More “What we did on our holidays” posts, even though I was listening to “Unhalfbricking” last night. Mudgie will get that one.
Three pubs from one railway station, as I get close to completing Hampshire GBG for another year. Not the hardest county, but 17 new entries this year meant 6 trips past Staines on the M25, which is something I can live without.
A lovely bit of Ordnance Survey for you.
You may remember Emsworth from my post in 2016, when I eulogised the salt and pepper chicken at the Chinese takeaway but failed to guess which pubs would enter the Guide two years later. Win some…
I was glad to be back, Chichester Harbour really is gorgeous. Go there next time, Dick and Dave.
OK, it felt a bit posher than Pompey, with a few pashminas joining the Prosecco set in the sun. But it’s still a bit of a hidden treasure.
You can see from the What Pub extract that it’s a well-pubbed little town.
And it can support 10am openers like the Blue Bell, flaunting its Doom Bar credentials in the sun.
There was already a coffee crowd settled in at the bar, and a half pint pulled as I arrived at 10.02am. I guessed it was a Doom Bar.
I was wrong. It was the first Doom out of the pumps, and while tasty it lacked a bit of the freshness you hope for (“Do your drinking at 10pm !” screams Mudgie).
But the pub banter, between mums and grand-mums at the bar, was worth the £1.80.
“I see Kendal went out of Love Island” *
“All that bitchin’ and bonkin’; I’d rather go to bed with a good book and a cuppa”
“Mum !”
That’s probably all I need to know about Love Island, right there.
And it managed to look authentically pubby and still have a smart menu.
I moved on to my 11am opener, stopping to admire the Coal Exchange, a GBG regular. Sometimes I wish the rules allowed me to revisit pubs, but they don’t. Not today.
*Non-UK readers – Love Island is an educational programme where Britons are encouraged to appreciate the finer geological and ornithological features of the world’s islands.
retiredmartin 
Beautiful pub. I like Chichester and the surrounding areas. I nice Roman town, some decent pubs, green countryside, the coast, and even a theatre. What’s not to like?
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Grief, you read quick ! Agree, lovely part of the world. Some Proper pubs too, e.g. Westbourne.
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Any area with 10 o’clock openings is worth a visit.
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That’s the spirit ! Next pub good too.
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Chichester is a beautiful small city but, like many of the smarter places in the South-East, isn’t really a great pub town. Also has about the dearest Spoons I’ve encountered.
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Not just me who noticed that, then. Was in there this Tuesday for a coffee (£1.45) and a couple of the beers were £3.49. Not strong ones.
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Whereas from your photo at least some guest ales were £1.99 in Pompey, which is cheaper than Stockport.
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Good point. There’s at least four Spoons in Pompey, and the Fratton one is probably the cheapest. Actually, the 2nd Chichester Spoons on the leisure complex was a lot cheaper but lease expired now.
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You’re right. It’s no pub town like Hastings (which has a theatre too), but still a nice place.
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“Good point. There’s at least four Spoons in Pompey, and the Fratton one is probably the cheapest.”
Funny how that works. 😉
For example, a liquor store chain recently opened two places where I live a few weeks ago. I’ve checked out both locations. One is near a more upscale part of town while the other is in a former Blockbuster Video store in relatively close proximity to the more run-down part of town. They sell a session ale I like and it’s 25% cheaper in the latter store as opposed to the one closer to the upscale part. 🙂
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I didn’t know Mudge was a Fairport fan.
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He has exemplary musical taste.
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If he likes Sandy Denny/Richard Thompson era Fairport he certainly does.
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So long as he keeps quite about Roxette and REO Speedwagon 😛
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I can’t wait to be properly retired.
I actually retired when I was 50 and set up the missus in a business which has proved very lucrative but which has gradually drawn me back in doing tax returns,wages and general admin.I’m her secretary bitch as she frequently reminds me.
But when we sell that business it’s serious retirement and that means 10am drinking,an afternoon kip and out for the evening sesh too.
We’ll be looking for somewhere West Country way to locate but I have a soft spot for the South Coast – happy memories of Mick Channon knocking them in at the Dell – and Chichester Harbour looks fab.
A post-Brexit property crash would come in handy though.
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You’re a man after my own heart. I do drive old folks to and from hospitals and Tesco in my non-drinking days and get them to reminisce about pubs in the old days though.
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I’m sure Chichester Harbour must be on one of Fairport’s albums. Or possibly solo Sandy.
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The classic Fairport, “Angel Delight” line-up of Swarbrick, Nicoll, Mattacks and Pegg , which was just after Richard Thompson’s departure, also recorded some really good material.
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In the early 80s, a friend of mine (with whom I have now lost touch) lived in Westbourne for a while, and I spent some weekends down there with him. Emsworth was an excellent little pub-crawling town, and I remember the Coal Exchange (then a Gales pubs) as being the pick of the bunch. Mind you, I once also had an awful pint of murky homebrew at the Sussex Brewery just over the border to the east. It sticks in the mind as one of the most memorably awful pints I’ve ever encountered, and my recollection is that they either refused to change it or were very grudging.
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I think I may have had the last pint of that barrel of homebrew in a pub just over the border in Midhurst this week !
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Phwoar, that tiling on the Coal Exchange!
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“A lovely bit of Ordnance Survey for you.”
My top three: Funtington, Nutbourne and Woodmancote.
(that last one only because it reminds me of a lumberjack’s checkered shirt) 🙂
“(“Do your drinking at 10pm !” screams Mudgie).”
By 10pm I’m usually in bloody bed!
(ok, admittedly most of the time with a nightcap beer) 🙂
“Sometimes I wish the rules allowed me to revisit pubs,”
Rules are meant to be broken at times. 🙂
Oh and with regards to Love Island; there’s similar shows over on this side (I’ve seen commercials alas) but for the life of me I have no idea what they’re called.
Cheers
PS – “He Jude ice cream – that’s for Mark”
I could be wrong, but shouldn’t that be ‘hey jude’?
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You’re right !!!!!
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