Beers, Boats and Boozers, 2018. No.29

From Maesbury Marsh we headed back up to Queens Head and then had a day in Shrewsbury.

There are a few parts of the Montgomery that are quite reedy. This looks worse than it actually was. I'm sure once more boats start using the canal it will improve.

This is the Canoe and Kayak club at Queens Head. The bus stop is just on the bridge behind us, as the pub, which we diodn't get to on either of our stays. We did catch the bus into Shrewsbury though and had a great day. However we were so busy I didn't get the wink to be able to enter a public house, so coffee was all I had on that trip.

There are one or two widenings in the canal between Frankton and Queens Head so I assume there were wharves that at one time. Again they have grown lilies but with use they will diminish.

We were soon back up onto the Llangollen Canal and heading past the Meres near Ellesmere, and still we didn't stop at this idyllic spot.

We did venture of piste and 'did' the Prees Branch to the end. It is another very peacefull mooring after the rush of Llangollen.

We had to go home so 'Holderness' was secured in Swanley Bridge Marina for a while. The sun was still holding when we left and headed north, yes north, before getting to the Hurleston Locks.

This photo is quite sinister to me as I imagine giant cartoon characters striding across the landscape enslaving the humans in a sort of 'War of the Worlds' distopia! It is Snugbury's Ice cream parlour though.

We headed down Hurleston locks, pleased that no fat boats had got stuck in the shrinking locks. It wasn't busy, and there was no queue to use them at the bottom.

At the bottom we turned right and headed south to Nantwich. The moorings at the aqueduct were busy but we found a spot at the end of the moorings, just after the pale boat. We stayed to enjoy the Nantwich International Cheese show too.

We went up in to Nantwich and visited the Crown Hotel. It was the principal hostelry in the town for a long time. The present building is from soon after the Great Fire of 1583 when the old one was burned down. It cost £14 to  rebuild the three story timber frames hotel. It was a coaching in and still has the arch through to the stables etc. Queen Elizabeth I contributed cash to the rebuilding of the town. It is on the central square near the church and is now a pedestrian area. There were five hand pulls on the bar and it was busy. There are several sitting areas along with a grill.

First I tried a beer from Downton Brewery, from the village of that name on the outskirts of the New Forest in rural Wiltshire. The brewery was started in 2003 and has grown to a 20bbl plant size.

I tried the 3.8% session beer, New Forest Ale. It poured with a fair head and a good colour. It had a nice malty aroma and it was the roasted malt that came out in the flavour too. Not bad, but a little 'thin' for me.

 

I next tried a beer from the relatively new Severn Brewing Co. They are based on the edge of the Cotswold, near Wooton under Edge, overlooking the Severn. They have been going from the end of 2017 but they took over the Severn Vale Brewery that had been on the site for twelve years previously. The head brewer is the same too.

I went for the dark beer in the line up, Ruby Porter 4.8%. It poured beautifully with a lovely head that made me wish I had a mustache! It was a Satan black and smelt of roasted malt, as it should I suppose. It was balance from being dry on the tongue with enough hops to. It all added up to a real mouthful that I thoroughly enjoyed. Even Helen had a sip. That was all I would give her.