Anyway, on Sunday morning we had a bit of a lie-in before having a delicious breakfast. I love having a full English cooked for me and it didn't disappoint. I started with muesli and fruit, followed by eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, mushrooms and baked beans. Like yesterday, it meant that I wouldn't need anything else to eat until dinner! With lashings of coffee and orange juice it certainly set us up for the day.
We had arranged to meet Keith's brother, Val, at 10.30am at the Washington services on the A1 but had half an hour to kill before we had to leave so we read the Sunday papers in the sunny lounge. A lovely, relaxed start to the day!
We parked on the north bound side and walked over to meet him as he was coming down from Newcastle. He had some things for the children and seemed very disappointed that they weren't with us. After a good chat he drove us back to our car and gave us a Pierrot doll for Sophie, some of his daughter's costume jewellery and his old Army jacket for Mikey, along with a toy racing car, still in its box. These filled up the boot of the car but it was a lovely thought of him, although I'm not sure Sophie will appreciate the doll...
After saying goodbye we drove to the coast and had a quick look at Marsden Rock. There were steep steps down to the beach so we ventured half way down and admired the views of the rock and the coast.
I suggested we drive to Whitburn but this part of the coast isn't the loveliest so we drove on through Sunderland and decided to find a pub for tonight. The hotel did have a carvery but the prices of the drinks were horrendous - £4.10 for Keith's bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale last night, and £4.95 for a medium glass of wine for me. I used the AA pub guide app on my phone which gave the Manor House Inn near Consett. Jeeves gave us directions and it took us about 40 minutes to get there (we ended up in Northumberland) - worth it if the pub was a good one, serving real ale and delicious food!
Unfortunately we didn't think the drive was worthwhile. The views are stunning as it's high up on the A68, but the welcome was a little cold and the five advertised cask ales were reduced to just two, neither of which Keith was particularly fond of. The menu was standard roast fare and the lounge was not very comfortable at all. We had one drink and made the long journey back to Durham before having one last try in Sedgefield, where Tony Blair had taken George Bush and his wife for lunch in the Dun Cow. We thought that if it was good enough for the President of the United States then it would be good enough for us!
Unfortunately none of the three pubs in the village looked any good so we decided to return to the hotel and then try in Durham later in the evening before having dinner in the hotel. By now I'd had enough of driving and my diesel levels were very low - we'd driven almost 600 miles since Friday!
The hotel was a good deal quieter than the previous day and we spent a very relaxing couple of hours wallowing in the bath and having a snooze. I used the AA pub guide again and it directed us to the Victoria pub in Durham city centre. I managed to find a parking space on the street but we discovered that the pub didn't open until 7pm. Resigning ourselves to wandering about the city, Keith crossed the road to use a cashpoint and noticed a blackboard advertising the Court Inn. We decided to investigate and were thrilled with what we found - a lovely, welcoming pub serving great food and a good choice of beers! How lucky was that!
 |
| Durham |
We were sitting at the bar when a man came in wearing a red sweatshirt with the words "Beerhunter" emblazoned on the front. I noticed "Malt Shovel" and "Northampton" on the sleeve and nudged Keith to tell him. He seemed a real character (well, anyone wearing a cowboy hat has to be) and when he was given his pint he fished out a notebook from his back pocket and made a note of what he was drinking. We know The Malt Shovel in Northampton well as it's one of the real pubs in the town specialising in good beer.
Keith said he was going to go over and ask him if he knew a man that always drinks in the Malt Shovel, but I told him not to...he looked the sort that would tag onto us for the rest of the evening! With Keith's third pint he ignored my advice and went over to the man to have a chat and although he said he didn't really know him he was surprised to learn that Keith lived in Northampton and knew the pub well.
We went into the dining room for our meal - the most delicious fish and chips I've ever had - and the man came over just before we were served our meal. He did remember, he said and then went on to tell us his name was Jim and for his 60th Birthday, the Malt Shovel had named a beer after him. Keith disappeared to the loo and I was beginning to think that Jim was going to join us for the evening! However, I think he took the hint and left but it was amazing to think that he knew our regular haunts (he's a big fan of Olde England) and had lived in Kingsthorpe all his life.
So, all of our beer-hunting had ended very well, and ironically, right on our doorstep! On the way back to the car we called into The Victoria for Keith to have one pint and what a real pub that was! Just a small bar, stuffed with Victoriana and just doing drinks, no food. There was a crowd of friendly locals and a lovely atmosphere but it was definitely more of Keith's type of pub than mine!
Back at the hotel we sat at the bar with a couple of glasses of wine and chatted to the barman. We were also treated to the evening's entertainment of a man trying to chat up a lone woman who just seemed to want a quiet drink!
No comments:
Post a Comment