The Soggy Seven (Part 2)

Having broken the RambAle’s sunshine satisfaction guarantee, our next pub was just a stone’s throw away at the other end of the village The Victoria Inn is a Vintage Inns pub with three beers available, including Adnams Mosaic and Great Yorkshire Top of the Hops, a golden ale brewed with a record-breaking 2014 varieties of UK hops. After enjoying this complex flavoured beer, it was time to carry on with some hopping of our own.

We continued south out of Barnt Green village then followed a footpath by the Scout hut up to Coopers Hill, which offers fantastic views of the surrounding area. A handy footbridge took us over the M42, then after following the road ahead there was a steady descent into Withybed Green, and into the Crown.

The Soggy Seven (Part 1)

Seven brave walkers met on a fresh spring Sunday morning to brave the elements and to take on the seventh Redditch and Bromsgrove CAMRA RambAle! Even though it was March, the sun was out shining over the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

As we started our cruise at a steady 3mph, we weren’t the only ones out that morning. The Hopwood Heron was up and hunting and we spotted him several times circling the canal looking for something to eat. As we approached Bridge 66 it was time to change our route and headed west to our first pub. After passing over Lower Bittell Reservoir we followed a footpath over farmland to reach the Barnt Green Inn, our first port of call. This large merchant house has an excellent patio area, where we all enjoyed Purity UBU, while Wye Valley HPA was also available.

 Our next bearing was south-east; where we climbed Cherry Hill Drive towards the start of the Lickey Hills then followed a footpath down to Barnt Green rail station. It was about this time that the heavens opened and gave us all a good drenching; but fortunately an eagle-eyed member spotted a nice shiny cask in a gazebo in Barnt Green Park. Upon further investigation, it was a local fun run to raise money for Sports Relief; so we did our bit for charity by sampling the Weatheroak Hill IPA on offer while making full use of their shelter!

Down the Vic

My last visit on my tour of top pubs of Warwickshire was to the Victoria in Rugby. This is a traditional cosy drinker’s pub that has something for everyone. There’s an adjacent pool room for those in need, while the main bar has a choice of ten hand pumps to choose from. There’s also a selection of bottled Belgium beers on request. The seats are plush and cosy; while the décor is in excellent condition with original printed windows and a large selection of books. There’s even a snug for private conversations and an extra room for meetings. What did let the pub down was the presence of a gigantic TV in the corner; meaning that if any sport is shown then the whole corner is pretty much out of action. The other thing to watch out for is the barmaid. Although very friendly; it’s double price for a half pint. While it’s a genuine mistake; it still affects the service, which is a terrible shame. Still, the Wold Top and the Tring beers that I sampled were in excellent condition. Well worth a visit.

Royal Oak, Kenilworth

The royal oak is a quietly kept secret in Kenilworth. It's nestled not by the castle or near the high street but in a side road heading out of town. The outside gives the impression of a trad pub gone modern; with posters and banners outside promoting live sport and lager. But inside it's an old fashioned room that's between the borderline of old and rundown. The landlord is a young and welcoming chap but disappears as soon as he's had my money; only reappearing when his loyal locals arrive. It's a shame there's no history to promote this pub; the five pumps circling the small bar seemed to be the only attraction for me. At least there's some comfy sofas to relax on while I watch the adverts in between the cricket and rugby. Hopefully his upcoming beer festival will enable him to engage with younger and unfamiliar customers. It's the basis of being a good landlord. 

Kenilworth Castle

Today I took a trip to Kenilworth Castle; having only recently learned of its existence through a radio advertisement. It turns out that it’s the biggest castle in the West Midlands, and I managed to spend a good couple of hours investigating today. The only thing that puts me off with these sort of places lately is the pressure that the staff put on you to become an English Heritage member. All the literature is heaped upon you as you enter and you then have to drag it round with you while you explore the castle; then they don’t even ask you for a decision on the way back out! The castle is very nice to visit; even though they’re still building it (one of the towers is undergoing refurbishment). You can get some great views around the castle but if you’re looking for scenic countryside, you’re better off going to the lake just up the hill.

