Beer & Cider Tasting

This group is for those with an interest in beer and cider… drinking it, tasting it, exploring new varieties and visiting agreeable pubs in congenial company. The group meets once a month, on the 3rd Thursday evening, to visit one or two pubs in order to sample the brews on offer. There are many suitable venues between Southwell and Nottingham along the No. 26 bus route.  All pubs selected are within a very short walking distance from stops on the bus route, so Group members can take advantage of this service and leave the car at home if they wish. We catch the bus that arrives at Wheatsheaf Court as soon as possible after 19:00 hrs and return on the bus that leaves as near as possible to 22:00hrs. This gives us about 2 hours to sample the wares, usually at a couple of pubs, and gets us back to BJ at about 22:30hrs.

A list of proposed expeditions for 2024 is shown below:-

We sink a few in Lowdham –  September 19th 2024

Twelve of us made the short trip to Lowdham this month. Rather a low turnout, possibly due to the cold wet weather. We started in the Old Ship, which was friendly and comfortable as usual. We all managed to squeeze into a nice little “snug” area next to the bar. As usual, there was a good selection of beers. Sharps – Doom Bar and Timothy Taylors Landlord were popular choices and Hilary, our cider correspondent, enjoyed the Inches cider.

In the month when we see Titanic shipbuilder Harland & Wolff collapse into administration, it is worth pointing out that there is a tenuous connection to The Old Ship if you look for it. There is a Blue Plaque outside the pub commemorating Harold Cottam, the wireless operator of RMS Carpathia who received the SOS message from RMS Titanic thereby saving 750 lives. He retired to Lowdham in 1958. Presumably he had had his fill of seafaring by then and you can’t get much further away from the sea than Lowdham!

After downing a pint or two in The Old Ship, we walked back down Main Street to finish off the evening in The Magna Charta, which is handy for the bus stop. The pub was not crowded; we had no trouble finding seats together and our convivial members were soon chattering away. The Magna Charta is a Greene King house, so always has their own-brand Greene King IPA and Abbot Ale on offer. A guest beer was St Austell –Tribute which went down a treat. An enjoyable evening was had by all…

Now an interesting factoid to end with – Some of the football fans in the group reminded us that one of the former landlords of The Magna Charta was Tommy Lawton, an ex Notts County football player and manager. Following a successful pre-war career with Burnley, Everton and Chelsea, in November 1947, Lawton was sold to Notts County of the Third Division South for a British record transfer fee of £20,000 (big money in those days!!!). He helped County to win promotion as champions in 1949–50, before he moved on to Brentford in March 1952 for a club record £16,000. He came back to Notts County as manager in May 1957 but was sacked after County were relegated at the end of the 1957–58 season. Following his departure from County, Lawton ran the Magna Charta in 1958 but quit the pub trade four years later, after an employee stole some money from the business. He returned to Notts County to work as a coach and chief scout in 1968 but was sacked again in 1970. Sadly, he passed away in November 1996, aged 77.

Rob Johnson, Group Coordinator