Trentside and A Few Meals Out

Tom Browns has been established as a restaurant for many years and has always delivered fine quality food. I can’t think that we’ve ever dined there and felt disappointed by the quality of the food. The restaurant is housed in a converted Victorian School House and was called “Tom Browns” after the eponymous novel by Thomas Hughes. I guess the Restaurant has a strange configuration with the “original unit” sporting a ground and mezzanine floor and the annex providing a newish access and reception area. The mezzanine offers great views across to the River Trent and the restaurant itself has a boutique style to it.

The school-house is situated in the Trent-side village of Gunthorpe. The village has some history and was established by the Danes as they sailed up the River Trent. Gunthorpe was the site of a strategic crossing point that had existed back in Roman times. Indeed it is reported that it was here that Queen Boudicea defeated a Roman Legion after a fierce fight.

The first bridge at Gunthorpe was built in 1873 on that historic site and you had to pay for the privilege of crossing the Trent with charges varying from one old penny
for people (whether they be passengers or on foot) and 12 old pence (one shilling) for horse and carriage. An Act of Parliament allowed for the compulsory purchase by local councils and in 1925 the present bridge was the first toll-free bridge replacing a Toll Bridge.

There are a few picturesque cottages in the village but it’s really an excellent place to take a wander along the water’s edge, past the lock (a busy place for boats and a popular overnight mooring). But back to the warmth and comfort of Tom Browns!

On entering the restaurant there’s a small reception and lounge area where you can relax, enjoy a pre-meal drink before being escorted to your table. Tom Brown’s is a place that it’s almost critical that you book in advance, as even at lunchtime or early evening it gets busy. They offer “early bird” meals at special rates (£13.95 for a two course and £15.95 for three courses) and that makes for good value as the quality and presentation is superb. The service is always very professional with the front of house staff making real determined efforts to make everyone feel special. That’s no mean feat but I reckon that they’ve achieved their goal every time that I’ve visited.

There is a comprehensive menu available with a fine cellar of wines (ranging from £13 for a decent Shiraz up to £125 for Pichon-Longueville Baron 2ème Cru 1992). Needless to say we haven’t tried the top priced bottle! Yet!!

For food Tom Browns’ spiced fishcakes with a mango chutney are superb starters but I also love the home smoked duck breast with an orange salad and raspberry vinaigrette. As I main course you can’t beat the lamb or for the unusual chicken breast stuffed with black pudding although the fish at Tom Browns is always beautifully prepared. For pudding I’d recommend you try their bread and butter or sticky toffee pudding – traditional puds with a twist.

The ambience of Tom Browns is second to none and although parking at the restaurant can be a bit tight (they only have space for about 6 cars) and you’ll need to use the large pay and display car park opposite. It’s a very short walk across the village road to the restaurant’s entrance.

To top off their ever growing reputation they were, in 2006, voted ITV's Central News 'Viewers Restaurant of the Year' and, as a result entered into Egon Ronay's Guide. The following year Tom Browns was entered into the AA Restaurant guide.

Remember if you want to try it book and if it’s around a national holiday (particularly Easter, Christmas and the like) then you’ll need to ring several weeks in advance.

Midday on a crisp Easter Monday we headed for the little Trent-side village of Stoke Bardolph to have lunch and a short “photographic walk” with my son and his wife.

As we approached the village I began to wonder whether this was going to be a sound recommendation because it must be almost 20 years that I last had lunch at this pub. It was in striking distance of my old office and in the days before equal opportunities and the emergence of the nanny state it had been perfectly acceptable for work colleagues to take an extended lunch break intermittently and enjoy a lunch and a drink together. Of course over the years this has become a bit of a “no-no” and companies don’t expect to detect the smell of alcohol on their employees (rightly so).
We’d favoured the pub because it always had plenty of room, offered good value for money and had superb views over the River Trent.

But I digress. We approached the busy car park and meeting up with my son decided to take a short walk along the banks of the river. The place was frantic with bird life and before we’d left the car park we’d spotted a chaffinch and a robin, just ahead of, crossing the road was a large white goose and a smaller Canadian goose. They seemed to have all the time in the world and the oncoming traffic waited patiently for them to cross. I’m sure that there would have been raised voices and pipping horns if those pedestrians had been human!

