I can put it off no longer. After what seems like tmonths of build-up and multiple diversionary tactics, here’s Bridport. Part I, anyway.
I’ve been wanting to visit the town properly for two decades, with a sole flying visit in 1995 now long forgotten. That means Stranraer is newly top of my “To See” list; so let’s hope the Grapes holds on to its GBG place.
We set up camp (or whatever the verb for a campervan stop is) at Eype Rest Area, marked as Corner Café below. What an extraordinary bit of OS Map this looks like now.
In sharp contrast to this week’s heatwave, east Dorset last Monday was an advert for taking your Easter holiday overseas. Permanent drizzle, no kerbs for walkers and the sort of footpaths that make you reassess your need for exercise.
When we were first married, Mrs RM would accompany me to the occasional football match at places as exotic as Luton, Lincoln and Leeds. I asked if she’d like to watch Bridport v Cribbs later that night…
Coming to the town afresh, I treated it like a traveller, even reading the tourist boards.
Despite the Waitrose, it’s not as upmarket as I imagined, which is a bonus. The Wincanton of the South Coast, rather than its Shaftesbury.
We explored the “Arts and Vintage Quarter” (No. 20 on map), which was shut. But if it had been open, this Beefheart-inspired place would have been top of my list.
“Is Bridport well-off ?” asked Mrs RM.
We found the answer when, after crossing the Brit, we found a new branch of Domino’s Pizza with US diner style seating. Who knew you could dine in at Domino’s ?
Mrs RM was tempted, but I shoved her into the Ropemakers, by some reports home of the best Palmers in town.
“Hello sweet pea”
Not said to me, to a regular, unfortunately, so that one remains unticked on the Pub Greeting Bingo card. But the cheery staff were equally welcoming to me in a pub with a real mix of 3pm custom. Professional drinkers, families, ladies who eat cake, and general skivers.
“Which one is selling fastest ?” I asked, looking fearfully at another full range of beers.
“Not sure, but this is the one the staff drink” pointing at the 200.
The staff have good taste. Mrs RM thought it was tremendous, and it was. Cool, rich, fruity etc etc (NBSS 3.5+).
But never mind that. Lady Bobwomble’s brownies went perfectly with the beer, and the proper coffee was another highpoint.
If the brownies, coffee, and scatter cushions..
…make it sound a bit like a cheaper Brunning & Price, it really isn’t. It had a simple charm, and a 27 digit WiFi code we kept getting wrong.
Some wonderful banter about static caravans in Burnham on Sea, and pissheads in the Spoons at 10am (it’s clearly OK at 3.30pm). And a child who asked for a “melonade” that even BRAPA would have warmed to.
And best of all there’s a wall dedicated to the Giants of Rock.
retiredmartin 
Boon-docking I believe is the phrase you’re looking forward.
Roughly translated ( from my RVing days ) it means stopping somewhere other than a recognised campervan stop.
Christ,I’m beginning to sound like Russ now.
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I thought it was Russ ! Are you related to the good Prof ?
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Pish and tosh!
And what’s the point of having a bloody campervan if you’re supposed to stop at recognised campervan stops?
And I thought boon-docking was stopping anywhere outside of the big cities. You know, like in the boon docks? 🙂
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I thought Boon-docking was a Ringwood beer.
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Russ – blame Osama Bin Laden.
A couple of years after 9/11 I remember leaving a Wrestlemania event in Detroit ( surprise for my then young kids ) with the intention of RVing to Florida with only one overnight stop.
Pulled off the Interstate about 300 miles south of Detroit at about 3am in the morning with the wife and kids fast asleep in the back and parked up on a deserted road for a kip.
Was woken up a short while later by THREE police cars training their lights on the RV and armed officers demanding ID which they then checked with Homeland Security.
The crop-haired knuckleheads then insisted I drive back onto the Interstate and find an official overnight stop – there wasn’t even a flicker of a smile when I asked if there was a mosque nearby for prayers at dawn.
Amazingly the wife and kids slept through everything and didn’t believe me.
