The Bitter End - July 2011

 

When I was a little girl I loved colour pencils, in particular “Derwent” brand colour pencil sets.  One Christmas, I asked for and received a box of 72 which was the most colours you could get in a set.  Most people only had sets of 12 or 24.  The box of 72 was pretty special even though I only used about six of them – the bright pinks, blues and purples.  The more mundane colours weren’t so popular.

When I was 14, I was lucky enough to be taken on a 6-month tour of Europe, which included the North of England.  I remember wanting to go to the Cumberland Pencil Company (makers of Derwents) to do a tour of the factory.  Unfortunately, when we arrived it was closed.  I must have been pretty disappointed because I can still remember the time.

So, when Neil and I decided to go to Cumbria for an overnight trip, I decided we had to go to Keswick and to the Cumberland Pencil Factory.  It turns out that when Neil was a lad, he loved “Derwents” too, although he only had a set of 12 and admitted to severe pencil envy of anyone who had a set of 72.  Arriving in Keswick, we found that the Cumberland Pencil Factory, while it is still in existence, was no longer in Keswick but in its place was a Pencil Museum!  Being the nerds we are, we spent hours discovering how coloured pencils are made, and we thoroughly enjoyed it; more “Derwents” than we had ever seen!

Of course, we also tested out a few pubs along the way….

The Bitter End is in the interestingly named town of Cockermouth.  Like the name implies it’s at the mouth of the Cocker River.  It is also famous for being where Wordsworth and Fletcher Christian were educated. The pub is off the main road opposite one of the many Churches. Very pleasant inside; not too Olde Worlde but comfortable and small with a nice atmosphere.  I imagine it would be a great pub after a long winter’s day of trekking in the nearby hills.

The Pub has its own brewery “The Bitter End Brewery” as well as serving Jennings Cumberland Ale, which is the local Cumbrian beer.  The Bitter End Brewery beers are: Lakeland bitter; Lakeland Golden and Lakeland Honey.  Neil was obligingly given a taste of all of them and settled on the Lakeland Golden, which he seemed to enjoy immensely as he had sworn off beer since drinking to excess in the US of A.  The lagers were Peroni, Becks and Fosters.  No Guinness!  There was a small selection of wines by the glass, mainly European and Sth. American.

For dinner, I chose Cumberland sausage with mash, which came with sweet onion marmalade.  Neil chose fish and chips but substituted the mushy peas for regular peas.  Why you would want to mush peas and present them for eating is beyond our understanding.  We were very impressed with the food; it was delicious and served steaming hot with a side of vegetables, enough for both of us.

I would highly recommend the Lakes District to visit, even if you aren’t obsessed with pencils.  The scenery is picture perfect and if you need a good meal, a nice beer and a pleasant evening, look no further than The Bitter End.