The riverbank was a wealth of bird life and I was surprised to see powerfully built swans feeding from the hands of visitors. Not something that I would have personally wanted to try but still it was impressive to watch. I, very bravely for a man who is fighting an old fear of birds, mingled with birds and humans to take some close up photos and it wasn’t until I heard the barking of the Canadian Geese that the adrenaline started to rush. We carried on along the towpath until the winds brought a flurry of snow. This signalled our time to return to the Ferry Boat to check out whether or not there were tables for four.

Despite the busyness of the car park there was plenty of room inside. Indeed the restaurant and bar facilities had been significantly increased since I last visited and there were facilities for children as well as areas where you could “hide away” from the main “flow” of the pub. It’s now one of those places where you have to note your table number before placing your order at the bar. Except here they have a separate reception point where you place your order and then you have to queue again for your drinks. I wasn’t too impressed with that, but I was less impressed when I realised that the “visa point” wasn’t working and you could only pay by cash. Between us my son and I managed to rustle up enough money to pay for the meals and we were a little relieved that the two meals for the price of one had brought the cost down to just over £20 leaving us with enough cash to buy our drinks.

Having completed our task to order the food we returned to our wives to engage in some “idle banter” whilst waiting for the food. We’d been chatting for some time (almost 45 minutes) and the food hadn’t yet arrived. We weren’t in a hurry but having noticed the slowness of service I wondered if we’d been overlooked. We caught the attention of one of the waiters who promised to go and check it out and within five minutes the food was on the table. Coincidence? Probably!
The food was beautifully prepared, hot and well presented on the plate. My wife had Surf ‘n’ Turf and the steak was just as we’d asked it to be with plenty of Scampi, a decent helping of chunky chips and a good portion of garden peas. My son and his wife had opted for burghers and the portions were huge.

Although the service wasn’t swift the staff were very obliging and courteous and overall you’d be hard pressed (at around £5.50 a head) to find anything to complain about. The meal was terrific value for money and the restaurant, with its old beams and superb setting at the side of the river makes this a great place to eat if you fancy a stroll down the water’s edge.

The Anchor is more of a typical pub, which is built around the bar rather than the restaurant. Their claim to fame, other than being near the Trent at Gunthorpe is that they have traditional long alley skittles at the back of the pub. The alley can be hired by groups for £6.25 per person including a typical pub meal of pie and chips. Indeed if there’s more than 20 of you it comes in even cheaper.

I’ve played this traditional game on several occasions and in the east Midlands the rules are slightly different to elsewhere. The alley is between 33 and 36 feet long and at the end are the nine skittles with a “tin” set a few feet from the first skittle. Of the 9 skittles a slightly larger “kingpin” is placed at the front and the rules are that you must ensure that the “cheese” (a roughly hewn lump of applewood – almost, but not necessarily, spherical) is hurled over the “tin” and knocks down the kingpin first. It is a game requiring real aptitude but my group isn’t skilful enough to take out the kingpin so we tend to forget that rule but we do insist that the cheese lands beyond the tin. Indeed anyone that hits the tin is “rewarded” by a resounding “clang” and laughter from the other players. The players form a couple of teams and each player has three cheeses to lob down at the skittles with the obvious aim to lay all 9 skittles down flat. It’s a fun game and the Anchor happily sets aside this back room for a whole evening. Not a bad nights entertainment for less than £7 and a few real ales!

The Anchor always a real friendly village pub and although it gets a lot of visitors there is a strong “local trade”. The quality of the beer is good – it’s well kept and an ever changing “guest pub” for ales from across the country.

Of course in summer it’s full and as there’s a roomy beer garden it’s ideal for families as the children can run off a bit of their energy in the enclosed garden and small play area.

Only recently I went with an old work colleague for lunch. It was mid-week and fairly cold outside so the place wasn’t full and I was pleased to see that it’s perfectly possible to get a bar snack as well as a decent bar meal. On this occasion I actually opted for a “chip buttie” – I haven’t had one of these for years and when it arrived the baguette was over-flowing with hot chips with an extra portion on the plate. Beer, chips and bread don’t do anything for my diet but as I poured tomato ketchup onto my plate and supped on my pint of beer the diet was the last thing on my mind!

Meals at the Anchor are good basic and wholesome. I don’t reckon it will ever get prizes for high cuisine, but you can be sure that there will be a decent choice from both the menu and the “specials board”. On a Sunday you’ll have to travel a fair distance to beat their price of the hot meat carvery (Small Plate for £5.50 and a Large Plate for a mere £6.95), but get there early because they only serve this “until the meat runs out).

