London Prices
Why Bedford, you are probably right to ask? We can blame the Great British Rail Sale. A four-stage, four-hour journey for the grand total of £3.60. Every connection on time. Seat and charging points available.
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| Coming Home |
A first visit - so a chance to investigate the town and its famous residents. Adventure Lab Caches taking me to the architecture and its famous sons. John Bunyan, writer of the Pilgrim's Progress. John Howard, a High Sheriff and prison reformer. And the greatest Guv of them all.
Let's find the places where he learned his trade. I'll blog the Good Beer Guide Pubs, but a shout out to a first. The Hidden Barrel. My first Lithuanian-themed micropub.
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| Volfas Engelman Imperial Porteris all round |
The Castle
As usual, getting the timings correct is key. There are four GBG pubs in town and each has unique opening hours.... 'Spoons leads the way on customer service - others at 2pm, 3pm and 5pm. The Castle is a 3pm opener but I don't think the punters have got the memo.
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| Charles Wells Hotel/Pub |
The place is empty on arrival. This includes bar staff. A walk around the central bar finds no one. If I hadn't set the hand dryers off to announce my arrival, I may well have walked back out again.
80's soft rock and a £5.80 Ghost Ship (a beer totally on theme with the experience). In the 30 minutes I was there, one other punter came in - looked around, found no service and promptly took his Golden Retriever elsewhere.
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| The Lost Punter |
Opens at 5pm but a lengthy walk to this out of town, terraced locals' pub. The Three Cups can also be used as a staging post.
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| More Charlie Wells |
Nice low lighting, a log fire flickering away at a far end and a handful of punters who have timed it for "bolt scraping". A fair selection of cask - with London Pride again north of a fiver. I think I am either going to have to turn advertising on the blog or start a Patreon. This is becoming unaffordable.
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| £2 down and I've only walked from the bar to the fire |
The Wellington Arms
Others have told me that this is the best pub in town. And the others are right. Head and shoulders above the rest.
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| Night falls on Bedford |
A central island bar, with seating all round. Plenty of pubby chat and pubby paraphernalia. Bass on cask, but my eyes were drawn to the Belgian/German bottle fridge. Is a 750ml St Bernardus ABT 12 a good idea for a pub crawl? No, obviously. Instead, I try and recreate Christmas in the cruellest month.
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| Let's get the party started |
If my evening meal hadn't been calling, I would have stayed the night.
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| No need for certificates.... everyone knows it's Bedford's finest |
The Pilgrim's Progress
Curried up in the rather too posh Three Rooms (wine glasses! roses! potato and chickpeas in a biryani!) the 'spoons is on the way back to Lenny's Purple Palace.
£1.85 pints and plenty of people.
The retiree adventurer's friend.
Thanks Timbo!
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| An alternative to the Premier Inn |
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