Here’s how to get my attention;
Well done, Hare & Hounds.
Only back from the dead two months as a village-owned pubs and you’ve already got THREE posts out of me.
Last month you tempted me back with a promise of Bass but it had sold out in two days to a pub full of ale drinking locals.
“Not to worry Tom. I’m not THAT big a fan of Bass, it’s all for show“. I said, silently fuming. But the Nene Valley beers then were superb.
I wasn’t missing a second chance.
“Will you drive me back home, dearest Mrs RM ?”
Her face dropped a little, but I think she knows she owes me for bringing pack all those DIPAs from my trips away.
Tom the Publican explained the rules and showed us the Test & Trace form which had renamed them the Hair & Hounds (hipsters), possibly explaining the failure rate of the Government’s tracking effort.
I’d already drunk my first Bass by now (“Is there a hole in that glass ?” said Tom) a gorgeously sulphuric NBSS 4 of a beer that even Mrs RM had to agree was better than the foamy nothingness she may have had to endure on occasion.
Several Old Boys from my previous trips were there at noon, one cheery fellow exhorting new arrivals “You should have the Bass, it’s drinking very well indeed” as they wavered.
He then returned to a discussion about the rules for claiming roadkill. If you knock over a pheasant the person who comes after you can claim it, apparently. I think he said pheasant, someone else was humming along to “Chiquitita“.
More of those disposable menus with Covid restrictions explained. My advice is to just say “pie, please“.
A second Bass was finished around the same time as the steak and Guinness pie, just about perfect pub food.
Within 20 minutes the tables were full of gentlefolk and their visiting children, and I marvelled at the smooth operation of a village pub in time of Covid.
Mrs RM had a half of the Grain, I had a 3rd Bass in an hour because you never know where your next one’s coming from, do you ? The 3rd was even better than the 1st, of course.
Mrs RM made me get out at Tesco on the way home and buy some Evil Twin.
retiredmartin 
“ but I think she knows she owes me for bringing pack all those DIPAs from my trips away.” You’re quite confident😀
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She’s too busy working to read this stuff ;-0
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I know the feeling!
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Fine effort 👍👏🔺🔺 I assume the obligatory Bass weighting of at least 2 NBSS points was in play?
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If that was the case it would have been a 6 !
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🔺🔺👌
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A “Proper pie of the day” described as a “Comfort food” is unusual – and is that thirteen chips for the £13 ?
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I’m sure they’d give you extra chips like they gave you extra sausages in the Lost Dene, Paul.
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They gave me plenty so I didn’t need extra sausages in the Lost Dene !
£13 in Cambridgeshire and £3.95 in Staffordshire just shows how the cost of living varies across England.
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They gave you other people’s sausages at the Lost Dene !
South Cambs isn’t cheap, but that pie in Harlton is worth every penny. When you can come to Cambridge again I’ll treat you, Paul.
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But weren’t we the only customers in the Lost Dene soon after opening time ?
And they weren’t your sausages ?
A proper pie, Greene King XX Mild and your company.
Yes, Cambridgeshire is something to look forward to in this dark times.
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Long overdue that trip. XX Mild in the Free Press was a treat with Mudgie last year.
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“Only back from the dead two months as a village-owned pubs and you’ve already got THREE posts out of me.”
They have your number. 🙂
“Her face dropped a little, but I think she knows she owes me for bringing pack all those DIPAs from my trips away.”
(nods)… and did you bring all those DIPAs back by pack? 😉
“which had renamed them the Hair & Hounds (hipsters)”
(snicker)
“(“Is there a hole in that glass ?” said Tom)”
To dear Liza? 🙂
“He then returned to a discussion about the ruled for claiming roadkill. ”
Rules dear boy. And, I didn’t know there were any with regards to roadkill. I could’ve snagged either one of two halves of a deer on the way back home Saturday.
“More of those disposable menus with Covid restrictions explained.”
I love how the phrase ‘social distancing’ is actually keeping a social distance from the word ‘to’ in front of it. 🙂
“A second Bass was finished around the same time as the steak and Guinness pie, just about perfect pub food.”
Heaven.
“Mrs RM made me get out at Tesco on the way home and buy some Evil Twin.”
Admit it. You really needed to go pee, right? 🙂
Cheers
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😉
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Far be it for any of us to say what craft beer is made from, but recycled Bass would oft be an improvement.
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Hair and Hounds? Has No.2 son got a side gig in dog grooming?
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