Blog Tracker
12-08-2023, 23:07
Visit the Paul Bailey's Beer Blog site (https://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-hopbine-and-halfway-house-visit.html)
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West Kent CAMRA bus trips have a horrible habit of goingwrong, and Wednesday’s journey out to two rural pubs was no exception. As Idiscovered a couple of weeks ago, when I set off on a bus trip to Lewes, gasmain replacement works on a major road leading into Tunbridge Wells have causedabsolute carnage on the town’s transport system. This has forced beleaguered bus company operatorsto terminate all services that would normally approach the town from the southor the west, at the bus interchange outside the area’s main hospital in Pembury.
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A shuttle service is then supposed to operate between thehospital and the town centre, following a torturous route through the local industrialestate. Despite knowing this I decided to take a rare day off on Wednesday,partially because both the Hopbine and the Halfway House, are hard to get towithout a car, but more importantly because I wanted to catch up with friendswho I hadn’t seen for some time.
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Although the journey from Tonbridge to Pembury Hospital istheoretically unaffected by the gas main replacement, I thought it wise to catchan earlier bus. The plan was to meet up at the Pembury bus interchange and thentake the 297 Tenterden bus, operated by Ham's Travel, as far as the edge ofBrenchley village. We would then walk to the Hopbine, enjoy a few pints plus abite to eat, before walking, across country, to the excellent Halfway House. Anotherbenefit of the earlier bus service was the chance to grab a coffee at the hospital,whilst waiting for my friends to arrive. This was in sharp contrast to myearlier trip to Lewes, where the connection only allowed time for a pee stop,and nothing else.
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Rather ominously, the 219 bus from the top of my road, was 20minutes late in arriving, so I was rather surprised that the other local CAMRAmembers were not on it. In theory the later bus would still have got them toPembury in time for the connection, even though the 297-bus pulled up at thestand 20 minutes early. It was then I that I noticed a WhatsApp message asking ifanyone was at the hospital, because the Tonbridge contingent were stuck waitingat the bus stop for a bus that showed no signs of turning up.
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With no sign of a bus, and nothing showing on the Arriva buscompany app, the group from Tonbridge decided to abort the trip, leaving methinking that I’d be visiting the pubs on my own. it was then that I received aWhatsApp message from a friend who lives in Pembury village, stating that hewas intending to get on there, although from the sound of the other messages,it might only be him and me on the trip. After chatting to a group of peoplewaiting at Pembury, I discovered that a lorry had got itself stuck beneath anarrow railway bridge, close to High Brooms rail station, and this was addingto the traffic chaos.
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Knowing the cause of the problem was little comfort, butwith our driver now clued up as to what had occurred, he departed the businterchange, and we picked up Dave in Pembury. We then headed out along the A21towards the villages of Matfield and Brenchley, although on the way, someadditional messages came through from the WhatsApp group, advising that two memberswere cycling to the Hopbine and would meet us there. Dave and I left the bus at the top of BrenchleyLane and walked along this quiet and secluded country road towards the attractiveHopbine Inn (https://www.thehopbine.pub/), at the top of a hill on the edge of the hamlet of Petteridge.Before going any further, apologies for this long and ratherdrawn-out introduction, but it does illustrate the type of problems that seemto beset our CAMRA bus trips. It’s almost as though there’s someone up there whodoesn’t like us! Returning to the mainnarrative, we entered the Hopbine with a king size thirst, and surveyed thebeers on the bar. They were Tonbridge Traditional, Harvey’s Best plus a housebeer brewed specially for the pub by Cellar Head. My friend went for the Tonbridgebeer, whilst I decided to give the house beer a go, even though Cellar Head arenot my favourite brewery.
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The girl behind the bar asked if we wanted to sit outside, andwe thought this would be a good idea, especially as there is a nice shadedterraced area at the rear of the pub. She also asked if we would be eating, andthinking this was a good idea, so after looking at the rather limited options(pizza or burger), we both went for the latter. I knew I would be eating lateron in the day, so I asked if I could have mine without the fries. “Yes,” was the answer but when she tried chargingme the same amount (£14.95), I asked where was the deduction for the leavingoff the fries. Unbeknown to us, the rather scruffy person, sitting in theraised area to the left of the bar, happened to be the chef (we should haveguessed, really), so she shouted across, "How much for the meal, without chips?" “Knocka fiver off,” was the answer, which was fine for me, as I obtained a rathernice gourmet burger, at a far more realistic price!