Trust me.Boon-docking is frowned upon even in the US boonies – I’m sure Canada is much more civilised but then you know that already …😂
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Sadly, that pint of ‘200’ looks murky? I’ve no problem with unfined and unfiltered beers, in fact I embrace them. It’s just that Palmer’s are uber-traditional and their drinkers expect a crystal clear clarity that can only be obtained by using the innards of the Sturgeon, which as you well know have the appearance of those dried pigs ear things they have in pet shops. That pint isn’t right and should have gone back.
Have the tenants changed? I’m sure Geraldine and John who I met when I posted about the pub https://beerleeds.co.uk/2015/09/28/the-ropemakers-bridport-dorset/ would never allow a pint like that to pass over their counter? They were still there last summer. I bet you post about Al McNab in Pursuit of Hoppiness next?
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Tasted good for me and Mrs RM, but then I’m not a beer sommelier.
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Neither am I, but I know what different beers should look like. Unless …….. Palmer’s are now vegan friendly and everything they are doing is unfined and unfiltered?
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You’d know what it’s supposed to look like, Richard. I just go by taste rather than look in general (mind, I only got to drink the last third as Mrs RM beat me to it).
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They have Tally Ho on all the time in there and it’s wonderful, fruit cake, slightly burnt at the edges, and a hint of molasses in a glass. It’s Palmers most accomplished thing, that and the water wheel – did you see it? You parked your Dormobile just across the road from the path that leads round the back of the brewery – nearly fallen in that beggar a few times walking back to West Bay in the dark with a gallon on board!
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I had a cloudy pint last night.Quite a few in fact.It was an experimental beer called Weizenbock from an Irish craft brewery.
It was kegged.
And it was bloomin’ marvellous.
I suppose it’s the sort of beer that CAMRA doesn’t like but I thought it one of the best I’ve tasted in yonks.
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Absolutely, Prof. Judge by taste.
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Chalk it down Martin.
And by Jiminy Cricket they were so nice I’m heading out again on this lovely sunny evening to sink another half gallon or so.
I haven’t see the sun since October so I’m probably going to be slightly delirious even without all that cloudy beer.
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I loved Palmers’ 200 when we had it in Lyme Regis. Really nice beer.
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“It was an experimental beer called Weizenbock from an Irish craft brewery.”
Weizen is wheat beer. If cloudy it’s normally called Hefeweizen as it’s unfiltered. If it’s filtered, it should be called Kristallweizen.
Bock means it’s stronger than your regular beer.
Cheers
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How do you get to know the names of the Landlord and Landlady if you live hundreds of miles from Bridport.
I go in loads of pubs but never know the names of the Landlord or Landlady even pubs in Nottingham that i go in quite a lot i do not any of their names.
Is it because we keep to ourselves and tend to find a seat if possible.
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Alan – Richard is a regular holidaymaker down there. I guess you do get to know the landlords if you visit regularly. See his post. https://beerleeds.co.uk/2015/09/28/the-ropemakers-bridport-dorset/
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WE spend most summers down in Dorset Alan, only a couple of weeks, but centred on West Bay/Bridport. I always make a point of trying to speak with the landlord/lady/manager, especially if I am going to write about them. I like talking to random people, hence I get on really well with Martin!
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It comes through in your blog, Richard
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P.S. Did you get to see Mutter Slater ex of Stackridge? He lives in Bridport and plays low key gigs in the pubs, often Number 10 (no real ale, but the locals don’t really drink it do they), but I’ve seen him play in The Ropemakers. He was working in The Crown on the roundabout down by the by-pass last summer. He’s well worth seeking out, lovely guy, terrific singer and brilliant musician. Spent some pleasant Sunday afternoons in his company.
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I did consider shouting out “IS MUTTER IN ?” but I’m quite shy.
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No need to shout, just look for the baldy guy with glasses and a guitar
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There’s a local Rammstein tribute?
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Oh, very good Sir. Never got into Rammstein.
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Even if not a fan of the music, I would always recommend seeing them once, true performance art with loud guitars as backing. Seeing a frontman sing an entire song whilst on fire is one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen on stage.
