More undiscovered England for you. Though no doubt Dick and Dave have been here. They’ve been everywhere.
If you look closely the main surviving structure at Bramber Castle resembles BRAPA.
I believe the Normans knocked down the rest to avoid it being turned into a micro pub by rampaging Kentish men.
A peaceful site with views across the Downs, frequented by ramblers and escapees from Steyning, a town built entirely from antiques.
Bramber feels little more than a street leading down from the castle.
But it’s some street.
There’s a Great Western Hotel where cream tea probably costs you two pints, and the intriguing Castle Inn, after which the tourist attraction up the hill was named. I can’t quite believe the price of their refreshments.
Unfortunately the Harvey’s inside isn’t quite as cheap, but the young barman compensates by saying “lovely jubbly” as I hand over a fistful of coins, obviously in homage to Simon’s recent post.
The Darkness Number 1 plays, building works rumble on, carried out by “Renovate and Extend Ltd.”, and a gentle person comes in to enquire about an orange moneybox left in the pub after the WI session on the Pravha last night.
Despite the sign of good food, I resist.
The loos are out of action, so I’m directed upstairs to the facilities in Guest Room 8. which looks pleasant.
And the Harvey’s?
S’ok. Not enough to edge you off the Pravha though. For Harvey’s that good, you need Lewes or Borough.
retiredmartin 
I’m guessing that room is not in the 25 pound range you shoot for..
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Well, if you had to let strangers into your room to use the bathroom you might expect a discount on Room 8.😉
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Gosh ,I’m surprised they are allowing all & sundry into a bedroom -it does look nice though .I wouldn’t like to be the next guest in there with all & sundry weeing all over the place & probably touching the soft furnishings(obviously you wouldn’t do either ! )
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That was my thought too, Pauline. I always like to imagine my room is being used for the first time. Who knows what the filthy Sussex middle classes get up to in there.
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“Who knows what the filthy Sussex middle classes get up to in there”.
Yes, only 3½ days ago you reported that “Anything goes in Sussex”.
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We live in fast moving times, Paul, the fastest since 1681.
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In 1681 the last dodo was killed. Is that what you meant?
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Highly symbolic.
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Rampaging Kentish men are unlikely to stray into neighbouring Sussex; that’s foreign parts! West Kent CAMRA though, called in at the Castle Inn, Bramber, about 20 months ago, on a branch outing, after visiting Dark Star Brewery. I believe we may have eaten there as well.
Very upmarket, but at least the public toilets were in working order and we didn’t have to disturb any of the guests, in their rather posh bedrooms!
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Kentish beers are eating into Harvey’s territory and beyond, Paul. Burning Sky, Pig &, Porter especially.
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We were not allowed in Bramber. We did not meet the dress code requirement.
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You’d have had no chance in Steyning then.
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Quite rightly so.
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I did spot the half-profile resemblance of the ruin – thanks to your prompting – though the hairstyle is arguably a tad peakier.
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I must say I’m impressed by them continuing to refer to those remaining ruins as a castle. I do hope no one travels hours to get there thinking they’re going to see turrets, battlements, and flags flapping in the wind. 😉
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“Bramber Bit Of An Old Wall” doesn’t have the same ring to it and would make a crap name for a pub.
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Yes, you’re a bit spoiled once you’ve been to California and seen Disney Castle, aren’t you (not to mention the Bavarian copycat version).
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Bramber used to be home to both a museum called the House of Pipes, and the Museum of Curiosities, which was a Victorian collection of tableaux using stuffed animals, including a kittens’ tea party 😼
The latter later moved to Arundel, where I remember seeing it in the early 80s.
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You are a wealth of knowledge, if wealth is the right word.
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Yes! The House of Pipes! Remember seeing it on my only visit to Bramber in 1981 which was precisely 300 years since anything happened there and coincidentally the demise of the Dodo.
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There was a time when I thought Harvey’s Best was the best bitter in the SE and possibly England, even working our way through a polypin one Christmas/New Year. Wherever we went in Sussex in Harvey’s pubs it was excellent. Am I just being nostalgic or has the quality gone downhill? A loss of Harvey’s old school tenants?
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Or does Harvey’s, like other beers such as Landlord, suffer from ending up in too many pubs that don’t look after it properly and don’t really have the turnover. I wouldn’t expect much from a pint of Harvey’s in a Sussex dining pub that isn’t one of their tied houses.
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Same point as me, more expertly made by Mudgie (as per usual) 😉
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But I thought my pint of Harveys Armada Ale in Huddersfield’s Grove, one of their many cask beers, on Saturday was drinking just as well as it would in Sussex some 260 miles distant.
Banks’s Amber Bitter was on in t’Crown and I concluded that northerners were now getting the beers they deserve !!
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Indeed, I’m suspicious of the “beer tastes best on its own doorstep” theory. I bet the Petersgate Tap could do wonders with 6X, Pedi etc (if it was open).
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No, the quality definitely hasn’t gone downhill. Recent Pints in the famed Royal Oak, Borough and in a Sussex boozer or two confirmed it was great. But like Pride and Youngs and Adams and 6X it rarely gets those volumes in the average Peroni/Prosecco pub. And there’s fewer old school landlords for the family brewers who really care.
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Incidentally, the Petersgate Tap in Stockport had London Pride on last week (cellared for 10 days), but I didn’t manage to get in to try any.
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Lack of 8am to midnight opening apart, the Petersgate Tap gets most things right (not just saying that because of their Manchester City sympathies either!)
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Peter,
Yes, I missed the Draught Bass there by just a day or two.
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Yes, the Petersgate Tap gets many things right. Maybe the disappointment with my first visit there last Tuesday was in part with too high expectations from what I had heard of it.
“8am to midnight opening” reminds me of 9am opening at the Vulcan two days ago which was nearly the highlight of my Proper Day Out in Huddersfield.
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It is what it is – but for a modern beer bar it’s head and shoulders about most of the competition. And they do make a serious effort with the beer.
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What struck me on first visit was the quality of the Hawkshead Bitter, which I think is permanent. My ideal pub would be closer to a Boars Head/Bakers Vault mix, if such a beast exists ! Stockport is lucky to have all 3.
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