ALL THE TABLES WITH A “RESERVED” SIGN; WHAT WILL MRS RM DO ?

April 2023.

We loved this little trip to North Lincolnshire. Said no-one ever, except us.

Two new GBG pubs to tick (IF I am ticking the Guide), starting with the Heneage Arms in Hainton, which you’ve never heard of, even if you live in Market Rasen.

The Heneage Arms has been brought into community ownership to frustrate BRAPA, with the following ultra-generous opening hours,

and no public transport at the times it’s open.

But don’t worry, Si. If it’s your last GBG tick Mrs RM will definitely drive you kicking and screaming.

The other bad news for Simon is that the beer at the Heanage is pretty good, so it might last a while in the GBG.

And if he has to wait around before opening he’ll find a pleasant little hamlet of 114 souls still getting their petrol from the pump in the pub car park.

I had half an hour before opening, enough time to excite the twitching net curtains around the church,

and scare the baby sheep, which I will call lambs.

The pub opened on time, quite a rarity in 2023, and Mrs RM went off to find a table while I hit the bar.

Oooh, Batemans XB. A GBG rarity these days. Oddly, it had “just gone” even though the pub had literally just opened for the week, so had to be changed.

The pub is a bit rustic, definitely not posh. A dining room to the side lies unused, so all the tables were quickly being taken up by diners.

Including the one in the corner where Mrs RM had perched. “Have you got a reservation ?” she was asked. “Oh, we just wanted a drink”.

A huge debate resulted in us being allowed to stay in the seat for 2 hours, we needed 10 minutes, and Mrs RM moving all the cutlery, industrial condiments and napkins on to the next table (top).

She was in a right huff, not helped by my suggestion we sit at the bar (“I’m not moving”), an argument that persisted till Scotton.

But it’s been saved for the community, or at least diners from the Wolds, and the XB was superb.

Go figure, as the Southworths say.

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.

9 thoughts on “ALL THE TABLES WITH A “RESERVED” SIGN; WHAT WILL MRS RM DO ?”

    1. This one’s clearly only intended for local people and complete whack jobs – sorry, Christine, I meant Martin, and Simon too if he can ever make it – so what your branch requires makes perfect sense to me.

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    3. Obviously it’s a decision for the branch, Pat, though I remember Colin Valentine noting the inclusion of a St Helens brewery open one Saturday a month (if lucky) was nonsense to widespread agreement at the Dundee Members Weekend.

      Equally, a pub or brewery can open when it likes, but inclusion in a Guide to real ale seems a bit odd if it’s not generally open, particularly when public transport is also an option.

      So your branch approach is reasonable, though it would certainly exclude half the recommendable pubs in a number of branches that only open from Thursdays !

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  2. Oh FFS!

    They’re open at 5pm Friday after being closed since the previous Saturday night – that’s five days 18 hours and 30 minutes since the last beer was poured (or longer if everyone was drinking lager last Saturday) – and NO ONE has checked the beer in the pipes. I mean, there’s no need to check it because it’s obviously gone off. !!!

    How on earth has this pub got in to the GBG????

    Obviously you’re not bothered because you’re not ticking the GBG this year, but I’ve forked out the equivalent of six pints of beer at the Broomhill Tavern to get a paper copy of a book which is quite clearly not fit for purpose. GRRR!!!

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