Not a place to go for a special night out but for a game of skittle or a “good honest” meal on a summer’s day you can’t go far wrong.

The Wheatsheaf stands at the back of its large car park on the main road out of Nottingham to the Cathedral town of Southwell. The village of Burton Joyce is a short drive from the banks of the River Trent and this pub / restaurant provides a good enough place for a little post or pre walk meal.

Indeed it will be worth a quick mosey around the village! The village of Burton is recorded in the Doomsday Book and by the mid 12th Century the Lord of the Manor was Robertus de Jorz (or Joyce) and it’s not surprising that the name of Joyce was affectionately added to Burton. It’s certainly a more appealing name than plain old “Burton”! Although you won’t find any ancient buildings in this commuter village there are some quaint cottages down the High Street and the Church of St Helen, in its commanding position on a hillock just on the edge of the village, is well worth checking out.

I’ve known the Wheatsheaf for many years and it’s had a mixed reputation over the time. It’s ranged from good to less than adequate and it was with some trepidation that we decided to try it out. Apparently it’s now part of a small chain of restaurants (the chef and brewer group) and at the time was under new management and just beginning to “pull itself up by its boots straps”. They pride themselves on offering a range of real ales including Adnams, Badger, Black Sheep, Shepherd Neame and Timothy Taylor and the brilliantly named Wyre Piddle (a Worcestershire brew) to name but a few.

The car park was almost empty and indeed the pub’s clientele matched the cars.
I reckon we were only the sixth customers so our party of 4 almost doubled the numbers in the restaurant. I think the manager thought there was a rush on as he smiled politely at us inviting us to choose any table we wanted. Indeed the manager’s ability to joke with us about the low numbers was quite reassuring and he promised us that we’d really enjoy whichever meal we decided to order. Indeed whilst ordering our drinks at the he was extolling the virtue and value of the “meals on the chalk board”.

My son was happy to accept his recommendation for the beef and ale pie (one of his favourite “bar meals”), beer battered fish and chips was ordered by his and my wife, whilst I settled for my conventional pub grub of a medium rare steak. It’s a large lounge bar area and we were almost rattling around inside this empty pub but the manager did his best to keep us happy. The beer was well kept and nicely “hit the spot” whilst we waited for our meal to be served.

Our Manager, who seemed to be doing everything from serving at the bar, taking meal orders, welcoming new patrons (whilst we were waiting for our meal another dozen or so people arrived) and bringing our order to the table. He beamed as my son nodded appreciatively at the pie, and we were all pleased with the quality of the food. Indeed if anything the fish and chips were too large portions – not that I would have complained had it been on my plate.

Overall we had a good visit to the Wheatsheaf and I’ll quite happily return for another meal later in the year. Let’s hope that the new manager succeeds in turning the place round.

Based on our visit he certainly deserves to make it good.

The Navigation, on Mill Street, is a 5 minute walk from the centre of Newark and if you want to experience some of the best views of the Trent Canal then it is going to be worth the wander. The down side is that the pub doesn’t have its own parking and although there is a little street parking you’ll probably end up using one of the local car parks. But if you’re visiting Newark anyway I guess that’ll be no different.

The Pub is housed in a converted warehouse that would have been used when the Trent was much heavier used for moving cargo around the country. It’s bang on the water’s edge and it’s not too difficult to imagine the burst of activity that would have happened when the barges pulled alongside.

The first time I went to the Navigation was one bright Spring day and I’d met up with my son during his lunch hour. The place was absolutely rammed and we were fortunate to find a table in an alcove over-looking the river. We settled down to consider our eating options. The Navigation has a fairly extensive menu but don’t be expecting waitress service as it’s one of those places where you need to find a table before ordering so that you can give the table number to the bar staff.

We enjoyed our quick call in the Navigation but it’s not a pub that will go down, in my view, as a great pub with ambiance. It’s busy and we had “to fight to get attention” and the food is good value. Indeed it’s a pub that is so busy when it’s open that the landlady closes midweek to give everyone a rest. So don’t visit on a Wednesday.

When you’ve finished your meal what better place to visit than the Millgate Museum. This is accessed from the pub courtyard and is free to visit. It’s not a huge museum but if you’re in the vicinity it has to be worth a visit.

