PUBS NEAR CRANWELL
 

Hope you guys don't mind a question not DIRECTLY involved in aircraft.!
I have a friend over from France tomorrow and am planning a whistle stop tour of Coningsby, Cranwell and Cottesmore.
Do any of you know of a decent pub for lunchtime bar meals in the vicinity of Cranwell / Cottesmore or in between the two?
Any assistance greatly appreciated

Forget the name of the place, but the big Pub/Inn in Leadenham is pretty good.

The George used to be nice, if it's still there. Lots of good squadron stuff from all over plastered around it.

Enjoy!

If you are around Conningsby at lunchtime the village is full of pubs, however the Leagate (near the threshold of the west runway) is worthy of a visit; good food and beer in nice suuroundings. (My opinion!)

Tally Ho Inn at Aswarby (that's tally ho as in fox hunting rather than flying, by the way) is a really traditional pub. On the A15 south of Sleapit, not fat from the A52 junction to the A1.

Lincolnshire snorker baguette and a pint and a half of draught bitter is a good pub meal - or they have a restaurant if you want to impress.

Found their website: http://www.tally-ho-aswarby.co.uk/

(I have no commercial or other vested interest in this - apart from it being a great watering hole if I'm on my way oop 't Nawrth to visit relatives!).

Oh - and it's the George at Leadenham. The Stable Bar used to provide a variety of 'entertainment' back in the 1970s....

Pubs near Cottesmore
 

Not quite where you asked for but the Ram Jam on the A1 has good food but isn't a pub. There is a good selection of pubs, with food, in Greetham (Black Horse) and Cottesmore (the Sun) plus others. Black Bull in Market Overton was good but has slipped a bit with a recent change of owner/manager. Have a good day in any event!

That's great! Thanks very much guys. Maybe we'll try them all!

Near Cranwell: The Hare & Hounds at Fulbeck and the Hooblon (sp?) Arms at (forgotten) used to be great before pubs became food factories.

Near Coningsby: The Abbey Lodge near Woodhall Spa, as above.

I think I'm right in saying that access to the Ram Jam Inn is now a bit difficult going south as you have to drive 600 miles to the next turning point in the dual carriageway barrier.

That'll be the Houblon Arms at Oasby - just off the 'Ancaster straight' south of Ancaster before you get to Barkston Heath.

Not that impressed with it the last time I was there.....

I'll pick one of them out of the hat and review it here later in the week - a bit of a 'good pub guide' type situation. Thanks again.

:ok:
Jackson Stops in Stretton. Dog's danglers, especially for steaks. Enjoy ...

The Duke of Wellington
19, Lincoln Rd, Leasingham, Sleaford, Lincolnshire NG34 8JS
Tel: 01529 303027 (between CWL & Sleaford on A15) is good, or
The Tempest Arms
Hill Rise, Coleby, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN5 0AG
Tel: 01522 810287 (A607 towards Waddo)

I wouldn't bother with the George in Leadenham, it's gone down hill in the last few years. Fox and Hounds is still a good bet though.

Bear

Sorry Hare and Hounds....shouldn't really drink and type!

Bear

The Bustard in South Rauceby (Sp?) was pretty good. Mind you that was twenty odd years ago:}

Willoughby Arms at Leadenham is very good, and better than the George in my view. (Although 'new' conservatory are is not as characterful as the main pub.)

Can't remember the name of the place, but the pub in the middle of Ewerby (a mile or so east of Sleazeford) did good grub a few years ago when I was enjoying the delights of Cranditz...

Had a good session New Year's Eve at the Houblon. Also called in for a pint and a snack a few days earlier. Seemed OK and pretty much as I remembered it from my days as an instructor at Cranditz (any Cadet who as much as showed their face in there was instantly recoursed!). The Red Lion at Newton was always good and served a mean roast beef sandwich but every time I went there over Christmas/New Year they were closed!

Agree about the George at Leadenham. RamJam, as is said is good, big comfy armchairs, settee etc.

Betweeh Coningsby and Woodhall Spa is the Blue Bell but do duck. It is like the Black Horse at Greetham used to be (not been in for many years) tiny with lots of signatures etc on the ceiling.

Then there is the Petwood Hotel at Woodhall Spa, look in the Dambuster's Bar. Even if shut they will open that bar for you.

Well, allan907, back in the good old days before RAFC Cranwell dumbed down, merged with Henlow secondary modern and went comprehensive, the Houblon Arms was a well-known watering hole for Flt Cdts. As was the Hare and Hounds at Fulbeck - both were equally popular with student officers when I returned from university for Graduate Entry training. There was no real 'us and them' - we quite often met some of the staff in local pubs.

The Houblon was OK last week, the The Three Kings at (appropriately) Threekingham is good for food. If anyone has a soft spot for the Greyhound at Folkingham they can now buy the buildng which onced housed it, but it will take a fortune to renovate. A bit further afield, the Grain Store in Oakham brews and serves the best beer for miles around, try the Rutland Panther.

YS

Plenty of good pubs to choose from listed above but don't look for a pub in Cranwell Village. There hasn't been once since the day Lord Trenchard had it written into the village bylaws that a public house close to the College would be a distraction for the cadets.

He then issued every cadet with a motorbike in a box that, once built, was able to transport pi$$ed cadets back from all those listed above. Plenty of photos in the 1920s section of the rogue's gallery of cadets with broken limbs to confirm the story for your French mate.

