yeah, I think I can manage that.

I should have heeded the dubious welcome as a warning.  My Marston's footy special beer was dreadful.
The town's oldest pub may have some fine old wooden beams, but is more Thai restaurant than trad pub, and let me down on the real ale lottery.  

My plan to walk along the Grand Union Canal was scuppered when I found the towpath closed.  So I decided to find an alternative route and figured I'd seek out a pub to stop at en-route.
Perhaps not this one, though...

Pub's end at World's End?

Reaching the village of Weston Turville, the Chandos Arms looked inviting enough and had the bonus of still having an intact roof.

Chandos Arms (1 Main Street, Weston Turville, HP22 5RR - web)
Located next to a quiet crossroads, the pub has picnic benches in an appealing grassy front garden and what I suspect is a Covid-era marquee to the side.
Stepping through the door it's clearly had a recent refurb.

There were two beers on the bar from Bedford brewers Charles Wells: 'DNA' or 'Boyds Bobber'.  I don't know who Boyd is, or what his Bobber may be, but this was a reasonable light and fruity ale.

The next leg of my walk took me to Aston Clinton.
I was heading straight to the Oak, but then this looked intriguing...

The Rothschild Arms (82 Weston Road, Aston Clinton, HP22 5EJ)
A pub that seemed completely out of place in a Bucks village.  
Although Aston Clinton is home to over 3,500 folks including, apparently, Aussie F1 driver Mark Webber, so perhaps I'd misjudged the place.

The Rothschild has a thoroughly modern decor, with US number plates stuck around the base of the bar, retro tin adverts, a pool table getting some good use, and some quirky touches, like a police box painted on the wall and mannequin stood looking out the front window.

Just the one cask ale on offer, which was one more than I'd expected to be honest.  A so-so Otter 'Hawthorn Pale Ale'.
I wasn't sold on the 'beach' garden, so sat myself in the side room with an unusual retro video shop theme.  An interesting pub, which I hope is buzzing with the Aston Clinton youth of an evening time.

A quick stroll across the village and I made my way to my final destination, the Beer Guide listed Fullers pub...

The Oak (119 Green End Street, Ashton Clinton, HP22 5EU - web)
It was quiet on a late Friday afternoon, but there were lots of staff prepping for the onslaught that an evening of Shakespeare in the garden would bring later.

The room with the larger bar counter and extension beyond looked to be intended for dining, but the front room was pleasingly simple, bedecked with flags, although I'm not sure what they were up for.
And there were proper pub customers - a few folk sitting with pints in the garden and hi-vis workmen, finished for the day, and wandering around with pints of Carlsberg.

The Dark Star 'Hophead' was on very good form - challenging the first pub for beer of the day.
This was a day when the Good Beer Guide pubs did indeed deliver the best beer.  Who would have thought it.

Next up, I'll do a bit of exploring in Aylesbury itself.

Opening Day of the Season at Aldershot Town

A short post, in which I don't try and squeeze in half a dozen pubs. It'll never work!

Last weekend marked the start of the English football season.
Back in May, Oxford City achieved promotion from the National League South via the play-offs.  So I figured I'd make the trip to Aldershot to see their first appearance in the 5th tier.

Unfortunately, Saturday also marked the start of the Met Office's season of named storms.
Storm Antoni arrived in Aldershot at the same time as I did, pummeling the town with some torrential rain and driving me to shop-front shelter.

C'mon Lee Docherty MP - sort the British summer out! 

There came a point where it eased a little and where my patience for standing in the doorway of a charity shop had reached its limit.  
It hadn't eased that much, and I managed to bowl into the pub opposite the football ground soaked to the bone.

The Crimea (1 Crimea Road, Aldershot, GU1 1UE)
The Crimea is handily close to Aldershot's EBB Stadium, straight across the road from the turnstiles.  Hence it was heaving with customers, squeezed under the shelters out front and within the pub itself.  Top marks for the efficient staff serving everyone in good time.

A promise on WhatPub of potentially unusual beers or a footy special from Laines didn't come to fruition.  Just Fullers 'London Pride' on cask.
But the Pride hand pump was getting a good work-out and it wasn't a bad pint.

Here's my poor attempt to capture the crowd at the Crimea...

Twenty minutes to kick-off and there had been a change in the weather.
Is that blue sky?!

