Norwich – Strangers Tavern (Two Julians)

Next on our perambulation a couple of weeks ago was Stranger’s Tavern which has somewhat of a complex history to unpick. Firstly, Julian found the railings outside the pub a handy place to lock his bike up and to also keep an eye on it when we were seated inside. Once that faffing about was done and I watched the police doing something next door with a food delivery driver, we were ready to enter.

The story starts with the Three Pigeons pub which was located opposite where the pub today is now located. The current location is under the ‘HAR’ of Charing in the above map. This has been a pub from the mid eighteenth century located where Westwick Street and St. Benedict’s Street met, but the building was demolished for road improvement works in the 1890s. In 1869, there were allegations of election bribery taking place at the pub although the investigators only found evidence of intoxication of voters. I sometimes wonder whether this (the intoxication, not necessarily the bribery) should be encouraged again to see if voters make more sensible decisions after a couple of beers.

This map, from around 1900, shows where the pub was moved to. Morgans Brewery operated the venue until the 1940s, then it became owned by Tollemache & Cobbold. In 1977, the pub was renamed the Hog in Armour and that’s how I remember it over twenty years ago when my friend James and I played pool upstairs. That’s now been turned into a cocktail bar which is separately branded today, but I digress. It was renamed the Mash Tun in 2014 and then the Strangers Tavern in 2019. I quite like the Three Pigeons name myself, but there we go.

An advert from 1881 and there are a couple of interesting things there, including the bagatelle table (the fore-runner of today’s bar billiards), but also the annual bread, cheese and celery supper. I’m not bothered about the celery, but the rest of the supper sounds amazing.

Incidentally, in 1930, the local press reported:

“Mr. Lindley, at the Three Pigeons, near Charing Cross, has a hog, which is allowed to be the largest ever seen in this city (Norwich). Its dimensions are 9 feet in length, 5 feet high, 9 feet round the body, and the neck measures 4 feet 4 inches round; his weight is computed to exceed 50 stone.”

50 stone?!?! Handy for the later name of the Hog in Armour though.

The bar was entirely devoid of customers when we entered, but it was contemporary and clean in its design.

I had expected something rather more generic, but I think it’s fair to say that both Julian and I were surprised and delighted. There was a broad range of craft beers and the team member behind the bar was knowledgeable, engaging and enthusiastic. Well, I say we were both delighted, but they don’t serve real ale (those two lines that look like cask are actually cider) so Julian could have been more delighted, but at least the craft options were intriguing.

The keg selection which is a little hard to make here unfortunately, but there were some beers from breweries that I hadn’t been aware of and it’s always good to see beer from Brew York.

I opted for the Ben & Terry’s Peanut Buttercup from Bianca Road Brew Co, a London brewery who were new to me. Lots of peanut butter, smooth and rich, this was nearly quite a decadent beer. Julian went for a beer from the same brewery, the Hay-Z which is a pale ale and it was a fresh and fragrant little number.

The team member said that the bar was doing well, although it’s always seemed a bit empty when I’ve gone by, but it’s possible that they get a decent crowd in during weekend events. They don’t seem to serve food other than bar snacks, so it’s a primarily wet-led venue. I actually really liked the pub, it offered beers that were a little different, the service was friendly, the team member who served us was knowledgeable about beer and I felt welcome during the visit. All really rather lovely and I think that they deserve to be busier.

Finally, for anyone who wants to see what the Hog in Armour looked like in the 1980s, jump to 12 minutes in of this Tales of the Unexpected video. Also note the appearance of Clive Swift, later better known for his role in Keeping Up Appearances.