Now there's a character! (see other thread!)

If you fancy a good meal try the scarf & goggles in Metheringham. Top steaks, try the seafood platter too !!!!! :ok: ( Give em a bell before you go though just to make sure they can get you in. 01526 320556 )

Ah! Them were the days Beagle. Unfortunately in my day the RAF was taking in thousands of u/t aircrew and standards had definitely dumbed down more than a bit because of that. One couldn't trust meeting a cadet in a pub who had had one too many and wanted to point out the error of our ways in the way we were running the courses. So, to avoid that potential court martial provoking experience we had an unspoken agreement; staff would drink at the Houblon (and other spots) and the oiks would drink at the George at Leadenham. It worked. The oiks would regularly get into trouble at the George, the landlord would report it in, DIOT would not believe that a potential officer could ever do such a thing and they must have mistaken them from one of the local agricultural wags, the potential 'officers ' would graduate and - hey presto - 20 odd years later they is now air hofficers (or nearly there).

See also the thread(s) dealing with how the RAF has turned to rat**** of late

The pub in Ewerby is the finch hatton arms, good food but too quiet, the willoughby arms in leadenham has closed down....the george has gone to the dogs since it was taken over, the best steak is definately the scarf and goggles in metheringham, not sure if they are open for lunch, the blue bell is still very nice, wouldn't go to any pub in coningsby village for food, but the one at the threshold is very nice, but in my opinion the nicest place to eat at the moment is Cogglesford Mill. reallly nice pub with excellent food, it's on the way in to sleaford after the agra and quick fit.


All of the above is obviously my own humble opinion.......

Back to the Houblon (ta for the correction, BEagle - that part of my memory has had it), they used to do excellent chicken & mushroom pies for 2/- and a pint was about the same price - aaah, terrific! Now, shall I explain to any young pups reading this what 2/- means?

When I was a lad 2/- was a florin, or four tanners, or a tanner less than half a crown :)

Yes - I remember those hen and toadstool pies! Very tasty!

But beer was a bit more than two bob a pint if I recall correctly? I'm sure it was around one and ten a pint in the Junior Mess in 1968. Lager and lime (I know, I know....) was two and tuppence.

Yes, you're probably right about the beer prices. I think DD, Tartan and Tankard in the Mess were all 1/9 when I started a year or 2 earlier. Outside it was in the low 2s, I suppose, the RAF/NAAFI discount not being particularly generous - unlike 'afloat' on the Navy bases. I remember Embassy were 4/7 for 20 (no discount), and that's when I gave them up.

Thats the Finch-Hatton Arms in Ewerby and the Bell at Coleby. (New) Wig and Mitre up the hill in Lincoln

The Red Lion at Caythorpe was always quite a good one too if I recall.

From what I recall The George used to be good for "alternative entertainment". Although that wasn't at lunchtime, and the menu altogether different.

You're not thinking of the Flaming Jo (The Flamingo Club) on the way to Grimsby are you?

Where did you go - in the end?
 

Lindslow. The weather was great - where did you finish up and what was it like? I met up with a Nav I flew with in the early 70s (F4s) and we had lunch in The George in Stamford. It was an excellent meal, in the courtyard, but no change out of £50 for 2 so one has to be keen!

Are any of you guys charging commission... what brilliant advertising!

Has been a pilot's watering hole for many years. Features in "A Pilot's Summer" by Frank Tredery, an account of the author's CFS Course in 1935. Come to think of it, how about pubs around Rissington? The Fox at Broadwell had the best beer in the Cotswolds.

YS

YS

Best were around Chivenor, worst on Anglesey. Where I live now, they're mostly grotty, and copiously bedecked with f*****g football screens (pardon language). And now there's yet another stoopid W Cup 'song' on the radio --- jeez it's enough to drive you back to the pub - but then there's those friggin' screens.

That's the George.

Well jindabyne
Im just off to the pub, I think I'll have a couple of pints of the Oakham Grainstore Brewery's Special World Cup Ale. It's called ""Metatarsal" -For those staying at home"!

YS

Spoilt for choice!!
 

Thanks for all the advice. 38 replies and I only had time for one pub. It was the Tally Ho just South of Cranwell.
Here's the verdict:-
As it was only a transitional stop we had one drink and a meal. After my French counterpart made it known about his concerns that he had to pay for his food before eating it, we were seated outside in the garden overlooking a marvelous meadow.
The menu was good and certainly not chain pub stuff and we decided on steak.
(This IS starting to sound like a pub review feature)
The fillet steak was delicious and cooked to perfection and came with home made chips, tomatos, mushrooms and onion rings.
As an afterthought there was a microwaved dish of carrot and brocolli, a bit dried out and frankly, unnecessary.
At £14 the seak was perhaps a little overpriced for a pub menu but it was good and the staff were attentive.
As for the beer, we didn't really sample the real stuff and 'convenienced' out on a Fosters.
I'd like to go back in the evening.

As for the flying, Dakota, Chipmunk, Spitfire, Typhoons and Jaguars at Coniongsby, Tutors, King Airs a specially marked Dominie at Cranwell and a 4 ship Harrier take off and return at Cottesmore. But the Raphale is still better (I'm told!!) Only joking Emmanuel if you're reading this!

The next pub next week :zzz: