Blog Tracker
04-01-2024, 18:30
Visit the Paul Bailey's Beer Blog site (https://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2024/01/early-on-new-years-eve.html)
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On New Year’s Eve I finally managed to escape the confinesof the house to take a wander down into Tonbridge. It wasn’t my first ventureoutside of the house, as I had been out three days before, primarily to drop myunwell car off at Halfords, for a diagnostic check, after the engine started misfiringand running erratically. It was a virtual re-run of the problem I experiencedback in September, when Matthew and I were driving back from a visit toDorking.
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On that occasion we had to be recovered from Clackets Laneservices, but the second time around, I managed to limp the vehicle back home. Matthew was with me again, and we were on ourway back from the Tesco Superstore at Riverhead. The way the car was handlingsuggested a repeat of September’s breakdown, namely a faulty fuel injector, andthis was confirmed via a phone call, from Halfords, whilst I was sitting in the cafe in Waitrose,enjoying a flat white and a cookie.
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Replacing an injector was a job which Halfords were unableto do, so after collecting my vehicle, and limping it back to Bailey Towers, Iheaded off to the station and boarded a train to High Brooms. I had pre-bookeda look, plus a test drive at the local Skoda dealer, and to cut a long storyshort, I ended up placing a deposit on a much newer, and shinier SUV. Thevehicle is now parked on my drive, after I collected it yesterday afternoon, butthis isn’t a post for petrol-heads, but rather is some general backgroundinformation as to why I was out and about on the last day of the year.
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Although mis-named, and over exaggerated, the 100-day cough thathad been doing a tour of the UK left Mrs PBT’s and I decidedly under theweather - Eileen rather more so than me. Son Matthew also copped a dose aswell, although being younger than his parents (I shan’t say fitter), he bouncedback a lot quicker than we did. I took a slightly different route into the town, following apath that led me through the maze of newish apartment blocks that have sprungup over the past couple of decades, on land either close to, or actuallyoverlooking the River Medway.
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This area represents the town’s largest piece ofdevelopment land, and additional space for building has recently becomeavailable following the demolition and removal of two large gasholders. Theserelics of from a bygone age were something of a local landmark, and theirremoval upset quite a few local people. I remember spotting them from the air,whilst on a flight coming in towards Gatwick, but now they are no more, asubstantial piece of development land has been created. Nice as these new dwellings are, very few, if any of themare within the reach of first-time buyers. This is a real bug bear, as far as Iam concerned, and I know I’m not the only local person who feels this way. Idigress, but with a son unable to get onto the housing ladder, and still livingat home, you can perhaps understand my frustration.
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Moving swiftly on, I had another reason for visiting thetown centre, apart from wishing to escape a spot of cabin fever, and that wasto visit a local hostelry. Mrs PBT’s had probably guessed as much, but thenafter nearly 40 years of marriage, she knows me only too well. I walked alongthe towpath into the centre of Tonbridge, and crossed the river by the "BigBridge", as this Victorian structure is known to the local townsfolk. I thenmade my way along to Fuggles Beer Café, which looked busier than I thought itwould be – although it was New Year’s Eve.
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I made my way inside, and fortunately despite the crowds,there were still a number of empty chairs and free tables. I spotted a familiarface sat at one of the tables, so after buying myself a pint I walked over andsaid hello to Keith and asked if I could join him. Keith lives within walkingdistance of Fuggles and often brings his two dogs with hm, along to the pub, foran afternoon pint or two, so surprised to see just one hound lying under the table, Iasked where the other one was. Sadly, one of the dogs had died, although Keith advisedthat the animal didn’t suffer.
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A choice of three cask ales was on offertory tempt the enthusiast,and I started off with an excellent pint of Jarl, from Fyne Ales. Extremelypale in colour, this single hop, session, blonde ale is the brewery’s flagshipbeer, and I was really tempted to have another. Also on sale was High Contrast,an American Pale Ale from Downlands Brewery. Keith bought himself a pint, and Ifollowed suit, shortly after. It was a decent enough beer, but not really apatch on the Jarl. The third cask offering was the ubiquitous Plum Porter, fromTitanic Brewery which, as its name suggests, is a plum-infused porter. Thereare people who rave over this beer, but neither of us fancied drinking, even justa half of it. Looking back, the last time I sampled this Titanic brew, was in Birmingham, back in April, at the legendary Barton’s Arms. My notes tell me that Ionly had a half on that occasion.
