20 Wed 29/3/17: Kings Arms, Lymington

Beer: Sharp's Doom Bar 4.0%

On the south coast/New Forest for work day out, which involves boating from Lymington to the IOW and back again, on Thursday 30th. Some go down the night before to sleep in local Premier Inns or the corporate day out organisers’ boat. I’m on a boat. Some go for a pre-arranged Italian meal on Wednesday night; I do a pub crawl on me tod.

The only GBG pubs are the Wetherspoons in town and The Monkey House which is a good twenty minute walk from the Marina. I pass the JDW and, wondering whether continuing the walk was justified, went into this pub on the way. I’d have stayed for a couple (and contemplated staying in the town centre) if the pub was better. My plan was to find a decent pub and enigmatically read Oscar Wilde’s essay on socialism… it wasn’t going to happen here.

Doom Bar was the only option. There were four regulars at the bar, the barman was regaling how, though he disliked “_____”, he loved working with her because she was so easy to bully… ordering her about, telling her what to do etc. Seemed a thoroughly unpleasant boast to me, but that’s the way things seem to be going – both in workplaces and politics these days. Anyway, the assembled clientele seemed amused enough with it. The bastards.

I supped up me beer and made a beeline to the Monkey House, listening to a podcast: The History of England Episode 209: (15th Century) Exploration.

22 Wed 29/3/17:The Six Bells, Lymington

Beer: Hilden Pale Oat Ale 4.8%

Back to the Wetherspoons (a small, three level, example - suitably quirky and incongruous for the area) where I bump into a breakaway party from the work do Italian meal. Apparently it was over expensive and a set menu which some (who ended up in JDW) didn’t fancy.

A good enough bunch, I was called over – but they were all eating… I sat on an adjacent table, leaning in and trying to minimise feelings of social incompetence.

The beer selection is far better at JDW, and Hilden Pale Oat Ale was quite good. But, still, I felt I was impinging on my colleagues' evening. As if I needed to increase the weird loner sensibility, taking notes and pictures on/of pints of beer in pubs wasn’t going to increase my Lymington High Street cred’ in this company.

I started back down the High Street toward to marina and, hearing what I thought was another gaggle of colleagues up ahead, ducked into… the next pub.

21 Wed 29/3/17: Monkey House, Lymington

Beer: Piddle Cocky (4.3%)

Made decent strides toward the MH, and the walk only took ten minutes or so. The area is very white, very pleasant and very moneyed. In terms of pubs, this seemingly translates into the Brexit boorishness of the last pub and the fact that this hostelry (though listed in the GBG) is more restaurant than pub. Nice enough and all, but one felt almost grubby going to the bar just for a pint.

Bought a Cocky Piddle (Piddle Brewery), winced at the witless moniker, and toddled off into a room, out of the way back past the toilets, that clearly wasn’t required for dining on a Wednesday night. Incongruously alone in an over lit overflow room; there wasn’t going to be any reading here either.

I drank that one and trudged back into town, calling Steph to whinge a bit, then listening to how the Portuguese and Spanish divided the 15th century trade routes (and decimating indigenous populations as they went about it).