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We took our drinks outside and found a nice shady spot. Thereare three terrace levels behind the pub, each one lower than the one above. Thisis due to the Hopbine being built into the side of the hill. We were sittingthere chatting, whilst enjoying our beer and food, when we saw one of theintrepid cyclists puffing up the steep hill below us. It happened to be branch chairman,Tony. I nipped up the steps to advise him of our presence, just as Lycra-clad Martin,the other cyclist arrived from the opposite direction. So in a short space of time,we had doubled our numbers.
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Our newly arrived companions decided they wanted some foodto go with their drink and after eating, the four of us sat there trying tomake contact with other people we thought might be coming. We hadn’t done thisearlier, as being on the O2 network, both Dave and I had no mobile signal, butfortunately one of the new arrivals was able to pick up a series of messages thathad come through on the WhatsApp group. This indicated that two other members,having spent ages sitting on the shuttle bus to Pembury hospital, had managedto get a connecting service as far as Matfield, and would be walking from there.
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We waited for them to arrive and were surprised at howquickly they turned up, as we weren’t expecting their presence so soon. In ashort space of time our small party had trebled in size and made a nice littlegathering.
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I switched to Harvey’s for my second pint, and after I newly arrivedcompanions that whetted their whistle, we decided to move on to the second pubon the itinerary, the Halfway House a mile or so outside of Brenchley. Unfortunately,the late arrivals had missed the 2pm cut off for lunch and were doubtful oftheir chances of eating at the next pub either, but regardless of this, wedeparted.
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The two cyclists set off by road, whilst the rest of usfollowed on foot, along a well-trodden route, across country. It’s a pleasanthalf hour's walk between the two pubs, through some a series of former orchards,and then down into a valley that is home to a number of fishing lakes. Weeventually emerged onto a winding lane that runs in an easterly direction andbrings one out, almost at the rear of the Halfway House.
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This was my first visit to this attractive, destination pub,since before the pandemic, and the improvements that the owners had put inplace, to enable trade to continue outside, during those periods when COVID restrictionswere partially lifted, have added to both its charm, and versatility. These additionsobviously came into their own, when the Halfway resumed its twice-yearly beerfestivals, and the large, semi-covered area overlooking the garden offered somemuch welcome shade from the fierce, early August sun.
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The Halfway House (https://www.halfwayhousebrenchley.co.uk/) needs little in the way of introduction topub connoisseurs, particularly as it majors on cask beer. Casks are kept in a temperature-controlledroom, immediately behind the bar, with extra-long taps that protrudethrough the dividing wall, and out via false, wooden barrel ends, set into thewall. The result - beer kept at just the right temperature and served in themost natural way possible – straight from the cask.
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I headed for the Gents, as soon as we arrive, afterfoolishly neglecting to go before leaving the Hopbine. I didn’t dive into thebushes, as I was walking in mixed company. The rest of the group were waiting atthe bar – the cyclists having arrived first, but there was one beer on the listthat would really hit the spot, and that was Goacher’s Fine Light. The HalfwayHouse also features a couple of “house beers”, one brewed by Cellar Head and anotherby Kent Brewery, but being something of a purist, I have never been keen onsuch brews.
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We had around 90 minutes before the arrival of the 297-bus,that would take us back to Pembury, so we sat outside chatting and enjoying thewell-kept beers. One of the cyclists (Martin), was off to the famous Cropredy Festival (https://www.fairportconvention.com/),early the next morning, so he didn’t stay too long, but with plenty of time foranother beer, the rest of us stayed. Kent Session Pale was my second beer, pleasant,but not as good as the Goacher’s.
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We stood out in front of the pub in plenty of time, as whilstthe bus will stop there, it is not an official stop, and it is necessary to flagit down. With a steep descent towards the pub, and the temptation for thedriver to put his foot down, that isn’t always the easiest, or indeed the safestof tasks, and somehow that job fell to me. Fortunately, I managed it OK, and weboarded the bus back to the hospital. Dave alighted, just outside his house,and the rest of us didn’t have long to wait for our connections. Presumably the morning’s chaos had cleared by then, butnever let it be said that West Kent CAMRA bus trips lack drama or are uneventful!
