Lovibonds, Henley on Thames.

Lovibonds, Henley on Thames.

Yes yes, I know we've been to Henley on Thames before, but there's unfinished business to take care of. 

Henley is very much Brakspear country. Fair enough, it is their former home town and they have just resumed brewing in the Bull on Bell Street, but where's the variety? Since our last visit I'm disappointed to report that the Henley Brewhouse has closed and been sold to, you guessed it, Brakspear. I've nothing against Brakspear, they make consistent beer, but it just doesn't do anything for me.

So with all this mind, you might ask why I'd go back to Henley on Thames. The answer is the shining beacon of brewing and beer that is Lovibonds. Founded in 2005 by cycling enthusiast Jeff Rosenmeier, Lovibonds deals purely in keg and bottle products, with a core range of four beers plus a variety of seasonal and special brews. Henley Gold, Henley Amber, Henley Dark and 69 IPA are the regulars, with Sour Grapes, a wine barrel aged sour; Dirty 69, a black IPA and Lager Boy, an 'ironic lager' also available on my visit. 

I tried Gold, a wheat beer; Amber, an American amber and Dark, a porter in bottles and all are great examples of their respective styles. 69 IPA I had from the keg in the taproom, and is as good a strong IPA that I can remember drinking. I also tried the Dirty 69 and Sour Grapes. Black IPAs and Sours are enjoying some time in the sun at the moment, with plenty of barrel aged sours doing the rounds. Sour Grapes was a really accessible beer, perfect for cheese to my mind. Sours can be an acquired taste, but this is a good gateway to the style. I'm a sucker for black IPAs, combining two of my favourite beer styles, IPA and porter, so it goes without saying that Dirty 69 ticked the boxes for me.

The taproom itself has a rustic style, not even really having a proper address. A large marquee provides some sheltered outside drinking space, whilst inside the walls are decorated with various beer and brewery related paraphernalia. Seating is basic and ad hoc, just the way I like it. Beer is available to take away, in various sizes bottles also mini kegs, as well as a range of other merchandise. There's also live music nights and tutored tasting sessions available. Guest keg beers are served from a range of decent craft brewers.

The bulk of brewing is done off site, but you can expect to find a friendly welcome, knowledgeable conversation and great beer at Lovibonds.

My thanks to Rico behind the bar, an unnamed chap my side of the bar and Craig of Craft Beer World. It was great to meet you all.

Henley is station is a short hop away, and is served by trains from Twyford. There are plenty of First Great Western trains that stop at Twyford from east and west.

Bye!

Find out more:
Lovibonds

Temple, London.

Fun in London (Fundon).

 Being a country boy, I don't think I could live in London. I do however, enjoy some of the capitals excellent pubs and breweries, so it's nice to head up to the smoke, meet up some with chums and kin and get on the beers. On this occasion Mrs BB came, so there is gin too.

First stop, the Temple Brew House. Or so we thought. First Great Western and Transport for London had conspired to provide an excellent service on this particular Saturday, so we arrived before opening. Even hopping off the tube at Embankment for a stroll along the Thames and a look at a statue or two hadn't delayed us sufficiently. Hey ho, better 25 minutes early than 5 late. Not that that we'd have been late for anything. Anyway, we went and had a look at the Royal Courts of Justice around the corner, had a coffee, looked in a Twinings tea shop and headed back to the pub. Still closed. No messing about with coffee this time, there's pubs nearby and its midday-ish.

The George is bang opposite the Royal Courts of Justuce and I imagine it does most of its trade weekday evenings rather weekends. The general area was pretty quiet on a Saturday lunchtime, but there were a few folk in for a drink or a spot of food. The pub has a good range of beers, including local breweries and stuff from further afield. I had a swift half of Broadway Blonde by London Fields Brewery, an easy drinking 5% eye opener. The George is a very decent place for a pint, but not worth a special trip to my mind. It was open though, which was something. We didn't eat, but the fish and chips I saw coming out certainly turned my head. It also had some cool drawings of ships, which I like.

