I happened to buy the Herefordshire Life magazine this month, and there was an article in it about Herefordshire pubs by Matthew Engel. He used to write for the Guardian and he started the Laurie Engel Fund after his young son died of cancer.
In the article, he mentioned that the Bull's Head at Craswell has closed down, which is a great shame. It's a very remote pub, halfway up Hay Bluff, and for a while it had quite a good reputation for food.
I remember visiting it before it changed hands and became a pub restaurant. We'd been out walking, Allen and I, and our friends Huw and his wife and little boy, so we stopped in at the Bull's Head to warm up a bit at the open fire and have a glass of cider - they didn't do food then. There was no bar - you knocked on a little hatch in the wall, and an elderly lady opened it, took your order, and passed it through. She poured the Weston's cider straight from the bottle. We were on our own in the bar, and started a wild game of bar skittles - which was interrupted when twenty pony trekkers suddenly burst through the door, covered in mud. There was no room to carry on - not the way we'd been playing it, anyway - and the pony trekkers were obviously expected, as glasses of cider and plates of cheese and pickle sandwiches started appearing rapidly through the hatch. When we went outside, all the ponies were tied up in a row along the hedge, and it felt like going back in time.
As far as I remember, the pub was run by an old couple who had a handicapped son - Down's syndrome, possibly - and the time came when they could no longer carry on. When the pub went up for sale, 95 acres of hill farm went with it.
That was when it blossomed as a food pub - and the pub side of it was expanded into what had been the living quarters. (There had been an Under Eighteens Bar, with a snooker table in it, just down from the main bar, and the outside toilets were just beyond that).
And now, it seems, it's all boarded up. However, Matthew Engel reports that there are prospective buyers - and they really, really want to run a pub, so maybe the story isn't over yet.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
In 2006 we camped in the field behind the pub - the children adored it. We were very disappointed to learn that it had closed down as we wanted to return. Guess what! I've just telephoned and they're open again - time to load up the car!
A real shame. I have been going to this pub since I was a child and have enjoyed the warm atmosphere many times after walking in the local area. Unfortunately, this summer was marred by a visit to the pub. Post a friend’s wedding in the area, my wife and I decided to go for lunch at the Bull’s Head Craswell. We had had a small walk, due to having a 1 year old baby, but we still turned up ravenous and thirsty. It was busy but we found a seat (inside the pub) and my wife went to order. The lady at the bar didn’t look at her but just said, you haven’t booked so you can’t order food. My wife asked for a drink and some crisps – NO! I went to see what the problem was. I held my baby in my arms as the cook screamed at me at the top of his voice “if you couldn’t be bothered to book a table, why should I bother to make you food”. It was a disgrace. Please read the article abve how friendly the bull’s head used to be.
I guess that is the way things are nowadays but the old owners would never have done that, not in a million years! Needless to say, we won't be going again, which hurts me. I would also suggest to any readers that they might want to consider their trip to this pub. The road is horrifically busy to get there and you too might just find yourself disillusioned.
Good grief! That's appalling.
Cool welcome on a cool night in December. Limited menu, very expensive for the fare that was submitted and very meagre quantities for the very expensive items that were available on the menu.
Post a Comment