The George, Ashley, Northamptonshire

It's the 12th of April, frosty Spring is just about giving way to the warm promise of Summer, and the pubs are finally open again! Or rather pub gardens are open, bar rooms and snugs are still deemed far too dangerous to linger in! Let's not be churlish though, a pub that's open in any form is clearly better than a pub that's closed, and from where I'm sitting today, at the pub, pint in hand, with the sun shining and temperatures set to rise later this week, the timing seems opportune.

Not only are we on the very cusp of British Summer time, when the great British beer garden really comes into its own, it seems to me that even the most single-minded drinks enthusiasts will have realised by now that drinking at home is not necessarily the greatest of drinks 'experiences'. I for one am bored rigid with popping fancy cans of beer at home, no matter how highly crafted the contents, and the long cold Winter has even deprived us of our own personal 'beer gardens', the closest many of us have come to a 'near-pub' experience this year. It's high time we got back to the pub!

The last time we were released from lockdown was a very different experience of course, given that we were free to drink and dine 'inside' the pub, albeit with a raft of rules and restrictions. Filled with enthusiasm and confident of fine Summer weather, I celebrated that day in July by taking a stroll along one of our long-distance footpaths to a nearby village pub. It was a truly memorable day at one of my favourite traditional pubs in the area, and one that I've been looking forward to repeating all through this latest Winter lockdown. So another trek across freshly ploughed and recently seeded fields seemed entirely appropriate today, and to yet another pub that's been a long-time favourite of mine.

The George

The George at Ashley was my local once. By which I mean a local in the true sense of the word. Not just a regular 'beer' haunt, nor indeed the pub on my doorstep, but the one I 'chose' to use two or three times a week in preference to many others nearby. A proper 'prop-up-the-bar' local, a chatty villagers local, a rugby and too many pints on a Saturday afternoon local. Not the only 'local' of its kind in the area it's true, but it was mine for a time, and I must say I loved it to bits.

Sparse description of The George from a 1990 CAMRA guide

In truth The George became my local because my 'actual' local at the time (which was truly 'local' being in my own village) finally closed its doors as a pub for good. I have to say that I was truly gutted at losing my beloved village local, so exchanging a 5 minute stroll to the pub for upwards of an hours trek to the next village seemed entirely reasonable at the time. A man's got to have his local!

The George was somewhere we liked to visit for a whole number of reasons. The flat road across the Welland floodplain made cycling or walking for a pint more of a pleasure than a chore, and the benches at the front were just the best place to rest our legs when we arrived, down a few pints, and watch the local horses clop by. The pub also became a favoured destination for the Friday night warm-up session when the infamous Welland Valley Beer Festival was in full swing. Sadly that memorable event became a victim of its own success, but I'm sure many will remember with great fondness the beer tent and BBQ at the rear of the pub.

Later on we made the George our home for afternoon rugby matches on the telly, taking an old Shove Ha'penny Board along for a few half-time games that would inevitably extend well beyond the final whistle! Rugby at the George was always a treat given the pubs position near the Leics/Northants border. Ostensibly a Tigers pub, there was always a good few Saints fans in for the banter too. Later on a Devil Amongst The Tailors table made the journey across the valley, a favourite with children in the bar, and therefore a firm favourite with the parents too!

So what of the George now. What changes has it seen over the years since my first visit almost 20 years ago. Well the George is still essentially the same 'improved' farmers bar it's always been. An alehouse in a very small village, little altered over the years but now spruced-up and with much more of a food aspect. The traditional Northants Skittles Table that graced the tiny rear bar is long gone (though I understand it's still located in the village). A brass strip set into the quarry tiled floor marks the original throwing point, probably the only clue there was ever a skittles table at the pub. Until recently there was also a well-used Dartboard in the bar, the pub fielding a strong team in the local Welland Valley Darts League. Sadly the Dartboard seems to have gone, but then it's a very small bar and space is clearly at a premium.

Another feature of the pub that may or may not have survived the recent lockdowns is the weekend Dominoes game. A group of perhaps half a dozen folk from villages round and about were always to be found rattling the tiles on a Saturday and/or Sunday afternoon, the sound of village locals everywhere until recent years. The game of Fives & Threes is open to anyone that likes a game, in fact I sat in on a game one afternoon with typically mixed results!

So the games have largely gone, but in new hands it's still very much the pub it's always been. Open Monday to Sunday, and remarkably for a village pub, that includes lunchtime hours every day of the week, even Mondays! A pub for the locals, but also a destination pub with a strong food offering. You're still welcome to pop in for a drink though, or will be when restrictions on inside drinking are finally lifted in May. I may not be a local anymore, but there's still a bench at the front for horse and tractor watching, and I can see myself walking across the fields to the George quite a lot this year.

Easter Monday Tradition

 

Until the recent COVID disruptions, the George played it's part in an important local sporting tradition. Many will have heard of the Easter Bottle Kicking event between nearby Hallaton and Medbourne villages, a rivalry said to date from Pagan times! What's not so well known is the traditional Tug of War between the villagers of Ashley & Medbourne that usually takes place on the morning of the Bottle Kicking. Mens, Womens, and a Childrens competition have been held, the winners of the Mens match, a best of three, claiming the bragging rights and a shield on the spirit barrel trophy shown here. There is also a wooden Ice Bucket trophy for the Womens competition, both of which were held at the George when I first started visiting.