Timberland’s run of success in the Best Kept Village competition (Timberland and District Area) ended in 1990 when they appointed Les Dawson as motivational coach. After thirty years of hurt they still keep the roadsign up with hopes of better times ahead.
It’s a rural Lincolnshire village with horses and that.
Timberland used to share a railway station with neighbouring Scopwick. This was closed to passengers in 1955 on the spurious grounds that there weren’t any, though it was still open for freight until 1964.
The Penny Farthing pub must be a labour of love, having been rescued from closure by the current owners, and serving a population of only 578. The neighbouring village of Martin (not that one) dwarfs it with 866 souls, but they have their own pub.
That labour of love must have got a lot tougher this year but they kept the Sunday early lunchtime crowd going – a local drinker called George (pint of lager) and me (half of Milestone Crusader, the sole cask offering). It’s a bit dark and gloomy inside but splashing out on the decor is probably the least of their worries right now.
The completion of this year’s Lincolnshire’s Good Beer Guide entries came at the Joiner’s Arms in Welbourn (population 647). A brick built rural pub, this one was doing a good trade.
It’s been in the same family for three generations and has a pleasing fascia fronting the bar, with the recent addition of covid-secure plastic. Essex publican Adam Brooks has a good point to make about this.
It was great to see Holt’s Bitter this far south, served in perfect condition too. I had a some red-hot Holt based chat with Jeremy the owner and Sally, his wife, whose family it is that have owned the pub, was equally charming once she had made me sit down at a safe distance. There are pictures of the deserted medieval village of Saperton on the walls.
I wandered out thinking what a lovely pub, pursued shortly afterwards by Jeremy as I had forgotten to pay. Not sure I’ll ever get used to table service.
Pubmeister writes... 
You didn’t have the Doom Bar ! You northerners/central belters don’t deserve pubs.
I reckon the trade in those two was exactly the same on my visit what seems an eternity ago but was actually only 11 months ago, at which point the pub in Martin was still closed (or I’d obv have popped in)
https://retiredmartin.com/2019/11/15/this-martins-gone-to-martin/
That sign read as “Tim berland” to me. Didn’t he invent the internet ? When will Lincs get that ?
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Curious gap after Tim on the sign. Nice write up. Lincolnshire is an annual trial but Welbourn was excellent. Was banking on you not examining the pump clips that closely!
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What Pub promised Bass at Welbourn; they’d replaced it with Rosey Nosey which was still on in January, and excellent.
What did you think of the Castlegate in Grantham, or had that been in years ago ? Was refreshing to get such an un-reconstituted locals pub in 2020 !
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Castlegate has permanently closed so you did well to get it in.
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“That sign read as “Tim berland” to me. Didn’t he invent the internet ?”
Nah. That was Daniel (Tim) Bernou-Lee. 🙂
He also figured out the theory of moving fluids, after having a few pints in tight pants. 😉
Cheers
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“Just in Timberland”
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…
(groan)
AND
(slow golf clap) 🙂
“Horses and that”
I think that’s to remind them which animals go in which paddock thingy.
“on the spurious grounds that there weren’t any”
Use it or lose it. *
* – I tell my darling wife that but with so-so success. 😉
“The neighbouring village of Martin (not that one) ”
A whole village of Martins! The mind boggles.
“but splashing out on the decor is probably the least of their worries right now.”
Sigh (too true).
“Adam Brooks has a good point to make about this.”
Agreed!
“I had a some red-hot Holt based chat”‘
Drop the ‘a’ or add a ‘what’, what? 🙂
“Not sure I’ll ever get used to table service.”
LOL. Over here we’d call that a ‘dine and dash. 🙂
Cheers
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And to think I nearly made it to the end without a mistake! Cheers Russ.
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You were still on a ‘sugar rush’ from your great title pick. 🙂
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Doing a runner from the boozer! You can take the boy out of Paisley…..
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Now now!
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Love these far flung Lincolnshire boozers…east of England always seems to be the most bleak to me
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Classic village community pub and it looks nice and homely. Was that I Bass cask ale pump clip i could see in the last photo?
Lovely signal box too – and of course Dr Beeching assisted British Rail in closing much of the rail system on the false pretext that there were no passengers. An early casualty of fake news perhaps.;)
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Cheers. It was Bass! The line closed to passengers a few years pre-Beeching but presume he killed it off the surviving freight.
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