Stay, finish your beer.

BLUE along with HOUND is one of my favorite stories from the Canon. For many reasons, but mostly for the atmosphere, and the congenial pace at which the story flows.
And, as a craft beer lover, the following scene is probably my favorite image from the story;
"In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. “Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese,” said he. “My geese!” The man seemed surprised. “Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, who was a member of your goose club.”
“Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them’s not our geese.” “Indeed! Whose, then?” “Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden.” “Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?” “Breckinridge is his name.” “Ah! I don’t know him. Well, here’s your good health landlord, and prosperity to your house. Good-night.” "

Oh, please, oh, please! Stay and finish the pint together! Stay and talk about the season, the weather, Mrs. Watson. Anything, just stay for a little while!
Holmes and Watson together, out for a pint. A warm, snug pub. A jolly holiday atmosphere still hung in the air. London by gas light on a cold winters night. Who amongst us Sherlockians do not wish to be privy to such a moment in Canonical time. Outside of maybe sitting around the fire with the two of them at 221b, this for me would be my pick spot.

We don't very often get to see Holmes and Watson out for a social moment together in the Canon. Matter of fact I can't think of a time when we do. Those moments are suggested, or at least we imagine they are. There is always only the promise of such moments.

Even when we find the two in Baker St., any moments imagined as quietly social are soon interrupted by a case. The hint of a social interlude is always only suggested.

Even in BLUE where Watson drops by to wish Sherlock compliments of the season, the quiet moment of two friends getting together for no other reason than shared friendship never happens. Watson states that with the introduction to the tale; ". . .with the intention of wishing him the compliments of the season." "With the intention". It doesn't even seem the salutation was ever even made.

But back to the pub scene.
Pubs were not as we expect them today. Pubs were for the serving and drinking of beer. You would not find the menus we expect today. A lower class social club.
Well into the late 19th century beer was seen as safer than water to drink. And while most families had brewed beer in their own homes for that reason (of a much lower alcohol percentage than now), that trend had slowly disappeared until pubs became the place to drink or at least get your 'to go' jug.
The popularity of pubs grew partly out of the governments need to suppress the popularity of 'gin houses' and what was thought of as leading to ruination and degradation of the working classes.

Many pubs, including the Canonical Alpha Inn, were separated into two bar areas; the public bar, and a private bar (sometimes called snugs). We know Holmes and Watson went to the private bar because Watson states; "Holmes pushed open the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer. . ."
The private bar would have been a section of the pub where someone could go who did not want to be seen by the other patrons; women, cops, priests, men on business, etc.
Many times they were separate rooms with separate doors (as it would appear the Alpha Inn was). Many just had glassed off areas that divided the two sections. Just areas for privacy and a little less noise.
Holmes probably used the private bar to have a discrete word with the landlord and not have to talk over the noise of the public bar. Maybe he didn't want to be recognized either.
Holmes and Watson, as mentioned above, used the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer.
We will never know if Holmes and Watson stayed and finished their beers for Watson suggests that they stayed only long enough to raise their glasses to wish the landlord good health.

I want them to have stayed long enough to talk about what had been going on in each others lives over however long it had been since they had seen each other. The private bar would have been the perfect place. At least I can imagine that Watson got in a few more sips of his brew while Holmes was involved with the landlord.
I want this scene to go on longer, in the spirit of the season.
But it was not meant to be. Instead they head off the to see Breckenridge where the atmosphere proves less than jovial.

No, in BLUE we are never going to 'see' Holmes and Watson share that moment of sociable companionship. No lingering over a pint.
Towards the end, once again, it almost happens; "If you will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief feature.”
But, alas, once again, we are ushered out of those comfortable digs without an invitation to stay just a bit longer.

I have had the pleasure of going to what is usually recognized as the location for the Alpha Inn, the Museum Tavern, for lunch when once in London. One more thing off of my Sherlockain bucket list.

Have you ever heard of this one. . . . The Baskerville Arms Hotel

Close to the Black Mountains, the Brecon Beacons and Offa's Dyke path and within a short walking distance of the River Wye, dishes are prepared from fresh local produce.

Here you will find a homely 'locals bar' atmosphere.

 The Baskerville Arms

Okay, this one is for my love of Yorkshire Pudding. . . . don't know if Sherlock ever had any or not.

3 local pubs that are fantastic for Yorkshire Puddings

THIS week, we are looking at not one, not two, but three superb Yorkshire pubs.

They're separated by many miles but linked by one common thread: their reverence for the beauty that is the Yorkshire Pudding.

We've hunted high and low, north and south, to bring you today's recommendations, especially in honour of Yorkshire Day.

And now, after a bitter but brilliant batter battle, we have three recommendations. So if you're looking for a splendid lunch, look no further....

1 - First up is a pub we have recommended before: The Ship Inn in Aldborough, a pretty little village near Boroughbridge.

I headed out here in 2012, after a letter writer to The Press said the beef was the best she'd ever tasted and the Yorkshires the most amazing she’d seen - and we weren't disappointed!

This is a fantastic place, reputed to have been a pub since the 1300s, and run by Brian and Elaine Rey for the past few years. It's splendid, but the roast dinner in particular is hard to beat.

The beef is matured for 21 days and slow cooked for 20 hours, and the portions are enormous. The piece de resistance is what they call "Brian's world famous Yorkshire puddings" - humongous crisp balls the size of grapefruit, which I still remember fondly.

2 - Next up, a couple of miles south of Pickering on the A169, is The Black Bull.

This place changed hands in March, and the new owners are full of fighting talk. A roadside sign declares: "We serve probably the best Yorkshire pudding in Yorkshire" - a claim that demanded to be put to the test.

