Ambling Through Axminster

Having spent Friday night in Frome I was half-way to my mum's in Devon, which is where we set off for after breakfast.

Mum was standing on the doorstep, waiting for a full report on the previous evening's Half Man Half Biscuit gig and demanding to be taken to Axminster to visit a new micro pub.

Some 28-miles east of Exeter, Axminster is home to just under 6,000 folks and is best known for giving it's name to a type of carpet.
It was looking lovely under wintery  blue skies, although -hell's bells- it wasn't half scarf and gloves weather.

Aiming to get indoors, we made our way through the backstreets to the town's Good Beer Guide listed pub, the Axminster Inn...

Axminster Inn (Silver Street,Axminster, EX13 5AH - web)
We should be wary - the last Trip Advisor review, by someone called 'Warers', is titled 'Royston Vaisey' and says "clearly a locals pub...landlady made us feel unwelcome".  Uh-oh.

No doubt it was a locals joint, with a host of regulars sat around the edges of the main room all having a quick peer at the odd fella who'd just opened the door.  But they said hello to us and the landlady was super welcoming and keen to tempt us with the mulled wine.

This was a pub of two halves.
Cosy bar with big wooden tables and a log fire roaring...

And a very different second room through the archway to the right...

Yikes!  That's not proper pub seating

We really wanted to sit by the fire, but as there was no space there we were relegated to the modern room on the swivel chairs.

Being a Palmer's pub there was a trio of their ales on the bar: 'IPA', 'Copper' and 'Dorset Gold'.  The Gold was fine and well kept, whilst mum and Mrs PropUptheBar succumbed to the mulled wine and we entertained ourselves by spinning around in our chairs to a soundtrack of sixties crooners.

Drinking up, we went on a search of somewhere that would sell us some food and found our way to the Castle Inn.

The Castle (Castle Hill, Axminster, EX13 5NN)
This was another pub of two halves, with basic no-frills bar to the right and a small dining room to the left.  And again I found myself sat in the half that I didn't really want to be in, shown to the dining table where I couldn't see the football on TV and had to be sociable instead.
Drinks-wise, there was a boxed cider on the bar whilst hand pumps dispensed St Austell 'Tribute' and Dartmoor 'Dragon's Breath' - a very drinkable winter warmer which tastes stronger than it's 4.4% ABV.

Disappointing lack of carpets to say we're in Axminster

With lunch done we made our way to the railway station, where the unused part of the building has been transformed into a new micro pub.

The Ale Way (Axminster Station, EX13 5PF - web)
This has only been open since May 2021, having had a couple of previous planned unveilings scuppered by lock-downs.  It's a smartly-done conversion of old Victorian railway offices, with a tiny ground floor room containing the bar and seating for half a dozen.

On the hi-tech beer board there's Bristol craft, Silly Cow cider, more Dragon's Breath and the Powderkeg 'Inkling' cask milk stout, which is what I picked and enjoyed.
Up the stairs is more seating and railway-orientated furniture, maps and reading material.

I reckon there's another three pubs in Axminster, plus the Beer Guide listed Hind at nearby Musbury which scuppered me with it's odd opening hours.

We did manage to make it to one more East Devon GBG entry over the weekend - the Drewe Arms in the Blackdown Hills...

The Drewe Arms (Broadhembury, EX14 3NF - web)
But we didn't visit at the best of times, calling in mid-afternoon on a Sunday when I figured lunch would be over, only to find folk lingering and stretching out the dining experience.
This left us with an uncomfortable perch near the bar, balancing our glasses on a narrow ledge.
Otter 'Amber' and 'Bitter', Hanlon's 'Citra' and a Dartmoor 'Best'.  Four beers for a pub-full of people quaffing wine and keg cider.  Which was probably why my Dartmoor was very so-so.

I suspect it turns into more of a village pub in the evenings, when I'd like it a lot more.
Lovely old building; wrong time to visit.

It was time for us to call it a weekend and head back to Oxfordshire.
I'll leave you with a picture of Broadhembury which was indeed a charming East Devon village...

