For a brief interlude I return to native soil for this post,
but with quite a lot more to write about, I shall no doubt be spouting on about
my experiences in the Netherlands
for some while yet.
Anyway, it’s always good to be back home after time away, however
briefly that might be, and the prospect of a long weekend ahead, only mitigated
by the fact it’s the last Bank Holiday before Christmas, meant there were a
number of beer festivals, and other beer-related events going on to tempt me
away from house, garden and family.
There were at least three such events taking place within a
ten mile radius of my house, and probably quite a few others which I was
unaware of, so with this in mind, it was a choice between the long established
beer festival at the Halfway House, near Brenchley with its 60+ beers, or the
much smaller scale event at the Kentish Rifleman at Dunk’s Green. The Bank
Holiday Weekend represented the first ever beer festival for the latter pub, so
with the prospect of combining a walk with a visit to the Rifleman, the latter
pub was the one which received my patronage.
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| Hadlow Tower |
My friend Don, who is a keen rambler, had organised a walk
to Dunk’s Green as part of West Kent CAMRA’s social programme for the weekend.
The other event was a trip by bus to the Halfway House for their beer festival.
With the latter event taking place on the Saturday, when buses are far more
frequent, and the walk to the Kentish Rifleman scheduled for Sunday, it meant
that keen devotees of the juice of the barley could, if they so wished, attend
both festivals.
One brave soul did exactly that, and it was good to see
Clive sitting there, on the bus from Tunbridge Wells, when the remaining three
of us alighted at Tonbridge. We journeyed as far as Hadlow, alighting at the
far end of the village, and then followed a series of footpaths that led us
slowly up towards the Greensand Ridge. After walking through several
fields of cows we paused to take in the view back towards Tonbridge and across the to
High Weald in the far distance.
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| The now sadly closed, Artichoke |
The view was partly occluded by ominous looking dark clouds,
but fortunately, apart from a few spots of rain, we managed to stay dry for the
entire day. Temperatures were considerably down on what they had been for the
past week, and there was a welcoming breeze blowing which had dispelled the
strength-sapping high humidity associated with the heat-wave. Walking was
therefore much more pleasant than it might otherwise have been.
We turned due west, skirting the Victorian mansion
of Oxen Hoath House before
coming across the sadly closed Artichoke pub at Hamptons.
We paused to take a few photos, whilst reflecting on the loss of this
attractive old inn. I’m not quite certain of the reasons for its closure; or
exactly when it closed its doors for the last time but I remember being
surprised when I heard the news, as it always seemed a really popular venue. The
Artichoke has now been converted into a private dwelling
Dunk’s Green is little more than a hamlet, but it is
fortunate in still having its own pub; and a fine one at that. Dating in part
from the 16th Century, the Kentish
Rifleman survived a serious fire back in 2007, which necessitated some
major restoration work, especially to the roof. Looking at the pub today it’s
difficult to imagine just how bad the damage was at the time. The front
entrance leads straight into the main bar, which is long and low. Leading off
from this is another long and quite narrow room, which is slightly more
upmarket, and is mainly used by diners. At the rear of the pub is an attractive
and secluded garden and this was where the beer festival was taking place.
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| Garden at the Rifleman |
The beers were racked in a barn, facing the garden and the
landlord, whose name escapes me, but I think it’s John, was the person doing
the serving. There were 10 ales in total from the following breweries: Arundel,
Brentwood, Skinners, Tonbridge, Triple fff, Whitstable
and Yeovil. There was also a range of traditional ciders. All beers were very
reasonably priced at just £3 a pint, “To keep things simple”, as the landlord
said.
Feeling rather thirsty after my exertions, I went straight
in on the pints, rather than my usual practice at beer festivals of drinking
halves. I particularly enjoyed both the Betty Stoggs, from Skinners and the Kent
Coast from Whitstable Brewery, but the best
beer I had was the 4.0% Golden Galaxy from the Brentwood Brewing Company.
One of my companions was less impressed with the Yeovil’s
Glory, from Yeovil Brewery, and I have to report the Arundel
Castle, from Arundel Brewery was
distinctly cloudy.
So what about the temperature and condition of the
beers? In a recent post, Tandelman, with
some prompting from correspondent py, quite rightly drew attention to the often poor quality
of the beer served at CAMRA festivals during the summer months. The main
problem being a lack of suitable cooling leading to beer being served at
temperatures far in excess of ideal during hot weather; or to paraphrase py, “beer
served as warm as day old piss.”
Fortunately, the white painted barn, with its thick solid walls, proved
the ideal place in which to keep the beer, and I noticed packs of ice as well
as bar towels, draped over the casks. The beer was consequently just about the
right temperature, and there as certainly plenty of condition in the beer.
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| Beer List |
The only thing missing was people, as apart from ourselves, there were
only two other tables occupied in the garden. Many of the pub regulars were
sitting just outside the public bar; somewhere I have seen people gathering on
previous visits to the Rifleman. I don’t know if they were aware the beer was
just £3 a pint at the festival, or perhaps they weren’t too bothered, but it
did seem strange them not taking part.
Later on several other people did turn up, and they included Bill, who runs
the cider bar at the Tonbridge Juddians Beer Festival, plus some neighbours of
mine from just down the road. Like us, this group of four had also walked, but
they had followed a different route from north Tonbridge.
Shortly after the newcomers arrived, the pub chef appeared to light the
barbecue, and start preparing some food. Unfortunately we had to depart at 3.45pm, in order to catch the penultimate bus back to
Tonbridge. We headed back towards Hadlow, following a slightly different
route through the delightful, and virtually hidden, Bourne
Valley.
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| Hops growing wild in the Bourne Valley |
It’s difficult to
believe that a century or two ago this area was home to a thriving paper-making
industry; the fast flowing River Bourne having provided a source of power for the
mills which one populated this valley. Nowadays, apart from the odd farm on the
tops of the hills, the Bourne Valley is practically deserted.
We arrived back in
Hadlow in sufficient time for the bus, but with not quite enough time for a
pint in the Two Brewers. This two-bar Harvey’s pub, is now the sole remaining pub in
Hadlow; a village which even within my memory could boast five public houses.
Instead of a pint of
Harvey’s, we waited until we arrived back in
Tonbridge, and called in at the Humphrey Bean; the town’s JDW outlet.
Thornbridge Jaipur had been spotted on sale there, over the Bank Holiday Weekend, so we were keen to catch a pint, if the beer was still on. Fortunately
it was, and a pint of this strong, 5.9% IPA, was just the right beer to finish
on, after what had been a most enjoyable day out in the Kent countryside.
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