retiredmartin

I’m struggling to find much to whinge about at the moment, what with good beer in London, sunshine in Stockport and micropubs opening when they say they will.  I’ll hope for worse tomorrow.

Monday opening, or lack of it, has been a reliable source of gloom over recent years, making Sunday overnighters just that bit less attractive.

So here’s some good news from rural Kent. 3 pubs open all day, all week. And all doing good business on a Monday lunchtime too.

Despite the promised all-day opening, I still made Mrs RM get a move on between pubs as you just can’t trust the Beer Guide/WhatPub/Pub Websites these days. She’s nervous enough round here, only 20 miles from the in-laws.

In truth, there’s nothing extraordinary about these GBG newbies, apart from the names.

The Rose & Crown at Mundy Bois (sounds like an Essex beer) is run by Sobriety’s Foe Ltd, and is just far enough from Ashford to be safe.

Clearly a dining pub, but with plenty of folk who aren’t OAPs, including those loathsome early retirees who have time to just walk and visit pubs.  Most of the regulars had long escaped the Smog, and were happily comparing house prices.

The ubiquitous Harveys was spot on (NBSS 3.5) and clearly the beer of choice round here. Proper pump clip, too.

That pink pen marking between Mundy Bois and Three Chimneys on the map is freshly applied, this really is new ground for us.  But Sissinghurst Castle Gardens are well known, and still a great place to count octogenarians. Sadly, we’d let our National Trust membership lapse in order to fund our Prosecco habit.

While Mrs RM sought out the most expensive pate in the village store (and succeeded), I braved a half of Gadds in the Milk House.  The only pub in the village, so I bet the old boys were thrilled when it reopened in 2013 as a restaurant.

A beer not quite bad enough to return, particularly with bar staff more interested in cutlery and condiment demands from next door; I reckon I left about £1.37 worth of overpriced beer on the table.

The A229 takes you through a slice of bucolic England, and sadly we had to bypass the wonderful Lord Raglan at Staplehurst, whose lamb chops are worth the trip from Cambridge alone.

Loose is a stunning little village in a valley a couple of miles south of the county town, real “L’il old England” as a couple of Americans exclaimed.  The Chequers is the sort of country pubs they come to see as well.

The exposed brickwork and darkened beams were a bit spoilt by some oppressive scaffolding outside that meant we walked past the pub twice before spotting the sign.

Plenty of 3pm drinkers, most younger than us, so either the tradesmen work short hours here or there’s some folk with even better early retirement plans.

A “solid” cask line-up of Doom Bar, Pride, Harveys (NBSS 3) and Sheps suggests the craft invasion has been halted by the Battle of Stone Street, but that’s fine by me. A soundtrack of Adele and the Growling of Gaunt Dogs (not a Joni Mitchell track) less so.

There’s some classic walks along the stream next to the pub.

So why are these pubs able to open all hours, when so many give up on lunchtime opening ?

Despite the odd National Trust garden it’s not tourist central, and diners didn’t dominate in the first and last of them.

More of this please.