Not heavily researched this one. No deep directory delving or census crawling. It's just one of those catch-up posts which happens also to be one that contains the trinity of bikes, beer and bygone boozers, for I've been otherwise occupied. Mrs. Bygone Boozer and I have just had our first summer break for three years. A short trip to Sweden's High Coast, or Höga Kusten as the locals would have it.
So called because the land is rising from the sea at a rate of about a centimetre a year, the High Coast was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2000. As the weight of ice on the land was removed when it melted at the end of the last ice age the earth's crust is slowly returning to its pre-glacial position. The result is, what once were small harbours are now quaysides at the heads of lakes and some lumpy terrain whose roads steepen and steepen until you just manage to struggle to the top before hurtling down the other side. It's a great place to go pedalling.
What a shame that when we arrived at the airport's car rental desk they didn't have a car in the class that I'd booked and we'd have to have a bigger one. What a shame that this meant that I didn't have to do so much dismantling of the bikes so that they'd fit in. What a shame that this meant that, having arrived in the High Coast, it didn't take many minutes to go from this...
...to this...
...then this...
...and this.
One of our excursions produced this view.
The High Coast Bridge/Högakustenbron was the world's ninth longest suspension bridge when it opened in 1997 to carry the rerouted E4 across the Ångermanälven. It's become rather iconic and its image is used in the branding of lots of local products.
Some of these products happen to be the output of Kustens Gårdsbryggeri, and being in the area I thought I'd try one.
Not having time to visit the nearest branch of Systembolaget, the state-owned monopoly supplier of booze over 3.5%, I had to settle for a folköl version of their American Pale Ale, –Nyhamn – acquired from the local supermarket. Taking it down from the shelf and putting it in the trolley I was totally unaware that this brew is unfiltered and so I'm not sure if the cloudiness is down to my handling of it, although it had been standing upright for over twenty-fours hours by the time I got around to sampling it, or whether it was down to a bit of a crafty signature from the brewer.
What was it like? Cloudy. But was that down to me? Thin. But then I find all the ale type folköls tend to be. The lager versions usually seem to stand up better to being produced to a lower alcohol content. Hoppy and pleasant. I'd buy it again and I'll certainly try to obtain a full-strength version when I next visit the area.
Finally, you may well be thinking at last, the bygone boozers. Five additions or amendments to some lost pubs which have featured previously. Clicking on the name of each pub will take you to the post in which it originally appeared.
Firstly the Green Man and Black's Head in Ashbourne. I've acquired this Victorian shot. The gallows sign houses not just the controversial black's head but also a hanging sign, neither of which are currently there.
Secondly, I've added this old shot of the former King's Arms in Bakewell to the original post. I assume the rider is emerging from the stables and not the lounge bar.
Thirdly, an amendment. Whilst going through all the bygone boozers that have been lost from Glastonbury's Northload Street I said that the George Tap had been demolished. Associated with the still trading George and Pilgrims Inn the George Tap became the Pilgrims Tap at some point and was included in Charrington's estate survey from where this image emerged.
Whilst no longer serving, despite my original assertion, it is at least still standing.
Next, on to the Anson Arms in Great Yarmouth. The original Anson Arms, that is.
Here's a pic of the place from around 1890, presumably with a few of its regulars.
And to finish this post off, it's another amendment.
Back in 2020 I thought that the Queen Adelaide on Uxbridge Road in Shepherds Bush, that I popped into on the odd occasion during my student days, had closed for good. I was about to add this pic of it taken in the 1940s to the post when I discovered that the place had reopened. That just goes to show that it's not all doom and gloom on these pages.
With the summer break over things will be back to normal with the next post. There's a bygone boozer or three already in preparation.
Johan Elisson's image is copyright and is reused under this licence.
The Charrington Surveyors' image of the Pilgrim Bar is also copyright and reproduced under this one.
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