Snow snow, quick quick snow!

This latest lockdown is proving to be very different to the one in Spring last year, it has been much more difficult. There has been little to celebrate, with the miserable weather, no places to visit and the devastation that Covid-19 has caused. So I rejoiced when it began to snow in the early hours of Sunday morning, It was the first significant snow fall that we have in in our area for a long time. I didn't get to see much of it, because I was working at the care home, it is only today when it has more or less disappeared, that I managed to go for a cycle ride and take some photos. For some reason, the lyrics to the song “Here comes the sun” by The Beatles seem very apt at the moment.

The Hewlett Arms, Cheltenham

From the photo, it looks like a harsh frost, but I can assure you its snow!

Face to face with Covid-19

 It has been a while since my last blog entry, there has been a lot of changes behinds the scenes – it has been a bit of a roller-coaster. In November I began working in a care home, not as a carer. They had managed to avoid the Corona virus right up until December, then it arrived with a vengeance. Many of my thoughts about the pandemic, have changed because I now have personal experience of working amongst those who have suffered with the virus, and those who are fighting to keep it at bay. I have complete admiration, for those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, for the people in their care.

So now we are in Lock down number 3, if the last two didn't have a devastating effect on the hospitality industry, this latest lock down certainly will. I dread to think how many of our pubs will have been lost forever, when this has finally been brought under control. To be honest, I have not given much thought to the pleasures of visiting a favourite pub, I don't think I will be contributing to my blog as often as I have done, but I will try. I long for the days of fine weather, and travels to our favourite places.

Best wishes everyone.

Simple Pleasures

Because of the recent resurgence of Covid-19, my partner and I have made a collective decision not to travel outside of Gloucestershire if we can help it. Instead we spent Saturday, enjoying our local surroundings and visiting a few pubs. We decided to walk to the Jolly Brewmaster, an excellent back street pub in Cheltenham. On our way, we stopped at a park and sat in the warm autumn sunshine, and chatted for a while. We spent several minutes watching the antics of a squirrel who was busy collecting nuts, gathering food for the winter no doubt.

We then continued our walk to the Jolly Brew, as we call it. When we arrived it was closed, but would be open in a couple of hours, so we walked in the direction of Bath Road to do a little shopping. On our way there we discovered an area called the Norwood Triangle, which was once a tram route. The area was improved in 2010, with the help of lottery funding. We also noticed a house with a plaque on the wall, on closer inspection we discovered that the house was once a pub called The Railway Inn. It has been converted into an HMO by the look of it, the original etched windows have been retained, which is a nice feature. The funny thing is, I have lived in and around Cheltenham for nigh on 40 odd years, and have only just discovered the existence of this former pub!

The former Railway Inn

We continued our walk to Bath Road, and stopped at The Exmouth Arms for an Arkells 3B, which was in excellent condition. After a little mooching around some charity shops, we headed towards The Jolly Brew. It was empty when we arrived, but by the time we left it was pretty busy. We sat in the beer garden which has been adapted for socially distanced drinking. The pub has won quite a few Camra local pub of the year awards over the years, and it is easy to see why. They always have an interesting selection of ales and ciders, served by friendly and knowledgeable people. It is good to see a back street pub that is still thriving in these difficult times.

The Jolly Brewmaster

Out and about in Oxfordshire

Back in September, I travelled to Oxfordshire using the recent addition to Stagecoach bus service the 835. I originally wanted to go to Swindon, but at the last minute I noticed a bus to Oxford appear on the horizon. Service 835, used to be operated by Pullhams coaches, which I used a couple of times to travel to Witney. There has been a lot of chopping and changing of bus services in my locality, over the last few years. Normally I would buy an Explorer ticket that covers the whole of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and parts of Wiltshire. The Oxford service has a different system, so I bought a Day gold, I'm glad I did because a day return would have been quite restricting. I decided to take my “proper camera” which has had little use this year. 

The Day gold ticket enables the passenger to travel to many areas of Oxfordshire. The 835 travels to Oxford Via the A40, it passes the Burford roundabout and travels through Witney to get to Oxford. On my first journey using this service, I stayed on the bus until it reached Oxford, the only downside of this service, is that it is infrequent.

As the bus arrived in Oxford, I noticed a picturesque looking pub in dappled sunlight, so I gingerly crossed the road to photograph it. I googled some information about the pub, which I frequently do to pass the time whilst on long bus journeys, and walking around seldom visited places. The Eagle and Child has a distinguished history, apparently C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien used to visit. The pub is closed at the moment, but with such a unique history, I'm sure it won't be long before it reopens. 

