Talking Shite in the Pub

 Couple of little errands yesterday afternoon and a passably sunny day (for one of the errands was using up film in a vintage camera) meant we tootled out through Temple Church and found, to our joy, it's now open for public access.

Pictures duly taken, and architectural details noted, we headed to an Amazon locker to pick up a couple of little parcels.  From here, whilst there are in theory several possible pub destinations...in practice we usually go to LHG.

We grabbed a couple of pints of cask beer (theirs) and settled in.  The number of punters was perfect, as was the beer (pale, hazy, modern hops, 4% ish).

We were also delighted to see XII by Tiley's on the bar.  At 6.2%, definitely not a cask beer to start.

Often, when we go to the pub we don't have a huge amount to talk about since we often are in the same space for the day so we already know what's happened. However, for some reason we were pretty talkative (for us, that is) and, looking back, we covered a lot of range...

 - how the monthly monitoring of work targets was going and where some clarification ws needed (I think we nailed it and the monitoring is well underway today)

• Whether a particular track was Lou Reed solo or Velvs (no firm decision)
  
  
• How Nico (solo, not on teh Velvs album) had an interesting but strangely monotone delivery style.
  
  
• How, now we know some B&W film qualities better, might specify how we use particular brands also, how some cameras really can't hack 36 exposures but that 24exp often isn't avaialble.

• How the selotape roll I'd picked up from the Amazon locker was the perfect size for the project the engineer had in mind and how he was looking forward to putting it to use
  
  
• Also noting that when we arrived, the bar staff were chilled and at 5.25 when the rush started we watched them step it up a notch.

Then it was time for another pint.   He asked me what beer I wanted.  I just gave him a specification (measure, abv, characteristics) and he joined the queue.

He came back with a spec-meeting beer for me and he had the Tiley's.  The conversation continued:

• How the staff member charged with opening the bi-fold doors (like others before them) seem to struggle a bit with it.
   
• How the Tiley's beer was very traditional and perfectly pitched.  So good that he wanted to contact his "old man" friends and tell them to come immediately to try it (one lives in London, the other in Surrey so it wasn't very practical).
  
  
• How we were put in mind of the Moor project to replicate a traditional Fullers ESB recipe (great on cask, less so in a can)
   
• How Steeley Dan's name came about (something about a Naked Lunch reference but that might be apocryphal)
   
• Whether I'd make a better job than him of getting my 35mm film onto the developing reel whilst maintaining a tail of film which would allow reuse of the cartridge.
   
• How much we were keen to develop the two films we have (we haven't done them yet, but I'm going to get onto it in a moment).
   
• The fact that we needed to make pesto when we got back and how nice it would be to have some small frozen blobs of it stowed in the freezer.
   
• How "Cabin Pressure"'s episodes are named alphabetically (Abu Dhabi, Boston, Cremona, Douz, Edinburgh, Fitton...you get the gist)
   
• How "Herc" in Cabin Pressure is Mr Gently Benevolent (and Mr Giles, and the Gold Blend Bloke and Murray "one night in Bangkok" Head's brother

...and it went on. 

In all this nonsense, people came and went at the other end of "our" table.  Each smiled at and waved in in a jolly fashion.  After the third, it was time to leave but, in truth, I could have sat and nattered nonsense for longer.

Today it's all been a bit full-on compiling monitoring stats so I think a game might well be in order to take minds off it.

But first - I need to spool up some 35mm film ready to be developed. 

 

 

Small Pleasures

 At weekends (which include Friday afternoon, natch) we choose our venues carefully.

The great thing about Bristol, especially in the summer, is how it becomes a very specific sort of visitor city (I don't think it was like this at all when I was growning up).  

They're here for all sorts of reasons:  the music scene (yesterday and today Idles doing a couple of outdoor gigs to kick off an international tour), the Wallace and Grommit trail (whatever the latest iteration of that is), beer festivals, cider festivals, harbour festivals...

