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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: The Ship of Fools Guidebook to Drinking Spots in Obscure Places
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
16 May, 2015 12:34
quote:
Originally posted by Uncle Pete:
The Ship of Fools Guidebook to Drinking Spots in Obscure Places is a compendium of excellence.
An excellent compendium indeed. But, a compendium not properly recorded anywhere. So, here's our chance to put that to rights.
If anyone wishes to organise a group of Shipmates to further investigate anywhere mentioned in this thread then starting a new thread in All Saints is highly recommended.
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
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Posted
16 May, 2015 12:38
And, to kick things off.
The Rock of Cashel, Fukushima-shi. A delightful little bar, wonderfully stocked with single malt whisky and Guinness on tap, serves a good fish and chips too. Only recommended for small groups, as the bar has seating for only 7 people.
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Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
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luvanddaisies
the'fun'in'fundie'™
# 5761
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Posted
16 May, 2015 13:13
The Old Forge, Knoydart.
They call themselves mainland Britain's remotest pub, and it's a lovely pub with really good food.
It's 7nm from Mallaig, just about here.
I don't know how you get there on land <shrugs> but if you come in on a yacht, they have mooring buoys and a little slipway so you can trundle ashore in your tender, you can book your table (if you're intending to eat there, which you'd be mad not to, unless you're on a major major budget drive) on VHF channel 12, and you can get a shower, use their wifi, all those handy little things you want ashore, really.
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." (Mark Twain)
Posts: 3711 | From: all at sea. | Registered: Apr 2004
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MrsBeaky
Shipmate
# 17663
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Posted
16 May, 2015 13:37
The Turk's Head
St Agnes
Isles of Scilly
Get a boat over in the evening, walk to the west of the island and see the sun start going down, then walk back to eat, drink and be merry at the pub.
Return in the magical half light by boat.
Oh how I miss Scilly!
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"It is better to be kind than right."
http://davidandlizacooke.wordpress.com
Posts: 693 | From: UK/ Kenya | Registered: Apr 2013
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
16 May, 2015 14:06
This is not remote, but The Water Witch in Lancaster has a scenic canal side location and seeing as Alan mentioned whisky, a menu of single malt Scotch filling an A4 sheet. (Irish, American, Canadian, Japanese and other whiskies are on the reverse of the sheet). They also have a real ale selection and food.
For more remote pints, the Rose and Crown at Cop Hill near Slaithwaite, Yorkshire, has spectacular views and beers.
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Last ever sig ...
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Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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RooK
1 of 6
# 1852
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Posted
16 May, 2015 15:59
50.104078, -117.602956 - little prospectors cabin
Stumbled on it while exploring on dirtbikes with my friend Rob Stuart in 1987. It was just a simple log/plywood affair at the site of what was a failed gold prospect, but had been modestly updated by unknown hunters, hikers, backcountry skiers. Sturdily built, and with obvious signs of grizzly bear interest, it was nonetheless unlocked. 16 bunks stacked like Jenga™ at one end, an utterly simple kitchen at the other, with a cast-iron wood stove in the middle.
And a bottle of amber gold on the shelf.
We drank it, and were quite merry. Ate some huckleberries growing lushly nearby, sobered up, and rattled our bikes back down to the camp at Valhalla Park - where my family used to summer every year. The next day, I stole one of my dad's bottles of something-something hard liquor (I really never did know anything about spirits consumption-wise), and rode back up to replace what we had consumed.
The next year, I brought up a few friends to see if the cabin was still there. It was. Moreover, I had them all bring bottled spirits of their own in addition to their customary beer (I had realized such things were not really for me by then). We were pleased to note that the place was not only standing, but now stocked with several bottles of non-descript liquor (my replacement gone). We had a fantastic weekend. My friends seemed too intimidated by the roving gigantic grizzlies to get too drunk, so we ended up leaving most of our haul behind for whomever.
The year after that, another trip with a large compliment of friends revealed that the cabin was now brimming with a crazy diversity of alcoholic beverages. My dad's truck had gotten damaged on the drive up, requiring removing one half the brake system to get it moving, but it only made the adventure more legendary. We romped through lingering snow fields in June, and laughed all night.
