September 2024. Swayfield. Grantham.
A fun day, last Sunday.
Wake up in a park in Grantham, breakfast of Lincolnshire fruit loaf (NLFLSS 4.5) at the bowls club,
visited Mum and Dad, had a quick Chung Hwa, then headed back up the A1 to the exact same overnight parking spot in Grantham.
Oh, one other stop. Ever heard of Swayfield ?
No, of course you haven’t. South Kesteven hides its treasures well, though that bit of OS extract contains Isaac Newton’s apple, a proper castle at Grimsthorpe, and the McDonalds at Colsterworth with the world’s longest wait for an Americano.
Why do you think pub tickers are such happy folk ? It’s because the Beer Guide “might” bring them to places like Swayfield about which they know nothing,
and even after a trip to the Royal Oak know nothing more than about the place other than its 316 souls liking a beer,
and having sore heads after a Timmy Taylor Tap Takeover and Ska night.
Greater Grantham’s unheralded villages have revealed some charming pubs of late, and the Royal Oak’s guvnor I shall call “Andrew” wins our hearts by not asking Mrs RM if she’s sure she wants a pint of Boltmaker.
On a quiet Sunday night he is the class host, mildly mocking his regulars but making us feel welcome for nipping in for a quick pint.
We get proper bench seating, we get a real fire,
we get Dionne Warwick and the Beatles,
we get locals debating the varied claims to fame of Kings Lynn and Wisbech, and an unexpectedly chewy pint of Dark (NBSS 4) which Mrs RM swaps with her Boltmaker (3).
Is this enough to get this randomly selected pub gem a place in the new GBG ? I have no idea.
retiredmartin 
“Is this enough to get this randomly selected pub gem a place in the new GBG ?”
was it?
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It was, Andy, but as we were in the “time of embargo” (bit like a time of cholera but less pleasant) I couldn’t tell you then.
The quality of rural Grantham debutants is one of the big GBG stories of the last 2 years.
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