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Continuing the account of my recent visit to Salisbury, youleft me, in the previous post, at the legendary Wyndham Arms, the original homeof the Hop Back brewery. Capacity constraints at the pub led to the breweryrelocating to an industrial unit in Downton, just to the south of Salisbury, in 1992.This left the Wyndham Arms free to concentrating on serving Hop Back beers attheir best, to beer lovers from both near and far, drawn to this pleasant, backstreet local, just a short walk from the centre of Salisbury. I had planned on a bite to eat at the Wyndham Arms butlooking on the pub’s website, I noticed food was not available, so lunch wouldhave to wait. The main entrance door to the pub, located at the corner of the building,led into a small lobby which opened up into the bar area, and it was here infront of the bar, that the pub regulars were gathered. I suppose you expectthat in a local, but it did mean I wasn't able to take the photos I wouldperhaps normally do. My son likes to chastise me for snapping away with mycamera phone, especially in the presence of others, so despite the friendlinessof the locals I did feel uncomfortable at doing so. It also seems rather geekyat times, so apologies for the lack of interior photos.
Apart from the obvious Summer Lightning, there were several otherHop Back beers on sale, and the one I went for was a pint of GFB. These letters are anacronym for Gilbert's First Brew, John Gilbert being the pioneering brewer whoset up Hop Back at the Wyndham Arms, back in 1986. This was after cutting histeeth by running a couple of breweries in southwest London (Battersea and Brixton).GFB is brewed to a sensible strength of just 3.4% abv, and is like a slimmeddown, session strength version of Summer Lightning. My well-presented andwell-conditioned pint certainly slipped down a treat. Hop Back run eight other pubs, scattered across Wiltshire andHampshire with the odd outpost further afield (Sultan – Wimbledon, and Archer –Staffordshire). They also have another pub in Salisbury – the Duck Inn.
I took my pint of GFB, along with a packet of crisps, intothe small, cosy snug room, just off the bar. It also enabled me to respond to anemail from work, that required my immediate attention – boring! Whilst I was temptedto stay for another beer, I had several other pubs to visit, one of which wouldalso provide my stomach with something more substantial than the bowl of cereal,I’d consumed, several hours previously. However, had Hop Back’s excellent EntireStout been available, I may well have stayed for a glass of it.
Consequently, I departed the pub, but not before returningmy glass to the bar and engaging in a brief chat, with a couple of the regulars.They were keen to know whether I had I enjoyed my stay, and why wasn’t I stopping.I explained I was in Salisbury on a brief visit and had other pubs to visit.They appreciated this and quickly came up with a number of suggestions. One of thesewas the Haunch of Venison, an obvious choice perhaps, and one already on my list.It’s the oldest pub in Salisbury, and from the descriptions I’d read, onedefinitely worth visiting.
Upon leaving the Wyndham Arms, I headed off back into thecity centre, passing through a park whilst enjoying the pleasant May sunshine.I was making for New Street which runs from east to west, intersecting at onepoint with Salisbury High Street. There were two pubs in the street that I'dpencilled in as possible candidates for lunch. The first one was a Hall &Woodhouse house, called the New Inn, where the food menu looked particularly good,whilst the was a Wadworth pub, called the Wig & Quill, and the direction Ihad just walked from brought me to this hostelry, first.
After admiring the attractive exterior of this historic pub thatdates back to the 14th Century, and perusing the menu displayed onthe wall, outside, I decided to eat there, as one of the choices was “Pie ofthe Day.” I stepped inside andwas surprised to find the place relatively quiet, which seemed odd for a Fridaylunchtime. Adorning the bar counter was a bank of hand pumps, dispensing arange of Wadworth beers, but the pump clip for Henry’s IPA had been turnedround; a pity as that was the beer I was looking forward to.
You may be surprised to learn that after 50 years chasingaround the country, and enjoying beers in many different locations, this visitto the Wig & Quill represented the first time I'd set foot in a Wadworthtied house. I’ve obviously drunk many pints of 6X, over the years, although Wadworthseem to be pushing Horizon in the free-trade these days, at the possibleexpense of their best-known cask ale. The other beer on tap at the Wig & Quill,was Swordfish, an unusual “Rum infused ale.” I played it safe and went for apint of 6X, which was full-bodied, malty and whilst not quite on top form, wasstill very drinkable.
It's worth mentioning briefly, that the pub is dividedinto three drinking areas, with oak beams aplenty, overhead and a number of openfires to warm customers in the winter. There was no need for these the other Fridayand given the fine weather I took my beer outside into the attractive and secluded,walled garden at the rear of the building, but not before placing my foodorder. I, of course opted for pie of the day, after being told thatit was Beef and Guinness.
It was very pleasant sitting outside, waiting for myfood to arrive, and the only other person present was a lady of slightlyadvanced years, who was enjoying a glass of lager, whilst eating what wereobviously her own sandwiches. Perhaps she knew something about the quality ofthe food that I didn't, although I would soon find that out! It took slightly longer than anticipated for my meal to beserved, which was a little surprising given there was only a handful of customers in the pub. When the pie arrived at my table, I was warned that itwas very hot, although I took this as a good sign. On closer inspection though,the pastry casing did look quite dark in places, particularly around thecrimping, an appearance I would subsequently describe as “well-done, bordering on burnt.”
On cutting through the rather hard pastry, and into the pie, I was surprised to find the meatcontent dry, stringy and definitely overcooked. The complete absence of any“gravy” within the pie provided further cause for concern. Trying some of thebeef inside confirmed it was over-cooked, as the meat was charred at themargins, stringy, in both appearance and texture, and certainly not the tasty,pleasant, and mouthwatering pie I was expecting and looking forward to. Ibrought this to the attention of a member of staff, who agreed that the pielooked both over-cooked and dried out. He went off to fetch the chef, who inturn came over, took a look at the food on my plate and said that the pie wasperhaps drier that it should have been.
He offered me a partial refund, but not the full refund Iwas expecting, but that turned out to be a problem, because he claimed thepub’s new till system – recently installed by Wadworth’s, was not set up toprocess refunds. I found this strange, as I had paid by card, but after talkingto the lady behind the bar, who had originally served me, the chef offered me avoucher instead. I explained that I was just visiting Salisbury and didn’t livelocally. He seemed rather surprised whenI said I had travelled across from Kent that morning, although I'm not sure why, and was unlikely to be returningin the near future.
After chatting to his colleague, I was offered a partialrefund, which amounted to a cash payment of £3.75. I had paid £15 for the meal,so I don’t know how that figure was arrived at. I stated at the time that thiswasn’t satisfactory, but mine host didn’t seem open to further negotiation. Notwishing to cause a fuss, in front of other customers in the bar, I pocketed thetoken payment and left the pub, but have since emailed Wadworth expressing my dissatisfaction,particularly at the way my complaint was handled.
I am currently awaiting a reply, and whilst like most BritsI don’t like making a fuss, there comes a time when such action is necessary. The experience didn’t overshadow what was amost enjoyable visit to Salisbury, although it obviously took theshine off the pub lunch I'd been looking forward to. A look at reviews ofthe Wig & Quill on Tripadvisor, something I seldom do, revealed the pub tobe something of a “Marmite” establishment, as some of the comments were glowing,whilst others seemed to match my own experience. There’s one more pub to go, along with the cultural bit, andI will, of course, keep people updated about "piegate", as soon as I hear backfrom the brewery, or even the pub itself.

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