There's no shortage of choice here. There are giant filled Yorkshire puddings and the house speciality - homemade loaf tin Yorkshire Puddings with a choice of five fillings. I plumped for steak and ale and chips and it was fantastic.

The method was inspired; the result was a hefty brick-shaped pudding, topped with steak and ale and with a mound of chips on the side.

Best in Yorkshire though? It's good - but it can't beat our final pub......

3 - Step forward The Crooked Billet at Saxton, directly opposite the historic Lead Chapel near Towton battlefield, just south of Tadcaster.

I've had this pub on my radar since a visit to its sister pub (The Cross Keys in Hillam) introduced me to the some of best pub burgers I've encountered. Here, the speciality in a vast and varied menu is the filled Yorkshire pudding, and the quality is outstanding.

All come filled with mash, veg, gravy and a choice of two sausages, roast meat of the day, steak and kidney, or vegetables and veggie gravy.

I've tried the first two now (on separate trips) and both were excellent. It looks a bit messy, buckling under its own bulk, but it tastes tremendous.

If you're in this neck of the woods, and want a proper lunch for Yorkshire Day weekend, in surroundings laden with Yorkshire history this is the place to go.

The puddings at The Crooked Billet (left) and The Black Bull.

Credit where credit is due. . . .

Is this the real Alpha Inn!. . . .

Probably not, but it is partially owned by an upcoming Holmes actor.

Ian Mckellen's Pub

Brad's summer reading list - #9 - ENGI - No longer two thumbs up.

The Engineers Thumb is one of my favorites.
Not because the case is all that great, after all, the only thing Holmes really did was figure out how far from town the house was. And even that required no extra energy from Holmes, because the fire proved to be the last pin needed on the map.
And if we really think about it, that is the only thing nearing a deduction that takes place in the whole story.
We had no parlor tricks as Holmes explains to Watson or Lestrade how such-and-such on a you-know-what, means that you-know-who did you-know-what.
There was not gathering of evidence or days of pursuing small leads.
The case is like Watson said, included for it's grotesque nature and not deductive puzzle.

Watson is not at Baker St. and is happily married to Mary, but Mary once again does not make an appearance and has no dialog.
He is doing well, and can afford a maid.
He keeps in contact with Holmes, but has his own life.
I love the fact that Holmes and Watson like bacon and eggs for breakfast. Well, we at least hope so, for that's what they got.
Mrs. Hudson is not mentioned, but we assume she is the one who cooked said breakfast.
The client seems to have a little more back bone than some we've seen.
And there are a few similarities to GREE. And HOUN as far as it goes with a woman trying to warn off one of our leads.

The thing I really like about ENGI is how there is so much other stuff you can investigate in the story.
And, as is important to me. . . . there is a beer connection.
And, almost as important, there is a personal connection to Queen Victoria, or at least her comfort, and it may even be argued, her privacy.

If you have followed this blog at all, you know finding a connection between Holmes and Watson and beer is important to me.

So, the case involves a young engineer who is hired to inspect an Hydraulic Machine, but comes to realize he has been lied to about the use for the machine.
And while trying to escape receives a grim wound. The reason Watson becomes involved, and then Sherlock.

But how you ask. . . "Does all this have to do with beer, Queen Victoria's comfort and privacy?"

Well, it all comes down to the reason young Mr. Hatherley became involved.
The hydraulic machine.

One of the founding fathers of Hydraulic Engineering and the Hydraulic Press was an Englishman named Joseph Bramah (1748-1814), a Yorkshire man.

Now, not being an engineer, I don't know if society could live without hydraulic machines or not.
But being a beer drinker, I know we can not live without the 'beer engine'.
It may be argued that the beer engine has done more (good or bad) for English society than the hydraulic press could ever do.
The beer engine is the device that allows beer to be drawn from it's cask and up and out to a glass. Joseph Bramah was important in the improvement of that device.
As if this man has not done enough to help in the creation of the Victorian world we love about Sherlock Holmes he does not rest on his laurels.

Nope. Just like the rest of us, he chooses to rest, at least from a period of time each day, on another part of his anatomy.
You see, Mr. Bramah was also an important mover in the world of toilets. He did not invent the flap that is now so common in commodes, but he did make it more common for his countrymen. No longer were our seats freezing in colder weather.
How, pray tell, does this involve the Queen?
Well, some of the water closets he helped develop were installed in the Queens estate at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. And they are still working to this day.
And if the Queen ever felt insecure about her privacy in the water closet she could have also installed a lock from Bramah's lock company.

What could be asked more of a man than to have helped in delivery of beer, relief from it's consumption and the possibility of privacy while doing so?

Like so many other cases of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, there are clues buried within.

Cheers!

I'm Baaaaack! and not a moment to soon. . .

. . . . and will be catching up with Brad's summer reading list here shortly.
But in the mean time. . .

While posting on my Loghead blog page about one of my favorite summer beverages, The Shandy, I came across an unlikely Sherlockian connection.
I always love when I find some connection between Sherlock Holmes and beer, and have many times made that the theme of my presentations.

This time the connection comes from Mr. BSI himself ( no, not Brad ) Mr. Christopher Morley;

In a 1918 compendium of essays collected, appropriately enough, under the title Shandygaff, the American novelist and poet Christopher Morley wrote, "[It's] a very refreshing drink…commonly drunk by the lower classes in England, and by…newspaper men, journalists, and prizefighters."  source

And I fit perfectly into his described demographic.

It is quite common to order one in a pub in the UK and not get any raised eye-brows.

Over here in the US, my family has been responsible for teaching many bartenders our recipe.

There are several breweries over here in the US that now bottle a summer brew called the Shandy.

Cheers.