An Emsworth Excursion                          

Located on the eastern boundary of Portsmouth & South East Hampshire CAMRA’s branch area, the attractive small town of Emsworth was once a busy fishing port and was particularly famed for its oysters. The large numbers of fishermen needed somewhere to slake their substantial thirsts after, so Emsworth once boasted around thirty public houses. This number has now dwindled to nine, which is still a respectable number for a town of         just 10,000. Ale Mail set off on a quest to visit each of Emsworth’s pubs, to find out what’s on offer to the ale drinkers among us. Directly opposite Emsworth railway station isthe Railway Inn on North Street. Known for a number of years as Scallywags, this mock Tudor fronted pub has thankfully been returned to its proper name and is popular with locals and rail passengers alike. Inside, the house has been knocked through into one large room, with an island bar at its centre. It’s a shame that the white painted walls and bar counter tend to give the pub a rather Spartan feel. A pool table can be found to the rear of the pub and a bar billiards table to the right as you enter (the Railway being the only pub in Emsworth to have bar billiards). Live bands and discos are hosted here on a regular basis and live football matches are shown a number of times per week. The large island bar counter had two real ales available during our visit - Courage Directors (now brewed by Wells & Young’s in Bedford) and Thwaites Lancaster Bomber. On leaving the Railway Inn, turn left and head south to the roundabout on the A259. Turn right and continue for a few hundred yards until you come to the King’s Arms. This former Gale’s house includes a small car park and sports a half-timbered frontage with unusual ground floor buttresses and is attractively decorated with a number of hanging baskets and flower troughs. Now owned by Fuller Smith & Turner, the interior of the pub consists of a single, comfortable lounge bar and a small restaurant area. Customers can choose from four well-kept
make up the regulars and are complimented by a guest beer, which during our visit was Tom Wood’s Hop & Glory. This light and refreshing 3.6%ABV ale was in excellent condition and we may well have stayed for more, were we not having to visit another seven pubs! Special menus featuring local produce are offered during the annual Emsworth Food Festival, which takes place each September. From the King’s Arms, turn left and cross the A259,

Bear right into West Street and you soon come across the imposing frontage of the Town Brewery. This traditional tavern is unique in Emsworth in having retaining two separate bars. The small, quiet, carpeted lounge bar is found through the right-hand door and is comfortably furnished with upholstered seating. The larger, public bar has walls covered with hundreds of photographs of the pub’s staff and customers. A dartboard can be found on the rear wall and a redundant jukebox, still loaded with old 45s. The Town Brewery is the only pub in Emsworth that does not serve meals. Now owned by Punch Taverns, the pub has been presided over by the same licensee for over twenty years. Ale Mail was given a friendly welcome on our arrival and we were served with tasty pints of Greene King Abbot Ale (£2.85) direct from the cask and at a perfect temperature. A second cask beer, Greene King IPA, was also available. After spending an enjoyable half hour in good company we bade our host farewell.