Frome Pub Explorations - Continued

Following on from the last post, we're in Frome, apparently one of the most difficult place names to pronounce properly in the UK
Hmmm... I struggle more with Leominster personally.  Let alone most place names in Wales.

We were on our way to see Half Man Half Biscuit, with a few pub visits beforehand.

As dusk fell, we walked along Whittox Lane - a street which leads you away from the lights and action of Catherine Hill, into the darkness, making you question if you're going the right way?  Then the illuminated sign on the side of the Griffin appears in the distance and all is well.

The Griffin (Milk Street, Frome, BA11 3DB - web)
The Griffin was formerly the brewery tap for the Milk Street Brewery - now renamed the Frome Brewing Company and located on the edge of town.
The pub has had a recent refurb and change of management, but it's still the local Frome ales on offer on the bar - 'Funky Monkey' or 'Sunny Y' when we arrived, with the Zig Zag stout that I really wanted being put on too late, just as we were leaving.

On the downside, the Griffin had a 'please wait to be seated' sign as you entered and all tables were reserved.  Fortunately we were early enough to be able to keep a spot in the corner warm for the folks for whom it was booked later.

As well as the cask ales there was an impressive run of craft taps.

Mrs PropUptheBar's eyes light up when she sees the crafty options, although she inevitably later complains that keg beers are too cold.
Here's the extreme measures taken to warm up the Boxcar 'Dark Mild'... 

First Aid Burns Kit to Table 5, please!

Nice bagatelle board at the end of the bar... 

And as we're not far from Bristol it's almost inevitable that Banksy has called by to leave his mark on the wall of the gents...

Walking back into the centre of town we made our way to the Three Swans on King Street.
My picture comes from when we passed earlier in daylight hours, just to confuse the continuity.

Three Swans (16-17 King Street, Frome, BA11 1BH - web)

This is a great little 17th century inn which was doing a good trade when we arrived.

The Christmas lights were being turned on in Frome on this Friday evening which I figured had made everywhere busier, although we later saw a lot of the pub customers in the gig, so Half Man Half Biscuit were also doing their bit for Frome's pub trade.

The guest ale was in the second room so I'll never know what I missed out on, whilst at our bit of bar was a Buttcombe 'Best' and my enjoyable Abbey 'Bellringer' at £3.70 a pint.

There's a fine cattle trough in the gents WC serving as the urinal.  No picture of this, which is probably for the best.

Moving on we poked our heads into Arcangel at the other end of King Street - great multi-roomed set-up, but very modernised and the beer on offer was nothing exciting.  Instead we made our way past the crowds around the Christmas light celebrations and headed to Brewed Boy.

Brewed Boy (4 Cork Street, Frome, BA11 - web)
This was our second crafty place of the day, although Brewed Boy was a very different beast to Palmer Street Bottle, with more of a brewery taproom vibe.
There's a few small tables, the odd bench and some barrels in the corner creating makeshift perches.  Eight taps offered up a good choice of beers from the likes of Lost & Grounded and Deya, whilst we also took advantage of Bakerman Dan and his sourdough pizza's in the back yard.

I was delighted to meet up here with Beer and Pubs forum member Jon, who'd been kind enough to provide me local knowledge and suggest which pubs we should visit in our limited time in town.

Brewed Boy was a thoroughly enjoyable spot where I was comfortably settled, but I had to finish off my milk stout and make a move toward the music venue.

The Cheese & Grain was originally an 1870-built agricultural market hall, which was transformed from derelict building to music venue in the early 00's. 
And it's a great venue in which to see a band - a spacious, high-roofed hall with a decent cafe/bar to one end.  What Pub suggested the possibility of real ale being available, but if there was, I missed it. 
Straight-in for the Thatchers Haze.

HMHB - great setlist incorporating almost all my favourites

It may seem I'm subjecting Mrs PropUptheBar to a bit of domestic cruelty by making her endure 90 minutes of aging blokes from the Wirral playing songs with a shedload of cultural references that mean nothing to her.
Don't worry - she's getting her own back next summer by making me watch Imagine Dragons.  Again!  And Imagine Dragons are woefully short of moments where the audience get to shout-along  "Fuckin 'ell, it's Fred Titmus!"

