The Corn Exchange - Bury St Edmunds

The happy couple

Visited 9th September 2012.

Mr and Mrs S. have been invited to a wedding. Stiggy, who has been with me on several 'spoon' visits is getting married. As usual, any special event that involves a trip somewhere different involves much planning. As it turns out there is no way we will have time on the day of the wedding to visit any 'spoons but we are going away for the weekend so there is always Sunday.
The wedding was great fun and it was nice to see that Stiggy scrubbed up so well, who'd have guessed? But the wedding was yesterday and today we have to get down to the serious business of pubbing. We are only a couple of miles away from Bury St Edmunds so thats where we head for our first pub of the day. And it turns out to be a pretty decent looking pub. We go in and immediately find out that we have to go upstairs, so we do, where the first things we see is a very interesting view of the sky. Nice ceiling! We had breakfast at the hotel we stayed at overnight so were not hungry and I had rather a lot to drink at the wedding reception so we settled on a Pepsi each. We stayed a while as it was a nice place to sit and chill and boy did we (I) need that. We had already had a bit of a look round Bury St Edmunds while looking for a parking spot and it looked to be a very interesting place. We had walked in the Abbey Gardens and saw Abbey Gate, the usual touristy things, very unlike us really but it was relaxing and a place that we would like to revisit one day. I had a list of four pubs that I thought would be good to visit but had seriously underestimated how exhausted we would be so following a look at the map and a bit of a rethink the new plan was to visit just one more pub that was in the general direction of home. 

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.

The William Webb Ellis - Twickenham

Visited 4th February 2012.
 
The challenge was to get from 'The Moon on the Square' in Feltham to 'The William Webb Ellis' in Twickenham in time to see the second half of of the France v Italy 6 Nations rugby game. Luckily we had a local with us who 'knew' the way and said we wouldn't be needing Mrs SatNav. Sadly, we listened to him and didn't even get close to seeing the second half. Still, on the bright side, we did get there eventually, we did find somewhere to park and when we got in to the pub we did manage to get a table with a very good view of one of the many screens. We ordered some food and drinks (not sure why but I suddenly had a craving for a beer and a burger, well a double burger beef gourmet and guest ale actually with the traditional chicken burger and Pepsi for our designated driver) and settled down to watch the game. The pub was busy with a lot of England fans and as far as I could see both of the Scotland fans, Duffy being one of those. Towards the end of the game I received a text from Stiggy, who wasn't able to make this trip, saying that the snow was starting to settle pretty thickly back home and not to leave it to late so we had a quick look out of the window, couldn't see any snow, so carried on watching the game. We liked the pub, the food, the warming fire, the atmosphere, the staff, Duffy getting hooked on Buffalo Trace and for two out of three of us, the final score. By the time we left the pub it was snowing and the walk back to the car was a little treacherous. The car was covered by the time we reached it and the journey home, while uneventful, took longer than expected and Stiggy was right (she usually is), the snow back home was about 10cm thick. We made it home just in time. This might have big implications for tomorrow though... 

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.

The Exchange - Banbury

Visited 3rd September 2011.

I have planned a little surprise for Mrs S. and a couple of friends today. I have been on Groupon again and splashed out for a few tickets for something that I don't think any of us have done before. The general idea is to all meet up early (for us) and drive to Banbury to visit a couple of 'spoons and then come back to Oxford for the main event in the evening. As is completely predictable for anything involving the four of us things don't go entirely to plan! (I was once charged with organizing a leaving do for a work colleague and managed to get him and myself to one pub and the rest of the company to a completely different pub - enough said!)

We had arranged to meet up about 10am, by the time we did meet up it was nearer 12. Never mind our plans were fluid and we can at least now set off for Banbury... Oh no, wait, first somebody has to refuel a plane... Fortunately it's not an airbus a380, but it is in a big, windy field and the girls are soon complaining about their windswept hair, the cold, the lack of toilets (No!It's not ladylike to go behind the shed), no coffee, no food and about a hundred other things. Eventually we are back on the road and Stiggy is having to listen to us chat about the sea, fountains, fast running rivers and sudden downpours along with the rules of toilet roulette whilst being bounced up and down as we travel over what must be some of the bumpiest back roads in England.

We finally make it Banbury and pass 'The Exchange' while looking for a place to park. After a few requests to "Get on with it", we park and take a short walk to the pub. There is a little more leg crossing as Stiggy is grabbed and forced to pose for the photo shoot but she finally breaks free and like chocolate at a Weightwatchers meeting is gone.
By now we are all hungry and four all day brunches were swiftly ordered along with a pint of 'The Pride of Oxford' for me and a Disaronno and Pepsi for Mrs S. with the other two opting for a gin and tonic and a pint of lager. We sat in a small booth drinking and waiting for our food, which arrived after not to long a wait and was served by a very friendly member of staff. The pub itself was long and dark and had a pleasant atmosphere which we continued to enjoy over coffee. I asked at the bar for directions to the next pub, which turned out to be only a short walk away. We would have been there quite quickly but had to stop at a sweet shop and then a toy shop on the way. What a bunch of kids!

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.