Home to the Boat Jumble (Sunday 26th) and
Lord Montague's country seat, along with one of the few privately owned rivers
in the UK
The Boat Jumble comes to town on the 26th April, bringing bargain
hunters and traffic chaos to this picturesque village in the New Forest, home
to the fairytale Palace House, the Michelin starred
Montague Arms and the succulent Fairweathers Nursery, and my Primary School.
The breakfast: Steff's Kitchen.
Cyclists and gardeners, hungry hikers and limber locals flood into this airy,
barn like building attached to Fairweathers Garden Centre – which has been at Beaulieu as long as I can remember. The breakfast
is very popular and there is a good choice from the full English (£7.50) to Eggs Benedict and bacon & egg sandwich – all eggs free range and local. There is always a choice of hot
lunch specials – I love their club
sandwich – but it’s the queue for home made cakes and scones that always impress me.
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| The full English |
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| Topiarysaurus |
For lunch – if you partook of the full English above you might consider a
scenic stroll along the river bank to Bucklers Hard
The Hike - This unspoilt river is
still alive with the calls of Curlews and Green Shanks: walk quietly and you
may see a Kingfisher on the branches overhanging the waters edge. An easy 2
mile walk along gravel path. Reward at the end? The Master Builder’s is a cosy hotel with bar attached. The
restaurant looks out over gardens to the river and you can while away some
happy hours before hitting the path home to Beaulieu.
Hops choice: the steak, ale & kidney suet pastry pudding, followed by the
lemon tart
The Sunday lunch at £19.95 for two courses
is a pretty and popular choice.
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| Bucklers Hard Marina |
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| The Master Builders |
The bike - I carried on by bike form Buckler’s Hard and passed the skeletal remains of what was once an important
base for the Cistercian Monks, having been gifted the land back in 1204; with
the Abbey at Beaulieu, the Lay Brothers based here at St Leonards and the monks
keeping their fishing boats at Gins Farm, now home to the RSYC, this was quite
a prize for Henry VIII to ransack during the Reformation – that darned Cromwell again, I hope you’ve been watching Wolf Hall?
However, the quiet road that runs along to Sowley is a great ride.
The sea to your left and farmland all around you, in no time at all I whizz
into East End.
For those who haven’t heard of the East End Arms, its claim to fame,
firstly is that it serves way above average pub food and secondly that it is owned
by bass guitarist John Illsley, who played for Dire Straits and owns the George
at Yarmouth as
well as this warm hearted pub. The cosy dining room has a log fire burning and
some great black & white photos on the walls, fun to recognise the faces,
and some classic portraits by David Bailey.
For dinner…
Hops choice: It has to be the beer battered fish & chips for me, this time
Whiting, with crisp calamari to start, with a paprika mayonnaise. The fish was
white and flaky, just perfectly cooked.
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| Super crisp calamari with paprika mayonnaise |
And for dessert – the treacle tart.
Total with drinks £31
Luckily for me a bunch of regular diners came in just after me and nearly left the building when they saw that the fishcakes weren’t on and the treacle tart had gone. But John is a convivial guy and had soon checked with the chef who pulled forward some haddock and chive fish cakes that he’d made for that evening and a new treacle tart – it was divine! Short pastry, just the right depth of golden goo and a tickle of lemon on the taste buds, but not too much – superb with their homemade vanilla ice cream.
Now, to the wine list. We already know that Ringwood Best and 49er
are on tap and very well kept, as is the Thatchers, but the wine list has been
selected by a local girl Helen McGinn, of some fame. You may have heard of the
Knackered Mother’s Wine Club blog?
And
now Helen’s book has been
published if you don’t have time to follow
her blog or on twitter @knackeredmutha
She has pulled this wine list together using three local suppliers – we like that! And even more to like is the fact that she has
selected my wine of the moment – Gruner Veltliner
from Austria,
fresh as the hills above Saltzburg and so clear you feel it must be bathing the
liver…. enjoy.
If you're having too much fun and haven't even started on the wine list, I’d book room No 2. B&B starts at £95 - £120
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| Too tired to cycle back to the boat - why not stay the night? |
Mileage – from Beaulieu to the
East End Arms 5:2 miles
Interesting facts – Buckler’s Hard Shipbuilding
Did you know that the Agamemnon Yard is named after Admiral Nelson’s favourite ship, and that it was built at Buckler’s Hard in 1781, one of three naval ships built here that fought at
Trafalgar.
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