BRAPA is .... TICKING UP TO BOSTON : THE DAWN OF A NEW GBG SEASON

Thursday 28th September, the official release date of the 2024 Good Beer Guide.

The churn™ had been 4% kinder to me than in 2022, and with optimism high for a successful 2023/24 ticking season ahead, I was back in a county I'd made great progress with over the summer, lovely lovely Lincolnshire.

Say what you like about the yellow bellied, six fingered, yokel populated, flat identikit dining pub Doom Bar heavy county polluting the east side of England like a giant abscess twixt Cambs and Yorkshire that needs severely lancing, but you certainly won't hear me say a word against Lincolnshire.

Top of my Christmas list, an 'I Heart Lincs' t-shirt.

A few stops from Grantham on the Skeggy line, considerably quieter than it had been at the end of August, my first tick, a 2023 survivor, was found in the shadow of an impressive windmill.

8 Sail Brewery Bar, Heckington (2443 / 4600)

Hang on, Lincs breweries with a windmill schtick? I thought this was Bateman's bag. Oh well, room for two I suppose. Besides, "We've got more sails than you" chant the Heckington fans at their Wainfleet rivals during the annual sausage rolling event. Three cheerful old blokes turn to wish me 'good morning', I just knew that waiting at the station crossing opening the gate for geriatrics was going to cost me 'first customer of the day' status. Nescafe, the 'new' Boston over in the USA and flashing your pink credit card at young waitresses are amongst their favourite topics of conversation. Being a brewery, it smells of heady malt but although there's plenty of serious beer work going on, the bar is nicely kitted out to give it old time character and a musky spirit of yore. The barman spies my GBG (no hiding it under the table required anymore) and is excited to learn it is the new edition. In fact, the local CAMRA are in this evening for the induction ceremony. The loos are a long way back, not sure I'm strictly allowed to take a shortcut through the brewing process, but I do anyway, perhaps they could name this brew 'BRAPA's Spent Penny' but they probably won't.

A first tick of the new season

As I step onto Boston soil for the first time in approximately 20 years since Hull City played them in two consecutive league seasons, I have a 40 minute walk out of town, but I can't help being a touch apprehensive.

Our 8 Sail Brewery host had been a top hole sorta bloke, but he'd claimed this pub was 'long term closed'. I'd normally take such a comment seriously, but Facebook tells me folk were watching football in here only last night, so unless something dreadful has befallen the place in the last 12 hours, I just couldn't believe it.

And I was right not to.

Hammer & Pincers, Wyberton Fen (2444 / 4601)

What I love about Lincolnshire CAMRA is that they aren't shy when it comes to putting in the sort of pub that most regions simply wouldn't even consider, even if the Pride and Doom Bar are a consistent 3.25 NBSS. I'm talking about the sort of unpretentious free for all situated on a roundabout on the outskirts of town, not unlike the Jolly Scotchman I visited at Holdingham a few months back. The sort of boozer where hi-vizzers and depressed 55 year olds are found sinking Carling, but you are just as likely to find a cute old couple scranning down ham, egg and chips, or a young family of Tiffani's and Jamal's might be in with their colouring books and Fruit Shoots. It could turn its hand to a party, wake or bar mitzvah at a moment's notice. But the staff know their clientele, and that doesn't include errant pub tickers, so I have a long wait before a barmaid appears to pour me the afore mentioned bubbly Pride. Newspaper guy, previously scowling, strokes the green baize, drums a little beat and heads off home as Billy Joel Innocent Man plays, leaving me to stare deeply into the carpet and contemplate life and innocent men.

It is an even further walk back into Boston town centre than it was from the station, and what a fascinating town it is.

From some angles, it feels like you're staring into the great abyss, from others, it could be the bastard love child of Ely and Thetford, I just couldn't work it out.

Boston & Me - A Brief History

Back in that 2002/03 period, whilst I was by then using the GBG to inform my pub choices, I didn't pay much attention to pub name or details, as long as I got a pint of that funny new stuff they called 'real ale' which was rapidly replacing Guinness as my favourite tipple. BRAPA was more than 10 years into the future.

But let's take a quick look at what I do remember, maybe a Boston expert can comment below and help me out ......

