The Regal - Gloucester

Visited 8th June 2010.

As it turned out Gloucester had a surprise for us in the shape of The Regal. The barmaid at The Water Poet was absolutely correct - The Regal was only a brisk two minutes walk away and we were glad that we had made the time to go see it. As could be guessed from the name it was in an old picture house and was huge inside. We liked the mixture of the different seating types and areas and especially liked King Kong waving his fist. Mrs S. was so impressed by the mirrors in the ladies toilet that she felt compelled to take a photo. More coffee and J.D. was drunk but as you may, by now, have realised we were not eating today. Our hosts have planned to cook for us, hence the reason for our tight timescales. With a little regret it was time to be moving on (and it had stopped raining) but The Regal is on our list of places to revisit.

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The Water Poet - Gloucester

Visited 8th June 2010.

While driving to Gloucester it started to rain - it is June after all! The rain stayed with us while we parked and during the walk to the pub. Photos will have to wait, we need to dry out. In we go, drinks are purchased and I have a quick chat with the barmaid and find out that there is another 'spoons only a couple of minutes brisk walking away. This is going to be a very quick drink if we want to fit in a third pub today and still make it back to base before our deadline. Mrs S. opted for a coffee while I stuck with the J.D. and Coke (it's Pepsi - is that OK?) The pub itself was fine but we stayed just long to finish our drinks and dry out a little. Time was against us.

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The Lord John - Stroud

Visited 8th June 2010.

We've been invited to stay with friends for a few days in a small village somewhere near Stroud. Perfect, a little peace and quiet and a chance to maybe visit a pub or two. What can I say, the house was great, the company was great and our friends were very much in the mood to visit a few pubs. The first was pub of the day is The Lord John. A long, narrow pub which appears to be in the old post sorting office. It was pretty warm out but felt pleasantly cool inside. Once again there was no Buffalo Trace so I had to settle for J.D. instead. Come on... why promote Buffalo and then not keep enough available! However, it didn't detract from our visit but we couldn't stay long as we were on a time limit today and thought that if we were quick we could visit a pub in Gloucester as well.

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The John Russell Fox - Andover

Visited 29th May 2010.

Something slightly different today. Having just passed his driving test my son wants to buy a car. Days have been spent looking online and various magazines have been bought and digested. The net result is that we are off to Newbury to checkout a few garages. Disaster the 'spoons in Newbury doesn't open for a couple of weeks. Andover is next nearest so we head there after our Newbury visits. A few garages are visited and a car is found - great, now off to the pub! We find "The John Russell Fox" and a nearby car park which is free after 4pm. Woohoo! As none of us have eaten all day burgers are ordered and swiftly arrive. My beer of choice today - Stumbling Badger was very good. But oh dear, my order has not been communicated to the kitchen correctly and the wrong thing has arrived. I tell the barmaid who takes the meal away. Another swiftly arrives but is also wrong (wrong message from the barmaid again). Third time lucky, apparently my whole meal was cooked again - I'm not quite sure about that as the burger was cold but by now I didn't want to wait any longer. Unexpectedly the guy who had served the meal then appeared with a card stamped for a free cup of coffee for a later date with an apology for keeping me waiting. The pub itself was long and narrow with steps at the rear leading up to a family dining area. If you're interested the car purchased was a Peugeot 206.

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The Nightjar - Ferndown

Visited 23th May 2010.

Ferndown is a little way outside Bournemouth and roughly on the way home for me so it became my next stop. It turned out to be surprisingly easy to find and 'spoons have a car park at the rear. So far so good. Again, it is pleasantly cool inside and again I manage to get a table next to a large open window where I sit and read the paper while sipping that very underrated drink for a hot day - the larger shandy. It really is to nice to move but I have a few more miles to cover and so it's back on the bike and off into the sunset. (Well, a nice image but he sun wasn't setting and I wasn't heading in that direction!)
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The Parkstone and Heatherlands - Bournemouth

Visited 23th May 2010.

Bored sitting at home and the weather is nice - hot even, maybe the hottest day of the year so far. Out comes the bike and I'm off to Bournemouth. This turns out to be something of a mistake as a couple of other people have had the same idea and Bournemouth is full. Fortunately, being on a bike I'm able to find somewhere to park and take a walk through the park to the beach... Which is also full. I don't stay long as I wasn't planning on sunbathing and there is no space to put my towel anyway. Instead I walk back to the bike - just a little warm by now - and try to find a 'spoons. I've already visited a few in Bournemouth so I know I'm going to have to go a little further afield. The Parkstone and Heatherlands is where I hang my helmet. A burger and a coke ("it's Pepsi, is that OK?") later and I'm feeling cooler and a bit more human again. The pub is dark and cool and I'm sitting at a table looking out of a large open window where I can feel a refreshing breeze blowing in. I'm feeling very comfortable but I need to move on as I have planned for one more stop today. One quick word of thanks to the attractive young lady who was kind enough to interrupt her afternoon to take the photographs.

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The Swan & Castle - Oxford

Visited 16th May 2010.

A little shopping and then into our third 'spoons of the day. A quick recap. We started with breakfast. This was followed with beer and now Mrs. S fancies some pudding. We ordered coffees and a sticky toffee pudding and apple and pear crumble. Although the pub was not very busy it took a very long time for our puddings to arrive and when they did we were quite disappointed with them. Both had been overcooked, the sticky toffee was far to chewy and the crumble didn't. It was instead just a solid mass. The pub itself felt spacious and airy but we didn't stay long as Mrs S. felt the need for more shopping. As it turned out the main thing we bought was an umbrella from HMV as it suddenly started to pelt with rain and despite our new purchase we were both somewhat sodden by the time we had walked back to the car. Oxford is a great place to visit and the rain was just part of the adventure - we will return.

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