Join the Master & Clerk for a swift half

Following the success of the inaugural virtual pub gathering at the bar of The Alford Arms at Frithsden, near Hemel Hempstead. The Master has since hosted a number of similar events across the country from the comfort of her own home.

On Friday 23rd April the Master joined other Coachmakers at The Quicksilver Mail in Yeovil with Coachmakers from Somerset, Devon and Dorset. Known locally as “a proper pub” serving great food this public house was one of the stopping places of the Quicksilver Mail Coach.

Then by the magic of Zoom the Master joined the Clerk and others from Hampshire at the Clerk’s favourite pub in the entire universe, The Still and West, a stunning Grade II listed pub in Old Portsmouth with as much sea air as you can handle.

On 30th April it was off to Buckinghamshire to the Rising Sun at Ickford, described as a family run traditional 15th century thatched village pub where you will find exposed oak beams, a real log fire, good beers and lagers and a warm welcome. And then by the miracle of wiggly amps the Master could be found at the Blue Lias Inn at Stockton in Warwickshire, a beautiful canal side inn located next to the Grand Union Canal in Warwickshire, between the villages of Stockton and Long Itchington.

Fast forward to 7th May and the Master had donned her beer goggles for a few scoops in the Golden Ball in Ironbridge, midway between Cheshire and Gloucestershire. The Golden Ball is tucked away among other historic buildings and is the oldest pub in Ironbridge, dating back to 1728 making it even older than the famous iron bridge itself; but not quite as old as the Coachmakers’ Company.

Finally, the Master braved the Kent marshes and washed up in the coastal pub called the Old Neptune near Whitstable. A place of great character, it might not be the kind of place that you would visit unless you were on a Dickensian themed treasure hunt in search of the place where Pip might first have encountered Magwitch, but with no land border between Kent and Essex it at least allowed those present from both counties to drink in one county whilst gazing at the other through powerful binoculars.

As the Master’s national pub crawl finally almost reaches the bottom of the glass, the final dates and counties remaining for her to visit are as follows:

Oxon/Surrey at 12-1pm – 14th May 2021

London at 1-2pm – 14th May 2021

If you live in either of those areas, keep a good lookout for the lady on a mission.