  

After supping the half, we decided to head back round the corner to see if the Temple Brew House was open. It was, hooray! Down the stairs, past the brewing equipment and into a fashionably decorated underground bar area. And what a bar. A cheerful Australian shook my hand having realised we shared the same first name and showed me a bit of what was on offer. And what is on offer is a fantastic selection of craft beer, real ale and cider. I know if I see the sublime Gamma Ray by Beavertown on the bar I'm on to a good thing, and there it was. Add that to beers from other noted London breweries like Kernel, Meantime, Sambrook's and London Fields and I'm sure you can tell I quite liked this place. 

On the hand pulls were three beers brewed in house under the banner of Essex Street Brewery. There was also a Redemption Brewery beer and Old Rosie cider. The cask stuff was in good condition and well served. The ever popular three thirds paddle was available and at £4, not bad value if you ask me. There's also a craft keg paddle available for a fiver, not bad at all.

I tried a good few of these beers, from the kegs and the casks. The Kernel Mosaic and Zeus Pale Ale and the Redwell Indian Pale Lager, a new style to me, stood out from the craft range. From the real ale on offer the Essex Street Antipodes Pacific Pale Ale was one I'd certainly come back to.

A good London beer establishment has to do burgers. It's probably in some council planning bylaws. The Temple Brew House doesn't disappoint in this respect, and dealt out a fine burger. They even had a house salt.  

I alluded earlier that Mrs BB is into her gin, quite possibly as a result of being engaged to me. Anyway, she was well happy with the range and the staff knew what they dealing with, which is always good.

I can definitely see a return trip to the Temple Brew House. Beer, food and staff were all spot on. Even the toilets were nicely decorated!

Bye!

Swanage Breezer Railtour Part 2.

So, let's recap.

• Myself and BGC are on an excursion train from Basingstoke to Swanage.

• We've had some good ale on the train down.

• We've arrived at the Swanage terminus of the Swanage Railway and we're off into town.

So here we are, old Swanage town. Against all the odds and weather forecasts we're down the seaside and it's a beautiful sunny day!

In Part 1, I alluded to our disappointment that the town band wasn't on hand to welcome us with some sort of grand civic reception. This disappointment was short lived as we rounded the corner to bump into the town cryer! He was chatting at the time, but I imagine he was just taking a break from announcing our arrival to townsfolk.  

Before we could do anything, we had to get some sea air in our lungs. So like the Skegness adverts, we skipped down to the sea front and were met with a superb view in the autumn sun.

Our first pub was only a short skip away so we headed straight over to the Ship Inn. Pints of Ringwood and Palmers beers were ordered up and we were away. We even sat outside! BGC donned his string vest and handkerchief and we were on holiday.











Thinking we should take in some history as we were there, we crossed the road over to the museum. A good local museum for me me features little set ups of shops, preferably with mannequins in period dress. Swanage museum didn't disappoint. There was even some old quay side rails outside, a relic from limestone days.

Not content with doing one non-pub thing, we set out for the pier. We purchased two 'strolling' tickets, linked arms and promenaded to end of the pier. Naturally I was in a top hat pointing out fascinating features of the coastline to a bonnet clad BGC who fawned over my every word. There's a nice little museum on the pier, featuring model ships with local relevance and some good dioramas, another museum must. 

Thirsty after all our strolling, and with a crab fridge purchased we went for another ale, this time at the White Horse Inn. Ringwood Old Thumper was the beer of choice and BGC managed another Cask Marque scan.  

Next stop, and maintaining the colour theme, was the White Swan. A lively, friendly pub on a Saturday afternoon. BGC was especially impressed with the socket for charging his phone. Pints of  local Piddle Brewery Premium Ale were in good nick and gave us the energy for the long 100 metre walk up the high street to the Red Lion.

The Red Lion wasn't part of the initial plan, but I'm glad we went in. It wouldn't of been a trip to Dorset without a cider, and the Red Lion was the place to be for this. A blackboard at the bar presented a daunting array of headache juice. I decided on a Gwynt y Ddraig Happy Daze. My geography and linguistics aren't up to much, but I'm guessing it was from Wales. Regardless, it was very nice and BGC even spotted the fireplace to be made of a length of bullhead rail in a couple of chairs. As we left we even spotted a local (for us) favourite from West Berkshire Brewery. Good to see Good Old Boy is getting about. 

