December 2025. Gravesend. Kent.
The route from home (1) to home (2) to home (3) is fairly well-established now. Friday saw the Rye to Waterbeach via St Pancras leg, interrupted by a short diversion at Ebbsfleet International, one of the UK’s least used (per square foot) railway stations now the Eurostar avoid it on evil financial grounds.
I’d worked out I could jump off at Ebbsfleet at 12:36, catch the 12:39 to Gravesend 4 minutes away, tick a pint in the Invicta, and get back on the next fast train to St. Pancras at 13:15. It’s almost like a Proper ticker like BRAPA again !
I’d reckoned without the Spanish inquisition no-one expects at Ebbsfleet, having to show a paper ticket and then an electronic ticket to cross the barriers between the “international” and “domestic” platforms, but as Russ will have noticed my connection was delayed 3 minutes anyway. Who says the sun doesn’t shine on the righteous ?
Mrs RM has Grand Plans for a blog series on the Kent Coast, the new Bryson or Theroux, but intends to start at Rochester rather than Gravesend.
That would be a mistake, I said, if it was good enough for Pocahontas to die in it’s good enough for me.
Little changed since 1617, the Xmas hamper still “mega”,
the pub tiling still the highlight of a town now boasting five (5) Guide entries, which is five more than Southwold. And they’re not all micros.
The Invicta Bar graces a graceless main square,
taking over the Working Mens Club and retaining a bit of that character,
but adding a family welcome and pub grub and a big yellow sofa.
Perhaps a rather different musical bill to the old WMC, too.
At lunchtime you get Faith Evans,
a cheery welcome at the bar, and a cool pint of Iron Pier from down the road for £4.
And if I don’t rave about it quite as much as those pints in Bexhill,
this is still NBSS 3.5. And remember what Pocahontas was heading to Gravesend for. Oh, it wasn’t NBSS 3.5 pints of pale ? My bad.
retiredmartin 
I’ll bet [British] Sea Power are only half the band Mega Sea Noise are.
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I saw (B)SP last year at the Leadmill and can confirm that to be true.
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Martin, in the pub where I am there’s a works Christmas drinks group in. “Dave Brent” is making speeches. A young lady saw me smiling, nodded, gave me the thumbs up, and winked.
You can’t tune in to this kind of thing on a half pint ticking visit, and it’s why I could never be a ticker.
To paraphrase Mae West “It ain’t the pubs in my life that matter. It’s the life in my pubs”.
But I admire anyone who can stick to an aim despite temptation.
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Etu, Five town centre pubs this lunchtime and Hogaths was the only one with works Christmas drinks group in. No speeches and young ladies without the smiles, nods, thumbs up or winks but that’s how it is in Stafford.
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Paul, a pub and its occupiers have to be given time, as you know. Many days can be unremarkable, but as long as the beer’s reasonably OK we can just sit back and contemplate, can’t we?
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Yes indeed Etu, except I’d got not quite twenty minutes for my Pedigree before the 4.20pm bus home.
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There’s so many strange and wonderful interactions and observations to be made in the pub that you’d be never manage in a coffee shop or cinema, or whatever normies do.
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Hear, hear! 👍
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Looks like you could do a half decent rail pub crawl along that line.
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“December 2025. Gravesend. Kent.”
(looks up)
I was expecting a plethora of graves in that photo.
“The route from home (1) to home (2) to home (3) is fairly well-established now.”
Blimey. I can well understand why at times you don’t know if you’re coming or going.
“one of the UK’s least used (per square foot) railway stations now the Eurostar avoid it on evil financial grounds.”
A good time to yell at the French again.
“It’s almost like a Proper ticker like BRAPA again !”
Si relies more on his Dad than anything else these days. 😉
“I’d reckoned without the Spanish inquisition no-one expects at Ebbsfleet,”
(slow golf clap)
– big Monty Python fan
“but as Russ will have noticed my connection was delayed 3 minutes anyway.”
Heh. Doing the old ‘delayed trains’ thing vice my ‘delayed planes’ thing. 👍
“That would be a mistake, I said, if it was good enough for Pocahontas to die in it’s good enough for me.”
Blimey. Look what happens when you take her out of her natural milieu. I’ll have to keep a closer eye on my beloved (half native and has the card to prove it).
“Little changed since 1617, the Xmas hamper still “mega”,”
(looks down)
Sorry, but not comfortable with the ‘Butchers of Gravesend’ selling any kind of meat. How do I know that don’t go graves(end) robbing in the dead of night?
“And they’re not all micros.”
(looks down)
Bloody hell. That looks almost AI generated.
“The Invicta Bar graces a graceless main square,”
(slow golf clap)
“taking over the Working Mens Club and retaining a bit of that character,”
(looks down)
Ya think?
“but adding a family welcome and pub grub and a big yellow sofa.”
(looks down)
That big yellow sofa is certainly keeping that couple engaged.
“Perhaps a rather different musical bill to the old WMC, too.”
(looks down)
Mega Sea Noise sounds like either a tsunami or a whole pod of whales getting really excited.
“and a cool pint of Iron Pier from down the road for £4.”
(looks down)
They must be new to this ‘cask’ thing. All of their pumps haven’t blackened with age.
“And remember what Pocahontas was heading to Gravesend for. Oh, it wasn’t NBSS 3.5 pints of pale ? My bad.”
Even though it seems she was rather fond of ‘pale’, I doubt it was that. 😉
Cheers
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