A football-away-trip-cum-stag-do taking in two different towns. First up we headed east to the market town and port of Boston for the football, followed by an evening and a stopover in the historic market town of Newark-on-Trent in the middle of Nottinghamshire. Here's what happened....
I was picked up around 8.45 last Saturday morning, and after a hearty breakfast and catch up with the other lads at the Shay Cafe, which nestles in the shadow of the Shay Stadium home of FC Halifax Town, we set off in two cars on our journey to the far-flung south-eastern corner of Lincolnshire.
We were on our way to Boston, where the local team were back in the National League after several seasons in the league below. I had been here for football once before, but it was not on the last occasion the teams had met one level below in the National League North when Town triumphed 4-1 in their promotion-winning season of 2016-17. I checked back and my last visit had been in 2011, when the sides had shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw. In the intervening years, Boston - whose nickname is the Pilgrims, after the famous 17th century religious group that set sail from the town and eventually settled in America - left their old ground on York Street close to the town centre and set up camp at the Jakemans Community Stadium, a new-build a mile or two out of town.
I seemed to recall it had felt like a journey to the end of the world last time I had visited as we passed through miles and miles of flat Lincolnshire countryside before arriving at the town which, I recalled, had a somewhat remote and isolated feel to it. The town, which wasn't specifically mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book, grew up in the 11th and 12th centuries, around The Haven, a tidal stream that flowed into the largest natural bay in the country, otherwise known as The Wash, with the nearby River Witham, which now flows through the town, changing its route and joining The Haven following one particularly severe bout of flooding. A port developed, exporting wool and other local goods, and by the 13th century Boston was the second port in England after London, doing significant trade with Europe, and was a member of the Hanseatic League of ports. Its most prominent landmark is St Botolph's Church, otherwise known as The Stump, the largest parish church in England, which can be seen for miles around. The soil around these parts supported the growth of fruit, vegetables, and other crops, and this has over the years attracted many foreign workers particularly from Eastern Europe to work the land. I remember last time walking through the town to the football and being struck by the sheer number of Eastern European shops and supermarkets. It had all seemed fairly downbeat and forlorn, and it all came back to me recently when a recent news report stated that several of the town's best-known shops had or were due to close.
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| The Stump, dominating the scene in Boston |
This time, however, when I wasn't driving myself, it didn't seem to take anywhere near as long to get there, around about 2 hours 30 since we'd set off. We hit some traffic when we got into town, but the delay seemed to be caused by level-crossing gates being closed as a train was passing through. We got parked up, and just as we had done back in 2011, made our way to the Eagle for a pre-match pint.
The Eagle is pretty much there as you land in town, situated on the corner of a busy junction across from the afore-mentioned level-crossing and the local Currys. It seemed pretty much as I remembered back then, but in the meantime it has become part of estate of Nottingham brewers Castle Rock. It is essentially a two-roomed local which has a well-deserved reputation for the quality of its real ales. We met the other carload in the smaller of the two rooms, and with a group of Boston fans sat at the only other room, it was pretty full by the time we got sat down. There were 8 beers on hand pump, and with the only other CAMRA Guide-listed pub a little distance away, plus the fact we had to drive and find a parking spot to go to the football, we decided to stay put here. Most of the beers were from Castle Rock, but there were also 3 guests amongst the 8 cask on offer. I started off. predictably I suppose, with a pint of Castle Rock's flagship Harvest Pale, which to be honest I found a little thin, lacking too much flavour, and a little bit too cold. which was a bit disappointing (NBSS 2.5). Next up I tried one of the guests, Millwright Mild from the 8 Sail Brewery who are based a few miles away in the village of Heckington, and whose brewery is close to the only 8 sail windmill in the country, hence the name. This was much better, a 3.5% dark, malty, and tasty beer with plenty of flavour (NBSS 3.5). I moved on to a pint of Castle Rock's Our House, a 3.4% extra pale ale featuring Citra and Ekuanot, which was a nice easy drinker (NBSS 3). Finally, as we were thinking of what time we should leave for the game, I finished with a pint of Krush, a 4.6% tropical fruit crush, a delicious collaboration between Castle Rock and Siren (NBSS 3.5). We'd had a decent session and chat in this friendly pub which made the long journey to the town worthwhile.
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| Today's squad and the beer line up at the Eagle |
It was about a mile and a half to the Jakemans Community Stadium, and we managed to get parked up in a residential avenue about 10 minutes' walk away. The ground is smart enough but lacking in character like so many modern grounds. The away enclosure was sideways to the pich at the far side of the ground (as usual). There were only a few steps to the stand, which, whilst we were able to stand up to watch, meant it wasn't particularly conducive to giving the best view of the game. The second port of call was the food servery where I ordered a steak pie, gravy, and chips, which I have to say was very good and well above the usual football stadium fare. Unfortunately it did conspire to me missing the only goal of the game, as with the container burning my hands I rested it on a shelf to eat it. A loud cheer went up. And it was from the Town fans! I had missed a Town goal. So a great start and with Boston near the foot of the table we were anticipating a few goals. But, as the game went on, it became obvious there weren't going to be any more, from Town at any rate, as the home side put in a battling performance. And so an overall poor game in the end, but at least the score was in Town's favour. It finished Boston United 0, FC Halifax Town 1.