The Eagle and Child, Oxford

Walking further into the centre of Oxford, it soon became apparent that they take social distancing and mask wearing quite seriously. I guess they need to, with so many buildings in close proximity to each other! After attempting to photograph a few pubs, I decided that the centre of Oxford, might not be the safest place for a photographic expedition, so I limited the amount of time I was there. Quite a few of the pubs in Oxford have tables and chairs in the street, some of the streets are closed off at the moment. One of the pubs I managed to photograph was The Plough at 38, it has recently re-opened, after being closed for 95 years. For many years, the building was occupied by Austin Reed, until they went into administration. It really is heart-warming, to have some positive news about the hospitality industry in the current climate.

The Plough at 38, Oxford

Another pub that I photographed was The Red Lion, a rather splendid curved building, with a traditional pub exterior, I really enjoy photographing this type of pub. I ventured as far as the internal entrance, to have a swift half, but I was a little deterred because of the rigmarole you had to go through, just to buy a drink, so I decided against it. On reflection, they were probably right to take all these precautions. I tried to take some more photos of the pub, but the sun did a disappearing act. Normally, I try to take photographs of pubs without people in the foreground, but the best photo I took, had a lady wearing a mask. As this is an important historical time we are living in, the photo represents an interesting record of the events of 2020

The Red Lion, Oxford

It was quite a few hours to wait for the bus back to Gloucestershire, so I caught the S1 bus service to Witney. On the journey out of Oxford, I noticed a large pub called The Seacourt Bridge, which is in Botley. I googled it and discovered that It was the last remaining pub in Botley. At this point I didn't get off the bus to photograph it. The bus continued to Eynsham, passing a roadside pub called The Talbot Inn, which looked picturesque with the sun upon it. But I stayed on the bus, until it reached Eynsham village. I immediately got off, and caught the bus on the opposite side of the road, heading back to Oxford.

The Talbot Inn, Eynsham

It was a short journey, because I got off at the Talbot Inn to photograph it. I also went inside to have a much needed drink. The Talbot is an Arkells 3 star hotel and pub, with picturesque views of the River Thames. I sat outside and gazed at the river for quite some time, it was quite relaxing. I then caught the bus back to Oxford, to photograph The Seacort Bridge. From the photos I have seen of the interior of the pub, it looks quite impressive with it's traditional bar and stained glass embellishments above it. I didn't go in, because it is not really my kind of pub – it is family orientated, so it would have been a little shall we say, noisy! The photographs I took of the pub, had every element of clutter imaginable – including an electricity pylon in the background! I did manage to cut out the bus stop in front of the pub though.

The Seacourt Bridge, Botley

After this amusing interlude, I caught the S1 to Witney, but got off at Eynsham village again, to have a look around. It is quite a pleasant place, but like Oxford they were taking social distancing quite seriously. I took a few photos of The Red Lion (which was closed at that point) and The Jolly Sportsman, which has a traditional exterior. Unfortately the photos I took were not that good, so I have omitted them from this post. I would have liked to have called in for a drink, but I wanted to make the most of the time I had left, and the light that was available.

The Red Lion, Eynsham

Time was getting on, but there was still quite a long wait for the 835, so I travelled back to Witney and caught the bus to Woodstock. This is the beauty of purchasing such a versatile bus ticket, you can cover quite a lot of ground in one day, and you can plan another journey, whilst you're travelling on the bus, driving through yet to be discovered areas. On the journey to Woodstock, I passed a few interesting looking pubs – The Masons Arms in North Leigh, and The White House in Bladon. I stayed on the bus, had a brief glimpse of Woodstock, and travelled back to Witney again. A while later, I caught the bus back to Gloucestershire, whilst planning a return trip to Oxfordshire.

 

One step beyond

Last week I did something I have never done before, I cycled into another County –Worcestershire to be precise . As I have mentioned before, during the lockdown I became very unfit (I was unfit anyway). So recently, I have been gradually increasing the length of my cycling journeys. There are obvious benefits to cycling instead of using buses all the time, the main benefit is it is very good exercise. In recent times bus travel, has become a bit of a chore because of the wearing of face masks, as I have said before, it is not healthy to wear them for long periods of time.

I wanted to photograph the Teddington Hands, which is close to a very busy roundabout. As I have cycled here before, it wasn't too difficult, so I photographed it, but decided to see how far I could cycle afterwards. I cycled to The Beckford Inn, dismounted and took some photos, I have never been in this pub before, I have seen interior photos and it looks really nice but I decided to carry on with my journey. I cycled towards Ashton-Under-Hill, where there is a pub called The Star Inn, which we visited back in 2014. It felt so amazing cycling into another county, I let out a cheer when I saw the road sign for Worcestershire! At this point though, it was becoming quite nerve racking, cycling along such a busy road, there were huge lorries driving passed me. When I reached The Ashton-Under-Hill turn-off, I decided to go back the way I came, it was getting late and I didn't want to cycle in the dark. I decided to start much earlier in the day, for my next journey.