The next part of the trip was a walk up a hill to a closed pub, so not much to tell there. We did happen across some fine old buildings, including the town hall and even the tiny old prison. An engraved stone proclaimed it was "Erected For the Prevention of Vice & Immorality". Hmm, moving on then.

We thought it was probably time to head to the station, to take in a bit of the atmosphere if nothing else. On the way we stopped on a bridge which gave a good view of the station throat and the shed and loco servicing area.

As we hadn't eaten since Greggs, we thought it prudent to visit the station buffet. Situated in an old carriage, the buffet had a selection of filled rolls and some grand homemade cakes. BGC got a couple of bottles of Corfe Castle Brewery Raven in and we chowed down.

As we were eating, the driver experience freight train steamed into the station. The train drew a great crowd of young and old which is always nice to see. After a quick look in the gift shop we headed back for our train which was sat in the bay platform.

Still chasing that stations Untappd badge, we cracked open a bottle of Box Steam Brewery Chuffin' Ale at Bournemouth station. 

And that was that. A great excursion down to the sea on the train with some nice beer, sunshine, and
a pal.

Bye!

PS. BGC was one number away from the top prize in the raffle.






Find out more:
Pubs in Swanage
Photos on Flickr

Swanage Breezer Railtour.

It was my birthday recently, and as we've discussed before I'd rather do something as a present than have a thing, or stuff. With this in mind (and the email with a link I sent her) mother kindly marked the occasion with two tickets for the Swanage Breezer, a railtour put on by UK Railtours. Mrs BB had cleverly lined up an excuse, so the honour fell to everyone's favourite beer swilling commuted, Rich or the 'BGC' to certain online communities.

 The tickets took us from Basingstoke to Swanage using the newly installed mainline link to the Swanage Railway. Traction came courtesy of a couple of South West Trains Class 159s bolted together to give a nice six car set.

 The day began with a lift to Basingstoke, care of our old friend Brother of Beer Branches (BoBB). There's a nice old stable building in the car park of Basingstoke station, now in use as a car wash. A swift visit to Greggs (BGC has an account) provided us with bacon butties and coffee and we bid farewell to BoBB who had work.

The train started at London Waterloo, so we had a little wait on our hands. As the train runs as an 'unadvertised express' it doesn't appear on any information boards at the station. A cheerful ticket barrier man was on hand to show us the way.

When the train arrived we found our seats and were impressed to find a handy little program, full of times, route information and history. A nice little touch. We were also very excited to hear there was going to be a raffle.











After Basingstoke, our first stop was Salisbury to take on more passengers and for the driver to swap ends for the next leg. It was here that BGC recalled seeing an exciting new badge on Untappd. The badge in question was called 'Beerspotting' and featured a natty cartoon of a steam train with a bottle for a boiler. The conditions for getting the badge were drinking a beer in five different stations. At this time I should point out I had a backpack full of bottles, not to mention civilised plastic cups to slightly lessen the yobbish look. It's also probably worth mentioning it was about 9:30.

Unperturbed, we dished out the beer and booked the check in. BGC had cheated and already had a beer in a station at an earlier date, so only needed three more for the badge. The beer in question was Funnel Blower from Box Steam Brewery. Box do a great range of railway themed beers, mostly featuring Great Western themes. Funnel Blower is a fantastic vanilla porter, ideal as an eye opener on any rail themed outing. It's also very good at more socially acceptable times and venues.

The next stop was Southampton Central, planned arrival of 10:07. This was for another swap of ends, so included a five minute stop. This, perhaps unwisely, was considered the perfect opportunity to get another beer down our necks taking us one closer to that lovely badge. Wincing as people looked around for the source of clinking glass, a bottle of West Berkshire's very own Two Cocks Brewery 1643 Puritan Stout came out of the bag. Two Cocks have been producing beer near Newbury since 2011 and have one a string of well deserved rewards. A number of the beers feature a Civil War theme (Roundhead and Cavalier being the others) in recognition of the brewery being the site of the Roundhead camp prior to the first Batlle of Newbury in 1643. It's a nice beer, slightly bitter with a nice chocolate flavour. There's even a bit of liquorice in there.







We pulled out of Southampton Central at 10:12 bound for Bournemouth. This is a nice part of the journey, taking in the New Forest which looks grand, even in the rain. We thought better of a beer at Bournemouth and resolved to get one in there on the way back. By Poole the rain had cleared up and the sun shone brightly over Upton Lake and Poole Harbour.

