Dog Friendly Pubs

Yesterday we went to Shaftesbury to meet up with my sister and brother-in-law at The Fountain Inn, a pub run by some friends. They had recently won the 'Best Pub' category in the Taste of Dorset 2014 Awards, so we treated ourselves to a good lunch as we all swapped Christmas cards and presents. I had taken Jade for a short walk on Park Walk and took in the amazing views.

After that we all arrived in the pub car park at the same time, and Jade was overjoyed to meet some friends when she got out of the car. The first thing she did was jump up on bro's pristine trousers with her muddy paws. (One of these days, those paws are going to get her into real trouble.) The Fountain is very dog friendly so she knows she'll get lots of attention when we go inside.

On Sunday we went for lunch to another pub where they welcome dogs. This is the Blue Boar in Poole - a real favourite with local dog owners. There are always a number of dogs to be found in the bar. Jade is very good on these occasions. She lies under the table until we've all finished eating and then looks for her leftovers. I always take a small dish for her and some water to wash it down. I think Jade likes eating out.

Bristol

Had a great time visiting Bristol with friends this weekend. We walked over the historic Bristol Bridge that you can see in the picture. Mostly we went on a pub crawl. There's nothing like chatting and catching up over a pint of real ale, or in my case a half pint, since there was going to be so much of it. One of my friends prefers beer to food. The rest of us like them both in equal measure. I was surprised to find so many pubs that don't do food, since many establishments these days can't survive unless they do. Anyway, we were eventually forced to go to Pizza Express to get something inside us to soak up the wet stuff.

We did take time out on Sunday morning to visit the Botanic Garden. The route there took us past the wide open spaces of Durdham Downs. We saw lots of dog walkers with their charges, which made me think of Jade who stayed at home with my menfolk and who was to give me a super welcome when hubby brought her to collect me from the station later.

Pic by Linda Bailey - licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. 


Anyway back to the Botanical Gardens which are part of Bristol University and a really educational experience, because they chart the development of the plant world through the millenia and make references to the thousands of species of each plant growing there. They are very well tended and have many beautiful specimens in a lovely landscaped space. Before we left we visited the glasshouses kept at various temperatures to suit the plant life within.

After this it was pub time again, but we did find one more thing of note - the Bristol Lido & Spa. It is hidden away in a terraced back street - a really bizarre location. We glimpsed people swimming through the glass door as we passed and stopped to find out more. Apparently it is a quite exclusive club, although members of the public can swim in the heated outdoor pool at £20 a time. It has a bar and restaurant as well, and does special deals for a swim and a meal that just add £5 or £10 or so to the cost of the swim. You can read more about it at the Bristol Lido website.

We spent some time on the waterfront, making a couple of visits to the Watershed, an event venue which also houses a cinema and restaurant bar. My real ale devotee friend reckoned it had the best selection of beers of the weekend, and for me it had really good decaffeinated coffee before heading to my hotel at the end of Saturday evening.

Pic by Keith Edkins - licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

And after getting my batteries recharged in that way, today it has been back to work, which meant researching and writing about the riveting subject of voltage optimisation. I'm always surprised at how interested I get in these topics that seem at first glance to be really dull and dry.

A Memorable Saturday Night

Writing this on Sunday, I am still gobbsmacked at what happened to us last night. The plan was to meet up with friends at our local pub and then take a short train ride to a nearby town and try out some of their hostelries, picking up a meal on the way.

Hubby went on ahead and I followed at the allotted time, to find them all there, plus Bramble, the springer spaniel. Also in the pub was the former landlord, another friend we hadn’t seen for a few years.

I ordered a small shandy; I thought it might be rather a heavy drinking night so I should start light. As time went on, hubby asked our friend if he was taking his dog home before we went on.

“Oh yes, there’s plenty of time,” was the reply.

When hubby went outside for a smoke, my lady friend asked me if I knew anything about plants.

“Can you help me identify some here?” So we moved outside too. Strangely she had forgotten that the plants were above our heads in hanging baskets.

Then the barmaid came out and said she was closing the door because she was feeling cold. But it was quite a balmy evening.

Our friend came out a bit later and said he was buying another round. By that time I was resigned to having to wait an hour for the next train, but we followed him in to a crowd of people all laughing their heads off at something. Two large banners were slung up on the walls with our names on. On the bar were large silver dishes of hot and cold nibbles. Then out came a card with lots of signatures on it, a wrapped present for hubby (an engraved pewter beer mug, of course) and a big bouquet of flowers for me. It was a surprise farewell party before our house move.

And it was completely unexpected. We hadn’t realised, even with all the clues I’ve spelt out above. No train ride for us that night. We had a lovely time with more friends than we knew we had. A few hours later we rolled home with all our booty and some very warm feelings.

Happy Times with a Dark History

Today was a happy day. Our friend Bramble, a tan and white spaniel, came with us to visit a village with a dark history. We took her to see some friends who’ve moved out to Norton St Philip. They used to work in our local pub and now they run their own, so we can drop in whenever we feel up to a 70 mile round trip with one of us driving and therefore not drinking. That of course has to be me, since hubby drives all week for work.

When I opened the car door at home, Bramble immediately hopped in and onto the passenger seat, refusing to budge over to the back, so that hubby could sit next to me. He was all prepared to sit in the back until I said I didn’t want an unrestrained dog sitting beside me in the front. After some rather hilarious pushing and shoving, we finally managed to get her out on the passenger side and then back in behind the two of us. And off we went amid some happy laughter.

Since the weekend, it’s been cloudy and grey with only people’s Christmas lights to brighten the streets. But today was a lovely day for a drive. The sun shone, burnishing the naked trees and brightening the grass. It was good to be out in the countryside with summer’s curtains of leaves drawn back to air the views.

The Fleur de Lys in Norton St Philip had not long opened when we arrived. Only one regular was sitting at the bar reading his newspaper; “escaping from in-laws”, he told us. To his surprise, we were welcomed with hugs and kisses by the landlady. And on the bar stood a glass wellie full of dog biscuits. Bramble was a happy doggie too.

The pub sits on a corner immediately opposite The George, and it's these two buildings that have the dark history. The George is reputedly one of the most haunted inns in England, and possibly the oldest. Probably first built in the 13th century, The George is recorded as having a continuous licence since 1397. In 1685, The Duke of Monmouth stayed here when he tried to usurp the throne of England from James II, and is said to have narrowly escaped assassination when a bullet was fired into the building through a window. His followers secured the village and fought off a Royalist attack, but Monmouth did not survive long afterwards for he himself was caught and executed.

The George also served as a court for his Bloody Assizes by the infamous Judge Jefferies, The Hanging Judge, who tried Monmouth's supporters, showing no mercy. Prisoners were either locked up in the George’s dungeons awaiting transportation, or hanged nearby. One of the accounts I have read says the executions took place at the Fleur de Lys and their bodies were displayed there. You can see it here, together with some photos of the two pubs that sit on opposite sides of the road.

We’ll have different memories of our visit to the village today, though, as we passed a happy hour with our friends before the skittle teams arrived for their lunch ahead of a game. We took our leave when they started to get really busy and wended our way home, let Bramble out for a run by the river, and settled in with some Christmas sarnies in front of the telly, before she had to go back to her regular master.