Sunday 4 January 2009

Christmas in the Three Stags Heads pub

Remember when pubs were about just meeting up with friends and actually TALKING?? When what mattered most was the company and the beer? A place where most people felt at ease and relaxed, warm in the knowledge that little would change. Well, the Three Stags Heads is such a place! Stuck back in time, there's no TV, but LOADS of people, characters and a storyline to watch. No music, except the music of laughter, conversation and the crackle of a real fire, no computer games or fruit machines, you can get rich on life in there, that's all.

Jeff Fuller is a master potter, as well as a damn fine host. He and his wife Pat make the Three Stags what it is. You either LOVE it, or you hate it. I am firmly in the former camp. It's clean but basic. Dogs are welcomed, nay, ENCOURAGED to sit anywhere. If they squabble, so what? They'll work it out, just like people do!

Christmas is a very special time at the Stags. Jeff & Pat make ALL the decorations from local flora. The 'piece de resistance' is the kissing bower in the back room. (Of course, there are always plenty of places to kiss in the Stags, as they also collect mistletoe locally, and hang bunches all around the pub).
It's my ambition to spend a new years eve there one day soon.
Enjoy the pictures, and if you're nearby, enjoy the superb beer that Jeff serves - it has NO equal!
Here it is - doesn't look much, does it?
It never pretends to be anything but a pub. A good, old fashioned pub.
First job at Christmas - make GOOD use of that kissing bower!

The lovely display over the main fireplace in the front room.
And what fire would be complete without a roasting of chesnuts?
Centrepiece of the fireplace decoration. Yes, those apples ARE real.
Jeff Fuller, mine host.
That chair is Jeffs. Sit in it at your peril!
Look, I'll move if it gets TOO warm.......ok?
The main window, candlelit.
The kissing bower in the back room, by flashlight.
By candlelight.
The full monty!
Look here boy, a stuffed cat!
Can I eat it?
COURSE I can - with a little help from my friends!
Now this is what I CALL a bunch of mistletoe!
Right, better get a pint in.
CHEERS
(Better not be in this chair when Jeff gets back).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey Les. You have certainly got it made ! Happy New Year to you and wishing you plenty of pizzas flying through the oven. Nige

Anonymous said...

Peaches here!!! I always feel like I have had a vacation reading your blog and looking at all the photos! These Christmas decorations are wonderful! That Three Stags Heads pub IS like going into another time when you enter it! It is one in a million! Happy New Year! Now it has been ten years we have been typing back and forth!!!YEAAAAAA! Bitter cold here, the news man says coldest winter in 30 years. My brother in Michigan reported MINUS 50 degrees at his house with the wind chill factor.He is very far North, almost in the Great Lakes!! Bye Bye!!!

Needlelacer said...

Another great lot of photos, but you were living dangerously, Les - sitting in the landlord's chair !

Peaches ..... -50 degrees ? Shock horror. We have just had two days of around 40 degrees - I'd FREEZE in Michigan.

Les, said...

Thanks Nige, Peaches and Hazel. Your comments are ALWAYS appreciated. I certainly do count my blessings Nige, and we are very happy here. Happy new year to you all. Les

 
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