Next stop was Wareham, where we took on a guard from the Swanage Railway and arrangements were made for us accessing the line. The preserved line is accessed via Worgret Junction along the short section of line still under Network Rail control that leads to the now disused Furzebrook BP terminal. This facility dealt with gas from the nearby Wytch Farm oil field. Trains took the gas to Avonmouth for onward distribution. The terminal was converted to butane and propane in 1990, which included the construction a 56 mile pipeline to carry the oil to Hamble. At the peak of production an average eleven trains a week used Furzebrook. The final trains ran in 2005.
This is the limit of Network Rail and we're now on the restored track of the Swanage Railway.

The first stop is Norden, where we have a stop to wait for a steam service to come out of the single line section and into the loop. Norden is the Northern limit of passenger services on the line (for now) and is nicely presented, featuring a station buffet and the Purbeck Mineral and Mining museum. With the line clear we set sail for Corfe Castle, which is a station, a village and a scaffold clad castle. Even with the scaffolding, the place looked stunning in the sun and will definitely warrant a return visit.

 We now had a clear run down into Swanage, where there was a gala atmosphere. Disappointingly, there was no town band to mark our arrival but there was plenty happening. A steam engine was forming up a freight train for a driver experience day, there were stalls on the station and South West Trains were presenting a giant cheque for £10,000 to the RNLI.

This was all taking place in glorious sunshine.

After a mooch about the station, we headed out into the real world and down to the sea front.

Tune in next time to see what adventures we found in Swanage!

Find out more:
UK Railtours
Box Steam Brewery
Two Cocks Brewery
Swanage Railway
@SW_Trains
@BGCollector

Littleworth, Oxfordshire.

No railway business in this entry, but just in case anyone is bothered by this here's a picture of the First Great Western bicycle rules for services in the Thames Valley. This particular sign is in Oxford which is our destination's nearest station.

There was a time that myself and Brother of Beer Branches (BoBB) were sat about talking rubbish. In fairness this is still a fairly regular occurrence, but on this occasion we were discussing the phrase 'sausage fest'. It got us to wondering if there was anywhere that actually held a sausage festival and like most people these days would, we took to Google. In amongst all the expected results were a few hopeful sites, butchers and the like. Eventually we came to the website of a pub called the Cricketers Arms, in the village of Littleworth, Oxfordshire that held an actual beer and sausage festival! Twice a year! Oxfordshire, why that's only one county away! The dates were favourable, the travel was easy and before we knew it we'd got a gang together and the outing was a goer.

What we didn't realise then was that this was to become an annual pilgrimage, and so for the fourth year in a row I made the trip north. On this occasion I was accompanied by Cousin of Beer Branches (CoBB), himself on his second pilgrimage.

The trip to the pub is relatively easy by public transport, at least on a weekday or Saturday. Buses leave Oxford city centre hourly and the trip is about half an hour. A taxi would be even quicker, and not exorbitantly  expensive.

The festival was the brainchild of Stuart and Angie Bull, the pub's landlords, and has grown in popularity over the years. The beer on offer is always interesting and there's something to suit all tastes. Over the course of the festival there are 14 beers, most of them available from the start. There is also a good choice of real cider from the excellent Tutts Clump.

Stuart explains:

"I try to include any new breweries, breweries which I don't use regularly and regularly used breweries, so that we have a broad range that will appeal to beer festival people and regulars alike.

I also try to have at least a couple of black beers, because we don't have them on as standard and push the alcohol level up a bit (we don't normally go over 4.5%), as well as having at least three or four session ales."

With so many ales available, space on the bar is obviously at a premium. Hand pumps on the bar dispense three of the beers, while the rest are racked on a special built stillage.

Stuart goes on to say:

"The stillage was specially made so that I could move it myself. Once certain furniture is moved, the stillage goes in, in case of any beer arriving early."

A comprehensive tasting notes is available for a small fee, which goes to charity. This also allows for a 'beer of the festival' to be selected, the notes being used as a voting slip. It's also pretty handy for ticking what you've had off.

"I ask the breweries for tasting notes or use ratebeer and then remove anything too flowery. Then that's formatted by Angie into a template and emailed to the printer for delivery the week before the festival."