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West Kent CAMRA bus trips have a horrible habit of goingwrong, and Wednesday’s journey out to two rural pubs was no exception. As Idiscovered a couple of weeks ago, when I set off on a bus trip to Lewes, gasmain replacement works on a major road leading into Tunbridge Wells have causedabsolute carnage on the town’s transport system. This has forced beleaguered bus company operatorsto terminate all services that would normally approach the town from the southor the west, at the bus interchange outside the area’s main hospital in Pembury.
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A shuttle service is then supposed to operate between thehospital and the town centre, following a torturous route through the local industrialestate. Despite knowing this I decided to take a rare day off on Wednesday,partially because both the Hopbine and the Halfway House, are hard to get towithout a car, but more importantly because I wanted to catch up with friendswho I hadn’t seen for some time.
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Although the journey from Tonbridge to Pembury Hospital istheoretically unaffected by the gas main replacement, I thought it wise to catchan earlier bus. The plan was to meet up at the Pembury bus interchange and thentake the 297 Tenterden bus, operated by Ham's Travel, as far as the edge ofBrenchley village. We would then walk to the Hopbine, enjoy a few pints plus abite to eat, before walking, across country, to the excellent Halfway House. Anotherbenefit of the earlier bus service was the chance to grab a coffee at the hospital,whilst waiting for my friends to arrive. This was in sharp contrast to myearlier trip to Lewes, where the connection only allowed time for a pee stop,and nothing else.
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Rather ominously, the 219 bus from the top of my road, was 20minutes late in arriving, so I was rather surprised that the other local CAMRAmembers were not on it. In theory the later bus would still have got them toPembury in time for the connection, even though the 297-bus pulled up at thestand 20 minutes early. It was then I that I noticed a WhatsApp message asking ifanyone was at the hospital, because the Tonbridge contingent were stuck waitingat the bus stop for a bus that showed no signs of turning up.
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With no sign of a bus, and nothing showing on the Arriva buscompany app, the group from Tonbridge decided to abort the trip, leaving methinking that I’d be visiting the pubs on my own. it was then that I received aWhatsApp message from a friend who lives in Pembury village, stating that hewas intending to get on there, although from the sound of the other messages,it might only be him and me on the trip. After chatting to a group of peoplewaiting at Pembury, I discovered that a lorry had got itself stuck beneath anarrow railway bridge, close to High Brooms rail station, and this was addingto the traffic chaos.
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Knowing the cause of the problem was little comfort, butwith our driver now clued up as to what had occurred, he departed the businterchange, and we picked up Dave in Pembury. We then headed out along the A21towards the villages of Matfield and Brenchley, although on the way, someadditional messages came through from the WhatsApp group, advising that two memberswere cycling to the Hopbine and would meet us there. Dave and I left the bus at the top of BrenchleyLane and walked along this quiet and secluded country road towards the attractiveHopbine Inn (https://www.thehopbine.pub/), at the top of a hill on the edge of the hamlet of Petteridge.Before going any further, apologies for this long and ratherdrawn-out introduction, but it does illustrate the type of problems that seemto beset our CAMRA bus trips. It’s almost as though there’s someone up there whodoesn’t like us! Returning to the mainnarrative, we entered the Hopbine with a king size thirst, and surveyed thebeers on the bar. They were Tonbridge Traditional, Harvey’s Best plus a housebeer brewed specially for the pub by Cellar Head. My friend went for the Tonbridgebeer, whilst I decided to give the house beer a go, even though Cellar Head arenot my favourite brewery.
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The girl behind the bar asked if we wanted to sit outside, andwe thought this would be a good idea, especially as there is a nice shadedterraced area at the rear of the pub. She also asked if we would be eating, andthinking this was a good idea, so after looking at the rather limited options(pizza or burger), we both went for the latter. I knew I would be eating lateron in the day, so I asked if I could have mine without the fries. “Yes,” was the answer but when she tried chargingme the same amount (£14.95), I asked where was the deduction for the leavingoff the fries. Unbeknown to us, the rather scruffy person, sitting in theraised area to the left of the bar, happened to be the chef (we should haveguessed, really), so she shouted across, "How much for the meal, without chips?" “Knocka fiver off,” was the answer, which was fine for me, as I obtained a rathernice gourmet burger, at a far more realistic price!
