Visited 27th August 2012.
Our second pub of the day was in Eastleigh which was only a short drive away. As it was a bank holiday we were able to park outside, which was handy! We liked the decor and found the pub quiet and relaxing. A perfect setting for us to sit and have a drink. I had my first Buffalo Trace and Pepsi for about a month with my driver knocking back a Pepsi. We also had a pleasant walk around the town before heading off back home. Not a bad day.
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Visited 27th August 2012.
If you are a regular reader of 'The Beer and Burger' you may have noticed a dearth of posts recently. I've not been very well and this has meant (apart from a short stay in hospital) no beer! Happily this situation has now been rectified and I feel the need to get back into the swing of things again. The August bank holiday seemed to present the perfect opportunity. Mrs S. and myself hopped into the car and set off for Winchester. We are going to a wedding in a few weeks time and Mrs S. felt the need to do a little handbag shopping and having struck out at all the local shops is setting her hopes a little further afield. We arrived at 'The Old Gaolhouse' in plenty of time for breakfast, which was the plan after all. I had a large breakfast and large latte with Mrs S. opting for the standard breakfast along with the obligatory large latte. They had no clean cups so we had to settle for our coffee being served up in paper takeaway cups. Just not the same. It was quite busy and there seemed to be a distinct lack of staff resulting in a pretty long wait at the bar. Having said that I quite liked the place although Mrs S. was not so easily pleased. We stayed only long enough to eat breakfast as Mrs S. was keen to get on with her handbag shopping. And the quicker we got the shopping out of the way the quicker we could get to the next pub!
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Visited 17th June 2012.
The sun was shining and the bike had not been out for a run for a while so it seemed like an ideal thing to do. I checked Google Earth and picked on Godalming as a suitable place to go visit. I took a nice leisurely ride out avoiding any motorways and ended up in the picturesque town of Godalming, where, as it was Sunday I managed to park right outside the pub. I went in and found a table and then headed to the bar where I ordered a burger and a pint of Pepsi. The pub was very festive with the Jubilee bunting pairing up well with the mainly blue decor. I started playing a game on my phone while I waited for my food and it was only when I had finished my drink that I started to wonder why the food was taking so long to arrive. Basically it had been cooked and then left on the side in the kitchen. By now it was over an hour since I had ordered and although I was hungry I was also feeling a little surly and asked the manager for my money back. He apologized and offered to go and have another burger cooked for me but I generally felt that I was being treated as a nuisance so I insisted on having my money back. It was given back to me without any fuss but the incident marred the day... and I was still hungry. I jumped back on the bike and headed for home. The trip home, as it turned out, was a fairly unpleasant experience too as my hay fever kicked in and I ended up sneezing continuously for the whole ride home. Never a nice thing when you are wearing a crash helmet! All in all it wasn't really the best day ever.
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Visited 7th June 2012.
It
started raining again during the drive and by the time I reached Leighton Buzzard and parked it was extremely heavy. I parked and sat in the car for a while waiting for the rain to lessen in its intensity. I had sat there for several minutes before the rain lessened enough for me to make a dash for the pub. Inside it was dark and narrow, it was also pretty busy. I managed to find a table and then headed for the nice looking bar where I ordered a sticky toffee pudding with custard. Sadly it took a little while to arrive and I ended up rushing the eating of it as I had to dash back to the car as my parking ticket time was running out. Other than that I quite liked the place. And then it was back to the car for the trip home (during which, surprisingly, it rained). Not a bad day out, just a little damp!
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Visited 7th June 2012.
It was still raining as I walked from my parking spot, passed the college, round the corner and across the road to 'The Gary Cooper'. It's a large, modern building which was moderately busy. I ordered a pint of Pepsi and went and sat down next to a large window while I dried off. Although the pub was light and airy it felt a little lacking in atmosphere although being so close the a college I imagine it could get quite lively. I didn't stay long as it had stopped raining and I was almost dry so I took the opportunity to high tail it back to the car. I had one more pub to visit which was about eight miles away, time to go!
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Visited 7th June 2012.
I made it to 'The White House' before the rain started and that was including a quick stop off at Specsavers to get my glasses tightened. I entered through the side entrance and found myself in a fairly dark and gloomy and rather tired looking building. I order a Buffalo Trace and Pepsi and sat for a while wondering if I would make it back to the car before it started raining again. I had no coat but I did have my trust umbrella with me so I wasn't to worried. Before I left I wandered up to the far end of the building and it underwent a transformation. It was like being in a completely different pub, lighter, warmer, there was a second bar and an upstairs library. I wish I had found this end first! On the downside though, it was raining very heavily at this end of the building. I went back to the side entrance and sadly it was raining heavily there too. I didn't have time to wait so I went outside and took some photos in the rain, that was tricky as there was a wind getting up and I was fighting with the umbrella at the same time. I managed to get the photos (sort of) but the umbrella did not survive and ended up in a bin as I started what turned out to be a very soggy walk back to the car...
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Visited 7th June 2012.
It stopped raining while I drove to Luton but started again as I parked the car and continued while I walked to pub. Luckily I had my trusty umbrella with me so didn't get to wet. Inside it was small and busy and I sat and drank an Orange and Passion fruit J2O while quietly waiting for my trouser bottoms to steam dry. After drying out I nipped outside and took some photos, never easy when I'm on my own and then set off looking for 'The White House' before it started raining again.
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