Sunday 9 August 2020

When BRAPA comes to town

I have been known to spend my spare time trudging up and down mountains.  Boots, waterproof and a rucksack full of supplies are standard issue, so it's always a bit of a surprise when someone dressed in shorts and a t-shirt comes running past. To be honest, fell running looks a bit bonkers to me, but heroic bonkers. Which is pretty much how I feel about the people currently ticking off the entire Good Beer Guide. I've done a bit of pub ticking in my time, and was even a 2017 Isle of Man compleatist. But the whole book? 4,500 pubs? Sounds both bonkers and heroic to me. So when I saw that Si of BRAPA fame was in my local area I immediately offered to assist with getting a few more ticks chipped off the monolithic block. 

We started with the Garibaldi in Knaphill, a pub I first drank in as a teenager, though it's sadly gone downhill or should I say upmarket since then. No longer a two bar boozer it's been knocked through into one and is much more foody. 


#PubMan

With the current plague situation they were a long list of rule for us to read and I must confess my attention had wandered before I got to the end. This did bring to light a problem with visiting new pubs that has been compounded by the new rules: what to do when you need a wee. We could see some portaloos had been brought in but were slightly worried we might be arrested if we didn't follow the correct procedure. Fortunately as this was the first stop we could solve the problem by simply heading on to the next pub: The Royal Oak

I've popped into this pub occasionally over the years but never been that taken with it. The welcome, like the decor, was a little cold. It was early though and maybe with more people there it would have warmed up a bit. Si cracked first and had to go in search of the loo, but I could  hold on until I was on more familiar ground at The Crown. As this is my local I was back on home turf and knew the rules and where the facilities were. 

Si showed impeccable taste by agreeing with me it was the best of the pubs we'd been to. And he certainly knows his pubs. Over a beer we compared notes about other bloggers we'd met, so if your ears were burning that day now you know why. I dropped him off in the town centre to brave the wilds of Woking on his own as I had to work the next day. 

I caught up with him again a couple of days later at the Sun Inn in Dunsfold, not to be confused with the other Sun Inn a couple of miles down the road. We met in the garden where Si already had a pint. As I was driving I didn't have anything, which was a bit foolish really as it means I can't tick this pub myself. We discussed the rules of pub ticking as everyone makes their own. Except for Retired Martin, who only does it because he was cursed by a gypsy to wander Britain, visiting every Good Beer Guide pub but only able to have a sip of beer in each. He really should have bought those clothes pegs. Si is perhaps unique in that he has a pint in each tick, most people I think will settle for a half. 

The Merry Harriers was the next stop, the only pub I've seen which offered llama trekking. Not that we actually saw any though. I did have a half here, which is good enough for me to claim a tick. It was something local I think, probably Crafty Brewery as they're not far away. Then it was on to Godalming, a town that strangely causes people problems with how to pronounce it. But not me as I know how to do it. The pub was of course The Red Lion, a cracking pub with a great range of beer. Which is probably helped by the fact they only one from the owners, Greene King on. They had table service here, our beer being deposited near us on the world's smallest ironing board. I'm not sure if it was a comment on the state of our t-shirts or not. Then it was time to head off,. I dropped Si off in Guildford where staggered off to get some sustenance before the next days onslaught, while I slunk back home for another quiet night in. Certainly less heroic, but possibly less bonkers.   


10 comments:

  1. I really should have bought those clothes pegs !

    Glad you got to meet each other. Taking Simon to pubs is a noble cause, isn't it ? Hope he gave you one of the Holy cheese bites from his magic bag.

    I feel left out now, must meet up when GBG21 comes out.

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    1. He didn't tell me about the cheese bites! Just let me know when you're around back ticking around Woking or Horsham I'd love to meet up.

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  2. I didn't know the Lion had reopened after the fire they had a few weeks ago, but then I've not been that far up town for ages. It used to be a great pub when Ian Thomson was the guv'nor (he also ran The Star down the road) but I don't think I've been in there for at least a decade.

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    1. I didn't know they'd had a fire!

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    2. Yeah, it was mid-July. As far as I know, it was mostly upstairs.

      Now, if I'd known there was going to be not one but two famous beer bloggers drinking on my doorstep, I'd have brought my autograph book, bought you both a pint and entertained/bored you witless with tales of all the great pubs around this neck of the woods that are no longer, including the Freeholders, the Alfred, the Woolpack and the Duke until you both decided to go for a strategic pee and hastily exited via the other bar...

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    3. These pub tickers are hard to pin down. Retired Martin came and went without me noticing and I only caught up with Si a few days into his visit.

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  3. I hope I got an honorable mention!

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    1. We did gossip about someone I'm sure you know but I'll say no more here.

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  4. I haven't as yet, had the pleasure of meeting Simon, but you've given me an idea Ed, and that would be to drive him round a few of the West Kent GBG entries, next time he's down this way.

    That's assuming of course, he hasn't already "ticked" West Kent, and that he's got sufficient annual leave left to make another excursion, "down souf."

    Changing the subject, it's a shame the BGBW AGM and Summer Party have been cancelled, and we won't be having our annual meet-up. I don't do virtual, and for me it's the real thing, or nothing at all!

    See you in 2021.

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  5. Thanks for the post. Lived in Chobham and educated(?) in Horsell during the 70's and 80's so this took me back a bit. As for the Garibaldi being in the Good Beer Guide, my how things must have changed there.

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