...there are also, of course, the hen and stag parties:  so many pubs, so little time.

Throughout the year there are sporting events (EFL season started yesterday) - football, rugby, basketball...

Obviously, then the breweries and distilleries, and taprooms and tasting rooms and pubs.  There really is more than enough to make it a city worth visiting for a day, or more.

As a result, then, some areas of the city are HEAVING.

So - as I say, we try and choose carefully.  This generally means staying on this side of town.

It goes to explain why we tend to go Moor on Friday or Saturday and yesterday it was particularly quiet there (there are reasons, but I hope that doesn't carry on for too long) and less beer on tap than usual.

Nevertheless we sat outside for one and tried to find photographs for one of our new silly cameras:  a 1930's tiny (127 film size) box camera, since you ask.  When we decamped inside we played a couple of games of Regicide and then got chatting with James which is always a fine way to spend a bit of time.

When we headed home we thought we might get one or two more pictures (there are only 8 to be taken, for goodness' sake) and a chap said "is that actually a camera?"...and that sparked a conversation about film photography and silly cameras, completely at random.  It was a delightful 10 mins.

 This morning I went out to try and take the picture on it and to try a "new" old camera:  a Zenith 11 with a Carl Zeiss lens, so I strolled over the bridge and was greeted with countless people in "band" t-shirts arriving by train, and crowds at the 'spoons.  I headed towards Martha's, assuming it would be quiet so I could take some urban pictures.  I was staggered to see the arches next door have been turned into a pop-up plant shop with huge queues of people waiting (to pay???) and Martha's, the Pasty Shop and the Forest Bakery with loads of people in attendance.  How brilliant!

I queued for some bread to take home for lunch and then was really relieved to remove myself from the crowds and look down on them from our flat.

When we bought this flat there were literally no people wandering around at the weekend but it's gone on to be a bustling little corner of the city.  It's got its good and bad sides but it's lovely to see these businesses making the most of it. 

 

 

 

Ahhhhhhhh

 It's been a bit busy and there's an awful lot of plate-spinning happening.

When we came to head up to Bristol the trip felt a little bit daunting - and we were also taking more luggage than usual (including a negative scanner...because, you know...).

As it was, it was as smooth a trip - we jumped on a bus at the end of the road, our train was already waiting for us at the station, the tube across London was painless and we only had 10 minutes or so to wait at Paddington.  Once we walk through the door of the flat and ascertain that there had been no obvious disasters in our absence, we can start to relax.

The utter delight of settling into the Barley Mow was unparallelled.  We observed that we don't really like pubs which are devoid of customers but the BM is a bit of an outlier in that, even if the pub interior is  largely empty, you know that there will be loads of people sitting outside so people are always coming and going.  We sit in peace inside, whilst knowing we're not actually alone in the place.

There wasn't an enormous range of cask we wanted to drink but it was Monday (we don't normally travel up on a Monday - it was a bit disorienting) we had lovely beer, and we relaxed.

Lots of work to do this week, but the knowledge of local beer availability makes it all a bit better.  Funding bid, anyone? 

Never Say Never

 It was the BBB's birthday yesterday.  Sadly, I had to dash into work for a meeting but I was back around lunchtime.  We'd toyed with the idea of a walk but rain threatened so we chickened out and wandered down to The Crown to watch some cricket, play a birthday-present game and make the most of the beer.

There was a Burning Sky APA and that was supplemented by Long Man Mosaic.

The APA was lovely but it seemed a crime not to even try the Mosaic...we're not Long Man fans but we needed to take one for the team.

Actually it was really, really nice.  So much so, we shared a final of it.

 I hope the birthday boy enjoyed the trip as much as I did. 

Regulars

 Saturday saw us both in work again as we were co-producing a new session for young people at TechResort (that is to say, we've a vague idea how it should work but we wanted to test it on some willing victims before we go further).

