Thursday, April 16, 2015

A spot of twitching and a pint....

Here's a post which might appeal to a certain regular commenter on this blog. Lovely summer's evening last night so my wife and I went out for a drive out to Bough Beech Reservoir. There's a "hide" there where you can view Herons, Coot's, ducks, geese, Kingfishers. If you've never been I'd recommend a trip and, particularly, at sunset. Very peaceful. Obviously that's not the bit which might appeal to the regular, let's just call him PB. We then drove on to a place which I would never have known was there called The Greyhound, at Charcot, which is a curious little hamlet, set back off the main road, near Chiddingstone Causeway. The pub, and I think the rest of the village, had a power cut and it was starting to get dark so we sat outside on a rickety wooden picnic bench at the front. Fortunately the pumps weren't effected by the cut so I sampled the Tonbridge Brewery Coppernob which was very welcome and perfectly passable to my untrained palate. The landlord seemed quite a friendly host and we noticed that there was a reasonably priced menu so we could well go back. I'd heard that the Fleur de Lis at Leigh had been recently refurbished, and it was on our way back home, so it seemed natural to go there for another half pint (I'm driving remember.) Turns out that it's a Greene King pub so the beer selection was quite limited but decent enough. The Landlady allowed us to sample the beers before committing to our choice of Golden Speckled Hen which to me also seemed perfectly passable. They were serving food and the menu didn't look half bad. The interior décor was a little too squeaky clean for my tastes but my wife loved it and it was clear that they'd spent a pretty penny on the place. We were told that the exterior has been promised an upgrade also to make it look more appealing. We'll definitely be back there as this looks like the hosts really mean business and want the place to succeed. It's an easy bike ride to Leigh and not that far to walk from Tonbridge which always helps if you fancy more than one drink. We'll be experimenting with other establishments over the summer so watch this space and, landlords I cannot be bribed by free pints and meals into writing good things about your boozers. Not a chance. Homemade cheeseburger, chips and sticky toffee pudding, three pints of Coppernob and a small Glenmorangie chaser? That'll do nicely!...

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Ive just been in the George and Dragon, and spotted this bench:https://www.flickr.com/photos/63503484@N05/16984544909/in/photostream/lightbox/. Anyone shed any light on who "Fraser" is, or was....

Paul Bailey said...

A little off the beaten track, the Greyhound at Charcott is well worth stopping off at for a lunchtime pint. The pub has a bright and airy feel, and in summer it is nice to sit outside, either in the small beer garden, or at the bench-tables right at the front of the pub. With its south-facing aspect, the outside of the Greyhound is a real suntrap.

I work just down the road, so know the pub well. I haven’t called in yet at the recently refurbished Fleur, in Leigh, but then Greene King are not my favourite brewery. However, I will rectify the situation soon, and grace the pub with my presence, as I am curious to see the results of the facelift. The village lost its other pub, the Bat & Ball, several years ago. A shame really, as I always preferred it to the Fleur.

If you want a cheap pint of Larkin’s though, you can always call in at the Royal British Legion Club in Leigh. They will sign you in as a guest, providing you don’t make a habit of it; otherwise they will ask you to join!

You guessed right, TB that I’m not really into “twitching”, although I did spot a heron launching itself from a hedge, a couple of months ago, whilst driving to work. Reminds me of the song “In Mobile”. (Look it up!)

Brett said...

So, on the topic of beer, looks like the Wharf will be closing it's doors and turned into another block of flats... Now, although the loss of another pub is a worry (where is the wine bar at the castle? Believe Paul mentioned the micropub collapsed a while back?) the main problem here is the infrastructure of the town - yet more flats in addition to those by waitrose.... Surely the council could of done something better with the investment and made something of the town's riverside rather than re-pave the highstreet?

Paul Bailey said...

Hate to say it TB, but the Tonbridge Daily page on Facebook is doing far more to reflect the events, views and opinions of people in Tonbridge than this blog is doing at the moment.

Not intended as a criticism, although you might see it as such; just a reflection on the reality of the situation. You might like to check the page out, if you haven’t done so already.

Ps. You might also know the person behind the page, given your journalistic connections. I don’t, so this isn’t a teaser or a trick question.

Outraged said...

Twitter, Facebook, God leave it out! Pubs, Try The Hopbine Inn at Petteridge. Tonbridge Ales and Adnams Ales. Food, they only do Pizzas, Master Chef, eat your heart out these pizzas are good, made to order including the base. Try the breakfast Pizza! It's a real challenge! Check opening times as they close for the afternoon. 01892 722561.