retiredmartin

July 2024. Watford.

No new blogs about Watford since 2018, when “unimproved” pubs near the Junction were all the rage.

But last Thursday was a first walk in many years down bucolic Vicarage Road, home to the cemetery, football club, hospital and, on last count, 28 fried chicken shops.

And now the Two Trees micro where I get to conclude Herts GBG for another year.

Note barrier to control the crowds at 9:45pm, as I arrived only slightly apprehensive that 22:30 closing meant last orders an hour earlier.

It being a modern micro, I hesitate over a choice of local gin (or is it handwash ?),

or pastry sours from my home village,

but settled on the Oregon Trail that had impressed in Kelham.

A serious beer place, I’d say, and I don’t always mean that as a compliment.

But the Elusive is superbly rich and chewy, the best pint I’ve had in Watford since Benskins in Bushey 30 years back.

And although it started off as a typical “tables round the walls, silent blokes on their phones” style micro,

it became a lot more pubby when the chat across the table turned to West Bromwich Albion.

And then four of us, improbably from Dudley, Blackheath (neighbour!), Pinner and Sheffield were talking football, Black Country Balti, and the mysterious Harrow.

It was great, as the last tick on a county always is, and I was almost persuaded to stay for that Pastry sour and play an unfathomable board game,

but I had a rail replacement bus (or is it a “bus replacement bus?”) to catch, and an assignation with a chicken shop.