Spalding - Never Mind the Tulips

Saturday 15th August: The football season was getting underway for most of the 72 league clubs, Reading and Luton providing the early-kick off 7-goal thriller.  Don't expect the same excitement from the billion pound Prem teams when they get going next weekend.
It was already week 2 for the National League North and I was on the road to attend Oxford City FCs first away game of 26/27 in the southern reaches of Lincolnshire.

Spalding sits in the Fens between Peterborough and Boston, is home to just over 30,000 folks, famous for tulips and pumpkins.
Wetherspoon's would inevitably be my first port of call being as it's in the 2026 Good Beer Guide and I was arriving early and am quite partial to a second breakfast. 
Forget mobility scooters outside pubs.  This was parked outside the Ivy Wall...

Sadly the pub itself is less photogenic than the horse and cart.  The glass-fronted affair will disappoint anyone hoping for an ancient market town building or a wall of ivy for that matter.

The Ivy Wall (18-19 New Rd, Spalding PE11 1DQ)

Inside, it's one of those long narrow 'Spoons with lines of regimented tables and the bar towards the back.  I reckon Tim Martin himself would be hard-pushed to identify some of the locations if faced with 'Where in the World of Spoons Am I' contest. 

There is a separate room to the back which was proving popular for families with pushchairs, plus an outdoor patio where a fair few customers had settled despite the overcast morning.
The search for something a little bit different ended in the smart toilets, where you get a glass-fronted display of no-lo beers to peruse whilst at the urinals.

The guest cask ales on my visit were Hadrian Borders 'Northumbrian Gold' or Ilkley 'Ruby Jane'.  The Northumbrian for me - a malty 4.5% ale, more brown than golden.

My breakfast wrap picture comes solely for the purpose of my continued grumble about the size of extra baked bean portions.  50/50 recently for me, as to whether £1.08 buys a decent size bowl or the thimble-sized ramekin.  Thimble-size in Spalding...

Moving on, a short stroll round to the market place took me to the Red Lion hotel, complete with 'Jimi Hendrix Stayed Here' blue plaque.

The Red Lion Hotel (Market Place, Spalding, PE11 1SU)
The Red Lion is a smart 18th century inn with a seating area in front of it providing people-watching opportunities in the heart of the town.  Hendrix's stay is the big claim-to-fame, his visit made during the Spring Bank Holiday in 1967 when the Barbeque '67 festival took place in the Tulip Bulb Hall.  Hendrix reputedly hung out in the hotel bar with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, before sharing a bill with Geno Washington, Zoot Money, Cream, Pink Floyd and The Move, amongst others.  Tickets £1.

Passing the busy outdoor tables, the marvellous tiled flooring in the doorway makes for a good first impression...

Which just gets better...

A rare outlet for Bass in this area, apparently.
The building looks big from the outside, although the public bar just takes up the front room with seating either side of the door, a dining room glimpsed down a corridor beyond the check-in desk.
If you don't fancy the Bass, Sharpe's 'Cornish Best' or Black Sheep 'Best Bitter' were available. 

A good pint of Bass in a cracking pub.

With a fair number of 'No Cask Ale' venues in the town centre, the remaining place that I really wanted to visit was the Priors Oven, achieving top pint-pot marking scores on the CAMRA website.

The Priors Oven (1 Sheep Market, Spalding, PE11 1BH)
This was once part of the Priory of Spalding, the structure dating back to around 1230.  With its distinctive shape and vaulted ceiling, this bit of the building once served as a monastic prison, becoming a bakery in later years, then the first micropub in Lincolnshire in 2013.
It looks great, not needing many folks to fill it up with just four tables and a couple of stools at the bar.

There were three cask ales available: Humpty Dumpty 'Hathor' alongside 'New Mexico' pale ale or 'Dr Fox's Cunning Linctus' bitter, both brewed by local Tydd Steam. 
All priced at £4 a pint and served on gravity from casks behind the bar.
The cask coolers must have been doing their job throughout the recent hot weather, as the New Mexico was on great form - a crisp hoppy pale ale. 

With plenty of time on my hands, I strolled to the historic Ayscoughfee Hall which houses a small museum of local history and curios.  Well worth a visit.
The gardens to the rear of the house were playing host to a festival with music and games and deckchairs, but sadly Shake It Off Stage, the Taylor Swift tribute act at 15:40 clashed with the football.
Probably not a line-up which will go down in history like the Barbeque '67, so I departed for the peaceful environs of the River Welland.

