Blog: The Peterborough Beer Festival

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Last week we met The Hewitts in the pub to hear about their Edinburgh experience and, I must admit, it made me a bit JEALOUS. Well, it also made me, briefly, SPITTING WITH RAGE when Steve confessed to not only going to The Halfway House on his first day there, but also The Blue Blazer. Without ME! How DARE he!

Still, one of the good things about not going this year is that it has allowed me to do other August-based things, such as... well, not getting rained on all the time like happens in Scotland! It also meant that I could return to The Peterborough Beer Festival, which is what I did last Friday.

I had to get there quite early in the afternoon, to avoid paying A MILLION POUNDS for a peak-time train ticket, so thought I would have a bit of a wander around. I'm back in Peterborough fairly often but it's generally to do a specific thing or see people, rather than just MOOCH ABOUT. I thought it might be nice to do so, and LO! it WAS! I ambled through town looking at places I used to know and enjoying the fact that my BRANE knew where it was going, despite the fact that I'd not done this for about a quarter of a century. I was heading out towards Central Park, which we used to live nearby, and was astonished to realise there was a HUGE CEMETRY just round the corner from a house we lived in for four years but which I'd never ever even looked into. I had the same experience on a similar mooch round Leicester a while ago - these days if I see a cul de sac I want to know what's at the other end, but back then it appears I just went where I needed to.

Anyway, after a diversion to look at the aforementioned house we used to live in (they've still got the same door, with number and door knocker, that we left there in 1981!) I traipsed back to Central Park, which was GORGEOUS. I remember it as being the place we always went to to play when we lived nearby, the place we played the wide game with scouts, where my grandparents went bowling, and much later where people would nip in for a wee on the way home from the pub. It was all EXACTLY the same as I remembered - the bowling greens, the AVIARY, the paddling pool, and especially the Sunken Gardens, all still there. It felt weird to be there, as it's one of those places that still pop up in DREAMS every now and then, and also because it's so BEAUTIFUL. Growing up nearby I guess I'd taken it for granted, but after a huge gap I realised what a gorgeous place it is.

Delighted with my mooch I headed back into town, stopping off for a cuppa on the way to the Embankment, where the Beer Festival was being held. I've not been for AGES (or at least that's how it seemed) and as I strode towards the marquee I had the same feeling of returning home that I had at Indietracks a few weeks ago. Inside all was much as usual, and I gradually met up with Mr M Guest, The Parents, and eventually Mr P Myland, who had been having a NAP. Mileage came bearing RUMOURS which we'd already worked out for ourselves: there was a BIG problem with the toilets, in that most of them were out of action leading to HUGE queues. Luckily they got sorted out before it got dark, otherwise FENCE WEEING would probably have flooded the area!

Apart from that all was as LOVELY as ever, with lots of chat, bumping into people we used to know, and BEER. I tried a new tack this time, simply going to the bar and saying "Could I have a pint of something nice please?" The staff are all volunteers and thus BEER FANS and would invariably get A Little Bit Excited and find me the nicest thing they could think of - it is a GOOD PLAN which I shall endevour to use again!

All too soon it was time for me to head home for my train, though not before The Parents had spotted my Actual Godfather, who I traditionally see approx every 10 years, at The Beer Festival. With that tradition taken care of we hopped in a taxi and I was dropped off at the station. As ever, I was glad that the train STOPS when it gets to London, otherwise I could have woken up in PARIS!

posted 29/8/2014 by MJ Hibbett

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