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As I said earlier, Fuggles was ticking over nicely, but withoutbeing overcrowded. The management were obviously expecting an influx of people lateron, as there were plenty of staff lined up behind the bar, all eager to pullpints for the cafes thirsty customers. The latter were made partly of small groups, interspersed with severallarge ones. With several women, holding very small babies that were probably justa few weeks old, the term “yummy mummy” sprang to mind, although perhapsMumsnet would be a better description. Babies were passed around, not so much amongstadmirers, but probably because mum fancied a break, but the various infants wereall well behaved, so much so that you wouldn’t have known they were there.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjN-WxMbqPdNXxAApP6qkRXl77j4ZDlikWlnQf3nVrudOEQ3Htvr9j sJJvgDURM6LJeUxozYVfeONroXY9JQ0F2g39_oUnxDFQYM7zIp tDYKjofMbzjT0itsZIyavgy8D7u_mxeolf8RBVJmuid_L2oeYV Tc_8ynsmYmFQaU_kXQzNtECTjEVRar7DPGQ/w300-h400/De%20halve%20Maan.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjN-WxMbqPdNXxAApP6qkRXl77j4ZDlikWlnQf3nVrudOEQ3Htvr9j sJJvgDURM6LJeUxozYVfeONroXY9JQ0F2g39_oUnxDFQYM7zIp tDYKjofMbzjT0itsZIyavgy8D7u_mxeolf8RBVJmuid_L2oeYV Tc_8ynsmYmFQaU_kXQzNtECTjEVRar7DPGQ/s4608/De%20halve%20Maan.jpg)
I had a brief chat at the bar with one, thankfully child free lady,who was raving about the glass of Bruges Zot she’d just ordered. I didn’t havethe heart to say it wasn’t amongst my favourites, although I did tell her I’dvisited the Brouwerij De Halve Maan, wherethe beer is brewed, on my last visitto the city. Fuggles is that sort of place, wherepeople are genuinely interested in trying different beers, and long may thiscontinue. Two pints were sufficientfor me and Keith, who'd had a head start on me, was ready to leave too, and get his dog back home. Those beersin Fuggles, represented my first pints in a pub since bidding farewell to the twoMudgies at the Wharf in Macclesfield, at the beginning of December. I’m notsure whether it was a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, but theydidn’t half taste good!
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On New Year’s Eve I finally managed to escape the confinesof the house to take a wander down into Tonbridge. It wasn’t my first ventureoutside of the house, as I had been out three days before, primarily to drop myunwell car off at Halfords, for a diagnostic check, after the engine started misfiringand running erratically. It was a virtual re-run of the problem I experiencedback in September, when Matthew and I were driving back from a visit toDorking.
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On that occasion we had to be recovered from Clackets Laneservices, but the second time around, I managed to limp the vehicle back home. Matthew was with me again, and we were on ourway back from the Tesco Superstore at Riverhead. The way the car was handlingsuggested a repeat of September’s breakdown, namely a faulty fuel injector, andthis was confirmed via a phone call, from Halfords, whilst I was sitting in the cafe in Waitrose,enjoying a flat white and a cookie.
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Replacing an injector was a job which Halfords were unableto do, so after collecting my vehicle, and limping it back to Bailey Towers, Iheaded off to the station and boarded a train to High Brooms. I had pre-bookeda look, plus a test drive at the local Skoda dealer, and to cut a long storyshort, I ended up placing a deposit on a much newer, and shinier SUV. Thevehicle is now parked on my drive, after I collected it yesterday afternoon, butthis isn’t a post for petrol-heads, but rather is some general backgroundinformation as to why I was out and about on the last day of the year.
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Although mis-named, and over exaggerated, the 100-day cough thathad been doing a tour of the UK left Mrs PBT’s and I decidedly under theweather - Eileen rather more so than me. Son Matthew also copped a dose aswell, although being younger than his parents (I shan’t say fitter), he bouncedback a lot quicker than we did. I took a slightly different route into the town, following apath that led me through the maze of newish apartment blocks that have sprungup over the past couple of decades, on land either close to, or actuallyoverlooking the River Medway.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqaTiTHTunlY4vILLctNyRrKWcMT2QZNAQtqHfpJ1Z_x 63E3u11FdjuZnTh0kpYpA6zwcP62j2CMlYQguevS71Pvp6hNEm Pni1PYLIX_Qzlkr-vJlc0v4t0x96qW-Jurtd_kZAxU-uIvPyLiResr77Qgbq-1aOOiwfFUAg_MxiCJQ1k6MgZwEp0h2mrQ0/w400-h225/Wharf%20cars.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqaTiTHTunlY4vILLctNyRrKWcMT2QZNAQtqHfpJ1Z_x 63E3u11FdjuZnTh0kpYpA6zwcP62j2CMlYQguevS71Pvp6hNEm Pni1PYLIX_Qzlkr-vJlc0v4t0x96qW-Jurtd_kZAxU-uIvPyLiResr77Qgbq-1aOOiwfFUAg_MxiCJQ1k6MgZwEp0h2mrQ0/s4000/Wharf%20cars.jpg)
This area represents the town’s largest piece ofdevelopment land, and additional space for building has recently becomeavailable following the demolition and removal of two large gasholders. Theserelics of from a bygone age were something of a local landmark, and theirremoval upset quite a few local people. I remember spotting them from the air,whilst on a flight coming in towards Gatwick, but now they are no more, asubstantial piece of development land has been created. Nice as these new dwellings are, very few, if any of themare within the reach of first-time buyers. This is a real bug bear, as far as Iam concerned, and I know I’m not the only local person who feels this way. Idigress, but with a son unable to get onto the housing ladder, and still livingat home, you can perhaps understand my frustration.
