EGON TOASTE's Wassailled Hostelries Guide
2007
| TOUR (& Rough Location) | SIGN of the HOUSE |
Notes * NB: This is NOT a critical review. See below. |
| Thursday 13th | £150 In The Hat |
Stortford
to The Hallingburys, Takeley & back |
| Stortford | Jolly Brewers
|
Warm welcome
- Landlord sold (that's Timothy Taylor's beer, the landlord isn't up for
grabs .... so far as we know ....). |
| Spellbrook | Coach & Horses |
Declined - Manager
away & we couldn't wait ... nice pub though |
Three Horseshoes |
Good ambience,
rather smart! |
|
| Hallingbury | George
|
Warm & welcoming
- very good looking fish n chips |
Hop Poles |
Refused - No
music licence |
|
| Takeley | Green Man |
Interesting old pub .... got a donation
even if we didn't sing |
Four Ashes |
Lovely local!
|
|
| Gt Canfield | Lion & Lamb |
Came too late
:-( |
| Hockerill | Nag's Head |
An architectural
wonder, worth a trip! |
Red Cow |
Jolly friendly |
|
| Friday 14th | £177 in the hat (+/-) &
Owch !! |
Sheering,
Hatfield Heath, HBO |
| Don't often grumble, but this has to be the most disastrous
evening out since we lost the tyre near Henham. Paul had the front end of
his motor crunched by an unknown third party whilst parked in Hatfield Heath,
Simon retired hurt with a bad cold & two pubs were empty, whilst the
Railway in Sawbo was so full you couldn't get a fag paper between the karioke.
No chance! Given that we had a really strong chorus, what with Mr &
Mrs Sullivan being present, a somewhat disappointing night. The good bits were the pubs that were firing on all cylinders, viz: |
||
| Sheering | Crown - Landlord's valediction!
|
Great Adnams - very friendly |
Cock
|
Enthusiastic diners, lovely atmosphere
& a roaring fire. |
|
| Hatfield Broad Oak | Cock
|
Refurbed! a Must for a "wet".
Food looks good too. |
| Hatfield Heath | Stag
|
not so full but very appreciative ...
|
White Horse
|
Gently heaving. good patron's chorus |
|
Thatchers -The New Landlord's Valediction!
|
Classic pub - utterly friendly, great
ale. |
|
| Saturday 15th | A much better evening! A small and perfectly formed chorus. Great to see Karen, all the ladies sang with wonderful vigour and the addition of Tone to the old established Brain & Suggers duo made for an awesome noise. If we could just find a way to tune Suggers, life would be perfick! £247.80 In The Hat plus 46p stuck at the bottom of the Brain-Hinge MkIV count-o-matic (with integral perambulatory power supply). Includes Euros. |
Clavering
/ Old A11 |
| Clavering | Fox & Hounds (Landlord's Valediction) 
|
Small but friendly
company. Great Adnams. |
Cricketers 
|
What more can we say? Has to be a venue of choice! Convivial, very convivial .. |
|
| Rickling Green | Cricketers
|
As above - great
ambience, terrifyingly efficient staff! |
| Ugley | The Beautiful Ugley Chequers 
|
... another dining-spot greatly recommended,
warm welcome. Didn't get to intimidate the 41 club, who were busy at their
speeches .. |
| Birchanger | Three Willows 
|
Seek it out, folks - less showy than some
but a great company of diners & locals. |
| Manuden | Yew Tree 
|
Ta muchly to the DJ who stopped his machine
so's we could do While Shepherds. Good nights out were evident thoughout.. |
.... and apologies to all those
we didn't get round to this year ..... so many pubs, so little time !
|
||
| Thursday 20th | A varied & interesting trip out ... got better as we went along ... lovely finish at Amwell £183.87 In The Hat |
Gilston
to Stanstead Abbotts & Amwell |
| High Wych | Rising Sun 
|
Beer good as
ever - impressive make-over too, in keeping with the traditions of the
House |
| Gilston | Dusty Miller 
|
Quiet but friendly.
Suggers owes a small debt of kindness for when his bus broke down outside
last summer! |
Moorhen |
Rather nice. Better than your average
Beefeater!. |
|
| Eastwick | Lion
|
Lovely local ... |
| Widford | Crown
|
.. as is this one. Resident African Grey
& great local company. |
| Stanstead Abbotts | Red Lion
|
Lovely old pub - great craic |
Lord Louis 
|
Very Merry Company |
|
Jolly Fisherman 
|
Pleasant - at least one real jazz fan
|
|
| Gt Amwell | George IV 
|
Friendly - good ale & a nice place
to stop |
| Friday 21st | A great
night! £300 in the Hat Kudos to the reveller who kept pulling Suggers' tatters during "Landlord" and crying "Ding Dong!" .. he's having an otherwise quiet weekend, I fear (darkend room, ice, that sorta thing) |
Ash
Vale |
| Wareside | White Horse 
|
Good company!
|
Chequers Landlords Valediction |
Excellent ale
|
|
| Much Hadham | Crown 
|
Under new ownership and still a really
friendly local |
Bull 
|
Still good - real wood floors (excellent
for Powder & Shot) Nice suppers too |
|
| Hadham Ford | Nags Head
|
A good family atmosphere - smiles all
round |
| Wellpond Green | Kick & Dicky Landlords Valediction |
Landlord was exceeding kind - to the point
of trusting Suggers & co with his impressive new crystal glasses!
Great dining in evidence |
| Albury | Catherine Wheel 
In Memoriam - up to date snap of the snazzy new place follows |
Splendid new barn following a disastrous
fire which razed the old pub - |
| Saturday 22nd | £276.73 In The Hat No refusals - a good night |
Sawbridgeworth "Walking
Tour" |
Bull 
|
All the pubs in Sawbo are good - the Bull
is no exception. |
|
|
Three Horseshoes 
|
Sawbo's "country pub" - a great
welcome. |
Hand & Crown Landlord's valediction |
Full of Jolly Diners. Excellent Ale |
|
Old Bell 
|
Jolly Good company - hosts to the Monday
Jams, (every other week) recommended for a good pint and a bit of acoustic
craic! |
|
King William 
|
Live indie band, but we squeezed one in
anyway |
|
Market House 
|
Very friendly - good cooking too |
|
Queens Head 
|
.. as is this one - personally recommended
for Saturday lunch |
|
George IV 
|
Great little local. Stopped for a wet |
|
Good Intent 
|
Enthusiastic revellers |
|
Gate 
|
Renowned - and justly so - for real ales |
|
| EXTRAS | ||
| Wassails sung as part of another event ... | ||
| Sawbridgeworth | 5th January - 6pm
onwards |
|
Stortfolk Website:
 |
 |
* Notes
All our comments are good -. If you want a crit, go see CAMRA or the Good Food Guide. If people are good enough to let us in to sing & collect, that says something about them already. All the pubs have an individual character and it's up to you, the hopeful traveller, to go and see if you like their style. All we offer is a hint or two.
Those who refuse because they don't like the look of us are
noted for this year only and will not generally ever be asked again. We're not
offended. It's the licencee's right to control visitors and assess the annoyance
we might cause to their patrons. We do not go where we're not wanted!
From experience, specialist restaurants and big drinking-halls with club-type
dance sound are not set up for a wassail and if it doesn't look like a pub,
we don't try.
Those who refuse because the lkandlord's absent or there's a live gig or an
important match in progress will often be re-visited. When in a pub, we will
very happily shut up if customers ask us to (as we did when the gents on the
Sheering Tour told Suggers to turn it down because they were trying to have
a serious conversation at the bar) - you just have to ask.
