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 We decided to make the trip to Bristol by train.

We timed the departure date to be a little later than the "drinking inside with others" open-up date so that we might avoid the initial rush.  We also have physical meetings in the diary for the first time in a while.

This included a trip to St Leonards/Hastings which, naturally, culminated in a visit to the wonderful "Brewing Brothers at the Imperial" in one of Hastings' less fashionable streets.

This visit itself culminated in a total of 7 miles walking which is further than I've walked for months and months and quite the test of my post-sprain knee's resilience.  Oh - and what I'm pretty sure was a full day hangover.

Anyhow...

The Best Beer Buddy suggested that he might be happy to plan to travel by train (with driving as a backup).  So, we walked to the station an boarded 12.06 to Victoria.

Neither of us are fans of the necessary masks but we got used to it.

The Eastbourne train was busier than I expected but the Gatwick stop was astonishing:  only 3 people on the platform.

All in all, the trip was pretty relaxed and the buddy said he found it less stressful than driving so that's big result.  Naturally, after dropping bags, watering the orchids, putting the water heater on we headed to the Barley Mow.

It was a little later than we'd anticipated (points problem outside Swindon) but as we arrived we were greeted cheerfully by Harry who settled us into a little table and took our order.  For all the world, it was like never having been away (it's been about 8 months).  Four cask beers on the bar, a nice range of food, a good sociable hum in the pub and even though we chatted about our work, it was a perfectly blissful and relaxing time.

I was really glad to learn that their clientele had been steadily building since opening again the previous week.  The good weather meant that the seats out front and in the garden at the back were fully stacked out well into the evening and most of the tables inside, too.  For their sake, I hope this continues.  They're folk who work really hard to make an atmosphere that means that we don't have to and that's a big thing for me.

Thank you!