STEW, STEWED*

Two days into Tier 2, and I have a magnificent ZERO new GBG ticks. Whether anyone can beat that is another matter. Duncan isn’t allowed to leave his Paisley patch, and BRAPA is stuck in Tier 2 watching Westerns.

At the moment I’m otherwise occupied (details to follow), and though I have to pass through SIX counties on my travels this week not a single one of them will allow me a tick.

Mrs RM feels my angst and bought me an advent calendar. It’s the rail service Beeching didn’t cut.

I hope that pic cheers up Tom, but I know what Tier 3 Pub Men really want is to see Tier 2 Pub Men enjoying beer in pubs.

Stamford, Tonbridge, Youlgreave, Stockport. You’re all welcome.

We stayed local tonight, greeting The Sun on the 5pm dot of its grand re-opening (I hope they didn’t think Lockdown lifted today).

Image may contain: night, tree and outdoor, text that says "0 WATERBEACH"
Pic – Ben Lyden via Waterbeach Babble

Look how fast Mrs RM walks when there’s a pub door open. Reminds me of someone in Stafford.

The Sun has re-opened with reduced hours for now (Thr-Sun), as providing food and clearing away plates is a big extra job when there’s only Landlord and Landlady to cook and pour and enforce Covid rules.

The Sun has always offered food, but it’s the very definition of a wet-led pub that so terrified politicians and media poshos and they’ve stuck to the basics without taking the scotch egg ****.

We had the lounge to ourselves, and I confess I’d already sunk a Black Sheep before deciding on the stew off the £5 menu.

Wow.

Honestly, if the beer is always as good as this the week pubs re-open they should Lockdown more often. A crisp, foamy pint (NBSS 4) that justified all the fuss I’ve lavished on Masham’s marvel.

The tasty grub** arrived to scare away the Covid. Stew, bangers and mash, and gammon. Just the right size, but I doubt I could eat it again in a different pub two hours later. Oh.

Andrew the Landlord brought me two more pints over, including a hoppy Turpin (another 4), and suddenly life seemed fairly wonderful. But Tier 1 would be even better, we agreed.

We’d left by 6. Actually, James had left at 5.50, charged with the important tasks of checking his grandparents’ telly was working (it never is) and procuring some chocolate.

“Has he sneaked out without paying again ?!” asked Andrew. One day that lad will buy me a pint (hopefully after he’s learnt to drive.

The Christmas deccies are up on the village green. They looked a bit wobbly as we left.

* Slightly drunk

** Tom Kerridge should do these at the Hand & Flowers in Marlow

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

23 thoughts on “STEW, STEWED*”

      1. Just after our lad passed his test ,he was kind enough to take us on a pub crawl to Hastings -he described his driving style as “confident & assertive ” -not the words I would have used ! It was a one off & we even trust him enough these days to borrow our car to drive down to Cornwall -I think he may have calmed down a little

        Liked by 2 people

      2. I guess you either get “confident and assertive” or “cautious to the point of timid”, which is where our lad is. I took 5 goes to pass my test so I’m sympathetic.

        Like

      3. Martin,
        Neither “confident and assertive” nor “cautious to the point of timid”, it was more of a ‘middle of the road’ attitude that got me passing the test first time, that and a proper respect for pedestrians.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. “At the moment I’m otherwise occupied (details to follow)”

    Oooooh! Putting up Christmas decorations I’ll bet. 🙂

    “Mrs RM feels my angst and bought me an advent calendar. ”

    Does each opened window have a beer? Mine did in years past (haven’t got one this year, no point really).

    “but I know what Tier 3 Pub Men really want is to see Tier 2 Pub Men enjoying beer in pubs”

    Ouch!

    “(I hope they didn’t think Lockdown lifted today).”

    They just wanted to make there wasn’t another c*ckup with all of this. 😉

    “Look how fast Mrs RM walks when there’s a pub door open.”

    No comment. 🙂

    “The Sun has always offered food,”

    The name of their stew of the day is timely to be sure!

    “and I confess I’d already sunk a Black Sheep before deciding on the stew off the £5 menu.”

    Well done you!*

    * – and Mrs RM had sunk two pints? 🙂

    “Honestly, if the beer is always as good as this the week pubs re-open they should Lockdown more often.”

    Blasphemy!

    “The tasty grub** arrived to scare away the Covid.”

    I’m beginning to think this Covid thingy is a sentient race from another planet.

    “One day that lad will buy me a pint”

    I’m quite happy buying the beers whenever we see our sons. But then, they live almost 1,400 km away.

    “** Tom Kerridge should do these at the Hand & Flowers in Marlow”

    You forgot the reasoning for the **** after scotch egg. 😉

    Cheers

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Ah.

        And here was me thinking it was f**k, as in taking the f**k(ing) fun out of life, what with all of their malodorous bloody rules and regs. 😉

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  4. That stew of the day doesn’t look as good as in the Stile.
    And £5 instead of £2 ?
    But everything was cheap in there as Richard kept reminding us.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. £5 meals seem to be in the spirit of things. Apart from the travel ban we have snow and ice here. No ticks in prospect unless I can get in to see Dad in the near future. I normally tick in batches to clear designated areas so the thought of doing a couple a day hundreds of miles away is not very appealing. Neither is sitting at a table with food simply because it’s required. I’ll wager now table service will be required everywhere next year. The days of keeping on top of the Guide are fast receding.

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    Reply

      1. Yeah. Nothing is going to convince government(s) pubs aren’t spreaders. They don’t yet know if the vaccine simply prevents symptoms in the vaccinated or also prevents them spreading it unknowingly (or how long the vaccine lasts). They don’t care that there is no evidence about pubs spreading COVID (in fact, the reverse) so best case scenario I can see is continued table service indefinitely. Worst case is forever applying local tiers with potential periodic shutdowns that make it impossible to run a pub. Not usually this gloomy!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I refuse to be gloomy, on the basis that the 2 GBG pubs I’ve visited locally so far this week had irrepressibly optimistic Landladies and Landlords. Despite the mess they face, I didn’t hear them moaning once.

        Liked by 3 people

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