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Off to Stamford this morning to the Green Man fest and to do a pub crawl. About 10 pubs listed in last Beer Around 'ere so we will see how many we manage.
Will take some photos. Forgot to do that yesterday in Peterborough and some of the pubs needed photos. Sorry. Will try to do better today.
A few years ago on Cup Final Day (West Ham v Liverpool) we were coming home from my Brother-in-Law's in Boston and stopped off at Stamford to find a pub to watch the match. We found loads of great looking pubs but they were either rammed or not showing it. We ended up in the Black Bull where the best they had to offer was a dire pint of Mansfield Bitter - I perservered with it for the match (+ extra time) but wouldn't be too keen on the beer or the pub again! Hopefully I will go back at some stage and do the pubs I missed out on so I'll be looking for a few reviews!
I am a little tired tonight, so will give you the report of my fantastic day out in Stamford tomorrow when I get my head round the notes.
We drank in mainly in The Green Man because of the beer festival. Also tried beers in Mama Liz, Hit or Miss, Tobie Norris, and Golden Fleece.
Photos taken of the above plus George Hotel, Bull and Swan, Otters Pocket, Jolly Brewer.
Footy ruled Jolly Brewer and Otters Pocket which is why we had no beers there.
Golden Fleece was a loo stop before getting bus back to Peterborough, but was a good Everards pub.
Will sort out reviews, write up and photos tomorrow.
Our Stamford crawl started with the number 9 bus from Peterborough bus station at 10.40. We wanted the last bus back at 4.45 so we had to pack quite a few pubs and a beer festival in during the time available.
First pub was the Green Man on Scotgate. This is an old coaching inn and usually has 7 ales available, but this weekend around 40 ales were available for their Easter beer festival. We settled near the exit to the beer garden so we were handy for beers outside as well as those on the bar. The food available was simple but well cooked meals and a variety of sandwiches. Sausage egg and chips, and steak and ale on chips went down very well for £4 each. The bar curves round so there is a front bar area and a rear area, plus the garden. We enjoyed 8 well kept beers in good company, but had to move on.
We walked up North Street to our next pub, Mama Liz’s soul food shack. This was amazing inside. I don’t know whether to describe the downstairs as weird and wonderful. There is another room upstairs set for diners and a motorcycle made from wicker type material that looks very realistic. It has been awarded Peterborough CAMRA 2010 Branch Pub of the Year. 3 real ales on offer and we sat outside with our Digfield Barnwell bitter.
Our next pub was the Jolly Brewer on Foundry Road. We have been to this Good Beer Guide pub before with its L shaped room round the bar, but there was no way we were going to get in today. I got as far as opening the door, but it was packed with a noisy crowd of footy fans watching TV, and I could not see the bar for tightly packed bodies let alone see what beers were on. The board outside showed 5 real ales available, but we had to move on.
The Batemans pub Hit or Miss was further up Foundry Road, and this was in sharp contrast to the Jolly Brewer. Silence. No music, no TV and just one chap drinking at the bar. There was a selection of normal Bateman beers and a couple of seasonal beers on. We chose Miss England, and enjoyed chatting to the chap at the bar. There was a large garden outside for sunnier days.
We went down to the Otter’s Pocket next on All Saints Street. This is one of the pubs I had visited before and they do have a selection of real ales, but as there were no new beers for us and it was full of football fans watching about 5 screens, it was not the place to be for us today. It was so noisy, but they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Next was another Good Beer Guide pub the Tobie Norris on St Paul’s Street. This one has a history dating back to around 1280. It is a pub you just have to visit when in Stamford. It is one of the reasons I like to visit during the day when it is quiet. I love to get my half of beer and just wander round a pub like this, exploring the rooms, nooks and crannies. A wooden rocking chair in front of a fire was very fitting for this pub. The rooms upstairs have been renovated and there are ancient beams instead of ceilings. We enjoyed the Slaters Eggstravaganza here. No simple ladies and gents, they have Tobie Norris and Suzannah Norris. The room we sat in was very dog friendly and there was a bowl of water in the middle of the floor for the 5 or 6 well behaved dogs.
Time was running out for us to get the bus, but I wanted photos of all our intended pubs, so Ray went to the bus station while I went down the High Street to the George Hotel and the Bull and Swan. The latter is Punch owned I believe and I didn’t get to see inside as the bar was in darkness, and I presumed it to be closed. I have heard there is a free of tie arrangement there so they hope to get LocAles shortly. There were people in the George Hotel but I couldn’t get the door open, whether to keep football fans out as it is near the station or not I don’t know. I have been told I could have gone round to the back entrance, but I made my way back to the bus station.
Time for a loo stop before catching the bus saw us in the Golden Fleece, an Everards pub. This was a clean tidy pub, so we had Everards Flourish. Football was on TV here, but what we liked was the TV was at one end of the bar area, there was another area that was quieter, and a raised seating area at the back where we sat that was a peaceful oasis. I did let the chap behind the bar how good it was to find a pub catering for both those who wanted the football and those who didn’t. As we left, I saw there were 2 TV’s, and the boat race was on the second one!
All in all, it was a great day out. We enjoyed good beer in good pubs in good company. No rain, and we had sunny spells.
Gill