Down at the Vic

A good atmosphere at last night's pub quiz at the Victoria Works in Studley. The beer was in excellent condition; and I just about survived the hot chilli pork scratchings. As it was the bank holiday there was a popular turnout for the quiz; although we arrived early the tables were for massive groups and it didn't seem right to sit at those just for a group of three. So we sat around the corner but could still hear the action; though the questions were fairly tough and we only got a quarter of the questions in the general knowledge round. Still, we did very well in the pictures; and did very well with the bonus question. We even managed to beat two teams. But we had some very strange taxi drivers about that evening. The first one needed directions to where we were going despite managing to find us OK and also having driven us there a month ago. He arrived very quickly but apparently forgot to collect someone from a previous booking. The driver coming back seemed desperate for us to leave despite telling us he was quite quiet with bookings that evening. Very strange. 

Olympus has Fallen

Last night I finally got around to watching Olympus Has Fallen starring Gerrard Butler and Aaron Eckhart. I was hoping for the “Die Hard meets the White House” treatment as promised; but overall I was very disappointed with the plot holes of the film. It started off nicely with the death of the First Lady, which I thought would probably create some friction later on in the film; but that turned out not to have happened. I really enjoyed the Gatling guns on the plane; and thought that this assault needed to be a lot longer. But the main disappointment was the fact that the terrorists managed to get hold of the launch codes! Shouldn’t the President have suffered some sort of accountability for allowing the terrorists to activate the nukes? And shouldn’t this have prompted the Speaker of the Houses’ decision that the nukes were compromised, and let all hell loose to deactivate them regardless of the consequences to the President? And shouldn’t the President have some sort of personal GPS tracker so that the Pentagon could establish if he was one of the eleven people that boarded the evac chopper? I was really hoping that How It Should Have Ended was going to have a go at closing the holes in the plot; but they’re tied up with other projects. Let’s hope that Jamie Foxx has a better go in White House Down.

Musical Caravans

I was selling some headphones to a customer today who told me that he needed them for his caravan. Now, I don't know what sort of caravan he had, but it must be a pretty small one to need a pair of headphones for it. And when did caravans come to life? Is it because summer is on it's way? I can picture it now; a huge row of trailers in a park, all with gigantic headphones and spinning left and right to the music. It must be a trainee holiday camp for DJs; with a party being inside each caravan with the people jumping from home to home depending on what tune took their fancy. It must be the best way to listen to the latest hits. Then a mad scientist shrinks the caravans so much that we can't hear the music any more and it sounds absolutely awful; which is why this man needs a normal sized pair of headphones so he can carry on listening to the music.

The clock is ticking...

I’ve suddenly found myself getting a lot better at Countdown; especially with the numbers game. In the letters challenge; I usually get four or five, but occasionally I do get the bigger words. It’s always struck me as a strange intellectual show; for the geeks that really do like to hide away. There are geniuses that spend their whole time reading the dictionary and looks like they’ve spent their entire time in the public library prior to appearing on the show. Even the host, Nick Hewer, lacks the presenting skills for the show, and it was the same with Richard Whiteley. They’re always shy to look into the camera for a proper welcome, and are often repeating themselves when it comes to entertainment in between the action. It’s not that we’re demanding showgirls on the show, but a little small talk is all that I’m asking; after all it is entertainment.

Have they thought this Through?

So this morning for the first time I spot a caution wet floor sign in the changing rooms of our local swimming pool. Then on the radio I hear that a retailer has decided to give money to Cancer Research by persuading people to give up their clothes for cancer.  I'm instantly thinking; have they actually thought this through? People would expect the floor of a swimming pool changing room to be wet; so why the need for a sign suddenly? And if I give up all my clothes to a retailer for charity; I'm going to have a very unpleasant journey home. In a world where we have to risk assess every tiny thing that we do so that the rules cannot be misinterpreted to make blame more obvious; why don't advertisements do the same thing? Why can't we have a bit of trust in our fellow man in the hope that they do the right thing?