Cheers! 🍻

Frome Pub Explorations

Our travels took us to the Somerset town of Frome, where we'd booked to stay the night in order to catch one of only three shows this year by the legendary Half Man Half Biscuit.

Arriving mid-afternoon we had an itinerary taking in trad pubs, micro pubs and crafty beer joints, which should make for a good little pre-gig crawl.
And here's how it went...

On the weekend that our first alphabetically named storm hit the UK, the West Country weather was a mixed bag.  We were briefly blessed with a bit of blue sky and sunshine, leading me to quickly take some photographic evidence...

Having only previously made short stops in the town, I was won over by Frome's cobbled hilly streets and general charm.

Our exploration was curtailed by a sudden downpour which 'forced' us into the first bottle shop/taproom that we passed...

Palmer Street Bottle (11 Palmer Street, Frome, BA11 1DS - web)

The front room consists of bar, beer fridges, a couple of tables and some bench seating, with plenty more space in a room to the rear.

We arrived on the day of a Track Brewery tap takeover.  Not that there are that many taps to take over - just the four - on which they had various guises of pale ales from the Manchester brewer.

These kind of places don't tend to be the most characterful spots, but it beats drinking craft cans on your sofa in your underpants.
I enjoyed my Track 'Without a Word' IPA.  Although the conversation between the other punters and the bar staff about buying your Christmas turkey direct from the farmer and various ways to cook slabs of meat was enough to send a timid vegetarian running for the hills.

Earlier in the day we'd visited this fine-looking historic inn 7-miles outside of Frome...

The George Inn (High Street, Norton St Philip, BA2 7LH - web)
I'll be honest, this isn't a drinkers pub - no propping up the bar here.
I'd seen pictures of this spectacular exterior when I was looking for oldest pub claimants and decided it was worth rubbing shoulders with the gentle-folk diners to pay it a visit.

We sat on a small table in the main bar by the 15th century fireplace, ordered our Butcombe 'Gold' along with toasted cheese sarnies from the bar snacks menu.

But only one of us could have a cheese toastie, as they only had one left.
How do you run out of cheese toasties?!  If you popped round to mine I'd probably have the ingredients to be able to knock up a few toasted cheese sandwiches!  (I wouldn't recommend it though - very erratic opening hours, dodgy music and dreadful customer service..)

 

We stuck to snacks, but I'm sure the fare on the main menu was very nice - the couple at the next table were gushing over their plates and passing on compliments to the chef.

Built in 1397 by Carthusian monks, this has continuously served as an inn ever since.  It may serve as more of a hotel and restaurant now, but that didn't stop me being mightily impressed with the building around me.

Back to Frome, and we were heading to the micro pub.
Whose directional signage had gone a bit wrong...

Arrow issues

Just Ales (10 Stony Street, Frome, BA11 1BU - web)
This is a proper micro pub, based in what was once a small cafe, and run by a team who also run another Just Ales in Wells.

The pub dog had the prime people watching spot in the window, but was a mighty grumpy old soul, launching into mammoth barking fits at selective passers-by, whilst others just got a low growl of disapproval.

Not all good vibes from the grumpy pub dog

This is a micro that is not going to be to everyone's taste.
The aroma is distinctly 'dog'.
The decor consists of past pump clips, a large picture of an ape playing chess, and jokes on blackboards.
There's a lot of furniture but not many places to sit.  The gaffer has commandeered the best table for himself, whilst many seats are useless because you'd block the route to the cider, or set your trousers alight by being too close to the gas fire. 

Yet we liked it!  We were comfy in the window, everyone except the dog was relaxed and cheerful, and the beer was good.

Three cask ales on the bar on our visit: two from Goffs and - my pick - a brown ale from the North Yorkshire Brewing Company called 'Flying Herbert', which was very nice and in fine condition.
There were also around 10 boxed ciders on offer and, being as we're in Somerset, it seemed appropriate to try at least one of them.  