It’s a bit of a potpourri showing off Newark’s history in the form of some small re-created shop fronts crammed with goods of my childhood and beyond. There’s a chemist, grocers, tobacconist and post office. A view of a typical “front parlour”, some original bakelite TV’s, early washing machine and manual wringers (I remember those from my youth).

There's a harsh reminder of how the less well off used pawn brokers to "get cash back" or loans on their most precious goods. Sadly, "what goes round comes round", and we're seeing the re-emergence of such places.

Downstairs there are displays of small factory machines and a great example of a knife sharpener. I was just reminiscing about the little guy who used to pedal around the streets of Lincoln offering to sharpen knives, when I heard a grandfather explaining the mechanics to his grandson. “The man used to cycle everywhere and shout ‘knives to sharpen’ as he came up the road. When he stopped his cycle it doubled up as the power to drive the sharpening stone. You could even see the sparks flying in the street,” he explained. “Wicked” replied his grandson, suitably impressed! And that description by the granddad was evocative of the age when tradesmen truly did tout their wares around the street. Whilst looking I remember the sight of the “rag and bone man” who’d visit on his horse and cart giving people a few pennies for their discarded clothes.

And that’s what this museum does so well – brings memories flooding back for the last two or three generations and brings an awareness to the current and last generation of how things used to be. A great window into Social History!

But all does not finish there because there’s a permanent space available for a display by current artists and at the time I was visiting the local photographic society had a couple of rooms where they were displaying their work. That was superb and a marvellous tribute to the patience of photographers who wait just for that “perfect wildlife moment”.

I’ve travelled up and down the A46 between Bingham and Newark on more occasions than I’m able to recall but I’ve never made the detour to check out the villages that lie between it and the River Trent. Indeed it was only following my retirement, the purchase of my Digital SLR camera and my writings for IGOUGO that enticed me to explore the Trentside villages. They’re not worth a massive detour but if you’re in the area and the sun is shining then they have to be worth checking out.

East Stoke is well renown for the battle that was fought there on 16th June 1487 (known, believe it or not, as the Battle of Stoke Field) during the War of the Roses and it’s generally accepted that this was the last significant battle of the civil war. The rebel “Yorkist Army” had established themselves in a hilltop position to the southwest of the village and there they waited hoping to entrap the much larger royal force of Henry VII. The latter had set off in the early hours from Radcliffe-on-Trent (over 8 miles away towards Nottingham) and arrived, presumably foot-weary at 9.00 a.m. The battle favoured the greater experience of the Earl of Oxford’s Royal Army and the rebel force was well and truly routed. Although the exact battle spot has not been determined it’s not hard to imagine the scene across the undulating fields of this Nottinghamshire Village and the devastation of over 7,0000 soldiers killed on the day.

Nowadays things are much more peaceful and I enjoyed a tranquil ride down to the water’s edge (a haven for fishermen in the a season) to enjoy a wander along the banks of the Trent. It was real quiet other than the sudden flight of the birds that I inadvertently disturbed as I picked my way through the multitude of wild flowers.

The road down to the river is “un-adopted” so in places there are more potholes than tarmac but I persisted as I passed the boundary of the walled estate of Stoke Hall have passed. It’s thought that the original building was a hospice founded in 1135 and although there is evidence of medieval work in the building the majority dates to the early 1800’s when the Baronial Hall was “seriously enlarged”. As I pass underneath the disused railway bridge I noticed the sign of St Oswald Church and decide to take a peek. The Parish Church originates dates back to the 13th century but it was rebuilt in 1738 with only the tower surviving and the chancel sporting late14th century windows. On a sunny day you can’t beat the brilliant light show that results from the rays finding their way through the stunning stained glass windows. What a peaceful setting.

The horse-chestnut tree was in full bloom and a walk around the reasonably well-kept churchyard completed my visit. Don’t fail to check out the guardian angel that overlooks the graves.

A short ride and I’m once again making a turn off the A46 to checkout the marina village of Farndon. This is much busier than the aforementioned East Stoke as it place host to a prosperous private marina and its Trentside pub and restaurant confirm that this is a real busy place in the height of summer. In springtime, however, there’s time to walk uninterrupted down the banks of the Trent, taking in the watery views and enjoy some reflective tranquillity.

Neither village are worth making special trips to see but if you’re in or about Newark and have a few moments then I’d advise you make the short detour to get a flavour of the serenity of village life close to the Trent.