Some pubs in Tunbridge Wells

13/1/18

My first blog of 2018 is about a trip to some pubs in Tunbridge Wells.

Having spoken to my friend Martin, a regular visitor there, it turned out he was going there as well so he kindly offered to show me around.

First pub was the Fuggles Beer Cafe:

A great range of cask and keg beers here

Next stop was the the George, where they have recently opened a brewery on site.

the 2 beers I had at the George

We checked the Opera House (Wetherspoons), a fine building, but we did not linger there as no new beers were available for either of us.

Then on to the Bedford. A Greene King pub with guest beers.

where I had 2 beers from another new brewery to me, Angels and Demons of Folkestone.

Next was the Ragged Trousers

The final pub was the Pantiles Tap

it certainly was

Heres the beer I had in each pub:

Fuggles Beer Café Elusive Brewing Level Up (Level 10: Comet & Citra) 5.0 Cask

Fuggles Beer Café Burnt Mill Brewery Steel-Cut Gluten Free Oat Pale Ale 4.5 Draft

Fuggles Beer Café Lost And Grounded Brewers Dig That Well Deep 5.2 Draft

Fuggles Beer Café The Wild Beer Co Beyond Modus IV 7.7 Draft

Fuggles Beer Café Villages Oboe 5.3 Draft

The George  Ilkley Brewery Co. Tribus Lupulus 2.7 4.4 Cask

The George  Fonthill Brewing Co Delta 5.8 Cask

The Bedford The Brewery Of Angels & Demons ADH-Me 5.2 Cask

The Bedford The Brewery Of Angels & Demons Panama Jazz 4.8 Cask

The Ragged Trousers Wild Horse Brewing Company Red Rye IPA 6.0 Draft

Pantiles Tap Burnt Mill Brewery Pintle  Pale Ale - Citra & Cascade 4.3 Draft

Pantiles Tap Brew By Numbers 07|10 - Witbier - Cranberry 5.0 Draft

Pantiles Tap Curious Drinks (Chapel Down) Curious Brew Lager 4.7 Draft

Pantiles Tap Wiper And True Doves And Ravens - Amber Ale 4.3 Draft

Pantiles Tap One Mile End Brewery Barrel Blends: Black Framboise 8.1 Draft

Some great pubs and beers made a very enjoyable trip

Afternoon Tea on a Routemaster Bus in London

16/12/17

Christmas meal time with friends and this year was a bit different.

Afternoon tea and sightseeing tour of London on a Routemaster bus. The tour started and finished at Victoria Coach Station and lasted 90 minutes.

More info here

Here is the route we took:

 Some photos:

yummy

our bus on arrival

2 buses did the tour at 1200

Also saw this attractive art deco building afterwards out side the coach station:

A very enjoyable trip, lovely food and wonderful and helpful hostesses.

I recommend it to all.

Alpine Sunset Railtour to MHR

30/9/17

To celebrate the arrival of DEMU's to Mid-Hants route in 1957, the Hastings Unit 1001 visited on a railtour. The MHR Hampshire Unit 1125 was also running today.

I was fortunate to the Guard of 1001 while it was running on MHR metals.

Here is a link to the Hastings Diesels Limited website.

The train arrived in platform 2 at 1041 for an 1115 departure, non-stop to Alresford. This was for railtour passengers only.

arriving

arrived at Alton platform 2

1125 leaves Alton platform 3 on the 1050 departure

got the road!

The Guards area I was using today.

We arrived at platform 2 at Alresford at 1150 and the unit stayed until 1240.

It then did a trip to Alton and back for Watercress Line passengers calling at all stations.

my view at Medstead station

platform 3 at Alton

window detail

When we got back to Alresford we detrained the passengers and went down the sidings to water the set for its return journey.

We arrived back in platform 1 at Alresford for a 1530 departure, non-stop to Alton Signal box.

got the road to platform 2 at Alton

Back at platform 2 at Alton and my day was over. It departed at 1632.

Thank you to all the Hastings Diesels Ltd, GB Railfreight and MHR staff for a very enjoyable duty.

I finish with a video of 1001 leaving Alton platform 2 on the 1632 departure.