Sleeping in the Orchard

I've booked a hotel for my trip around London; and it was done through a website through work which gave me a discount. So my own room with an en suite bathroom came to under £50. I booked it in advance without looking at any reviews until I was on the train; where a lot of people complained about the reception and the breakfast. So I thought I’d better get over there in case there were any problems which might cause me to seek accommodation elsewhere. I hopped onto the tube; which was moving a lot faster than remembered; leaving me perched on one leg and gripping onto the rail to keep balance as we came into the station. Fortunately the contactless card worked; but I had no idea how much I was paying for each ride. Once I'd got into Paddington; I found the road which was lined with a whole range of very similar hotels; the only difference being the name. But I checked in fine with the help of an Indian man; and took the lift up to my room and scanned the key to go in. Luckily I remembered that the key has to be in the lock for the room to receive power. It was a very small box room; but was comfortable enough for just one nights stay. Unfortunately there was no free tea or coffee or even wifi; but I decided to venture out to explore more of London. 

Adnams Gold Topaz Gold at Tyburn,

My next pub was planned to be over at the Three Tuns which I believed at the time to be a sister pub of the excellent Market Porterhouse. However, the scale of the map that I was following seemed to be further than I thought; and before I knew it I actually passed a Wetherspoons called Tyburn. As I was passing; this seemed a good place to call in and possibly have an evening meal. It turned out that the place was absolutely rammed with the after-work office crowd; so I decided to do the next best thing and grab a quick half while seeking out fast food over in Paddington. The beer I tried was the Adnams Topaz Gold; and while this wasn’t a strong beer it was certainly packed with taste. Originally I thought that getting back to Marylebone would be the quickest route to Paddington; but it turned out that I was actually closer to the Marble Arch stop.

Long Man American Pale Ale at the Carpenter's Arms (Marylebone)

So having caught my trains without incident (though I would have liked to have had more time around Birmingham to visit the Square Peg and do a bit of owl spotting); I am here in the capital. Even the guy sitting opposite me on the train was normal; making business calls but still giving me the occasional chance to doze off. The first port of call was the Carpenter’s Arms; a Good Beer Guide pub that was not too far away from Marylebone station, or so at least the map said. It turned out that this locals pub was actually closer to Oxford Street; and a nice hideaway for it too. The pub was very nice and well preserved; not too crowded and a place for the office crowd to meet up. Conversation dominated here; it’s not the best pub to go on your own for a restful retreat; but the Long Man American Pale Ale that I tried was in excellent condition. I particularly enjoyed the Landlord’s cheeky sign about the TV; “This TV is expensive; it may turn off if beer is not being consumed.”!

London, baby!

I am heading off to the capital! It’s been a long while since I’ve been; but I’m cashing in on a trip to visit a brewery and taste some beer as a birthday treat to myself. I got a great deal on the internet to get down there cheap; and I even paid less than a third of the price on my changeover train thanks to a delayed train earlier on in the year. As long as I could get to the station by 4pm; everything would be fine. Well. The day didn’t start great as I’d been up most of the night finishing off articles for Pint Taken; with minimum sleep. Then I had a criss-cross of deliveries to make at work; as well as training one of the new guys on the store’s voice system. I then felt really guilty when it was time for me to leave because I had to leave him on his own to prep his van. But thankfully; I got away on time. London, baby!

Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There have been many adaptions of Swift’s tale of Gulliver’s Travels; but I feel that it’s always important to read the original once someone else has come along and tried to ruin it so that the classic tale stays afresh. I’ve never seen Jack Black’s version and neither do I want to; and some versions miss out the visit to the other three islands altogether. The best version that I’ve seen is a TV series starring Ted Danson in 1996 with an all-star cast; though it was a shame that an American was picked for the starring role. Swift’s account is very detailed of Gulliver’s adventures; but his dialogue is not left to the imagination. With every detail covered; there remains little for the reader to create their own interpretation. However, the door is opened for the reader to ponder upon other world and cultures; and how their everyday actions are different to ours.

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Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Adams begins to lose touch with the reader in this strange cult tale of discovering a time machine while running a detective agency. We don't actually meet Dirk until fairly late in the story when several other characters have been introduced; each with their own unique chapters and storylines. Dirk himself has his own mysterious cult status; none of which the other characters seem to dwell upon in their past acquaintance with him. The actions of Dirk are very discreet; and it is not known what he does in between chapters which results in the outcome of the story. There are a lot of gaps from scenario to scenario without any flashbacks; and it’s very hard to piece together what has occurred previously; who murdered the executive and whether anyone actually cared in the end or were morally affected by the adventure. There is a sequel; but whether this story fills in the gaps or unfolds a completely different story; I’ll have to read it to find out.

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Editorale

Wow, what a summer we’ve had! It seemed that every weekend saw a beer festival in progress; demonstrating that real ale is well and truly in demand; and that we could really do with more days in the weekend to visit all these events! Congratulations must go to the Tiny Rebel Brewery in Newport who brewed the Champion Beer of Britain, Cwtch, which was announced in August at CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival.  Let’s continue to support our pubs and clubs over the coming darker months; and remember that pubs aren’t just places to visit when the sun comes out.

Good news for cider drinkers; in our Summer edition we reported that the EU demanded that the UK government remove the tax exemption in place for small cider makers; making production uneconomical for many producers and force them into closure. CAMRA began a campaign to support small cider makers; and a petition quickly grew in size to over 26,000 signatures which was presented to Downing Street in June. During the July budget announcements; Chancellor George Osborne pledged to keep the tax exemption in place, thereby protecting the British tradition of cider making.  

We’ve dedicated the centre-fold of this season’s edition to celebrate the Ruby Anniversary of the Redditch & Bromsgrove Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale. The branch was formed in 1975, and has since grown with the help of over a thousand members alongside pub licensees and the general public supporting their beer festivals, events and campaigns. And there’s always time to join in over the next forty years!

Even if you’re not a CAMRA member; you can do your bit for your local pub by getting it listed as an Asset of Community Value. This offers pubs an extra level of protection against developers wishing to convert pubs into shops or other uses; and requires them to seek planning permission before any alteration work takes place. More importantly, it also halts any plans to convert the pub for six months; allowing the local community a chance to put in a bid to save it. CAMRA has dedicated a large part of its campaigning team to support people who would like to get their pub listed; for more information please contact your local CAMRA branch.

Thanks for reading; hope you enjoy the magazine!