The ground being unsegregated for this match, I wandered around the stadium and watched the game from a few different vantage points.
Being a fan of an old-school terrace, I did like the East Bank where the supporters made a fair bit of noise and put on a minor pyrotechnic display as the teams emerged.

According to the banner unfurled at the foot of the terrace, "a new era starts now".
The fans deserve a new era. It's been 10 years since they they last played league football at the Recreation Ground.  That spell in League Two followed a rise through the regional leagues having had to restart the club from scratch.  Their predecessors, Aldershot FC, were forced to resign from the League during the 1992 season at a time that most of us couldn't imagine a football club going out of business.

Once the game kicked off, it took 13 minutes for Town to break the deadlock. 
Fifteen minutes later, the chap next to me arrived back from the burger van to be disappointed when his buddy informed him Oxford City had equalized.  The 85 away supporters obviously not making enough celebratory noise to reach the catering queue behind the north stand.

The younger supporters hung out in the small stand behind the goal, regaling the opposition keeper when he built up to a goal kick with "Wooooaaaah... you're sh...." then fading into mumbles as they remembered dad was sitting just behind them.
One had ear defender headphones on, of the kind seen when parents sit youngsters on their shoulders at music festivals.  Which made me wonder when the crowd get so cacophonous at Aldershot that you need to protect your hearing?

Perhaps they just didn't want to listen to their friend next to them repeatedly shouting that they were beating Oxford United.
Which is fair enough.  Whoever knew that there was a second team in Oxford?

By half time the Shots were comfortable at 3-1, the third goal coming on 45'+8'mins.

Excessive world cup style time added on was the top subject of discussion on the terrace at half time.  I stayed out in the open air for the second half where the home win never looked in doubt.

Then made a hasty exit, missing City's consolation goal (5-2 in the end), walking the half-mile to Aldershot's only current Good Beer Guide pub.

The Garden Gate (2 Church Lane East, Aldershot, GU11 3BT)
The 3pm Saturday opening time scuppered this pub for a pre-match pint.  But it looked to be a popular option post-match, as the locals already settled there greeted their football supporting mates as they arrived behind me.

"He looks 'appy - did you win?"
"Let's see if it lasts.  They can't play Sunday league opposition every week," 

The Garden Gate had a really nice feel to it.  
Pub soundtrack regular Robbie Williams 'Millennium' playing on arrival, a giant slobbery dog called Bruno ("Frank Bruno, not Bruno Mars" the owner was explaining), three ales on the bar, and a bunch of happy punters.

Real ales came in the form of Youngs 'Original', Surrey Hills 'Ranmore', and Garden Gate 'Wobbly Gate'.
The Ranmore seemed to most popular, but I'd already opted for the house beer.
'Whose origin is a closely guarded secret' according to WhatPub.
Marston's, says Untappd, who are no good at keeping secrets.

So, not a bad first day to the football season, despite the soaking in the rain.
Perhaps I'd be wise to enjoy the action in the National League more often and not pay too much attention to all those dull Premier League teams who start next week.

Chips at the Champ

During our short stay in Ilfracombe we headed out into the nearby North Devon region to visit country inns, rugged beaches and a brewery tap with elusive opening hours.

First up, a brief lunchtime stop for a half-pint in Fremington.

The New Inn (Old School Lane, Fremington, EX31 2NT - web)
We received a great welcome at the New Inn.  The laid-back Labrador came to check us out when we walked through the door into a central hallway.
Then a bit of a first - pub orientation on arrival from the cheery lady behind the bar.
"Have you been here before", she asked, before giving us directions to the games room, lounge, outdoor seating and WCs.

She went on to apologise for the loud music (Tom Petty at a fine volume, I felt), explaining they hadn't been having a party before we arrived, but she had it on loud for a local fella who's a bit deaf.

There was a choice of three ales from Barnstaple brewery GT Ales, from which I picked the award winner amber ale 'Thirst of Many'.
A beer on decent form for what I'd guess would be the first served of the day.  Just a few folk in on a midday visit, although we passed by of an evening time when it looked to be doing a roaring trade.

Moving on, we made the 13-mile trip west to the village of Parkham.

The Bell Inn (Rectory Lane, Parkham, EX39 5PL - web)
This building was previously a forge and two farm workers cottages prior to becoming an inn.  
We're lucky it's here at all - it suffered a devastating fire in 2017 which took over 80 firefighters 3 days to extinguish.  The restoration has done a good job to retain a trad country inn charm.