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Moving swiftly on, I had another reason for visiting thetown centre, apart from wishing to escape a spot of cabin fever, and that wasto visit a local hostelry. Mrs PBT’s had probably guessed as much, but thenafter nearly 40 years of marriage, she knows me only too well. I walked alongthe towpath into the centre of Tonbridge, and crossed the river by the "BigBridge", as this Victorian structure is known to the local townsfolk. I thenmade my way along to Fuggles Beer Café, which looked busier than I thought itwould be – although it was New Year’s Eve.
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I made my way inside, and fortunately despite the crowds,there were still a number of empty chairs and free tables. I spotted a familiarface sat at one of the tables, so after buying myself a pint I walked over andsaid hello to Keith and asked if I could join him. Keith lives within walkingdistance of Fuggles and often brings his two dogs with hm, along to the pub, foran afternoon pint or two, so surprised to see just one hound lying under the table, Iasked where the other one was. Sadly, one of the dogs had died, although Keith advisedthat the animal didn’t suffer.
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A choice of three cask ales was on offertory tempt the enthusiast,and I started off with an excellent pint of Jarl, from Fyne Ales. Extremelypale in colour, this single hop, session, blonde ale is the brewery’s flagshipbeer, and I was really tempted to have another. Also on sale was High Contrast,an American Pale Ale from Downlands Brewery. Keith bought himself a pint, and Ifollowed suit, shortly after. It was a decent enough beer, but not really apatch on the Jarl. The third cask offering was the ubiquitous Plum Porter, fromTitanic Brewery which, as its name suggests, is a plum-infused porter. Thereare people who rave over this beer, but neither of us fancied drinking, even justa half of it. Looking back, the last time I sampled this Titanic brew, was in Birmingham, back in April, at the legendary Barton’s Arms. My notes tell me that Ionly had a half on that occasion.
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As I said earlier, Fuggles was ticking over nicely, but withoutbeing overcrowded. The management were obviously expecting an influx of people lateron, as there were plenty of staff lined up behind the bar, all eager to pullpints for the cafes thirsty customers. The latter were made partly of small groups, interspersed with severallarge ones. With several women, holding very small babies that were probably justa few weeks old, the term “yummy mummy” sprang to mind, although perhapsMumsnet would be a better description. Babies were passed around, not so much amongstadmirers, but probably because mum fancied a break, but the various infants wereall well behaved, so much so that you wouldn’t have known they were there.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjN-WxMbqPdNXxAApP6qkRXl77j4ZDlikWlnQf3nVrudOEQ3Htvr9j sJJvgDURM6LJeUxozYVfeONroXY9JQ0F2g39_oUnxDFQYM7zIp tDYKjofMbzjT0itsZIyavgy8D7u_mxeolf8RBVJmuid_L2oeYV Tc_8ynsmYmFQaU_kXQzNtECTjEVRar7DPGQ/w300-h400/De%20halve%20Maan.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjN-WxMbqPdNXxAApP6qkRXl77j4ZDlikWlnQf3nVrudOEQ3Htvr9j sJJvgDURM6LJeUxozYVfeONroXY9JQ0F2g39_oUnxDFQYM7zIp tDYKjofMbzjT0itsZIyavgy8D7u_mxeolf8RBVJmuid_L2oeYV Tc_8ynsmYmFQaU_kXQzNtECTjEVRar7DPGQ/s4608/De%20halve%20Maan.jpg)
I had a brief chat at the bar with one, thankfully child free lady,who was raving about the glass of Bruges Zot she’d just ordered. I didn’t havethe heart to say it wasn’t amongst my favourites, although I did tell her I’dvisited the Brouwerij De Halve Maan, wherethe beer is brewed, on my last visitto the city. Fuggles is that sort of place, wherepeople are genuinely interested in trying different beers, and long may thiscontinue. Two pints were sufficientfor me and Keith, who'd had a head start on me, was ready to leave too, and get his dog back home. Those beersin Fuggles, represented my first pints in a pub since bidding farewell to the twoMudgies at the Wharf in Macclesfield, at the beginning of December. I’m notsure whether it was a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, but theydidn’t half taste good!
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