Visited 26th June 2011.
Having obtained directions from the barmaid at 'The Quay' we managed to find 'The Lord Wimborne' without any problems. Having found it we realised how close we had been when looking for it from the car, still not sure how we missed it! It looked very imposing from the outside and we were quite looking forwards to checking out the inside. As it was we were a little disappointed, it was pretty standard inside and we didn't find any really outstanding features. This kind of set the tone of our visit. It was not very busy and I could see two barmen behind the bar talking so I was very unhappy at having to wait (for what felt like several minutes) for them to finish their conversation before coming over to serve. One of them even glanced over to me, failed to acknowledge my presence and then continued chatting. After being served we sat down consume our tea (Mrs S.) and large latte. From where we were sitting I counted seven tables waiting to be cleared of dirty plates and glasses. Fifteen minutes later and still none of them had been cleared. Not sure how long they sat there because at that point we left. We felt that by now much of the traffic would have cleared. Sadly we were mistaken and we had a very slow journey home, not even a stop at Winchester services helped because they were also backed up with irate travellers. A disappointing end to what had started out as a very promising day, next time we must remember to stay in the pubs for longer!
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Visited 26th June 2011.
Having managed to cook ourselves on the beach (caught out by a thick, cooling mist that, at the time took the sting out of the sunshine) we jumped in the car and almost immediately got caught up in a traffic jam. We poodled along at about ten miles an hour for several miles, before clearing a T-junction that was the root of the problem (peak-time lights or a mini-roundabout would have calmed the anguish). We decided to make a detour and take some time out to let any traffic on the M27 and M3 clear. Instead we headed to Poole intending to visit 'The Lord Wimborne' but couldn't find it, so we switched to plan 'B' and drove to 'The Quay' instead. This was a popular pub with many people sitting outside still enjoying the sunshine. We, on the other hand, had had our fill of sunshine for the day and went indoors to cool off. Inside the ceiling was a long way up, giving a very spacious and airy feeling to the place. We bought our drinks, a half of 1664 for Mrs S. and a pint of forty niner from the Ringwood Brewery for myself. We also took the opportunity to ask the barman directions to 'The Lord Wimborne' which we knew couldn't be very far away. As it turned out it wasn't and we hadn't missed it by much when driving around earlier. We finished our drinks and then set off walking to find the missing pub.
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Visited 26th June 2011.
The weatherman had been saying all week that we were in for a very hot Sunday so we made our plans to head for the coast (along with most of the rest of the country). We set the alarm for an early start in an attempt to miss any traffic. As it happened things did not go entirely to plan so it was about about half past nine before we finally left the house! As it turned out we didn't encounter any traffic and pretty quickly found ourselves in Broadstone. We found our target pub and the car park round back, for patrons only... (£1 refundable when you spend £5 or more in the pub). The pub was fairly busy with everybody ordering breakfasts. We joined the queue and ordered our breakfasts, toast and coffees. Although it was hot outside it was pleasantly cool inside and even though there were a lot of people ordering it wasn't to long before our food arrived. We had places to be so as soon as we had finished eating it was back to the car for the final stint to the beach.
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Visited 11th June 2011.
The bar staff at 'The Crosse Keys' suggested that 'Hamilton Hall' should feature as the next pub on our list. We were happy to follow their suggestion (and directions). I'm sure I listened to their directions closely but as it turned out we managed to over complicate things and so ended up seeing a little more of London than was strictly necessary. Another spectacular pub and this one was teeming with people. We made a couple of friends straight away who were very keen to take our photo and made sure we took theirs. With a heavy heart I headed to the very busy, very crowded bar and was extremely surprised and very happy to get served very quickly and with a cheerful smile. I had a pint of Pride and Mrs S. had a Pepsi. We both loved the mix of people and sat around for quite a while just chilling in a great atmosphere. However, we had places to be and things to be doing...
Next stop, Trafalgar for a little tourist action!
Trafalgar Square turned out to be very busy as there was a big rally going on (Slutwalk London) and while we were listening several hundred naked cyclists rode through (WNBR) bringing traffic to a complete standstill. We eventually extracted ourselves and headed down Whitehall to 'The Lord Moon of the Mall' for a quick drink before heading to Hammersmith for our friends BBQ, where we also had a great evening. A very nice day!
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Visited 11th June 2011.
After an event-less walk we arrived at 'The Crosse Keys'. We strolled in through the imposing entrance and found ourselves in a "grande" but relatively empty room. We had no problem finding a table and I was swiftly dispatched to the bar to place our food order. We both opted for the all day brunch and a large latte. While we were taking in our very impressive surroundings our food arrived (wow, that was quick). The place was starting to get a little busier now, so it seemed we had timed it just right, very unusual for us! Mrs S. told me the loos had some very nice mirrors over the basins. All in all we were both swept away by not only the building and ambiance of the place, but the very helpful staff as well.
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Visited 11th June 2011.
Some friends of ours have invited us to a BBQ. As they live in London we thought we would take the opportunity to visit a few 'spoons (as if we really need an excuse). We made our way into the heart of the city looking for 'The Green Man', the first on our list. It proved to be a bit tricky to find and although we knew we were in the right area it was definitely proving elusive. We had just reached the point of giving the pub a ring when I spotted a closed shopping entrance and beyond the entrance a sign that mentioned Wetherspoons. By now we must have looked very confused as a security guard who had been watching us took pity and came over and told us where the open entrance was. We followed his brief directions and found the door, took a few photos and entered. At first glance we thought we were in the smallest 'spoons we had ever visited. We went exploring and found some downward stairs and a another much larger room. Back upstairs to the bar where I ordered a pint of Daleside Nightjar and Mrs S opting for a large latte. We decided not to have breakfast yet and to wait for the next pub which we knew wasn't to far away. And we're walking...
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