The Feather's in Jack's Cap...
We went over to Ludlow for the Monday market this morning, and had a general mooch around. A coffee at The Assembly Rooms, and a sausage roll from the bakery across the square sufficed for a light lunch, and we went our separate ways: the boys back to Lower Down to walk the dog, and Jane & me in search of a pint somewhere. Our first thought was The Sun Inn at Leintwardine, but on arrival there, what we should have anticipated proved true: they were closed as it is Monday today. Many places around here take Monday as their rest day, and whilst The Three Tuns [blog posts, passim] in Bishop's Castle would have been open, I'm now boycotting their ale as the current owners couldn't keep a decent pint of real ale if they tried: and they don't. The Three Tuns brewery on site (the oldest licensed brewery in Britain, and now a separate company from the pub) has declined to supply all but one of their otherwise estimable brews to its former public house, due to their insistence on over-chilling their beers.
This lamentable, modern misreading of cellarmanship is all too common these days, and in this particular case, tragically, is further compounded by an obvious lack of basic care, in that insufficient stale beer in the lines is pulled off before serving, leaving the ale with a vinegary tang and a cloudiness further exacerbated by the over-application of the chiller. Crimes against beer such as these should be (un)rewarded by lack of sales of said travesties. The place used to sell the complete range of the brewery's fine produce, kept and served very well. Now we are treated to one, and a smattering of guest ales likewise ruined. Tragic. So, working in the knowledge that the Six Bells was also closed on a Monday, we headed for familiar and predictably good fare: Clun Pale Ale at The White Horse: all power to the place. We were not disappointed. Pictured is the wonderful facade of The Feathers Hotel, Ludlow, a Tudor masterpiece, constructed in 1619 over an earlier building, as a house for attorney Rees Jones...
The Law maybe an Ass but it pays well!!!!
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