January 2024. Royal Tunbridge Wells. Plenty of opportunities to revisit the Wells while helping my Father-in-Law recuperate, but the last of the Tunbridge GBG entries had eluded me till now, despite being the most “Proper” of all the Guide entries. The Royal Oak looks a suburban grown-ups pub, and indeed it is. perhaps more of… Continue reading A SYMPHONY IN BROWN – THE ROYAL OAK, ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS
Tag: Kent
MURK IN THE WELLS
January 2024. Royal Tunbridge Wells. On the Monday evening Mrs RM joined me on a short tour of Tunbridge Wells in search of murky keg, brown beer and a kebab of unknow origin. In truth, the first Monday after New Year is never going to be busy; even the Spoons was quiet, but I was… Continue reading MURK IN THE WELLS
THE DAY THE SNOW FELL ON ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS
January 2024. Royal Tunbridge Wells. On Monday morning the snow fell in the Weald of Kent, rather scuppering any plans to take my Father-in-Law out for a drive to Lewes. Shockingly, despite having a Conservative MP, the Government was, as usual, passive in their response to this crisis; Mrs RM was working on her blog,… Continue reading THE DAY THE SNOW FELL ON ROYAL TUNBRIDGE WELLS
ON THE ROCKS – HARVEY’S AT MOUNT EDGCUMBE
January 2024. Royal Tunbridge Wells. I told you in that last post that Southborough only has a pub and a Chinese takeaway (and, to be fair, the Weald of Kent) to commend it. I lied. Rusbridge Family Bakery will sell you a Coronation Chicken roll, posh crisps, and a large Eccles cake for under a… Continue reading ON THE ROCKS – HARVEY’S AT MOUNT EDGCUMBE
SMALL STEPS, BUT FATHER-IN-LAW MAKES IT TO THE PUB
January 2024. Southborough. Royal Tunbridge Wells. We spent a couple of nights round Mrs RM’s Mum and Dad’s, seeing how my father-in-law is getting on after a lengthy period of hospitalisation and rehabilitation. He just wanted a Chinese takeaway and a trip to the pub, bless him. Only 8 minutes to the Imperial; you remember… Continue reading SMALL STEPS, BUT FATHER-IN-LAW MAKES IT TO THE PUB
HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY COUNTY. No. 18 – KENT
Finishing Kent always feels like a BIG achievement, something about all that coastline, all those different train lines, all those wrong micro opening times. And picking the first five in Kent has been the toughest pick so far. I’ve deliberately left out the Nelson Arms in Tonbridge, as that had enough publicity of late but… Continue reading HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY COUNTY. No. 18 – KENT
YOU SHOULD ALWAYS GO FOR THE BEER WITH THE FLASHING PUMP CLIP
Christmas Eve 2023. Tonbridge. Finally, at 20:24, (almost) appropriately, we headed back to our Premier Inn ahead of the ordeals of a family Christmas. Blimey, don’t some folk make an effort ! It looks like Mrs RM almost wandered into the Somerhill by mistake. I remember that fondly from the short-lived Hooden Horse chain that… Continue reading YOU SHOULD ALWAYS GO FOR THE BEER WITH THE FLASHING PUMP CLIP
THE PUNCH AND JUDY
Christmas Eve 2023. Tonbridge. An impromptu Christmas Eve crawl with the lads reached its crescendo (?) as we headed back to the Tonbridge Premier Inn for an early night ahead of “Ordeal by Turkey”. So on leaving the Station we resisted the undoubted charms of the Constitutional Club (Abbot, I think). But, on turning the… Continue reading THE PUNCH AND JUDY
TONBRIDGE’S BRO-COUNTRY PUB
Christmas Eve 2023. Tonbridge. You learn something new every day. On Christmas Eve I learnt my two sons were quite capable of choosing a third Tonbridge pub of the night without my steer, though the only possible reason for picking the Station House would have been that it was there. Unmistakably a Craft Union place,… Continue reading TONBRIDGE’S BRO-COUNTRY PUB
TOP 100 PUBS – THE NELSON ARMS, TONBRIDGE
Christmas Eve 2023. Tonbridge. The great Taylor Family Christmas Eve pub crawl headed aimlessly south from Fuggles, their tummies full of toastie and “hot dog”, without a clue what to now we weren’t hanging about for a family curry. Harvey’s in a Tudor hotel ? Looking after suspicious packages outside the fun pub ? Nope.… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE NELSON ARMS, TONBRIDGE
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