retiredmartin

Jun 2024. Portchester.

I was on best behaviour with the in-laws (Mrs RM said so), attending to their every need, dropping them at every front door, and allowing them time to make their own choices from the Spoons menu. The model son-in-law.

In 2022 I’d have used two nights in Gosport to tick off half of Hampshire, perhaps even squeeze in a trip to the Isle of Wight (in-laws hate ferries). Now, I was content with a mere five GBG newbies, concluding with a “Taphouse” in Portchester.

An intoxicating bit of Google map there; zoom in above the famous ships to spot this future micropub.

The trip from Old Portsmouth to the Portcullis takes you from Penny Mordaunt’s constituency to that of Suella Braverman. Portchester has a gorgeous old part we’d visited a couple of years back, but the modern shopping arcade only makes you think;

“It’s Grim Down South“

This is the point when the in-laws thought “Why couldn’t have he taken us in that nice Fullers pub near the Spinnaker ?”.

They’d never understand the joy of ticking, of appreciating modern craft bars as readily as the Old Customs House.

And Father-in-law didn’t understand “Juice Forsyth” either, so that’s what he chose as Mrs RM surveyed the seating options.

The seating is the problem here; we could never quite feel comfortable.

Which was a shame, as the beers, were all good, the staff great,

and the tat an inspired mix of old and new.

I loved it, but the residents of Royal Tunbridge Wells looked a little less impressed.