The Teddington Hands

The Beckford Inn

A few days later, I decided to cycle to Conderton and Kemerton, which are on the border of Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. As I have mentioned in my previous post, village pubs need our support during these difficult times. I cycled into Conderton, and dismounted to photograph The Yew Tree. I first came across this pub, when I was travelling on the 540 bus service to Evesham. It used to be a Wadworth pub, but it has recently changed hands. The pub looked quite picturesque with the sun on it's facade, I photographed it and decided to call in after I had cycled to Kemerton. I continued with my journey, and arrived in Kemerton to photograph The Crown Inn. It was closed, and at this point the sun was playing hide and seek, so it was difficult to take a reasonable photo. After that, I cycled back to The Yew Tree.

The Yew Tree, Conderton

I was quite impressed with the safety precautions the pub had implemented, A hand wash dispenser was easily accessible as you walk in the front entrance. I was pleased that there had been a sympathetic refurbishment of the interior of the pub, it is much as I remembered it. The ales on offer, were Doom Bar and HPA. I ordered a drink, and went to sit in the rather pleasant beer garden, I stayed there for quite a while.

Afterwards, I cycled back towards the Beckford Inn junction, but instead of going home, I noticed a road sign for Great Washbourne. I had previously looked on a map, and noticed that Little Washbourne was not far away, there is a pub there called Ye Olde Hobnails Inn. It closed for a while back in 2019, but it has thankfully reopened again. I cycled towards Great Washborne, along a country road It seemed to be taking quite a while to cycle to the Hobnails, I wasn't quite sure where it was. I ended up in Alderton, where there is a pub called The Gardeners Arms, we have been here before. I didn't stop to photograph it though.

I remembered how to get to the Hobnails and cycled there, the sky was looking a little ominous by now. I only managed to take one or two photos of the pub, because the road was so busy, they seem to have built a new wall next to the pub since my last visit. I would have liked to stopped for a drink, but at some point, I would like to go there with my partner, it seems like a nice place to have a meal. Maybe we will go there in the not too distant future.

Ye Olde Hobnails Inn, Little Washbourne

The new normal!

It has been an eventful month or so since my last post, quite a few ups and downs but I will not dwell on them. My partner and I have been to a few pubs since my last post, most of them are observing social distancing, and managing the new guidelines quite well. But there are a few establishments, who are making it unnecessarily complicated to enter their premises just to have a drink. You would think they would be more accommodating in these uncertain times.

The first pub we visited, was The Malborough Arms in Cirencester. We were very impressed with the precautions taken, by the staff, yet they have still maintained the laid back atmosphere of the pub. The Malborough has an outside space, but it it is an enclosed courtyard. We spent a considerable length of time here, and were relieved to be out and about doing what we love. A week or so later, we went to the Twelve Bells in Cirencester. They are fortunate to have a reasonably sized garden, with a temporary marquee in place. This is another pub that we were quite happy to linger in, we had a very nice lunch here.

The Malborough Arms, Cirencester

We took advantage of the Eat out to help out scheme, on my birthday in August at the Kings Arms in Prestbury Cheltenham. The pub closed in 2019 and for a while the future was uncertain, because the building needed maintenance. Fortunately Raymond Blanc added this place to his portfolio, and has certainly raised the standards. I have very fond memories of this pub, I used to live in this area as a child, and must have passed it countless times, whilst shopping with my Mother. It wasn't until my late twenties, that I started going there with family and friends, it was a much more down to earth boozer when I first visited, it even had a pool table. The pub had associations with the Jockey Fred Archer, there used to be a whimsical sign on the front entrance of the pub which mentioned him. Looking at recent photos of the exterior of the pub, I think the sign has been removed, maybe it is inside the premises? 

The Kings Arms, Prestbury April 2020

Whilst we were in the area, we also visited The Plough, which is in Mill Street, a hop skip and a jump from The Kings Arms. We have visited this pub on many occasions, it is a characterful pub, with a really large beer garden. The have had some really good beer and cider festivals in the past, hopefully it won't be too long before they can have them again.

The Plough Inn, Prestbury 2011

On Saturday, we cycled to The Mill Inn at Withington which is about 6 miles from Cheltenham. The journey to the pub by cycle, is certainly an endurance test, there is a very steep hill that we ended up walking on instead of cycling. But it was well worth the effort, because The Mill Inn is a delightful country pub, with an extensive beer garden and the River Coln running through it. We had a lovely lunch, and I got to taste my first fruit beer. According to my partner, Withington used to have a railway line and station. You can still see part of the railway bridge, further on up the road from the pub. It was dismantled because of the cost of maintaining it. We walked a little further from The Mill Inn (having left the bikes in the car park) and had a look at the former Kings Head, which has been closed for a few years, it is a shame to see it unoccupied and unloved. It does look like there might be some sort of building work going on there though.