It's not all about the beer though, and the sausages are almost as much as an attraction in themselves. There's a range of 12 available, though the popular ones sell out fast. The sausages are available in two forms, either with mash and gravy or in a roll with onions. I opted for a couple of rolls so as to try two different varieties of sausage. CoBB opted for the mash option, which from previous experience I can say is superb. There's also a range of snacks on offer, including Angie's delicious Littleworth Pie. If you've still got room, or even if you haven't, there's also desserts for the sweet tooth.

Stuart explains:

"Angie orders the sausages the start of the week of the festival for delivery on the Wednesday or Thursday. Choice depends upon previous good sellers and ones that have an interesting combination of flavours. Jan's desserts will be delivered the morning of the festival."

By all accounts February's festival was a record breaker, so I'd strongly advise you clearing your diary for September. Even if you can't make the festival, it's a fantastic pub any time of year and quite deservedly in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.  

Find out more:
Cricketers Arms

Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire.

I don't like to talk about it, but in April last year I had to have emergency surgery to remove a severely infected and inflamed appendix. It was during my three week convalescence that I conceived this blog. In my head, I was slightly more strict with the 'branches' part. This wouldn't have been a problem 60 years ago, but is actually quite limiting these days. Anyway, knowing Henley on Thames was at the end of a fairly local branch, this seemed like a natural place to start. So nearly a year later myself, Andy and the infamous BGC changed at Twyford and wound our way to an already wet Henley on Thames.

There's not a great deal of Henley on Thames station. Why should there be? It's the terminus of a single track branchline. Despite this, it's a busy little station if not the most architecturally pleasing, rather smacking of late 80s/early 90s NSE design. 

The 4.5 mile 'Regatta line' runs between Twyford and Henley on Thames, stopping at Wargrave and Shiplake on the way. Services are run by First Great Western using 165 and 166 units. I'm led to believe during the regatta specials have been known to traverse the branch.

There's little in the way of infrastructure to interest the hardcore railway geek like me. This view looking back up the branch shows a solitary signal, glowing red through the January gloom. Colour light signalling might seem a bit unnecessary on a single track branch, but I imagine this is to allow for a bit of flexibility during busier times (ie the Regatta week).

Time for a pint.

On a green opposite the station entrance is this nice plant arrangement celebrating the opening of the branch in 1856. I imagine it represents some manner of broad gauge locomotive.

Being quite a touristy place, a lot of the pubs in Henley on Thames are run in an appropriate way. Expect meal deals and national beer brands as the norm. Not necessarily a bad thing, just not what we're here for

However, you can still find a 'proper' pub, and the Bird in Hand on Greys Road is just that. 

Tucked away in a more residential area of the town, the Bird in Hand caters more for the local drinker, though food is available in the week. 

Beers from Oxfordshire were available in the form of Loddon Hoppit, Brakspear Bitter and Hook. Norton Hooky Mild. Always nice to see a mild on. Pints of the Loddon and Hook Norton were duly ordered and found to be in fine order. 

On the wall was this rather nice collection of steam engine cigarette cards. Now we're talking, smashing.

As well as a friendly landlady, the Bird in Hand boasts a friendly pub dog. BGC begged me to take this picture.

In town, and at the opposite end of the pub spectrum can be found the relatively new Henley Brewhouse. Built in a converted police station, this pub was recommended by an actual brewer, so we expected much.

Upon entering, we weren't disappointed. Interestingly, the two guest beers were from Berkshire, West Berkshire Brewery and Windsor and Eton. More interesting than that were the three on offer from the Henley Brewing Company, brewed in the pub. See, 'Henley Brewhouse' wasn't just a clever marketing trick!

Between us we managed a combination of all the Henley Brewhouse beers, as well as the Windsor and Eton Conquerer, an excellent 5% black IPA. There wasn't a duff one among them, Old Bill's being a particular favourite of mine. As much as we all love Good Old Boy from West Berkshire Brewery, we've had it a few times so stuck to the new stuff.

On the bar is a handy clipboard detailing the various house beers, as well as guests that are on offer. There's a good selection of bottled beers in the fridges too.

Behind the glass at the back of the pub can be found the Henley Brewing Company's brewing equipment. 

