Strange days

I have had an interesting but disturbing day today, with a little bit of unintentional black humour thrown in. I will try to mention a pub at some point!

My intention was to take a moderately long distance bus journey to Gloucester, I was waiting for the bus but it didn't arrive, so I walked to another bus stop. I suddenly heard a commotion coming from a short distance away, a man was shouting for someone to call the police. When I turned the corner, I saw three police officers restraining a man on the ground. This came as a bit of a shock to me, because I live in a sleepy village in Gloucestershire – not London or New York! With the death of George Floyd still fresh in my memory, I approached the scene and asked what was going on. Why did I do this? Because I saw someone being restrained against their will. The officers looked at me as if to say why was it any of my business. Then one of them asked if I knew the man, I said I didn't. The man being restrained, suddenly piped up with “I'm God” or something like that. It suddenly dawned on me, that maybe this man was being restrained for his own protection. He thanked me for intervening, then said one of the officers didn't believe he was God! I quickly left the scene after that!

I caught the bus, and arrived at my destination some time later. I decided to buy some sandwiches, so went into the local supermarket. On my was to the checkout, I saw some hand wash and face masks in a packet, I put them in my basket and paid for them. It wasn't until much later, that I discovered that the masks were made in China!! Oh the irony! I got some of life's trivia out of the way (i.e. paying bills), then I caught another bus to another destination. It was whilst on this bus, that I overheard a conversation which has made me think about the pandemic. The person in question, managed to get on the bus, without a face mask – they said they were exempt for some reason.

This of course, caught my attention. They were discussing the legality of the wearing of face masks, and other issues concerning the pandemic. I found myself inwardly agreeing with much of what they were saying. It may sound like a conspiracy theory, but I have always believed there is more to this pandemic then we have been told. I often wondered what the Government and other authorities would be doing, whilst the majority of us were imprisoned at home for several weeks. I think part of it is to do with preparing Britain to become a cashless society. Also to ensure that everything has to be done over the internet, from banking to filling in an application form to work in a charity shop – I kid you not, it happened to me today! What a bleak prospect.

During my travels by bus today, I noticed a new development at Gloucester Quays, there is a new Beefeater in town (whoop-de-do). It is not the fact that it is a Beefeater that surprised me, but where it is – it is on the former Baker's Quay site. This fine old building was partially destroyed in a fire a few years ago. They have renovated it to incorporate some aspects of the old building, I have a photo of it before It was fire damaged, I will post it when I have photographed it in it's present incarnation.

Baker's Quay, Gloucester 2015

Beefeater August 2020

Roaming around the Forest - Part One

One of my favourite excursions in Gloucestershire, is to The Forest Of Dean. The area covers 42 square miles and takes in parts of Herefordshire (notice that I am using imperial measurements instead of metric, I can be difficult like that!) One of the aspects I enjoy about the Forest is the natural beauty. There are several bus routes into many parts of the Forest, but some of them are infrequent and stop after a certain time. It has been several months since I have visited, and I believe some of the bus numbers have changed. A good place to begin an exploration into the Forest, is Newnham on Severn – well it is as good a place as any!

Newnham on Severn

Most of the buses to the Forest can be caught from Gloucester bus station, the bus to Newnham takes in Westbury-On-Severn, Blakeney and Lydney amongst other places. Just before you arrive in Newnham, is Broadoak and The White Hart Inn. The pub benefits from having some spectacular views of the River Severn. When I first visited this pub in 2014, it was a little on the shabby side and painted a rather unflattering mustard colour. The interior was dated, but quite cosy, an unusual fixture is a well inside the pub, and the times for the Severn Bore were listed on a notice board. I have never seen the Severn Bore, I hope to one day. The pub is now under new management and has undergone an extensive refurbishment, and has been painted grey.

The White Hart Inn, Broadoak Newnham On Severn 2014

The White Hart Inn 2017

The village of Newnham is just a short bus ride from Broadoak, it is a very distinctive place, and has lots of character. There are businesses and amenities in the village, but the bus service stops before 7pm, or at least it did when I attempted to stay at a B&B once. That was an adventure in itself, quite a quirky place with eclectic furnishings and bric-a-brac – which is typical of Newnham. The next pub on the itinerary is the Railway Inn, which can be found along Station Road which is just off the High Street. The Railway is a good old fashioned pub, with friendly talkative locals. They have a beer garden, which is useful in the current circumstances. They did have an Indian restaurant on the premises, I am unsure if this is the case at the moment. The pub did close for a while last year, but has thankfully reopened.

The Railway Inn, Newnham On Severn 2015

There is a rather good Micro pub in Newnham called The Black Pig Ale Bar, it is situated in the beer garden, at the back of The Ship Inn pub which has now closed, and is to be converted to a shop, coffee shop and cafe. A similar conversion was done on the George Hotel in Newnham, which is now a cafe and community hub. It is a sympathetic conversion of a former pub, if only other conversions could be the same. I wonder what they will do with the former Victoria Hotel, which has been closed for many years, work seems to have started on some sort of development.

The Ship Inn, Newnham On Severn 2015

The George Hotel, Newnham On Severn

Just like many areas in Britain, Newnham has lost a fair few of it's pubs, in fact The Forest of Dean seems to be a more vulnerable area than other parts of Gloucestershire. Maybe it is because some of them are not on a bus route, and are difficult to get to. Many of the Forest pubs have limited opening hours, some of them don't open till the evening. I am really concerned for the future of these pubs

Paradise Postponed

The lock down restrictions were eased even further on Saturday, when many of the pubs reopened in Britain. Not all of them reopened, there are some that have worrying not reopened – even though they have a beer garden. The pubs with gardens that have reopened, have strict guidelines – you have to book tables in advance, and time slots for when you can visit a pub ect. My partner and I, are currently self isolating because we are awaiting the results of a covid-19 test, so our return to any pub has been delayed. I'm not sure if it wise to visit pubs at the moment anyway, regardless of the results of a test. 

One of the places I am missing most at the moment, is Weston-super-Mare, it is one of my most favourite places in England. I went there a couple of times as a child with family and friends, but it wasn't until a return journey in 1995, that I fell in love with the place. I had recently watched a programme about Birnbeck Pier, and how it had fallen into disrepair – it closed in 1994. So I travelled by train to see the Pier and become re-acquainted with Weston, and so began a lifelong love affair! I love some of the quirky architecture, the shops and cafes, Sand Bay and Kewstoke – and the sea (when it is in of course, they don't call it Weston-super-Mud for nothing!)

I have been back to Weston many times since 1995, sometimes for a day trip, sometimes to stay. Back in the 1990's, I used to stay at youth hostels, but I could never sleep very well, so I began staying at that marvellous British institution – the good old B&B. The oddest experience I had, was a few years ago when I stayed at a guest house, that was unstaffed and had a card entry system. Which was all very well and good, until I woke in the early hours, to find the front door wide open! Unfortunately The B&B, is another institution that seems to be disappearing, Locking Road In Weston used to be crammed with B&B's, now there are very few of them.

Birnbeck Pier September 2019

A photo of the Pier, taken from an open top bus.

18th July 2020

I realise that this post had very little to do with pubs, but it is my blog and I reserve the right to go off on the odd tangent now and then! Just for the record, we are a covid-19 free household. Phew!