Saturday in the Crown

Part of the reason we felt our Eastbourne house would be suitable for us is that it's a 12 - 15minute walk from The Crown.

Other places we looked at didn't have pub-proximity and we rejected them, in part, because of that.

We already knew The Lamb (Harveys) which is about the same distance but we decided, the day we viewed the house on a miserable November and thought it would do (that's all we really wanted in a house at the time),  that we should at least check The Crown out to see what alternatives there were if we decided to move there.

It has to be said, it looked a little bit "locals pub" with smokers hanging around outside the door (they still do that a bit) and in the right hand room as you go in, the facilities felt a bit basic (the loos still are basic, though clean).

We can't remember what cask beers were on the bar but we remember we ordered Harveys and it was served on gravity from the "cellar" (cool room next to the bar).  This wowed us both, especially as it was super-fresh and cool, which is not always a given for Harveys in town.

There was quite a long delay until we actually bought the place (for...reasons)  but we revisited it only once we'd completed the purchase some 8 months later.  We went back to The Crown and were ecstatic to find that Dark Star Hophead was now a regular beer and was served on gravity (Harveys had been put on handpump).

We've been drinking there ever since - some 13 years.  Same landlord, we've seen his son and friends grow up from primary school kids to working behind the bar and the beer is still the best/most interesting cask offering anywhere in Eastbourne.

We've been back around 6 days and hadn't yet visited but had learned that they had Thornbridge Ravenna on. Once we'd completed a couple of strenuous garden tasks, we walked down.

Saying hi to a few regulars, catching up with the bar staff, watching sport on the TV - it's just as relaxed an experience as going to the Barley Mow.  Beer of the same high quality, though sadly not the same range.

We were home.