New Places, and Old

 The weather was really cold and then really wet so it hadn't felt like trekking weather.

I'd had quite a lot of work to do and there are train strikes so all these things have dictated against going anywhere too far away.

We'd been to the Barleymow a couple of times - always quite busy, we'd been to Moor twice (because, you know, Moor) and Martha's once.

So the boy said "shall we try somewhere new?" so we decided to amble down Old Market Street.

We started at the Stag and Hounds which is a 13th Century building - although very few features remain recognisable.

They had a Bristol Beer Factory Seasonal Beer plus a Butcombe beer on cask but nothing interesting on keg.  Naturally we opted for the BBF which was cool and decently kept.  The pub is a really nice set of interlocking spaces so, whilst being quite big, feels like it has plenty of corners to cosy up in.  They also do pizzas which look really nice, so that's worth remembering.

Not wanting a second pint of the BBF, we decided to continue strolling. Next venue was Elmers Arms.  An odd little place but with a decent range of keg beers and a friendly person on the bar.  The music was streamed but good and we looked enviously at a juke box which is, sadly, non-functional.  Apparently, whilst opening in the afternoon, it's really a late-night venue so it's relatively unlikely we'll see it in its pomp.

Our final venue was just around the corner from Elmers, and in the general direction of home.  "To the Moon" has always seemed a bit of a strange place and has probably been through a few different hands of late.  Most noticeable when we stepped inside was a pungent smell of limes being squeezed - looks like they were expecting to be making a LOT of Margaritas.  They had two or three local good keg beers on so we picked the strongest (not at all strong, to be honest) and found a little cost seat to sit in.  I'm forced to observe that it isn't a pub, of course, but it is a really nice little place that some of our friends would really like.

Oddly - none of these places sold beer in 2/3rd measures which we found a bit odd and although they'll not be regular haunts - we'll almost certainly be back.

We've also returned to Marthas and, yesterday, reprised LHG brewpub after running an errand.

Today we're heading up to Moor partly because - y'know, Moor - but also we need to pop a bit more beer in the fridge because nowhere will be open tomorrow and there's only so much tea we'll want to drink whilst doing our traditional "playing board games on Christmas Day".

Finding somewhere open on Monday (Boxing Day) will likely be a challenge too...but come 27th I'm pretty sure we'll be out and looking for somewhere to support.

January is going to be REALLY hard for lots of venues.  I've already heard of a couple of places who are writing off the first week or two and taking the opportunity to have holidays, etc.  We'll have a new extension/kitchen to attend to when we get back to Sussex but I'm pretty sure we'll still venture out when we can and I'm also pretty sure we'll be doing a fair bit of buying cans from breweries to try and support people in that way.