The Mill Inn, Withington

Samual Smith's organic strawberry fruit beer

It was nice to see The Mill Inn so busy when we visited, village pubs are community assets and deserve our support to help them continue to survive, especially in these difficult times.

16th January 2025

The Mill Inn was closed for a quite a few months from 2022 to 2023, which was rather concerning. It was sympathetically refurbished and reopened under new management. The former owners of The Mill Inn, went on to manage Hearts of Oak in Drybrook, and are making a fine job of it.

Tales of the unexpected!

On Saturday I went on one of my favourite bus journeys, to Swindon I have travelled there quite a few times, to photograph pubs. I will write a more lengthy post about pubs in Swindon at a later date, but for now I will concentrate on my unexpected excursions to other areas, surrounding Swindon. I did have a reason to travel to there, it was to purchase a surprise for my partner, I could have done all of this in my own locality, but then I would have missed out on this excursion.

Just before I clambered aboard the bus to Swindon, I put on the obligatory face mask, I took 3 masks one for the outward journey, another for entering any retail establishments, and one for the return journey. I'm glad I did this, because the journey is almost two hours long – far too long to be wearing a mask. I arrived in Swindon, and caught the number 7 service to Highworth, a place I have never been to. On the way to Highworth, I stopped off at a retail park to purchase the item I wanted. The whole experience of shopping and dining out in post lock down conditions, is a nightmare, but I will save my thoughts about cashless payments for another occasion.

After that ordeal, I walked back to the bus stop and considered going back to the bus station, but I decided to get my moneys worth with the Explorer ticket I had purchased. Some of my most enjoyable expeditions have happened this way – no planning what so ever, just allowing the bus to take me to wherever it is going. The first pubs on the bus route, were The Dockle Farmhouse (Wetherspoons) and The New Inn, which are next door to each other in Stratton St Margaret. It is unusual to see a pub next door to a Wetherspoons, which is still surviving, but both pubs cater for a different clientele. Wetherspoons is fine, but I try to patronise a wide variety of pubs.

One of the most frustrating aspects of travelling by bus, is the lack of time to stop and take photos. I was on a tight schedule, because the bus service from Swindon to Gloucestershire stops after a certain time. Quite often I have to decide which pubs I can stop and photograph, because of time restrictions. Continuing on the journey through Stratton St Margaret, I noticed a uniquely named pub called The Rat Trap which is unsurprisingly, an Arkells Pub. I really wanted to photograph it, but decided to continue to Highworth. I'm glad I did, because Highworth is a delightful little market town, the market was just finishing as I arrived. The centre of Highworth is compact, with characterful shops, pubs and hotels.

I attempted to photograph a pub called the King and Queen, a rather large pub in the High Street. I was thwarted in my attempt, because of some cars were obscuring the features of the pub. This is another obstacle which photographers have to deal with, rows of parked cars do not make an attractive composition. Another reason why it would not have been a good photo, is the sun was in the wrong position, it was one of those days when the weather was not going to cooperate. I had the same issues with most of the pubs in Highworth, but I did manage to photograph The Saracens Head Hotel, and I apologise for the quality of this photo. I wish I had brought my “proper” camera, rather than having to resort to the camera on my phone, but it would have been too cumbersome lugging it, and other items on and off the buses.

The Saracens Head Hotel, Highworth

Time was marching on, so I caught the bus back to Swindon, however I got off at Stratton St Margaret to photograph the Rat Trap. The weather continued to be uncooperative whilst I attempted to photograph the pub – at least the sun was in the right position! The pub is quite picturesque, but composing the photo was difficult, because of the yellow markings on the road outside the pub, they were a distraction. I crossed the road to photograph the rather interesting pub sign, it gives you an insight into the name of the pub – the landlady Fanny Stroud, is pressing two difficult customers into paying for their drinks. Apparently this is how the Speed the plough pub, earned it's nickname!

I would have liked to have gone into the pub, because of it's interesting history, and favourable reviews, but time was of the essence. Instead I travelled back to the bus station, and boarded the bus back to Gloucestershire.

The Rat Trap, Stratton St Margaret

I really enjoyed my day out to Highworth and Stratton St Margaret, but I found it a little hard going because I am not exactly fit at the moment. A long bus journey  like this, is not really recommended under the present circumstances, some of the buses were a little over specified with passengers. Wearing masks for this length of time is not healthy, even though I discarded the first mask – in a bin I might add, not carelessly dropped on the pavement! Lets hope that I have not brought back an unwanted souvenir, it has been reported that there is a high Covid-19 infection rate in Swindon at the moment!

https://www.arkells.com/pub/the-rat-trap-stratton-st-margaret.htm