Where were we ? Simon four pints up/down, with just the bewildering Sixpenny Sods to make his half dozen and reach thirty pubs for the trip. #Legend.
Amazingly, Si didn’t ask me to stop as we zig-zagged our way north of the End of the Road site into the heart of Cranborne Chase.
Zig Zag Hill is great fun on a motorbike, no doubt, but it’s scuppered our trips from the EOTR site to Shaftesbury since we got our motorhome.
A gorgeous stretch of English countryside that Simon appreciated despite a growing nervousness that the Penny Tap was going to be closed.
“TURN LEFT !” screamed Sat Nav Lady as we skidded into Sixpenny Handley Rec, and Si jumped out and ran behind a tree. Possibly this one.
“Where was the sign ?” we asked.
Look very closely.
I had fifteen minutes till opening, so did the whole tourist gig while Si took deep breaths or whatever you do after four pints.
What a complex village this is for the pubber. The ex-GBG Roebuck was seemingly closed, though WhatPub disagrees, and the original Sixpenny Tap has moved to the big city of Cranborne, leaving Sixpenny sexagenarians without that essential micro pub in a farm outbuilding experience.
I guess that an essential micropub in a Sports Pavilion experience comes close.
Look how thrilled Si was to see the door open at 4.29pm.
The barmaid was still chalking up the beer details on the board, beautifully but painstakingly, at 4.31pm. Si wasn’t that bothered about the strengths of the beers, being a #PubMan, and to prove the point chose the beer that hadn’t got an ABV chalked up yet.
Folk interested in beer, and I can’t believe there’s many of them reading this blog, may like to know the three most common beers in these six pubs were Sixpenny, Flack Manor and Otter. The Boring Brown Bitter war is won, Citra is defeated etc. etc.
But I still haven’t got a clue whether the Tap in Sixpenny was actually serving Sixpenny beers, and hardly care as I had a pint of water to contend with.
Si dutifully paraded the latest copy of Ullage, it being Newbury Tim’s birthday, and in the absence of candles we stuck it in the top of a pile of less essential reading.
It was like a village beer festival, which I guess is what it is. In its defence, Simon’s homebrew was thin but very tasty (NBSS 3+), and only £3.
No Bass mirror, but a cricket bat from Wankhede (not sure what their nickname is) and some great family games.
I was getting a bit frustrated at how long Si was taking to down his pints by now. Where’s Mrs RM when you need her ?
To pass the time I inspected the Guest Beer Guide where you can read tasting notes and other fascinating stuff.
The sun was setting over Cranborne Chase. Could we make the last BRAPA tick of his holiday before darkness fell and I got totally lost ?
retiredmartin 
You are a star Martin…taxi services with no liquid refreshment is a noble duty
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It’s a calling, BeerMat, not a chore. Not only is Si great company but it’s all about the pub, not the beer (which obviously I decanted into Panda Pop bottles and drank at home in my underpants).
That last bit is a joke, beer people.
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Ha😀😀 great stuff
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After two more BRAPA pints Young Martin will be re-enacting that great film Driving Pissed Crazy.
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Very close. I also drive old folk to hospital so I live in eternal fear of a Toyota Aygo covered in wee.
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Better “covered in” than “filled with”.
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Zig Zag Hill is too much of a temptation
Any excuse will do.
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When I paste this into a blank page it’s Zig Zag Wanderer…but not here…
What do you get?
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Let’s try again
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> There’s a story there somewhere
Wankhede Stadium is the name of the test cricket ground in Mumbai.
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I knew that. I knew that. Do they have an IPL franchise bat an outground in Sixpenny Handley ?
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The names Johnson & Boswell come to mind.
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Oddly, I’ve just got back from visiting the Samuel Johnson statue in Lichfield, which looked marvellous today.
I’m happy to be Boswell, though actually it’s Simon who will be regarded as one of history’s great observers. I’d prefer, like Johnson, to be remembered as a moralist, reprimanding Si for eating his own snacks in pubs.
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What’s new for Lichfield in the 2019 GBG ?
I’ve just realised that 995172 is probably an Ordnance Survey Grid Reference on that sign from an age when everyone got on perfectly well without electronic gadgets !
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I think we should start a GoFundMe for hiring “Take a Tuk Tuk” to handle all the driving duties so that Martin can join Simon in having ale at these pubs. Though not necessarily 6 pints per day, mind. 😉
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It’s much more fun when you’re sober and you can watch someone else getting lightly drunk (though Simon holds his beer better than anyone else I know).
No. No it isn’t really.
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