The Floating Bridge Inn

Do you like Brit pubs as much as I do?  Wait a sec…’like’ is too tame a word…crave!  The murmur of voices.  Glistening pint glasses of dark amber.  A row of hand pumps that tells you this is the place for traditional ale.  None of that fizzy stuff for a true pub lover such as you and I.  Did I speak too quickly?  What?  You’ve never been inside a Brit pub???  Good god, man!  Are you old enough to drink?  Have you completely missed the sublime pleasure of relaxing in a pub, pint in hand, and your troubles floating away like the evening mist?

You may have been listening to all those old saws about Brit beer being warm, flat, et-freaking-cetera.  Ah, so that’s the problem.  Probably think the food is bad, too.

Wander with me inside a riverside pub in Dartmouth, Devon, England.  The Floating Bridge Inn.  What’s in a name?  In this case, the name tells you the pub is parked nearly on the riverbank, right beside the Dartmouth-Kingswear Floating Dock, a vehicular cable ferry that crosses the River Dart.  Cars roll on and off all day. 

Let’s go inside the big white pub, which dates to the 19th Century, or on a sunny day we can sit outside and soak up some vitamin D-3.

The bar area has a lighter touch than most, with a nautical air.  They serve DoomBar, a local brew and one of my favorite Brit beers. But in this case, I didn’t come to The Floating Bridge for the beer.  Shocking, I know.  But, their kitchen shines like a star in the hungry night.  And if you don’t fancy a pint with your lunch or supper, they offer a superb wine selection.

Now to settle a few scores.  Brit beer is not served warm.  They keep the barrels in the cellar and hand pump it to your glass, meaning it’s usually about 50-60ºF.  The beer is top fermented in the keg, meaning there’s only natural fermentation and traditional ale is not fizzy.  Lots of flavor, much of which would be lost if the beer were to be served icy. Learn all the details at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_England

I often say English beer is a different beverage from American/German style, bottom fermented beer.  It’s almost like comparing tea and coffee. 

Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s let our eyes wander the menu and see what’s for supper.  Matter of fact, let’s make your mouth water:  Belly Pork with mushrooms, in a brandy cream.  Mushroom, walnut, and goat cheese tart on mixed leaves.  Plowman’s with English cheddar.

Pork Belly doesn’t sound appetizing?  Boy, are you wrong!  This is the most tender pork you’ve ever eaten, with a thin layer of crisped fat riding on top.  The sauce is out of this world and the dish comes with creamy potatoes.

Pork Belly

Never tasted anything to compare with the goat cheese tart!  Succulent flavors melded to lip-smacking goodness. The combination is so perfect that you find yourself mumbling about goat cheese and the soft, dark sauce that permeates the whole dish.

And the plowman’s platter:  Traditionally served at midday, but equally grand in the evening. Lots of subtleties on the tongue. Still, it has a texture similar to what you’re used to.  The flavor will make you tell yourself, “Just one more bite,” right after you’ve already told yourself, “Just one more bite.”  Note the dark, pickle relish, with its combination of sweet and tart.  Goes well with the cheese.

Notice that the English cheddar is not a bright yellow?  That’s because the Brits don’t add coloring to their naturally aged cheddar.  Has a mellow, more rounded, less industrial flavor than it’s U.S. cousin. 

No need to stop here.  Might as well have dessert.  Try the crusty bread pudding with a scoop of the famous Devon clotted cream.  Or perhaps some apple crumble, with vanilla cream sauce.  Either way, you can’t go wrong and either way, you’re going to need a long, postprandial perambulation.   Been waiting a long time to use those words, meaning an after supper walk!

Apple Crumble with Vanilla Cream

Bread Pudding and Clotted Cream

And, what a walk it will be in the fading sunlight, along the waterfront, with boats of every description floating on their idle reflections in the River Dart.

Visit The Floating Bridge Inn once and you’ll come back, for excellent beer in the bright sunshine, or a tidy supper in the lull of the evening.