To my mind though, the real star of the Henley Brewhouse was the black pudding scotch egg. A scotch egg the size of a tennis ball for £3.50 is pretty good value if you ask me and I'm pretty sure Andy agreed.

Two very different, but equally brilliant pubs in Henley on Thames. Both are worth a look if you're in the town, as well as a host of other pubs doing good quality beer.

There's also one of these to find!

Bye!

Find out more:

The Bird in Hand

Henley Brewhouse

The BGC

Paddington, London. Part I.

Christmas is a time to justify excess. Eating, drinking, spending, it's all fine because it's that time of year. With a bit of festive time off in the bank, I decided it was far from my place to argue. So with that in mind, it was off to the big smoke.

Paddington is my favorite station (we all have one, I don't care what you say). It's a bustling, workmanlike modern station, but one that recognises and remembers it's glamorous past as the London terminus of Brunel's Great Western Railway.

These days First Great Western, Heathrow Connect, Heathrow Express and Chilterm share the 14 platforms, with FGW making up the vast majority of services. The grand station clock overlooks platform one, as do the former GWR, and current Network Rail and FGW offices.

Further down platform one sits the man himself, Isambaard Kingdom Brunel. Today he sits among information outlining the Crossrail works, I like to think he'd approve of his location.

This impressive statue serves as a memorial to all  GWR men and women who lost their lives in the First World War. The statue was unveiled on armistice day, 1922.

Above the doors either side of the statue can be seen two coats of arms. Those on the right are the GWR, representing Bristol and London, the left being that of the Royal Family. The left door was at one time the royal waiting room, but is now slightly less exclusive as a first class lounge.

If you come down to platform one late on a week night, you might just see the Night Riviera sleeper service. This train is one of two sleeper services currently operating in the UK (the other is the Caledonian Sleeper) and runs between Paddington and Penzance, one train in each direction. 57603 Tintagel Castle is pictured at the head of a Riviera train above, 57604 Pendennis Castle brings up the rear below.

The services use a fleet of four Class 57 locomotives that run top and tailed, all named after castles in GWR tradition. The train is made up of a mixture of sleeper, standard and buffet carriages.

That's a lot of train geekyness, so apologies for that. How about some beer now?

Thought so. Going through the ticket barriers, across the concourse and past the statue of Paddington bear we find ourselves in an area of known as 'The Lawn'. Going up all the escalators we come to the Fuller's house, The Mad Bishop and Bear.

There's an interesting story behind the name. Dreamt up by a member of the public for a competition, the 'mad bishop' refers to the former owners of the land Paddington station is built upon: the Church of England. When the GWR came a-calling looking to purchase the land, the church let them have it for a song. If you haven't figured out where the 'bear' bit comes from at this stage of the post, well, I don't know what to tell you.

The interior is tastefully done, giving the impression of somewhere much older than it actually is. High ceilings and semi-booths are the order of the day in the main bar and seating area and this chandelier makes for an impressive centrepiece. I bet this is on Instagram a hell of a lot, so I thought I'd better join in. Information screens mean you needn't miss your train. 

Beer wise, the focus is unsurprisingly on Fuller's. As a country boy, is nice to see the likes of Bengal Lancer, HSB and Chiswick in draught, as well as some of the more specialist bottles. The Mad Bishop & Bear also stocks Fuller's new(ish) craft lager, Frontier. If you're stuck for a bit of last minute Christmas shopping, there's always the gift shop!

It's not all about Fuller's though, as the pub has changing guests. St Austell Tribute was on the bar during my most recent visit. 

The pub has shown an impressive commitment to serving good beer. They've hosted a beer festival, a beer and food matching event and a beer book launch in the past few months alone. Commendable considering they could probably quite easily pay the bills selling lager and a basic range of ales to commuter types.

 

I love a pub breakfast (who doesn't?) and the Mad Bishop & Bear do a cracker. The 'Fuller Breakfast' is served until noon and for the record, I matched it nicely with a nice pint of Jack Frost. Granted it wasn't particularly scientific, but it worked for me.

The Mad Bishop & Bear is a great place to wait for a train, maybe even miss one on purpose!

Happy New Year!

Find out more:
London Paddington
The Mad Bishop & Bear