retiredmartin

May 2023.

By an extraordinary stroke of luck, our quickest route from Beamish to the hotel on the banks of the Tyne took us close to a new GBG tick.

Close enough, anyway, and my four passengers squeezed into a car suited for three were happy to get out for 20 minutes for a beer, particularly since someone else was driving. It did mean we missed out on the Angel of the North, but I doubt the Angel is going anywhere soon.

Industrial Washington (a New Town with more roundabouts than Hemel Hempstead) has one of the UK’s grimmest service station, a status as one of the largest towns without a rail station, and some names to conjure with.

Biddick, Albany, Concord and Columbia conjure up images of America, don’t they ? And of couse it’s from Washington that George set sail to become the first president of that apparently fine nation*.

I couldn’t remember my last stop there, with ticks in an arts centre and frankly grim Spoons my main memory, but I did just about recall a trip to the village and the eponymous hall behind the church.

They wanted cash money to see the Hall, money better spent in the pub.

Actually, I think that Cross Keys on the left of the tiny green (we call it a Gault in Waterbeach) is the one I visited, not that the Washington Arms looked much different.

Odd place, but very likeable. On the outside, the sort of smart dining pub you get on the edge of Malton.

Inside, a locals bar with boisterous 4pm trade, TV sport and the sort of beer range I know many of you like. It feels like an Enterprise pub, and indeed it is.

Only the cushions and the odd reserved sign suggest you’re in a bit of Ye Olde England.

What do you notice in the picture below ?

Yes, Mrs RM gets the pint, because “beer tastes better in pints” Maxim’s excellent “Swedish Blonde” all round, just so she can make the usual joke about blondes, and a “nip” for me to confirm a 3, which almost rhymes.

But not the best beer, or most exciting pub of the night. Oh no.

*May need to check exact dates with Dave and Dick Southworth.