retiredmartin

November 2024. Bodle Street Green. East Sussex.

Mrs RM jumped at the chance to tick the White Horse Inn;

5 minutes from where she used to visit her aunt in historic Herstmonceux, a photo opportunity in Battle, and an attractive looking GBG debutant in the unlikely sounding Bodle Street Green (pop. not many).

looking little different from (I guess) a century ago,

except that in 1924 you’d be put in the village stocks for asking for a taster.

If one pic sums up the White Horse it’s this one;

you could be in the Queen’s Head in Newton, where the upper classes in their jodhpurs are often spotted.

But genuine country folk are often far better Pub Men and Women than the middle classes in Brunning and Pricey, less standing on ceremony, more standing at the bar. I loved this pub.

I focused on the mustard trousers, Mrs RM focused on the gossip.

“Is that her dad or her lover ?” she whispers, at about 114 decibels. It’s her dad. They’re discussing VAT limits, lunch at The Ivy, and (of course) the location of Poundland.

It feels like a dining pub, but the trade is Harvey’s and a large glass of Chiraz,

and Mrs RM’s Lakedown Fireball, like my Sussex a cool, rich 3.5.

And on the way to the Gents, a piano,

where I’m sure a local could have conjured up a rather better version of Joe Jackson’s “Different for Girls” than the Woolworths cover we’re treated to.

Is “Different for Girls” sexist ? Perhaps. The less said about the garage-themed Gents, the better.