Eagle - Still in the GBG, I remember this one as being good. I had a tuna baguette, there was football on TV, we sat against a far wall and I drank Adnams I think but I'm not sure how I'd remember that!

New England Hotel - Cute glitzy little hotel bar, lots of shiny glasses and I seem to remember the barman standing out, but not sure why. This was I think, the first Boston pub I visited on the 3pm game. Never see it in GBG now, wonder if it still exists.

Unknown Edge of Towner which def wasn't Hammer & Pincers - Am sure it came under Boston itself, on quite a busy main road, I traipsed here before the evening kick off game with Daddy B. Was quite smart foodie and boring and I think our view was 'why'd we bother?'

Rough Busy Town Centre Fun - On the Saturday, after New England, but before kick off, it was very smoky (pre 2007 of course), crooked old beams, low ceiling, Bateman's I think, full of angry bald men with Union Jack tattoos and belts n braces, but there was a punk all dayer on later that afternoon. I'd probably love it now.

Post Match Peculiarity - I think Dad drove us here, so perhaps a bit out of town, I remember gravel and little planted flowers lining the path from carpark, maybe a conservatory too. I think an interior wall was brick, it felt like a bright airy club room where we sat, sitting down with a few other post matchers, thinking an Ipswich Town game was about to come on Sky Sports, but then it turned out it was Speedway. Ipswich Witches or something! Everyone around me obviously felt the same cos we all looked disappointed.

Anyway, back to the present day and I thought my next pub might be the post match one, but now I'm 90% certain it wasn't.

Goodbarns Yard, Boston (2445 / 4602)

Colin going a bit silly with the Stabilo was a result of sheer boredom. I hope I'm not mincing my words when I say I thought this place was utter dross. Gloomy. Trapped in purgatory somewhere between restaurant and pub. Terribly long wait for service. Below par pint of Ghost Ship. The handpumps were half hidden, Kingdom of Fife style, so quelle surprise. When a dog rushes in and nestles its wet nose into me, instead my usual "ugh!", I'm thinking "ahhhh, a rare moment of humanity, nay, dogmanity!" but the staff quickly tell the owner "no dogs allowed!" and they are forced to leave. I find myself on the side of the dog! No dog lover as you know, but it was an above average sort of hound, an 8/10 easy. The one swathe of carpet was too far away to 'rate' accurately so I've been forced to adapt! Back to that earlier long wait for service, I saw it as an opportunity to explore the full pub to try and work out if it is the Ipswich Witches pub of 2002/3. But that just made me look to all the elderly diners that I was desperately seeking service and I was told to be patient (in a nice way!)

I had to nurse the pub experience too, waiting for 4pm when today's final pub opens .....

Carpenters Arms, Boston (2446 / 4603)

But good things come to those who wait, in what was my only 'new entrant' of the day. Proof Boston CAMRA have their wits about them. About 3:50pm actually, I see the door ajar, and in the window, a very content looking chap halfway down his pint! I assume he's the landlady's other half, and he's got special rights, but I poke my head around the door tentatively and she assures me they're open. Tucked away in the backstreets like all the best pubs, it is full of life from the get go, perfect tonic to Goodbarns. Carpentry decor, and lots of interest in why this stranger is in their midst! 'The Carps' (as we locals like to call it) has filled up with bolshie blokes with different shaped heads by about 4:03pm. I'd gone for the Yella Belly which I'm enjoying, £2.90 a pint for heaven's sake, but she brings me a free half of the XB, which makes the locals jealous of my preferential treatment. Reason being "Bateman's tell us we serve the best XB out of all their pubs, they reckon it is better at the brewery but we say it is best here!" and everyone watches me intently swallow it down to make sure I approve, which I do. A blast of ridiculously loud 60's music follows, and all is well with the world.

Nice to end on a high. Ideally I wanted to post-emptively tick last year's Coach and Horses entrant, or/and the always pre-emptive 'Spoons, but I was paranoid about the Grantham train connection so got myself back over there ASAP.

Thank you for reading, I'm hoping to be back tomorrow with a bit more because I'm away Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun and Mon (some pubbing, some not) so my next blog will most likely be the month end spooky review Oct 31st/Nov 1st.

Si