On the Sunday I picked up Sis from the pre-booked car park north of Bristol Temple Meads and headed home.
“Anywhere you want to stop on the way” she said.
Funny you should say that. The social club at Stanford in the Vale has the sort of opening hours designed to annoy pub tickers, no train station, and we were going to pass it on the fastest route home. Hurrah !
It didn’t look very open. No cars in the car park. No lights on. The door closed. Sis looked at me as if to say “What was wrong with the posh dining pub on the A420 ?”
But Sis is nothing if not game, and gave the door a push. Inside, a lone local and slightly surprised barman.
Even more surprisingly, NO HOMEBREW.
One of each, as Sis would no doubt wolf down my 6X given half a chance. And two packets of crisps to complete the gourmet feast. £7 the lot. In Oxon.
They were surprisingly good, especially the 6X (NBSS 4). Good work, CAMRA.
Sis summed up the Club. Pool had recently been increased to 20p a go, clean, loads of awards, meat raffle, too quiet.
We didn’t hang about, though I did take a couple of cubes of cheese off the bowls on the bar and stuck a quid in the box for guests.
And just to prove she doesn’t miss a chance, Sis ordered a bottle of Hook Norton’s finest when we stopped at the little farmshop near Stowe.
Never did see the White Horse.
retiredmartin 
“BBB heaven” with a notice about “foul language” reminds me of being in the Falcon and the Old Boot at lunchtime today.
It was three pints for £8 in Chester – that’s £2 for each pint of OBB and £4 for a pint of Lees’s Plum Pudding, nicer than Titanic’s Plum Porter, in Duttons.
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My local had a lovely pint of 6X the other week. Yet another beer that at its best is superb.
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Yes, and I should manage a few 6Xs in the Anchor at High Offley tomorrow lunchtime.
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It really is an underrated beer. I bet some people on CAMRA Discourse say “no what it was”, “boring” etc, but I’ve found it a highly compex beer in the rights places, just as good as it was when I started visiting GBG pubs.
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Yawn.
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Looks like the barman took the wise choice of Stella.
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Yes, indeed, beers like 6X have a complexity that some of us understand and like, and that’s a bit like the Lees Plum Pudding I’ve drunk recently.
I’m not suggesting there’s anything (much) wrong with highly hopped beers, or highly plummed porters, but it’s to be hoped that in time their advocates learn to appreciate the subtleties of the marvellous session beers for which British brewers were once known.
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What does your sister think of your pub ticking pursuits? I mean, I can’t help thinking the “Anywhere you want to stop on the way” question was, in itself, an effort to lend a helping hand. 😉
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I think Julie sees the appeal though she’d just as well find a good place and stay in it. Her year in Cornwall in 2015/16 was a journey of discovery, and not just of pubs.
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I guess Welsh cheese is very good. I always like to buy local cheese from cows that speak Welsh.
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Tread Caerffili, now.
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Top photo; that looks a bit like what Santa would like after Christmas day. 🙂
“Rural”
The thatched roof gives it away. 😉
“Is it locked ?”
Who would even consider breaking in?
“Salty dog”
That’s no way to talk about your sister. 😉
“Proper scummy head”
Perhaps. But the lacings in one of the photos above were certainly not in the top ten.
“We trebled the custom”
Is that the same ‘santa’ bloke from the top photo?
“The devil’s work”
Perhaps. But Old Hooky did stellar work at Rorke’s Drift. 🙂
Cheers
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It’s the same “santa”, different profile. Says it all, doesn’t it !
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Indeed!
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I was wondering if your sister had taken a photo of your prior to your annual shearing.
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At 7am this morning I woke up with a hangover so bad I thought I was on my last legs.
By 9.30am I’m already planning the day’s revelries.
The human body really is a remarkable piece of kit.
Second the views on 6X – kept well it’s a great beer.
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A remarkable piece of kit indeed, and it still plods on when plagued with chronic osteoarthritis.
I’ve done plenty of pubs in England, Scotland and Wales over the past eight days and so could do with a bit of a break but my wife’s sister is having a party in Sedgley this evening and my arm just might get twisted into going.
.
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You are a machine Paul.
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– and machines should be well oiled !
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But too well oiled and they end up soiled…..
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Great post! What a find! All of your female associates appear to be beer gurus… terrific!!
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My Sis is a dark beer fiend who insists strong beers are only served in pint glasses !
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She is right!!! Top work
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A proper woman then, not that I expected any different of a sister of yours.
Does she enjoy proper days out ?
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Probably not ours !
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