The riverside walk took me past some grand Georgian houses and Dutch-style architecture, leading me to another pub about 10-minutes walk from the town centre.

The Moorings (123 Commercial Rd, Spalding PE11 2HD)
This one-time coal wharf used to be a boat hire centre from the late nineteenth century before being converted to a pub in the 1980's.
You get checked carpet, sofas and armchair and Notts County v Leicester City in the front room, the casual bit, then dining tables to the rear and side.
Fullers 'London Pride' or Timothy Taylor 'Golden Ale' on the bar.
Lots of cheery luncheon trade.

I  took my beer out onto the two-level decking at the rear of the pub, where the floating algae on the water beside me made it feel like we were moving on a boat and made me a little queasy.  Or perhaps that was the Golden Ale.  Not on the best of form.

🕝Two-thirty - time to head to Spalding United's Sir Halley Stewart Field and join the throngs at the turnstiles.

Spalding United were promoted via the play-offs from the Southern League last season.
They've spent a fair bit of money improving facilities during their rise to this level, including the installation of a smart 3G pitch.

The club bar served a cask Batemans 'XB', the converted shipping container served cheesy chips, and picnic tables provided a spot to sit in the afternoon sunshine awaiting kick-off.
Dropkick Murphy's, AC/DC and Guns 'n' Roses made up a rock soundtrack on the tannoy system.  Then someone gave a speech about this being the first game Spalding had hosted at this level of the football pyramid.
A bit like Tom Cruise before the World Cup final, but better.

I'd love to provide all the details of Tyrone Marsh's goal for Oxford on the 40th minute and the controversy surrounding it.  But that was the exact moment that I picked to pop to the loo.
Oxford City don't have enough travelling fans to provide a roar which can be heard in the gents, so I had no idea we'd gone 1-0 up until glancing at the scoreboard a few minutes later.

Spalding had enjoyed the lion's share of the ball during the first half and looked threatening, so it was tough on them to be behind at half time.

The second half was a bit more even, both sides creating some good chances, leading to an exciting finish and a few nerve-wracking moments for City when the ball bounced around the box and could have gone anywhere.
Not as exciting as seeing Britt Assombolonga come on for Harborough Town a few days later in a Tuesday night home fixture for Oxford, though.

Good luck to Spalding for the rest of the season.
The town had made for a top lower league away day - sunshine, Bass and tulips...what more can I ask for? 

Sportfreund and Zwickel

A trip east of Cologne in search of some fourth division footballl and a brewery tap.

Back in the 2010’s, I started making trips to Germany taking in a couple of football matches and brewpubs - my autumnal "Bundesliga and Beer" breaks.   Reviving them this year, tickets for a top flight clash eluded me.  No way was I lining tout pockets to get into 1.FC Köln at wickedly inflated prices - not to mention that I’d spend the whole build-up worrying if the ticket would actually get me in.
I looked instead to the fourth division…"Regionaliga and Riesling", maybe?

It’s 87 minutes on the RE train from Köln to Siegen, exactly the amount of time it takes to watch Stand By Me, or to make some progress through the new Mick Herron book. Except, after a while, the scenery of rolling wooded hills and meandering rivers became a distraction.

The city of Siegen is home to just over 100,000 residents. Being at a significant rail junction proved unfortunate in WW2, making the town a target for bombing raids which led to 80% of the buildings being destroyed.  So, what could have been a charming hilly University town drawing in the crowds with olde worlde gabled buildings now has little in the way to attract the tourist masses.

To be honest, the murals looked better than the real thing...

You get the Unteres Scloss next to an old church on the hill, my photograph scuppered by the construction of a Christmas market on the square in front of it.  And you get a bear donated with thanks from Spandau (the borough of Berlin, I think, rather than the new romantic hit-makers).

 

But...
And this is the game-changer...

They've got a Gasometer...

It's a 'protected monument' and one of only four such spherical gas holders remaining in the world.  I'm such an oddball tourist that this really clinched my decision to make the trip to Siegen.  That and a brewery tap...

Brauhaus Irle (Haupstrabe 18, 57074, Siegen)
Good news for reaching my 10,000 steps (and way beyond) - bad news for aching feet - was that the brewery was over a mile-and-a-half out of the centre in the wrong direction for the football ground.
I shaved 1/3 off Google's estimated walking time which meant I arrived scruffy and sweaty, at odds with most of the clintele of this smart place.