The Crown Hotel is just a short stroll across the road from the Town Brewery. Located on the High Street, this regency style coaching inn offers nine bedrooms. The light and airy bar room is bare-boarded, divided into different seating areas and has a cosmopolitan ambiance. A small patio can be found at the rear of the pub and a separate restaurant is located adjacent to the bar room. There is also a small first floor function room that is available for hire. Two real ales were available during our visit. These were Ringwood Best and Wells Bombardier. We opted for the former, which at was served in good condition. From the Crown, turn left and along the High Street to the Ship Inn. This large, friendly, single roomed pub. There is much wood panelling on the walls and furnishings consist of a mixture of church pews and standard tables and chairs. An attractive tiled fireplace stands opposite the main bar counter. A separate restaurant is also available, serving a good variety of food throughout the day. A Russian menu is offered each Wednesday evening. There is a sizeable walled patio area at the rear of the pub. Ale fans can choose from a selection of three beers from the Fuller’s/Gale’s range. Cross over The Square into South Street. A hundred yards or so on the right-hand side is the green tiled frontage of the Coal Exchange. This Good Beer Guide regular and local CAMRA Pub Of The Year 2005 is often considered to be the jewel in the crown as far as Emsworth’s pubs are concerned. A Gale’s house for many years, customers can nowadays choose from a range of four cask ales - three from the Fuller’s/Gale’s portfolio, plus a changing guest beer. Ale Mail found London Pride, Butser Bitter and HSB available, as well as the 5%ABV Wychwood Hobgoblin. The Coal Exchange has a small seating area at the front of house, with a larger area extending from the right of the bar counter to the rear of the pub. The pub is simply furnished throughout. Log fires provide warmth and a focal point during the colder months and the pub is invariably busy, so arrive early to be guaranteed a seat, especially if you intend to dine. Tuesday evenings host a popular curry night, with all you can eat for £5.95. The pub has a strong sporting connection, which is evident when browsing the various photographs and memorabilia that can be found around the walls. A sheltered courtyard offers customers an overflow area in which to have a drink or smoke. The Coal Exchange is certainly the sort of pub that one feels very much at home in - all that a traditional tavern should be. Right along South Street is the Blue Bell Inn. This proved to be the busiest pub of the day, with only one small table being unoccupied on our arrival. The plain brick exterior belies the homely interior of the pub, where customers can choose from three or four separate areas to eat or drink. The pub is decorated with an abundance of fake beams and has an exposed brick bar counter. An upright piano stands at one end of the counter and upholstered stools are provided for those who prefer to drink at the bar. Drinkers have a choice of Draught Bass and Greene King Old Speckled Hen. All in all, the Blue Bell is a very pleasant pub.Retrace your steps along South Street, then bear right onto the High Street. Cross over and turn left into Queen Street,, where you shall find the Lord Raglan on your right. The sole waterside pub in town, the Raglan stands adjacent to Slipper Mill Pond, from where the River Ems flows into Chichester Harbour. Another regular entry in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide, this friendly pub is divided into a large T-shaped bar area, with a separate restaurant accessed via an adjoining door. The spilt level bar room is decorated with old prints and sports an open fire to the left of the bar counter. The pub attracts a good cross section of the community. The pub also has a very large beer garden overlooking the millpond, from where customers can observe the local wildlife as they enjoy a well-kept pint. Now owned by Fuller’s, the Lord Raglan serves London Pride, HSB and Butser Bitter as well as Bulmers Traditional Cider. A large number of pump clips can be seen behind the bar - being testament to the variety of guest ales that have been served over the years. And so it’s time to head off to our final destination, and in doing so we leave Hampshire behind and cross the county boundary to the West Sussex hamlet of Hermitage. From the Lord Raglan, turn right and walk past the millpond, heading east along the A259. Our last port of call can be seen on the right-hand side of the road. Although the pub doesn’t lie within the jurisdiction of the Portsmouth & South East Hampshire CAMRA branch area (this being South Western Sussex territory), no crawl of Emsworth is complete without a visit to the Sussex Brewery. A long-time personal favourite of the author’s, the pub was once home to Hermitage Ales, which were brewed in the adjacent outhouse. The Sussex Brewery ceased being a free house when South London brewer Young’s purchased it a few years ago. The pub now offers an extensive range of beers from Wells & Young’s plus guest ales. Young’s Bitter, Special and Winter Warmer were joined by Bombardier, Directors and St Austell Tribute during our visit. We enjoyed Winter Warmer whilst relaxing by the roaring log fire in this idyllic little pub. For those preferring a quality spirit, the Sussex boasts the largest selection of single malt whiskies in the Emsworth area.Bare-boarded throughout, with sawdust scattered across the floor As well as two distinct seating areas within the bar, the pub also offers a separate restaurant located along the corridor to the rear of the house. A highly recommended pub indeed. So that brings us to the end of another Ale Mail pub crawl. In closing, it should be mentioned that not all the town’s pubs are open all day. To avoid disappointment it is therefore advisable to phone ahead to ensure that you don’t arrive at your preferred pub and find the doors firmly closed. There is a pub to suit every taste among the nine that we have visited here.

Cheers,
Jetsetter

Courtesy Portsmouth & South East Hants Camra - Winter 2008 "Ale Mail"

Portsmouth & South East Hants Camra
www.psehcamra.org.uk

Raising a glass to the watering holes which have stood the test of time                                     


Pubs in Emsworth have been as important to the small seaside town as the fishing industry which created it many centuries ago. At the turn of the last century there were 28 watering holes in the town, although those numbers have now dwindled to nine. Although it was normal for most towns and cities across the  country to be littered with ale houses, when Emsworth had its most there were only 2,000 or so residents in the village.  A few pubs remain dating from to the 17th century, most notably The Crown, which was used as a stop-off for passing journeymen when it was first built in 1665.  It once had a portico outside the entrance, with an iconic crown on top, but it was removed in the 1960s because it was considered unsafe.

The Ship Inn is another to have stood the test of time. Since its erection in 1718 the building has always been in use as a pub. Landlady Jane Murray said: "All of the pubs have their own niche markets. It is not like everyone is trying to steal customers from each other.

"For instance, the Blue Bell has always been a fisherman's pub, and some of the others down South Street were for the sailors."  The Blue Bell in South Street was rebuilt in 1953, a few yards from where it once stood after being hit by a stray bomb during the second world war.
The original building was a pub called the Brewery Tap, built in 1869, which then turned into the Blue Bell. Landlord at the pub for the past 13 years, Tom Babb, blames a hike in council tax for the slow decline of the pub industry. He said: "It is because of the council tax which has gone up 91 per cent. When you are only a small pub trying to earn a crust you can't afford it. There was a big fishing and timber boat building industry down here and some of the old pubs were too dangerous to go in because the old fishermen were a bit rough and ready. They might have been out on a boat for 24 hours and if anyone said the wrong thing they might have been in trouble."

One of the more steady, traditional hostelries is the Town Brewery, which prides itself on being first and foremost a pub. Landlady Lois Tibbetts said: "People did not go very far in the old days, they walked everywhere, so they could go to all the pubs. There were groups of very old established families in Emsworth who ran the pubs.  "There are so many different pubs, they can cater for everybody. When the all-day licensing law came in we were the only one to use it at first and we were very busy, until everybody else followed."

One pub which remained in the same family for more than 200 years is The Sussex Brewery. From its opening in 1749 until 1978, it was run by the Miller  family and it has become known for the variety of sausages offered.

The density of the pubs was not just concentrated in South Street and the square as people went in search of a tipple. Before their slow demise there were no fewer than seven along the short stretch of North Street. The Little Green, The Locomotive, The Seagull, The Milkman's Arms, Railway Tavern and an unamed beer house have all been demolished or changed use.The old drinking culture which spawned so many pubs has evolved to the point where a town with 10,000 people does not need even half the pubs their ancestors would have frequented.

The News   23 August 2007