After the
footballing hiatus, or was it a lacuna, never sure, maybe both, oh bugger it.
After the footballing gap, we are back, back from a summer of beer festivals,
loads of them, terrorist attacks, disasters and a prime minister shooting herself
in the foot. We’ve had a flurry of friendlies; the lads look promising. The big
fella got some sending off practice in, marvellous. We now have a few tenacious
terriers in the squad, able to constantly snap at the heels with a bit of class
thrown in for good measure, we could be in for a good season. PRATS have done most friendlies, only the
Coalville trip getting the elbow. We had a few decent pints as you might
imagine and went to a few new pubs to plonk on the list. The Priors Oven in Spalding
is an exceptional little micro-pub, all the ales served straight from the
barrel, with enough room for about a dozen drinkers. The return to Rushall saw
us pop into the Manor, one of the oldest pubs in the country, a pub with no bar.
So now here we are two weeks into the new season. The first day saw us
triumphant at Arbour Park, the new home of Slough Town, last season’s play-off
finalists. On that day Citra proclaimed he had put on his new lucky underpants,
two weeks later and winning our first three games Citra has still got them on.
It is possible that the third fermentation is well and truly underway. A
mumuration of bluebottles dance a merry buzz within close proximity of Citra’s
crotch, although one or two have dropped out of formation and are gasping
desperately on their backs, legs akimbo, flailing skywards. Citra seems
unperturbed although the occasional yet vigorous scratch might suggest the
yeast is working well.
So, today we
are off to Kings Langley. Hands up all those who know the connection between
Kings Langley and Kettering, well Geddington actually, hands up? Bloody hell,
surely Geddington narrows it down a bit. Well Queen Eleanor, built the palace
around these parts, she also used to have a shoe factory in Kettering and her
old man put a sorry excuse for a cross in Geddington. Cross, more like a spike,
but I suppose Eleanor’s Spike doesn’t a have the same ring to it.
Kings
Langley is not a big place but has plenty of pubs. Last year we popped into
the Saracens
Head, a nice boozer with 4 ales on pump, and If we recall quite
inexpensive, worth a visit, just 10 minutes-walk from the ground. Across the road from
the ground is a Toby Carvery, easy for the coach travellers to pop into. The
PRATS are probably going to Abbots Langley just a mile or so away, the Royal Oak looks
very tempting with potentially a good range of ales, despite Bloody Doombar
being their regular.
Kings Langley
are unbeaten so far this season, so we’re in for a tough game. Will Citra’s
pants be flying from the flagpole or will the fermentation continue further. On
the way home, well the Cuckoo in
Toddington is always a temptation, however, there is a beer festival at the Green Dragon in Higham
Ferrers, not too far from Chez Pharp.