So it went every year for a few more years. My friends and I were part of an anonymous competition to stock this remote cabin with a vast bounty of interesting drinks - and we lost badly.
It is possible that the competition rages on to this very day, though that seems incredible after so many years. I encourage anybody to be bold enough to find out. And report back.
Posts: 15274 | From: Portland, Oregon, USA, Earth | Registered: Nov 2001
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jacobsen
seeker
# 14998
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Posted
16 May, 2015 17:22
The Falkland Arms, Great Tew, Oxfordshire
It took an American to recommend this place to me. Well worth a visit - good local beers, nice food and very picturesque and old world. Just watch those traditionally uneven stone floors.
[Code fixed. Preview Psot is your fiend. - Ariel, Heaven Host.]
[ 16. May 2015, 17:01: Message edited by: Ariel ]
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But God, holding a candle, looks for all who wander, all who search. - Shifra Alon
Beauty fades, dumb is forever-Judge Judy
The man who made time, made plenty.
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Oscar the Grouch
Adopted Cascadian
# 1916
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Posted
16 May, 2015 18:53
It's been a few years since I was there, but if you want a great place to drink in a really obscure spot, you should try The Packhorse at Widdop, which is about 5 miles from Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire.
It's in an incredibly remote spot on the top of the Pennines and there are some lovely walks around the area. One of my favourites was a circular hike starting and ending at the pub.The food was always good and they have over 100 single malt whiskeys to try, as well as some good local ales.
I see that they now have a holiday cottage available, as well as B&B rooms.
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Faradiu, dundeibáwa weyu lárigi weyu
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Oscar the Grouch
Adopted Cascadian
# 1916
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Posted
16 May, 2015 21:57
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
For fun pubs in obscure places, there are also the Smuggler's Inn at Osmington Mills,
Been there, but many many years ago.
Another suggestion is The Brickmakers at Windlesham, Surrey
Warning - this isn't cheap (nothing in Windlesham is cheap!), but the food has always been excellent and there's been a reasonable selection of beers.
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Faradiu, dundeibáwa weyu lárigi weyu
Posts: 3871 | From: Gamma Quadrant, just to the left of Galifrey | Registered: Dec 2001
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
16 May, 2015 22:11
The Boat Inn at Penallt, Monmouthshire, which is beside the river Wye.
You actually park on the opposite bank in England (village called Redbrook) then walk across a disused railway bridge to drink in Wales.
Set into the rock face, it doesn't have a cellar so all the beer comes from the barrel, which is propped up against the back wall.
The door is always open when it rains so the stream which comes down the hillside at the back can come through the pub and out of the front door...
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
18 May, 2015 08:17
The Ship Inn Lindisfarne.
Comfortable, friendly and sells great beer. If you wait 'till the causeway is closed the whole island is quiet and peaceful. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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*Leon*
Shipmate
# 3377
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Posted
19 May, 2015 11:21
They brew good cider from local apples in Marpha, on the slopes of Annapurna.
Posts: 831 | From: london | Registered: Oct 2002
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luvanddaisies
the'fun'in'fundie'™
# 5761
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Posted
20 May, 2015 17:45
Marisco Tavern, Lundy Island
We anchored off here one (maybe twice?), and popped ashore in the tender, staggered uphill and visited the pub.
It's quite a nice pub, I seem to remember having a good time there, although we didn't have long because there was a changeable forecast, so we had to be back on the ship not-too-late. It has lots of bits of and from boats on the walls - most of which are from vessels that have foundered, which is interesting, but sobering, if you've just popped there from the boat you work on!
ETA: They don't allow mobile phones in there, I think - although I'd be pretty surprised if you got a signal.
[ 20. May 2015, 16:46: Message edited by: luvanddaisies ]
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." (Mark Twain)
Posts: 3711 | From: all at sea. | Registered: Apr 2004
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
28 May, 2015 23:15
There used (30 years or so ago) to be a pub near Ashover in Derbyshire that wasn't even on any surfaced road. It stood on a junction between various green lanes. It was popular with the locals, particularly on a Sunday evening, but sadly it closed.
