WHEN A PINT OF HAWKSTONE IS YOUR ONLY MAN

October 2026. Thaxted. Essex.

And finally in Thaxted, time for tea, after admiring the almshouses one last time.

I’d walked the bounds, hoping one of these half-timbered beauties had a Chinese menu pinned to the wall,

but intensive investigation found “only” an Indian restaurant, so Thaxted can’t be considered a real town.

It also loses a half mark for implementing its own independent punishment against the innocents of Manchester City by denying it a place in this window display.

I almost succumbed to the Family Kebab & Pizza van seemingly permanently parked next to The Star, the other perennial GBG entry till it scrapped cask last year.

The Star has a lot of life, much of it scrawled on the ceiling, but not a lot of beer choice. And you know my views on choice.

I settled for Mr Clarkson’s featureless Session Lager from Diddly Squat Farm, what Pub Curmudgeon would call a distress purchase, and settled into the large sofa by the fire in the absence of anything smaller.

Two locals then gave me the Spanish Inquisition about my beer choice, but failed to answer my own enquiries about the lack of crispy beef and Singapore rice (they didn’t seem as troubled as I was).

An interesting pub, and I mean that sincerely.

My curry choice was interesting, too.

Looking back at their menu, packed with interesting dishes called Maser Jhol and Shatkora, I wonder how I ended up with Chicken Pasanda, the curry for folk who find Korma too strong.

Oh yes, it was Queen Victoria’s favourite. Makes total sense now.

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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.

22 thoughts on “WHEN A PINT OF HAWKSTONE IS YOUR ONLY MAN”

      1. When looking for places to eat in mid Wales on a short holiday this summer, every pub website (surprisingly lots of northern (ex) Brains ones, now Marston of course) seemed to open with a big graphic of the ruddy-faced man holding a pint of his beer aloft. Great publicity for someone.

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      1. He’s drunk it ?
        Or would rather “his” Lager was brewed nearer the Cotswolds than at the Tennents Brewery in Glasgow ?

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      2. But is it “independent”, Paul ? That’s all that matters.

        I do find folk, both on Discourse, have very strong opinions people like Jeremy Clarkson and Tim Martin that they’ve never met, often based on misleading news reports. Humphrey Smith, harder to defend.

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      5. I know you’re right, Paul, I just find the level of vitriol on social media (which includes Discourse) to people folk have never met disappointing. The world seems fuelled by hate, except when we go on a Proper Day Out.

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      6. Martin, You might remember Tim Hamson in Oxford eight years ago saying that those who like pubs are good people, and that surely explains the absence of hate on all our Proper Days Out. I don’t hate anybody but there are five very well-known English men that I can’t think of a single positive thing about ( Tim M isn’t one of them ) and I don’t think any of them are proper PubMen.

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  5. I must be the only person I know who has never been on social media of any kind.
    I’m still waiting for someone to give me a reason valid enough to join it.
    Prof.

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    Reply

      1. Arguably, this is social media. Well, there’s no arguably about it. It is social media. Yes, I know when those two words are used, people think of twitter, instagram, tiktok and faecesbook (I have no interest in those – I’d rather read an actual book) but blogs, forums etc – even Untappd – are all social media.

        Don’t forget to like, comment and subscribe.

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