‘The parish boundary actually splits the building, leaving the bar in one parish and the toilets in the other. You can imagine that this creates much laughter for many locals and not so much for others, depending of course which parish you live in!‘
The name Pluckley may ring a few bells, reputedly the most haunted village in the country and of course the setting for the first television series of H E Bates’s book “The Darling Buds of May.” Set deep in the Weald of Kent it portrays simpler times in the countryside where folk lived off the fat of the land.
Although still rich in rural ways times have changed somewhat but finding a hidden gem of a pub in this area, which is but a short distance from my cottage, is not that difficult… I give to you the ‘Rose and Crown’ in Munday Bois lane, a name which has often intrigued me, the lane not the pub! The pub sits directly on the parish borders of Egerton and Pluckley.
The parish boundary actually splits the building, leaving the bar in one parish and the toilets in the other. You can imagine that this creates much laughter for many locals and not so much for others, depending of course which parish you live in! When I first moved to this area of the county it was very much my local establishment, selling a good range of Shepherd Neame ales and local cider.
Some fifteen years further down the line and several landlords since, it now offers Harvey’s of Lewes ales, which are certainly on par with the previous ‘menu’. A pint of Harvey’s best bitter on a warm late summer afternoon, having spent the day fishing for wildies in one of the many Wealden iron ponds which dot the area and link the Weald to an industrial past is one of life’s great pleasures… Here’s to wildies and a lovely pint set in some stunning countryside.
Writing & Images R.B.Traditional Summer 2023
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