Another one I've enjoyed is Tucker's Grave vaguely near Norton St Phillips south of Bath.
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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
28 May, 2015 23:53
What about the Berney Arms in Norfolk? You can get there by train (it has its own station), on foot and (I think) by boat, but not in a car. Not sure if it's still open though.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
29 May, 2015 09:49
You're wrong and you're right, I'm afraid ... there are TWO Berney Armses, one in the Broads and the other in West Norfolk.
I was thinking of the one in the Broads.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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quetzalcoatl
Shipmate
# 16740
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Posted
29 May, 2015 12:50
The Ship Inn, Purls Bridge, Manea, in Fenland, Cambs. Considerable navigational skills are required to find this place, which is on a dead end, next to the Old Bedford River. Well known to birders, as it's close to the Ouse Washes of ornithological fame. Often threatened with closure, so hurry.
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Posts: 9878 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2011
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Dormouse
Glis glis – Ship's rodent
# 5954
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Posted
29 May, 2015 13:01
The Pot Kiln isn't in a particularly obscure place - but it did take me ages to find it! I like it very much & escape there when I'm teaching at Summer School in the area.
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
29 May, 2015 13:30
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
I've been to the Pack Horse Inn, and the Tan Hill Inn. It comes of walking the Pennine Way with some friends who regarded it as a glorified pub crawl.
That's because it is.
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Might as well ask the bloody cat.
Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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betjemaniac
Shipmate
# 17618
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Posted
29 May, 2015 14:18
I must admit to be slightly disappointed by this thread, as it seems to have become a tourist guide to nice places you may find yourself in. What I think would be more useful, and allied to what I thought was the meaning of obscure, would be suggestions for drinking spots in utterly random and not particularly reason-to-go-there places.
Because sometimes the gems are unexpected.
So, for a kick-off, if you ever find yourself stranded in unpromising locations....
Kidderminster - The Station Inn, Farfield. Looks like the Rovers Return, in a back street of terraces, but makes all its food from scratch and is all round wonderful.
Bicester - The Nightingale. Typical new-build (although now ten years old) pub on the New Langford housing estate, but quietly one of the best pubs in town for food and general atmosphere.
Oxford - The Fir Tree; far enough up the Iffley Road to be well off the tourist or anything else trail but homemade stonebaked pizza and up to 8 real ales at any one time. And only really the locals to drink them...
Pensax - The Bell. Hidden in darkest Worcestershire, no reason to go there apart from the pub itself, which is pretty close to perfection.
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And is it true? For if it is....
Posts: 1481 | From: behind the dreaming spires | Registered: Mar 2013
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Baptist Trainfan
Shipmate
# 15128
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Posted
29 May, 2015 14:25
I believe that Huddersfield Railway Station boasts not one but two Pubs: "The King's Head" and "The Head of Steam". It also happens to be one of the finest stations in the land.
Posts: 9750 | From: The other side of the Severn | Registered: Sep 2009
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
29 May, 2015 17:03
Another one that's off the road network is the Tunnel House near Kemble, Gloucestershire, which is nice but fairly swish these days.
It gets its name and odd location because it's at one end of a former canal tunnel which the bargees used to have to leg through. So they'd have been fairly thirsty by the time they reached the fresh air again.
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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
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betjemaniac
Shipmate
# 17618
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Posted
29 May, 2015 17:27
Near Alnham, middle of nowhere, The Bridge of Aln: No particular reason to be in this neck of the woods, and it's often not even open, but you can't beat drinking in what is essentially a 1970s rural pub leatherette timewarp, staffed by octogenarians and with a choice of bitter or spirits, nowt else.
Denstone, The Tavern - round the back of the main JCB factory in Rocester is this largely unremarkable village pub that does being an unremarkable village pub very well. And I mean that in the most positive way going.
Hollington, The Raddle - on the back road between one small village and the next in high-rural north Staffs, reasonably near Croxden Abbey ruins (which are worth visiting if you're in the Dove valley but not worth the detour otherwise). Entirely unsympathetic 1960s flat-roof extension on an unremarkable older building. But a good pint of Pedigree and excellent old-school bar food.