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We took our drinks outside and found a nice shady spot. Thereare three terrace levels behind the pub, each one lower than the one above. Thisis due to the Hopbine being built into the side of the hill. We were sittingthere chatting, whilst enjoying our beer and food, when we saw one of theintrepid cyclists puffing up the steep hill below us. It happened to be branch chairman,Tony. I nipped up the steps to advise him of our presence, just as Lycra-clad Martin,the other cyclist arrived from the opposite direction. So in a short space of time,we had doubled our numbers.
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Our newly arrived companions decided they wanted some foodto go with their drink and after eating, the four of us sat there trying tomake contact with other people we thought might be coming. We hadn’t done thisearlier, as being on the O2 network, both Dave and I had no mobile signal, butfortunately one of the new arrivals was able to pick up a series of messages thathad come through on the WhatsApp group. This indicated that two other members,having spent ages sitting on the shuttle bus to Pembury hospital, had managedto get a connecting service as far as Matfield, and would be walking from there.
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We waited for them to arrive and were surprised at howquickly they turned up, as we weren’t expecting their presence so soon. In ashort space of time our small party had trebled in size and made a nice littlegathering.
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I switched to Harvey’s for my second pint, and after I newly arrivedcompanions that whetted their whistle, we decided to move on to the second pubon the itinerary, the Halfway House a mile or so outside of Brenchley. Unfortunately,the late arrivals had missed the 2pm cut off for lunch and were doubtful oftheir chances of eating at the next pub either, but regardless of this, wedeparted.
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The two cyclists set off by road, whilst the rest of usfollowed on foot, along a well-trodden route, across country. It’s a pleasanthalf hour's walk between the two pubs, through some a series of former orchards,and then down into a valley that is home to a number of fishing lakes. Weeventually emerged onto a winding lane that runs in an easterly direction andbrings one out, almost at the rear of the Halfway House.
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This was my first visit to this attractive, destination pub,since before the pandemic, and the improvements that the owners had put inplace, to enable trade to continue outside, during those periods when COVID restrictionswere partially lifted, have added to both its charm, and versatility. These additionsobviously came into their own, when the Halfway resumed its twice-yearly beerfestivals, and the large, semi-covered area overlooking the garden offered somemuch welcome shade from the fierce, early August sun.
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The Halfway House (https://www.halfwayhousebrenchley.co.uk/) needs little in the way of introduction topub connoisseurs, particularly as it majors on cask beer. Casks are kept in a temperature-controlledroom, immediately behind the bar, with extra-long taps that protrudethrough the dividing wall, and out via false, wooden barrel ends, set into thewall. The result - beer kept at just the right temperature and served in themost natural way possible – straight from the cask.
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I headed for the Gents, as soon as we arrive, afterfoolishly neglecting to go before leaving the Hopbine. I didn’t dive into thebushes, as I was walking in mixed company. The rest of the group were waiting atthe bar – the cyclists having arrived first, but there was one beer on the listthat would really hit the spot, and that was Goacher’s Fine Light. The HalfwayHouse also features a couple of “house beers”, one brewed by Cellar Head and anotherby Kent Brewery, but being something of a purist, I have never been keen onsuch brews.
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We had around 90 minutes before the arrival of the 297-bus,that would take us back to Pembury, so we sat outside chatting and enjoying thewell-kept beers. One of the cyclists (Martin), was off to the famous Cropredy Festival (https://www.fairportconvention.com/),early the next morning, so he didn’t stay too long, but with plenty of time foranother beer, the rest of us stayed. Kent Session Pale was my second beer, pleasant,but not as good as the Goacher’s.
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We stood out in front of the pub in plenty of time, as whilstthe bus will stop there, it is not an official stop, and it is necessary to flagit down. With a steep descent towards the pub, and the temptation for thedriver to put his foot down, that isn’t always the easiest, or indeed the safestof tasks, and somehow that job fell to me. Fortunately, I managed it OK, and weboarded the bus back to the hospital. Dave alighted, just outside his house,and the rest of us didn’t have long to wait for our connections. Presumably the morning’s chaos had cleared by then, butnever let it be said that West Kent CAMRA bus trips lack drama or are uneventful!
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