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You Scot(t)s are easily impressed; noother explanation of Runrig (though I did like Jessie Rae)
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Runrig were a once experience in a club, drunk, during the festive period.
Now if I ever make any statements in favour of the Proclaimers then just shoot me instantly.
Jessie Raa fits into the why? Then the where are they now category?
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Blimey, Stackridge. Now there’s a name from the past, and one I’d completely forgotten about until your comment.
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“The Wincanton of the South Coast, rather than its Shaftesbury.” Brilliant. That made me genuinely laugh out loud.
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Preferred Wincanton (Winko ?) by the way, great nights in the Nog. Better Hovis in Shaftesbury tho’
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Loved the line “the sort of footpaths that make you reassess your need for exercise.”
I dearly want there to be an actual Pub Greeting Bingo card. Maybe Simon can make one. I expect these days it would sadly have to include the greeting “Hey dude.”
I must say “Bobwombles” sounds like an invented name, concocted by someone trying to come up with something that sounds really, really English. 😉 That said, I would love to have one of those brownies!
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“or whatever the verb for a campervan stop is”
Well I’d say camp works as campervan has the word camp right in it. 🙂
“What an extraordinary bit of OS Map this looks like now.”
Bloody hell. Almost 4pm here before my first beer. Which shows as I looked at that map and saw:
– Allington, but read it as Arlington (i.e. the cemetary)
– Skilling (which I mistook for skiing)
– Bothenhampton (which I read as Botherhampton, and thought why should they be bothered?)
– Jellyfields Nature Reserve (which I misread as Preserve and thus thought this is where all those wonderful jams come from)
– Sloes Hill (which makes sense as any walk up a hill would be sloes going) 🙂
– and Crepe Farm (which is French for manure pile?)
“and the sort of footpaths that make you reassess your need for exercise.”
Or reassess the word ‘footpath’ as ‘bog’.
“Lady Bobwomble’s brownies went perfectly with the beer,”
I would say that a lady bobwomble’s ‘after’ she’s had a beer. 🙂
“Proper seating though…”
Looks quite nice.
“and a 27 digit WiFi code we kept getting wrong.”
I’m betting they get their Internet from a phone company. I’ve found phone companies (vice telly companies) have these godawful WiFi codes, even for home use. My sister near Toronto has one like that, as does my brother in France – both with phone companies.
“Mrs RM tries to remember the WiFi password”
She looks like she’s bobwombling! (LOL)
“And a child who asked for a “melonade” that even BRAPA would have warmed to.”
Awwwwwww. 🙂
“And best of all there’s a wall dedicated to the Giants of Rock.”
I kinda like Phil. But, to be honest, the first time I heard him sing (the last song on Selling England by the Pound I believe) he was certainly no Peter Gabriel. 🙂
Cheers
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I can not reply to my original question about how you get to know Landlords and Landladys names.
I was not being funny just asking.
I consider myself to be quite an outgoing person and i did talk to lots of people when in pubs,but i never talked to the people running it as i always thought they would to be too busy to talk to an idiot like me.
Sadly i will never talk to anyone ever again.
What really upsets me is people now think i am ignorant,when we were in an ambulance for hospital transport to Nottingham City Hospital there was an old lady and me and my wife,my wife was talking back to the old lady whenever she spoke,when the ambulance stopped to let the old lady out at the city hospital she said sarcastically ” your husband’s talkative is’nt he” this really upset me.
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That’s upsetting to hear, Alan. Sadly people can be very insensitive about disability they can’t see.
Your contributions here are always sensible and constructive.
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After your top photo I’ve now had to ask my mate Womble Bob (true) if he has taken up baking and cross-dressing.
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And he’s confirmed that he’s not into baking, but is an enthusiastic cross-dresser. Must persuade him to join CAMRA and run for the NE next year.
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Phew
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And…
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…and I’m a bit late with a comment – Martin’s probably in the Outer Hebrides by now – but at least I’m still in the same month (aren’t I?).
Anyway must plough on – loads of blogs to read….
Martin – you were right by the way Boon-docking is a Ringwood beer – and the correct term for abandoning your camper van anywhere is Boon-doggling…
🙂
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