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And is it true? For if it is....
Posts: 1481 | From: behind the dreaming spires | Registered: Mar 2013
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
29 May, 2015 22:37
Remote Dartmoor Inn, the highest in Southern England, with lots of legends and tales to read about around the fire. The Warren House Inn
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Sparrow
Shipmate
# 2458
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Posted
30 May, 2015 08:25
Many years ago there was a very remote, gorgeous old pub called the Ty Coch Inn on the beach at Porthdinnlaen in North Wales, near Nefyn. You had to walk along the beach or across a golf course to get to it.
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For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
30 May, 2015 09:36
When I see the thread title, I read it as being a cookbook. This hotel at St Albans:
http://www.settlersarms.com.au/
is only a 2 hour drive from Sydney (the site says 90 minutes, but that's unlikely) but there is a river crossing by ferry, after which mush of the winding road is dirt and loose gravel. Not for the faint-hearted at times, but relaxing when you get there. The food's not half bad either.
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
30 May, 2015 10:16
If you turn left after taking ferry on the left you will go up and over mountain and on to Windsor or down to Leets vale on river. St Albans road is a highway compared to this.
Once at St Albans, continue along the convict built track to Wollombi. At the pub there you can sample Dr Jurds Jungle Juice. This has a recipe including sherry and spirits but often tastes as if all the dregs from glasses are poured in. Leave the food alone. Standards have dropped dramatically.
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Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
30 May, 2015 16:28
Lots for beer lovers here, but what about obscure pubs for cider lovers? Beer isn't an option for us gluten-free people.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
30 May, 2015 18:20
Then suggest some. I don't drink beer either, but a pub is a pub and there are other drinks available, and indeed, even food, which can also be a reason to visit a pub.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
30 May, 2015 20:35
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Then suggest some. I don't drink beer either, but a pub is a pub and there are other drinks available, and indeed, even food, which can also be a reason to visit a pub.
Sorry for not being clear, my post was me asking for suggestions. Most of the posts have been talking about the beer as the main reason to visit.
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
30 May, 2015 20:42
I'm sure if people have cider pubs they'll probably post them. The OP is basically about obscure gems that are worth visiting, for any reason.
I have two such obscure gems, but if I post them they won't be obscure any more.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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ArachnidinElmet
Shipmate
# 17346
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Posted
30 May, 2015 21:47
quote:
Originally posted by Pomona:
Lots for beer lovers here, but what about obscure pubs for cider lovers? Beer isn't an option for us gluten-free people.
This might not be universal, but I've often found that Real Ale pubs often serve specialist cider too.
Saying any pub in Wakefield is obscure is a bit like saying it's hard to find sand on a beach, but Fernandes Tap is very much off the beaten track, in what was a Victorian yard and is now the back of a kebab shop. Specialists in Dutch Jenever, microbrewed beer and extremely potent (Black Rat, lives up to it's name) cider.
Posts: 1887 | From: the rhubarb triangle | Registered: Sep 2012
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
31 May, 2015 09:39
Almost all pubs round here sell cider. Thatcher's Dry IMHO is a particularly enjoyable experience. Quite a lot sell the rough cloudy stuff with bits floating in it.
Pomona, if you like that sort of cider and want an experience, you could try a visit to this place near Wedmore. It's a farm, though, not a pub and quite difficult to find even with a map.
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Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
31 May, 2015 22:07
quote:
Originally posted by Sparrow:
Many years ago there was a very remote, gorgeous old pub called the Ty Coch Inn on the beach at Porthdinnlaen in North Wales, near Nefyn. You had to walk along the beach or across a golf course to get to it.
It was still there a couple of years ago, went there on holiday.
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Pomona
Shipmate
# 17175
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Posted
01 June, 2015 00:02
Enoch, sounds perfect! Round here (Thames Valley) Stowford Press is the usual cider that's not Strongbow or the fruit flavoured/super-sweet type (eg Magners).
