retiredmartin

The last Buckinghamshire GBG tick. Always good for a blog title.

Don’t feel too sorry for me. Only eight pubs to tick in the GBG20, and I end the county (as I often do) on a cracker.

Last year Bourne End gave us KEG (which was cask); this year’s B’Ender was a classic BBB Boozer.

I’d actually popped by a couple of months back and found it unexpectedly closed. I seem to have told local CAMRA but not whined to you lot about that, but I was on my way to Maidenhead so all was forgiven.

It was open today. I’d phoned ahead. They seemed astonished I’d asked.

A sprawling gem, pretty but unfussy. Bar the Christmas tat, of course.

But what’s this ? Everyone standing at the bar, a table laid with crudites (who eats crudites willingly ?).

Had I stumbled on a private party ? Would I get served ?

I considered summoning Simon on the telephone so he could stuff his face but calls only go so far as Marlow from here.

Well, they served me, even if I wasn’t part of the Little Marlow Players or whatever.

It was a GREAT beer choice.

6X, Harveys, Rebellion, Brakspear and the funny one. Most folk were going for Harvey’s.

This is Brakspear country though. And Scotch egg country, so I asked for one of those and hid away from the Christmas pubgoers standing helplessly at the bar waiting for someone else to tuck in first.

“Goody Two Shoes” and Madonna’s “Lucky Star” came and went but my Scotch egg didn’t apppear.

“Being warmed up” said the nice lady. What ? Does the chicken need to hatch it ?

I’ll say this, it was worth the 8min 37 wait. My best beer and food pairing of the year. Crisp and moist, cool and chewy, in the right places.

Bucks, you’re nearly forgiven for those atrocities in Brill.