Irle are the big regional brewer, dating back to 1693, with a considerable complex of brewery buildings surrounding their brewery tap.
The stylish restaurant hadn't been quite what I was expecting, a fair number of Sunday lunch parties arriving after me.
I grabbed a cocktail lounge-style cushioned high stool at the bar in front of the beer taps.  First up: the Festbier seasonal special, a darker shade of pale with sweet toasty malt flavours.
Followed by my favourite: the dark, malty Zwickel Dunkel.
And finally the Zwickel Helles...

All in super-quick succession.  I felt the need to apologise for the speed I was knocking 'em back, unecessarily explaining to the lovely bar staff that I was against the clock with a long walk to the football ground. 

The only Irle beer currently available that I missed was the Pils, which I'd happen to find later at the stadium.  I set out with Google maps to hand, directing me over residential hilly streets which cut off a corner and meant I didn't need to bactrack right to the middle of the town.

Seriously, who put the brewery and the football ground so far out the centre in opposite directions.  C'mon Tristan Vitt - stop practicing your Jimmy Carr grin and sort out the town layout...or at least some more buses on a Sunday.

Just under an hour later (🥾...strewth) I was happy to be traipsing across a gravel car park towards a portacabin where a few scarfed football fans were queuing to buy tickets.
€12 gained me entrance to the Leimbachstadion for this Division 4 tie against Fortuna Düsseldorf U23's.
By the time I'd brought some chips (€4), beer (Irle Pils, €4, plus the necessity to buy another sturdy plastic beaker, €2), and souvenir mug (€9.90), I'd still spent five times less than they were asking for 1.FC tickets. 

I loved it in the Leimbachstadion, although I might not have said that had it poured with rain on the open terraces.  I was able to wander around the ground to my hearts content and watch the match from various vantage points.
Three-quarters of the Leimbachstadion is an old oval bowl with concrete terraces. Along one side is the covered stand with seats behind the team benches and a couple of standing sections in either corner.

Trouble with letting these Under 23's or B'teams into the leagues is that it zaps any atmosphere that away fans would have brought with them.  There is a lone Fortuna flag hung from the fence at the far end of the empty curve, but no-one visible cheering on the visitors. 
Not that they would have had a lot to cheer on - Sportfreund Siegen were two-up within 17-minutes thanks to a free kick and a penalty.

The hardcore Siegen support gathered in a corner of the covered stand and made a steady racket throughout, orchestrating the occasional call and reponse chant with supporters across the pitch on the open terrace.

 

Who on earth put that sticker there?

Düsseldorf kept themselves in the contest, slotting a goal in on the 35th minute, suggesting they may just sneak back into this.  That was until Dustin Willms scored a super 2nd half goal to make it 3-1 and guarrentee the 2,706 supporters left the stadium happy with 3-points.

Trekking back to the centre I realised I'd have 45-minutes to wait until the next train.  Would there be anywhere for a beer in this distinctly under-pubbed town?
Fricke's will do (it'd have to)...

Fricke's (Alte Poststraße 9, 57072 Siegen)
I can't say I was particuarly impressed by Fricke's, with its dubious font on the signage, dour staff, and lack of comfortable seating.  Somewhat dull, regardless of how many coloured lights have been strung from the ceiling.

There were about a dozen blokes in, several more arriving back from the football whilst I was there.  1.FC Köln's big Sunday afternoon fixture was showig on the TVs, Paulaner was the pick of the big name German brews on offer.
The bar was just a bit sparten and souless - crying out for a carpet, bench seating, breweriana, and Timothy Taylor Landlord on cask.

Oh well, it passed 25-minutes until it was time to head to the station.
Not a day for craft beer and cosy pubs, then, but a day I'd enjoyed none-the-less for a great lower-league football excursion.
And the gasometer.  Not to mention the urban cows...

Viktoria Köln and Craft Beer

Finally I've managed to make another Bundelisga & Beer trip to Germany - the first since Mannheim and Hoffenheim in 2019 - I'm somehow still blaming the pandemic for the gap.
This time around it's Bundesliga 3 side Viktoria Köln and Kölsch beer.

So without further ado...let's get on with trying to enter the ground through the wrong turnstiles and stickering the toilets.

With a 13:15 departure from Heathrow I'd figured I would have loads of time for a leisurely saunter to the stadium, which was a miscalculation on my part.  Not helped by the S19 crawling on a stop-start trip from the airport to the hauptbahnhof in three-times the time it usually takes.  Then being befuddled by the transport maps after dropping my bag at the hotel and trying to leave Neumarkt underground station by every exit except the right one to catch tram no.1.  The sight of a couple of football scarves reassured me I was heading the right way.