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Consider the work of God: Who is able to straighten what he has bent? [Ecclesiastes 7:13]
Posts: 5319 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2012
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
01 June, 2015 22:00
Having recently been in Herefordshire I was surprised at the quality of even the sparkly keg ciders, compared to what we have readily available in the grim North. I heard that there are bars away from the madding crowds where serious ciders from under the counter were available.
Sadly I didn't take notes, as it was the last day of our visit.
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Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
01 June, 2015 22:47
I doubt very much that any shippies will ever get to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and go to The Woods. They will have a selection of their standard regularly brewed things, but you never quite know what additional things they might have on tap. The poetry nights are kind of ridiculous in a have another drink way.
Those of you who can say the city and province name, or even try, and come through Saskatchewan, I will consider travelling to meet you and stand you to whatever beer, swill or grog you care to try. I'd like to say there's a reason other than that to come to Saskatoon, but the The Guess Who says, there's not really. So don't go there. Joni Mitchell and Gordie Howe left, though Yann Martel is still there.
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
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Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
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mark_in_manchester
not waving, but...
# 15978
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Posted
04 June, 2015 19:29
quote:
Many years ago there was a very remote, gorgeous old pub called the Ty Coch Inn on the beach at Porthdinnlaen in North Wales, near Nefyn. You had to walk along the beach or across a golf course to get to it.
Still there - but like Nefyn it is full of yummie-mummies in Chelsea (sorry, Chester) tractors. Not that I'm a son of Glyndwr myself, of course. Abersoch is even worse.
But...you could drive up the coast a few miles to Llithfaen, turn left and head for the sea and an abandoned granite quarry in the cliffs at Porth-y-Nant. This is a great place to get your kids killed (ignoring the danger-keep-out signs) with clambering over spalling concrete structures and collapsing dry-stone embankments. There are railway remains to peer at, a large and very rusty lathe hiding in a roofless shed half-way up a cliff, and even reputedly a rail tunnel or two at the top levels which I've not found yet. The crushing plant remains look particularly lethal (did you know quarries all switched from cobbles to chippings for tarmac in exactly 1909?) And because the quarry village has been done up as a residential centre for Welsh language study, it has a very pose-y and most unexpected caff / restaurant (OK, not a pub, but nearly) for those of your party less interested in industrial archaeology. You can order in English, luckily, without someone threatening arson.
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"We are punished by our sins, not for them" - Elbert Hubbard
(so good, I wanted to see it after my posts and not only after those of shipmate JBohn from whom I stole it)
Posts: 1596 | Registered: Oct 2010
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Carex
Shipmate
# 9643
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Posted
04 June, 2015 20:52
I don't know whether the bar is still open in the old logging town of Cascade in the mountains of northwest California, back up behind Lake Oroville. It has had a varied existence over the years. (It was converted into a one-room schoolhouse briefly in the late 1970s - the teacher had the longest desk in the state, with 7 stools.) The selection of beverages was often limited to a few varieties in cans, as there were no regular deliveries.
But it was an unexpected oasis in an otherwise unpopulated part of the mountains, probably 5 miles from the nearest paved road. Especially if you drove across the lava cap - a mile or two of rough lava and scrub trees, then the road dipped down into a valley, across a narrow, rickety plank bridge (often requiring someone to get out to watch the wheel placement), and up to the front porch.
It catered to the few loggers still working in the area, fishermen and hunters in season, and campers and others who knew where it was.
Posts: 1425 | Registered: Jun 2005
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luvanddaisies
the'fun'in'fundie'™
# 5761
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Posted
28 June, 2015 12:42
In a bit of Corfu mostly populated by built-for-tourists towns that do all-inclusives where lying by the pool or on the beach is for many the extent of exploration of the area, most eateries do food for those who want exactly the same fare as they eat at home, and the bars at night serve up a plethora of tribute acts of wildly varying quality we found a lovely bar that does great food, has a wonderful view, looks gorgeous, makes fabulous cocktails, and even has the option of a couple of swings you can sit on and look out to sea. It's called Seventh Heaven, and it's by Logas Beach, near Sidari in Corfu. I loved it, but my friends wanted to go back to the town after dinner, so we only had a couple of drinks there ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
It's so worth a visit - I didn't expect it to be so lovely.