The long front room had larger tables intended for diners of a lunchtime, whilst the bar was in another section to the back.   Two of the four handpumps were in action, serving Ringwood 'Razorback' or Dartmoor 'Legend', as well as local ciders being on offer.

We settled down to enjoy some superb food - the best pub lunch we had in Devon.
Topped off with the "famous" butterscotch meringue ...

Mmmmm...

Leaving Parkham we set the SatNav to take us to the coast, marveling at the route it picked  which seemed to avoid main roads of any description.  This was an excursion into narrow hedge-lined Devon country lanes with passing places, potholes and occasional grass up the middle.

Our destination was Welcombe, right on the north-western edge of Devon, a mile from the Cornish border.

Wikipedia informs me that it has a population of 189 folks and "has a beach called Welcombe Mouth, which is a challenge to get to.^{[citation needed]} ".  
Hey, they can reference this blog for that citation needed.
Welcombe Mouth is a challenge to get to.

The walking route from the village may not be too tough, but by car the National Trust signposted narrow lane turns into a rollercoaster bump-fest of a rocky track.

Not a bad spot when you get there though...

One mile inland, in the spread-out village of Welcombe, is the pub...

The Old Smithy Inn (Welcombe, EX39 6HG - web)
Which disappointed me a bit.
From an empty car park the pub sits in a dip beyond a beer garden on two levels.  A final set of steps leads to the thatched porch where we were glad to see the door open, the lack of customers making us wonder if we'd misread the opening hours.
This was supposed to be holiday season - where was everyone?

Two ales on the bar - Dark Star 'Hophead' or Dartmoor 'Jail Ale'.
I took a so-so Jail Ale to the garden bench then, was back inside in no time at all - scuppered by a downpour from out of nowhere.

One of the highlights of our travels around this area was an evening visit to Appledore.
On the western bank of the Torridge estuary, this village was bustling with tourists strolling along the waterfront, tucking into chips, and sitting in the sunshine on the benches outside the Seagate Hotel.

Looking across the water, the sandy beaches opposite belong to Instowe, where we'd find ourselves another evening drinking Sams cider in the Quay Inn.
But for the time being, we were looking for the Champ.

The Champ (Meeting Street, EX39 1RJ - web)
This is a lovely little pub, tucked up a side street from the quay.
It's a wet-led pub, offering the chance for customers to bring in their own food.  And as it's two doors away from the chip shop you can pretty much guarantee what type of food customers will be bringing in.

Mrs PropUptheBar headed out to procure chips, leaving me to take the quality interior pub pictures...

The Champ is the tap for the Clearwater Brewery, with their 'Eric's ESB' and 'Honey Beer' available on our visit.  I'd tried the ESB elsewhere (Weare Giffard Cyder Presse, to be precise), so picked the Honey Beer here, forgetting I'd had enough honey beer for a lifetime drinking Waggle Dance in the 00's.

I only wish we'd been staying closer and had been able to stay into the evening.  The rear section of the pub was set up ready for live music, and I bet it's a blast when the place is busy and in full swing.

There was a queue down the street for Sylvester's fish and chips by the time we left... 

Let me end the post with a brewery tap.
But not of the shiny, modern, industrial estate variety.

Yelland Manor Brewery Tap Room is open 7pm to 9ish, and is pretty secretive about which nights of the week that might happen.
So, get it in the Beer Guide, I say!

Yelland Manor Brewery Taproom (Yelland, EX31 3EN)
Yelland village is half-way between Bideford and Barnstaple, overlooking the Taw River.
There was no obvious signposting for the brewery from the main road, Mrs PropUptheBar (this was her idea) navigating down someones driveway, before we corrected ourselves onto a track leading to a campsite and stables.

Opened in 2013, the brewery is a 5-barrel plant in a converted milking parlour.  Being off the beaten track, it seems to exist mainly to serve the campsite.

Just the one ale is produced, the recipe for this being changed on a regular basis.
And I'd say a fair bit of it is consumed by the chap in charge, who was on his second pint before I'd had more than a couple of sips.

Lovely beer, though.  In one of the strangest brewery tap rooms I've encountered.

And with that, it's probably about time for a change in the blog from the dominant Devon pubs.
I'll leave the South West to the tourists wondering what's happened to the English summer, whilst I cover the thrills(?) of pub visits to Bucks, Berkshire brewery taps, and non-league football in the next few posts.