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| Game over at Boston United v FC Halifax Town |
We left Boston as we'd arrived, via the A52, and then picked up the A17 for the remainder of the 35 or so miles to Newark. To put it all into context, we felt on the basis of several previous visits between us to Newark there would be more going on than Boston, and for any who are thinking that it could all be a little mundane for a stag do, it was the groom-to-be's second, this one with his dad and football mates, following one a few weeks ago in Amsterdam with his mates. I wrote about Newark a few years ago when I'd last visited this attractive and historic market town on the banks of the Trent. It was a hot summer's market day, and I found the town awash with shoppers, tourists, steampunks, and plenty of good beer. As we pulled into the town and located the Travelodge, the streets on this October evening were a lot quieter this time.
A quick check-in and bag drop off, and we were back out again, on our way to the nearest pub, the Organ Grinder, one of 4 pubs of the same name run by the Nottingham brewers Blue Monkey (the others are in Nottingham, Arnold, and Loughborough). The pub was very busy in the room with the bar in it, with a real mix of people of all ages in there, a real contrast to the quiet streets outside. We made our way down a corridor and found a quiet room with a couple of dartboards on the wall, various bits of pub ephemera, and a solitary guy looking at his phone. Our two cars united after our journey from Boston, our conversation turned, later than normal, to the usual post-game review. As we discussed the finer points of the game - in summary, crap game but at least we'd come away with 3 points - the guy on his phone stood up and declared the last thing he wanted to be around was celebrating football supporters. He was a Baggies fan and they had been denied a win at Oxford by a last-minute equaliser. Well, that's football! We finished our beers here - most of us had been drinking the brewery's best-known beer, BG Sips, a 4% fruity and hoppy pale which was in good condition (NBSS 3).
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| The Organ Grinder, Newark |
We moved on then to the town's famous micropub, Just Beer (opening image), which was one of the first in the country, and is a place that I have called several times over the years. It is situated in the delightfully-named Swan & Salmon Yard just off Castlegate, which was unlit this evening. There was though a warm glow emanating from the windows of thepub and we walked in, expecting it to be busy like the Organ Grinder. But we walked in to a relatively quiet and cosy pub where most of the tables in the main room were taken but it felt calm and relaxing in the subdued lighting. A board above the bar stated that since opening on the 4th August 2010, 6,406 different beers have been served from 1,557 breweries, which is pretty impressive. Beer quality here has always been excellent, whilst the ambience captures the essence of the best of our pubs. Here I enjoyed a pint of, I think, Cloudburst from Nottingham's Lenton Lane brewery which I remember was a pretty good hazy pale (NBSS 3.5) which was drunk in the little side room off the main bar where we squeezed around a couple of tables, thereby disturbing the atmosphere for a couple having a quiet drink. Just Beer is one of those rare and special places that makes you wish you lived where it is so you you could go there regularly, and needless to say I am looking forward to visiting again when I get chance.
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| Just Beer, Newark (taken on a previous visit) |
We moved on then to one of Newark's most famous landmarks, although it is not actually on land. This is the floating pub known as the Castle Barge, which is moored on the Trent next to the town's main road bridge and close to the castle. It began life as a working barge carrying grain between Hull and Gainsborough, but was converted to a pub in 1980 and has been run by the same family ever since. It has usually been busy when I have visited previously, both on deck and in the adjoining on-shore beer garden but this time it was pretty quiet. It has sold beers from different breweries in the past but every time I have been there have been beers available from the Pheasantry Brewery, who have been producing beer at the family farm in nearby East Markham since 2012. This evening there were two beers available from the brewery on hand pump, the Best Bitter and a 4.5% golden ale, Excitra, which as you might expect, makes use of the Citra hop, and was a nicely-balanced refreshing pint (NBSS 3). It certainly is a different kind of pub experience and is well worth a visit.
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| On board at the Castle Barge, Newark |
Our final pub of the evening took us back down Castlegate to the Monty Python-themed Flying Circus, which was reasonably busy, although not as busy as last time I called in when it was overrun by steampunks. With both Python-esque quotes and chalked band logos on display the guys here have displayed their creative flair in this popular town pub which features regular live music. There were 4 hand pumps on the bar featuring the increasingly ubiquitous Wye Valley HPA plus 3 from smaller brewers, most of us beer drinkers going for a pint of the 4% Niksun Pale from the Suffolk-based brewers, Bruha, whose beers I had not tried before. It was a decent enough beer without being remarkable (NBSS 3).
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| And now for something completely different: Newark's Flying Circus |
Food was beckoning, and a Nepalese restaurant just along the road had been selected as our eaterie for the night. Here we ate some great food - Nepalese starters, traditional Indian curries, and ordered far too much in the way of breads and rice which between us we washed down with - a real sign of the times, this - 6 pints of Madri, a pint of Cobra (me, sticking to tradition!), and a gin and tonic. And after we'd sorted the bill, it was round the corner to the hotel after what was certainly not the wildest stag do I've been on, but nevertheless an enjoyable day of great company, great beer, some really good pubs, and 3 points from the football....
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