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." (Mark Twain)
Posts: 3711 | From: all at sea. | Registered: Apr 2004
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
28 June, 2015 18:59
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
... The Fox Inn at Ansty
Oooh- staying there with Mrs A & the dog in a few weeks- looking forward to it! Any particular recommendations?
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My beard is a testament to my masculinity and virility, and demonstrates that I am a real man. Trouble is, bits of quiche sometimes get caught in it.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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Spike
Mostly Harmless
# 36
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Posted
28 June, 2015 19:13
The Bell near Tadworth in Surrey (confusingly, known as The Rat to locals) is well hidden away. It's a long way back from the main road and accesses by a dirt track. It's a few years since I've been there, but there used to be no signposts meaning you had to either know where it was or stumble across it by accident.
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"May you get to heaven before the devil knows you're dead" - Irish blessing
Posts: 12860 | From: The Valley of Crocuses | Registered: May 2001
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
28 June, 2015 19:16
I must make a habit of stumbling on dirt tracks off the main road in England then
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
28 June, 2015 21:49
quote:
Originally posted by Albertus:
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
... The Fox Inn at Ansty
Oooh- staying there with Mrs A & the dog in a few weeks- looking forward to it! Any particular recommendations?
Well, you could walk to The Brace of Pheasants if you fancied it and you're not far from the Cerne Abbas giant, or Sturminster Newton, Dorchester, Blandford Forum, or Sherborne. And it's not far to the Jurassic Coast. Depends on how far afield you want to travel?
You're a bit early for the carnivals or the Great Dorset Steam Fair as they tend to be in the early autumn. Although the local shops advertise wellington boots for the Steam Fair as it's notorious for being wet. The West Country has a whole series of events in late August and September, after the harvest.
If you are sightseeing, Sherborne is lovely - and the abbey is worth seeing. It's the middle of Hardy country, so you've got Hardy's house at Stur (Sturminster Newton), which is pretty, as is the town. There's a working water mill which sells its own flour and a nice river walk from the town to the Fiddleford Inn and back. And Milton Abbas is always a must.
The Crown in Blandford is in a good location and held back on improvements; while everyone else was converting to gas powered pumps they retained their hand pumps as it was effectively the brewery pub for Hall and Woodhouse. The church there is Georgian and used to be worth seeing, although it has been reordered.
If you want to walk, the Dorset Gap is very atmospheric, and the villages between there and Ansty are pretty - Bingham's Melcombe and Melcombe Bingham (I kid you not). The Brewery Woodhouse family live in one of them. The hill to one side of the gap, Nettlecombe Tout, has earthworks and what looks like ancient farming ridges, as you see in Peru.
It rather depends on what you want to do. I grew up around there, as did my daughter, so have walked, cycled and driven most of that area. The coast is about an hour away. We used to take off to the beach after school and spend the evening swimming, eat a (sandy) picnic or barbecue supper and roll home in the dark at this time of year.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
28 June, 2015 22:53
That's enough to be going on with for a start- many thanks!
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My beard is a testament to my masculinity and virility, and demonstrates that I am a real man. Trouble is, bits of quiche sometimes get caught in it.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008
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Clint Boggis
Shipmate
# 633
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Posted
28 June, 2015 23:42
I must try and visit some of those recommended Dorset (ie local) drinking places though I know some of them already. I just need transport and a companion or two!
Anyway, back to making recommendations. In 2002 on a student field trip our group had a study week at the Centre for Alternative Technology in West Wales staying on site with all the green energy systems, water and waste recycling and food growing.
One evening we found a 'pub' within easy walking distance - a mile or so. I've forgotten the name and village, if any. It was a combined shop, pub and Post Office. Not much choice of beers or food but you could buy a pint and a jar of Marmite or a box of cornflakes! It was so small our group of a dozen filled the place, sitting close round a billiards table.
Does anyone know it?
Posts: 1505 | From: south coast | Registered: Jun 2001
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