Thanne Longen Folk to Goon on Pilgrimages

Posted in Railways on Saturday 28th January 2006 at 10:30pm

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Decided to pop out for a pint today. Sounds reasonable enough I suppose, but perhaps it’s important to point out that the pint would need to be purchased in Nottingham. Having wandered into my local one evening this week and found the London Pride uncharacteristically off, I tried a pint of Hardy and Hanson’s Olde Trip and enjoyed it very much. This sparked a bit of Googling, which led me to what is claimed is England’s oldest inn – Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, nestling in the rock on which Nottingham Castle is built. Naturally it's claims are disputed, by approximately twenty other establishments. Decided a visit must be paid at some point soon. As the week drew on, and eventually the Olde Trip ran out at my local, decided to make the pilgrimage sooner than planned.

So, found myself on the 06:33 once again heading for the customary change at Weston. The usual quiet run up to Birmingham, with time to decide whether to go for an early arrival at Derby on a replacement bus, or a later slow trip via Wichnor Junction. Took the latter, ending up just a couple of minutes too late for a quick Nottingham connection. Wandered around a bit, and got a shot of 45112 which has been sitting here for a while. Absolutely freezing at Derby, despite the bright sunshine.

45112 stabled at Derby

Apart from high speed changes of train, haven’t been at Nottingham for quite a while. Quite a bit has changed, including the new NET tram system, which sweeps over the city on what was once the Great Central alignment and terminates beside the Midland station. Out of the side exit this time, and along Canal Street towards the castle. Turning into Castle Street, spotted the inn right away, at the foot of the great stone outcrop. Inside, the Trip is a dark and warm maze of caverns and passages, with rooms cut out of the rock. In fact, it's very easy to believe its stories once inside. I arrived and took a seat near the bar for people-watching purposes. It soon got busy, but I noted a lot of people were literally just passing through. Groups of Japanese tourists wandered in, passed by, stopped to take pictures of each other by the fireplace, and left right away. Its easy to see why the staff are a little slow to serve you here – they’re never sure if you’re a customer or a sightseer. What was perhaps more disturbing was how those of us actually partaking of a drink became a living exhibition in ourselves - "look at these alcoholic Englishmen – its only just lunchtime and they’re already sinking pints of ale". Despite being unsettled by this, I stayed for a second pint and purchased some souvenirs before leaving.

Ye Old Trip to Jerusalem Tavern, Nottingham

Back to the impressive bulk of Nottingham station, and the chill which has dogged me for much of the week started to take its toll. Felt grouchy and cold, and couldn’t wait to get on a train back to Derby. This meant an even longer, colder wait there however, and I felt thoroughly dejected by the time my train for Weston arrived a few minutes late. Soon settled into the warm first class carriage however, and enjoyed a snooze on the journey back which again took in Lichfield. Ground to a halt outside Aston due to congestion and crowd control problems at the station following a football match. Lost quite a bit of time here, and played catch up for much of the way home. Found my connection waiting patiently for us to pass at Weston, and trundled home just a few minutes late after all. A strangely quiet day on the rails, but an interesting visit with some fine beer!