A Jimmy Riddle anyone?

Well at last December is out of the way.  The village was effectively cut off from the Rest of the World for two weeks, the only access to civilisation was down the already dangerous lane to Burton Bradstock - add a couple of inches of ice and it really wasn't worth going out.  Then of course Christmas arrived and it would appear that England stopped for two weeks - I have completely lost time of days of the week, dates, the month and when the rubbish is collected.  I religiously put out my rubbish last week congratulating myself on being the first in the lane to do so and it didn't get collected.  Obviously as newcomers there is some secret about rubbish collection to which we are not yet initiated.  When inquiring if and when it would be collected there were shouts of 'Go and look at the website - all the collection days are published there' - so you see we may live in the middle of the most glorious nowhere but we are hi-tech down here!

Anyhow, before the forced hiberation of December, GW and I went and visited the Piddle Brewery.  People snigger at its name but the brewery is on the Piddle river in Piddlehinton, so it is very aptly named.   This micro brewery was started in February 2008 by Rob and Paul and met with immediate success - so much so that in 2009 they won the much acclaimed Taste of Dorset award for the Best Drinks Supplier.  I'm not a beer drinker myself but am assured by GW that it is good stuff.  The sacrifices that we have to make to find good produce to put on http://www.theinternetgrocer.com!

If you follow this link you can see the video on how the beer is made and giggle at the names of their different beers!  GW was given a beany so has been walking around in the cold weather with it and the slogan 'Piddle on my head' across his forehead - don't say we don't do class down here.

After our welcoming visit to the brewery, it was magically lunchtime and our thoughts turned to yet more beer and food.  Blandford Forum is just up the road from Piddlehinton, so off we set.  GW didn't know Blandford and that day he knew it even less - thick fog, cold and grim.  As we arrive in the town I see a Piddle pub, so the car is quickly parked and we stride rapidly and purposefully up the street to the Dolphin.  A real pub, a good pub, a pub with a fire, a pub with friendly staff, a pub with locals, a pub with good honest food, and a Piddle pub.  What more do you want on a dull and cold day in Blandford?  I had what must have been the worlds' largest BLT sandwich and GW gobbled down a huge plate of homemade terrine, aided by Piddle. 

Whilst we sat there, I thought that probably my father and my brothers must have surely drunk in this pub, albeit before the days of the Piddle beer.  They used to drink scrumpy until legless and the masters used to drive round picking them out of the ditches on their way back to school - not just my family I hasten to add, although I'm sure that when they left school the takings in the local pubs probably took a turn for the worse!

So if you are down around Blandford, do go and have a drink and some food at the Dolphin and for my Belgian clients who can't enjoy the experience, we can bring some Piddle to your doorstep!