BOTTLES IT IS THEN

December 2025. Rye Harbour.

I’d popped down up to Waterbeach to see Dad on Friday, leaving Mrs RM to her blog without me ruining her WiFi.

“Are you back tomorrow?” she asks, oblivious to plans.

Obviously she wanted something brought down to Rye, probably chocolate*, so I caught the first train back, the one with Fen boys on Madri and crying toddlers,

and two hours later joined her (to complete indifference) in the holiday park club house where she waited for the laundry.

It’s had a decent spruce-up to justify the site fees, and looks like a Marston’s eatery now. The musical acts sing Dire Straits rather than Des O’Connor, and someone on Untappd had noted a bottle of Romney in the fridge.

Sadly, the fridge’s highlight was Newky Brown, so overpriced Neck Oil it is. Ugh.

If ever a situation called for a proper beer it was now, and Mrs RM remembered I’d seen Sheps Christmas Ale in William the Conqueror.

Rye Harbour’s only pub, it’s cosy but not cheap, though I think that half litre of 1698 costs less than a pint of Spitfire.

Rich and fruity, it slips down well with a Cypriot burger, but I wish I’d had that Master Brew I raved about last week.

*Yes, I brought chocolate

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

36 thoughts on “BOTTLES IT IS THEN”

  4. “I’d popped (down) up to Waterbeach to see Dad on Friday”.

    You’re life is up, down, and all around!

    “Obviously she wanted something brought down to Rye, probably chocolate*”

    Tsk, tsk. You, as a good husband, should be able to read her mind by now.

    “so I caught the first train back, the one with Fen boys on Madri and crying toddlers,”

    And Stella Artois from the looks of it. Also, isn’t it amazing how cunning advertising can propel some unknown lager into famedom in a year (we have the Madri push over here as well).

    And, if one of the toddlers is crying because they’re NOT having a beer, keep an eye on that one when they’re older!
    (unless of course by “crying toddlers” you meant some of the lads were sipping their sweet tears of agony as a chaser to the Madri)

    “and two hours later joined her (to complete indifference)”

    Pfft. As a good wife she can DEFINITELY read your mind and knew you were there before you showed up.

    “Sadly, the fridge’s highlight was Newky Brown, so overpriced Neck Oil it is. Ugh.”

    Couldn’t you just walk to William the Conqueror?

    “If ever a situation called for a proper beer it was now, and Mrs RM remembered I’d seen Sheps Christmas Ale in William the Conqueror.”

    Aha! Pubs do off sales? Where you buy it and take it home?

    “Rye Harbour’s only pub, it’s cosy but not cheap, though I think that half litre of 1698 costs less than a pint of Spitfire.”

    It looks way better than where you were in the camper park whatsis.

    “Rich and fruity, it slips down well with a Cypriot burger, but I wish I’d had that Master Brew I raved about last week.”

    We can’t turn back the clock alas. But fond memories lead us forward in the hopes of fonder memories.

    “*Yes, I brought chocolate”

    See! You mind reader, you. 😎

    Cheers

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    1. Indeed, the William the Conqueror was open, but I wasn’t allowed to leave the holiday park till the laundry was was done (and then we went to the pub for tea) while the drying was happening.

      I am surprised that Madri has hit Canada. In fairness, not a bad cold lager and a nice glass, which is what matters.

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      3. Ah, laundry duty, gotcha.

        I may try a Madri, in the summer, when it’s very hot. Also be curious if it comes in its own glass, over here. 😉

        Liked by 1 person

      7. No Martin, Sheffield’s Hope & Anchor brewery exhibited their beers to worldwide buyers at the 1949 Canadian International Trade Fair in Toronto.
        Canada took their Jubilee Stout in exchange for their Carling Black Label which I remember being mainly brewed at M&B Cape Hill before its 2002 move to Burton.
        Bass in Burton at the end of the nineteenth century had ignored advice that Lager would be the beer of the future.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. “I thought Labatt’s was the Canadian crime perpetrated on the UK !”

    Labatt’s might have been the big cheese in the 80’s but Stafford Paul is correct; Carling pushed Canadian lager onto the UK as early as 1952, which became very popular in the 70’s.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carling_Black_Label#United_Kingdom

    Cheers

    PS – I am replying to comments as we are currently stuck in Hinton, Alberta with a frozen vehicle. We drove for 8 hours on the 24th, through driving winds, wet snow and other horrible things. The 8 hour drive should have taken 5. We were so exhausted (and not that we could have done anything once we stopped anyway), we pulled into our lodging just after 6pm. The car sat until 10am the next day. The temperature dropped overnight to -34C. All of the snow and moisture and whatnot that was driven by the wind through our front grill into the engine bits under the hood, froze, solid. A kindly tow driver now has our vehicle in a heated garage in the hopes warming it up will allow it to start (i.e. oil pan, engine block etc.). We are staying an extra day in our hotel so we’re warm and have food (and drink!). I’m in an ok frame of mind to reply to comments, but not in a good enough frame of mind to reply to actual posts. 😏

    Merry Christmas! 🎉😎

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      1. Thanks Martin. We safe and warm and have learned our lesson. We are too old to drive through the mountains in the winter. 😉

        Cheers! 🍻

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Huzzah! Our car was merely frozen and needed to ‘thaw out’. My darling wife is being picked up by the tow truck driver to go get our vehicle from his shop (15 minutes out of town), while I go settle up with the hotel for overstaying our checkout.

        It’s a Christmas miracle! 🎉

        Also, this means I won’t be replying (most likely) till at least the 5th of January.

        Cheers! 🍻

        Liked by 1 person

      5. “You’ll probably be replying for the whole of the 6th then !”

        As you can see, I took a bit longer to respond as it’s now the 13th (14th for you). January is a big of a weird month for me. After the letdown of leaving the grandkids, and the horrid dark, cloudy, windswept, rainy days here (a bit like the UK 😉), I find my muse deserts me (having to write my yearly Christmas, birthday and anniversary poems for me dear wife takes a bit out of me as well). Anyhoo, I’ll be replying at least once a day, but maybe not going full hog, and not backtracking (quelle horreur!). 😏

        Off to reply to whatever latest post you have up. 😎

        Cheers! 🍻

        Liked by 1 person

      6. But, but, that means they’ll be at least 45 posts you don’t comment on ! Just write something and then copy and paste it to respond to all the other posts, no-one will notice.

        Like

      7. “It’s just as well that we have the Gulf Stream. I am amazed that -34 didn’t cause terminal damage to the car.”

        Once it gets below -40 (C or F, that’s where they match) we keep the vehicles running 24/7, even to refuel! (but that’s only if they’re diesel).

        Cheers

        Liked by 1 person

      9. “Just write something and then copy and paste it to respond to all the other posts, no-one will notice.”

        I will ponder that, sort of. 😉

        Liked by 1 person

      12. “Over here -4, let alone -40, is greeted as the new Ice Age.”

        When I trundled over from our hotel in Hinton, AB to the nearby Burger King (about 130m) on Christmas Eve to get something for dinner (everything else was closed), it was -24C. I put on a toque, but never bothered with gloves or zipping up my winter coat. 😉

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Well, props to you for not having to sip (or chug! 🍺) out of a stem glass. That could have been the final insult. Well, insult is a relative term, the Ale sees to that! Cheers! 🏄‍♂️

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