Well done to The Hidden Brewery for taking over The Chough, just before Christmas. This large and imposing building, on the corner of Castle Street and Blue Boar Row, first entered my drinking conciousness as a BeefEater. Since then it has taken on the guise as “Alchemey at the Chough” an enthusiastic but ultimately doomed venture complete with live music but disgusting beer.
So, as of the 11 December 2007 we now have The Hidden Brewery in charge, with a range of 6 of their real ales. Chatting to the manager last night he told us to expect refurbishment works in the New Year (I hope the gents receive some attention) and the restaurant to re-open upstairs in March.
Beer availability should also increase, with two extra pumps being installed for micro-brewery guest ales. It was also pleasing to see taps for Palm and Grolch Wheat Beer, although there were also taps for Carling and Guinness. Luckily for all of us there is no provision of keg bitter - a customer last night who asked for John Smith’s Smooth was politely told to either buy proper beer or drink something else. After a taster of Quest he bought a pint of that.
Salisbury is crying out for a pub that is not owned by Enterprise Inns, and therefore not subject to their restrictive pricing and buying policies. We are obviously lucky to have free houses like Deacons, The Village and The Rai D’or, but for us Market Square types the free house pub choices are pretty thin on the ground.
I look forward to becoming a regular in the Chough and supporting this ambitious brewery turn this pub so full of potential into a great boozer.
Link to Googlemaps for location.
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Believe it or not, but Salisbury has it’s own internet based community TV channel. Found by chance whilst researching an article for the Scrutineer, Vision News says that it provides “local news with a personal touch”.
The videos on Vision News cover all aspects of Salisbury, from politics to local commerce. The video quality is superb, but you do need a very fast internet connection to be able to watch them ‘live’ - i.e. without having to wait ages for the whole thing to download. The style of each episode is that of an on-location local news feature, with a reported who smiles a lot, and leads the feature. They’re filmed in widescreen, and are generally quite watchable.
The beauty of delivering very local news in this way means that things that would never make TV can be covered just as well via the web. You can watch a video that follows a walk around “Haunted Salisbury”, find out about the latest excavations at Woodhenge and Durrington Walls, or see what went on at the Wilton Sheep Fair.
The website itself is clearly designed, and I hope that it becomes a success. It’s a shame that it’s so obscure though - I’m not sure where they advertise themselves.
So - if you live in, or are visiting Salisbury, head over to Vision News and take your pick of video reports to watch.
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Harnham Road, Salisbury, SP2 8JG
I mentioned East Harnham Deli a few posts back on our walk to Odstock. Here’s a little more about it. Neatly perched just beyond Harnham bridge, it retains its original name on the shop hoarding, ‘A. Hand and Sons’. Outside are blackboards advertising the delicious wares of the deli from sweets and cakes (the best lemon drizzle cake we’ve tasted, they use real lemons and lots of them!) to homemade tarts and pasties. It sells a good selection of ‘dry’ deli foods made by decent companies including pasta, rice, cereals, tinned soup and more.
Continue reading ‘East Harnham Deli’
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St Thomas Square, opp. St Thomas’s and St Edmund’s church
Monday - Friday - 8.30 - 5.00, Saturday - 8.00 - 5.00
Last Saturday afternoon, after a hard day’s wandering, we finally managed to go into Polly Tearooms rather than walk past wistfully. I ordered a traditional cream tea, consisting of a pot of tea (enough for at least two cups), a sizeable fruit scone (choice of fruit or plain), strawberry jam (choice of strawberry, raspberry, apricot) and clotted cream (or whipped if preferred but why would you?), while my partner-in-tea went for a cream slice (slice is far too diminuative for what it was). As you enter, you can’t stop coveting the array of beautiful cakes and confectionery to choose from: gateaux, meringues, eclairs like you’ve never seen such things. Which one? Which one shall I have?? Continue reading ‘Polly Tearooms’
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