Sportpark Höhenberg, in the east of the city, is a short - very dark - walk from the tram stop of the same name.  I purchased my €15 stehplatz ticket from a portacabin and proceeded to try and enter through the wrong gate - which has become something of a tradition on these trips.

Once in the right gate, the rather alarming Gillingham-style stand greeted me...

I would have been slightly nervous had everyone decided to bounce in unison.
And slightly unhappy had it decided to pour with rain.

Behind the scaffolding holding the stand up was a merchandise hut, a bratwurst counter, and a beer stall.  I procurred myself a Früh kölsch and found myself a good spot.

The handful of Ingolstadt fans were situated on the (more stable looking) terrace at the half-way line.  The team from Bavaria spent a couple of seasons from 2015-17 in the top flight but have bounced between 2nd and 3rd tiers since.  I figured they may have brought more fans until I realised it was a longer journey from Ingolstadt to Cologne that the one I'd made from Oxford.

The game was mostly dominated by Viktoria, despite the two sides sitting next to one another - 10th and 11th - in the league and Ingolstadt having had better results in the past few matches.
And yet...against the run of play...Ingolstadt opened the scoring on 16 minutes, driving a long ball down the pitch which was cooly slotted in.

It took until ten minutes into the second half for Köln to make their possession count, David Otto tapping in a long throw that landed handily at his feet in front of goal.  I celebrated with another Früh.

Viktoria seems like a very friendly little club to visit.  I was comfortable on the terrace behind the goal with the drum-banging, flag-waving support - a wide range of different folk around me.  There were a few English voices to be heard, including those of a gang of Merseysiders who were spilling more and more of their beers from the cardboard carriers as they kept on topping up supplies.

Lex Tyger Lobinger (Lex Tyger? Have I really got that right?) gave Viktoria the lead on 68 minutes, then sealed the 3-points on the 78 minute mark with a superb volley, ensuring the majority of the 3,612 crowd went home happy.

I made a quick trip to the surprisingly well-maintained toilet block where the ceramic tiling provides an impressive gallery of Viktoria Köln stickers...

 

How did that get there?....

I returned to the city centre on the same tram line - this time an uncomfortable squash in the carriages with lots of people seemingly heading for a ghoulish night out, some inventive make-up and costumes donned for Halloween.
Time for post match craft beer for me...

Craft Beer Corner (Martinstraße 32, 50667 Köln, Germany)
Confusingly not really on a corner - it's only currently the last building on the street due to a building site next door.
This was a pleasant bar with several rooms, hops hanging from the ceiling, a decent Friday night crowd in, and a cracking beer list.

A mostly German-Belgian line-up from which I had no idea what to pick at first glance.
Hence I ended up conceding to halloween and ordering the Strabenbrau 'Pumpkin Ale', a 6% brown concoction from Berlin.

Then I was slightly foolish and grabbed myself the Hop Hooligans 'Apple Pie Lullaby'.  A 14% beast of a sweet chewy imperial porter from Romania's big craft brewery.  And - wow! - it was good.

I was in danger of getting no further than Craft Corner on my first night in Cologne.
So I made a concerted effort to catch the metro to the suburb of Ehrenfeld and tick off the second of the 'must-do' beard-stroking craft beer spots. 

Braustelle (Christianstraße 2, 50825 Köln, Germany)

Now this one is on a corner - in a bustling neighbourhood - looking not dissimilar to a pub you might find in north or west London.  It's open-plan within: an L-shaped layout with a section to the back containing brewing kit.
I took the easy option and grabbed a stool at the bar, ordering myself a 5% brown ale: 'Auturn Leaves', costing €4 for 0.3l.
Okay, not the best place to grab a picture of the place...

The Braustelle beers were chalked onto the beam nearby - the Triple Bock shouting out "go on, you know you want me!"
After a day travelling, racing across town to the football and forgetting to eat tea, a 9.4% beer at midnight probably wasn't ideal.  
What harm could it do?

With the beneft of hindsight, it'll make getting started the next day twice as hard as it should be - lying in bed eating cold Ditsch pizza slices whilst glued to Christmas movies dubbed in German.
I'll leave with a late night shot of the Braustelle brewing kit, before finding more German craft brews in Aachen in the next post.