It was quite a lot of peopling for us both followed by developing 5 rolls of film in a non-dedicated darkroom...in other words, tanking up in the light-proof bathroom, and developing in the kitchen.

After the deluges of Friday night, the temperature crept up in the afternoon so by the time we left, we were hot and tired.  Beerarama seemed the best place to go.  Obviously, the prospect of Route 21 Cask beer was persuasive: we really enjoyed it but thought it might be more of a keg beer, YMMV.

On keg was a first (probably only) for Eastbourne:  an IPA from Brausyndikat Microbrewery in Zurich.  With the brewer also onsite.  Very nice it was too - definitely continental in style.

Beerarama is unlike any venue we go to in Bristol - it has a really good wine list and a decent keg offering at all times.  There's usually bag-in-box cider/perry too.

Their expansion into cask is very welcome but even if there's nothing on tap you fancy at that moment, it has a huge range of cans in fridges, together with an enviable no/low selection.

Speaking of Bristol, we're heading there soon (in a week or so) and I'm back to yearning for my home city and its variety of places.  As the BBB put it yesterday, it's also got more B&W photo-opportunities than Eastbourne.

We'll miss the garden but a couple of weeks watching balloons and peregrines whilst working will be the perfect reset from the amount travelling to venues and stuff I've been doing recently 

Reprise

 Friday we were working at base again so it seemed rude not to pop to Beerarama for some cask afterwards.

 This weekend's offering was by Almasty and was a lovely, hazy 4-and-a-bit percenter.

It had only just gone on and it was glorious. So much so that, despite some interesting looking kegs, we stuck with 2 more pints for our seconds.  Yum.

 Yesterday we had to go to the Wish Tower to meet the builder about some impending work so afterwards, we could have gone to the Bohemian, which is our usual after-tower venue but we wanted more of that lovely Almasty beer again before it went.  We almost never go to the same place two days in a row but this exception was definitely worth it.

Still fantastic but this time we moved to other beers after.  I asked Jamie how it was going and he was pleased to report they were making money out of it which is just lovely to hear.

 Today, I'm hoping for a bit of gentle garden-fettling followed by enjoying said garden with some Arbor beer.  I've another "out and about" week coming and next weekend also likely to be quite busy...some quiet time definitely called for. 

 

Eastbourne Developments

 D'you know, the beer thing might actually be looking in up in Eastbourne.

Granted, the starting place is pretty low but there are actual glimmers...

First, The Crown, our stalwart local that has a proper set of "regulars".  I'm starting to feel like one of them - cheerily greeted and bade farewell by other regulars.  A couple of the bar staff who have been around the pub as kids with their families (regulars, of course) and who started doing glass collecting at the weekends are now fully-fledged bar staff and we've seen them grow, and grow until now they're about 90-feet tall.  Landlord, Andy, tells us cask sales have increased some and now he's turning around more interesting cask beers pretty quickly - recently we've blinked and missed a new one!  When we tootled in on Monday afternoon there were two really nice ones on (Mallinsons Nectaron, Kent Prohibition) and that had followed NBB and Three Acres beers a few days before.  This cheers us enormously!

Then, if that weren't good enough, John and Jamie of Beerarama have starting doing one 9 gallon cask each weekend with a chiller jacket and a cask-tipper at the back of the bar.  Falling into the place after a stressful (but brilliant) work session with some volunteers, I asked for two-pints and John gave me a double-take.  "You don't drink pints!" he chuckled.  Frankly, it was just as well that we did because the bloody things didn't touch the sides...and lovely beer, too.

This week, I've seen on social media that a local micro-brewery (Route 21) and a local but well-known cider  producer are planning to open a new taproom in town (not far from the Eagle, it happens) and that's definitely cause for celebration. Even if we don't end up going in there all the time (like Ninkasi because it's not always convenient, or whatever) then it's nice to know that we can ring the changes.  Rest assured, we certainly will be.

Hopefully this will buoy up other similar places and maybe even convince others it worth opening.