I'll leave you with a taste of the pub humour...

...and pick up where I left off in the next post, when we continue our pre-gig wander around Frome.

Spire & Spoke, Watlington

My first new tick in Oxfordshire from the 2022 Good Beer Guide

I was happy to see the latest edition of the beer guide pop through the letter-box earlier this month, complete with the obligatory bit of postal damage in the corner which everyone seems to have suffered this year.

Looking at the local changes in Oxfordshire, I spotted the chance to make my first trip to somewhere new, picking a thoroughly dull grey November Saturday to head to Watlington.

According to Visit South East England, Watlington is reputed to be England's smallest town. 
On the eastern edge of the county, close to the Bucks border, it's a peasant little market town, home to around 3,000 folk. 

We arrived mid-morning, with a plan to do a bit of walking along the Ridgeway which passes nearby.

Oooh - that's an interesting white mark on the hillside, I wonder if it's got a name.
Yep, it's called the 'White Mark'

No long-distance hikes this time, as we just aimed to cover the 2¾ miles to Lewknor, mostly under autumnal tree cover with the Chiltern hills to one side and farmers fields to the other.

The appeal of walking to Lewknor was the chance to visit a Beer Guide regular which has appeared in all but one edition.

Leathern Bottle (1 High Street, Lewknor, OX49 5TW - web)
The Leathern Bottle is a Grade II listed 17th century country pub, set back from the main village road with picnic tables scattered across a lawn in front of it.
We entered through the door under the Brakspear sign (note the sheltered smokers table for the locals, complete with craft Stella Artois bottle). This leads to a homely snug in front and a small bar to the right.
There's an additional larger room on the other side of the bar with it's own separate entrance.

Trad beer choice

It's a fine place.  They serve food without it having become a dining pub.  There's a no nonsense choice of beers.  No music, no TV, no fruit machines - just the hubbub of conversation.  You could settle here for the whole afternoon, except you couldn't because they'd turf you out at 3pm due to the old-school opening hours.

I stuck local with the Brakspear 'Gravity' to accompany baguette and chips which would fuel us for the walk back.

There are lots of good footpaths in this area - in the summer months we'd be more adventurous, but on this occasion we simply retraced our steps.

It just so happened that our new beer guide pub was hosting a beer festival...

Spire & Spoke (21 Hill Road, Watlington, OX49 5AD - web)

The spire is a reference to the 'white mark' on the nearby hillside, which resembles a church spire from a distance.
The spoke has something technical to do with bicycles, this being a popular area with the lycra-clad two-wheelers.

In the past this was the Carriers Arms, before it closed in 2019, was given a complete refurb (and name change), re-opening with end-of-lockdown fanfare on the 4th July 2020.

The new decor sees chunky slabs of wood and a bit of air-raid shelter style corrugated iron making up the walls, whilst the furniture is canteen style with some funkily decorated tabletops.

Perhaps not for everyone and personally we were happier outside in a great garden.
There was plenty of covered seating, plus an outdoor pizza oven (and wow, those pizza's looked good).  A wooden walkway led to another space with a tee-pee, plus the beer festival barrels under a couple of gazebo's.

They had around 20 ales, mostly local, including Loose Cannon, XT, West Berks, plus the not so local Timothy Taylor.

I enjoyed a smoked porter 'Shmoke Shtack by Loddon and a hoppy pale ale from XT-offshoot Animal, before being tempted into the dangers of locally produced strong cider by the sales pitch of the chap behind the bar.

In non-beer festival times there are usually three or four cask ales on the bar from similar breweries, whilst you can follow your pizza with rocky road and flapjack from the cake stand.

As it began to get dark we were sat outside next to a fire-pit, with the fields to the side of us, reflecting that this had been a pretty good first Oxfordshire 2022 GBG tick.

I'll leave you with a final picture of one tragic individual who's brought his new beer guide to read in the pub.
Oh, that's me.