The Singing Kettle - A perfect tea parlor in Dartmouth!

When I hear the word ‘tea,’ I immediately think of England. Cozy parlors. Painted porcelain cups.  Little cubes of sugar.  Lots of silver and all that.  Found the quintessential place in Dartmouth:  The Singing Kettle.

Although tea is served all over the world and some of the places I’ve drunk it, I better not mention.  After all, I have a wife, and friends, who say they bend in a broadminded sort of way, but look at you strangely when you do even the most innocent things, like pop a beer for breakfast, or point-out you can see the waitress’ nipples when she’s standing in the sunlight.  Closet Puritans.

As I was saying, England for me is the epicenter of the tea world.  Of course, a couple of billion Asians may feel slightly differently.

Tea hasn’t always been a cornerstone of English sociability.   Got to the shores in the mid 17^th Century and took a while to catch-on. Samuel Pepys, of diary fame, wrote in 1660 (or thereabouts):  "I did send for a cup of tee, (a China drink) of which I had never had drunk before".

George Orwell (the novelist, 1984) also had some specific ideas about making and serving tea:  http://wikilivres.ca/wiki/A_Nice_Cup_of_Tea  You’re welcome to read the full list of his eleven, ironclad rules, but leave you only with this: 

“First of all, one should use Indian or Ceylonese tea. China tea has virtues which are not to be despised nowadays — it is economical, and one can drink it without milk — but there is not much stimulation in it. One does not feel wiser, braver or more optimistic after drinking it. Anyone who has used that comforting phrase 'a nice cup of tea' invariably means Indian tea.”

In Devon, where the city of Dartmouth nestles on the banks of the River Dart, you’ll find the specialty is cream tea.  That doesn’t refer to the added liquid, which is almost always milk, but to the famous Devon clotted cream.  Clotted cream is rich cream, cooked in a specific fashion to make a spread with a consistency similar to sweet butter.  Clotted cream is served as a topping for scones or other pastries. Want to make your own scones?  One of my previous posts shows you how: http://stroudallover.blogspot.de/2012/02/biscuits-go-to-london-magnificent-cream.html

Note the clotted cream on the uppermost plate.

Ah, the romance of tea.  Types range from dark and strong to light and simple.  You’re missing the point if you resort to bags.  Either that or you’re a wearied mother of two or three or (god pity you) four, in which case a pause is measured in seconds and silence is more valuable than bricks of gold.  Then, ok, even the most fastidious would understand if you simply put a tea bag in your mouth and sucked.

For the rest of us:  Use loose tea.  More flavorful by far.  Easier to gauge the strength of the tea.  Here’s a handy reference from The Republic of Tea:  http://the.republicoftea.com/library/tea-information/tea-101-how-to-steep-tea/

At The Singing Kettle you won’t have to worry. Your waiter will advise you on how long to let the tea steep.

Sugar or not?  Of course the sugar should always be cubed, not sifted. Stir gently.

How about milk, as the English usually take it?  Before or after pouring the tea?  Your choice.  Let the authorities quibble over the difference.

A couple of things I liked about The Singing Kettle, besides the tea, which comes in several excellent varieties, and the scones, which were perfect.  The Kettle was steps away from our Bed & Breakfast, in the heart of old Dartmouth.  Inside the tea room, the only sounds I heard were the soft, metallic sounds of teaspoons, and the gentle, subdued tones of conversation.  My feeling is, if I want noise and crowds, I’ll go where the noise and crowds are.  Definitely not for tea.

Did you know that the English consume more tea per capita than anyone else?  But, the other side of the coin is that tea consumption is going down.  Nope, coffee isn’t taking it’s place.  Herb tea and other healthful liquids are the culprits.

But, back to Dartmouth!  I would talk on and on about the virtues of The Singing Kettle.  Professional, efficient wait-staff.  Reasonable prices.  Luxurious atmosphere without making you feel uncomfortable in your street clothes, and of course the scones and clotted cream!  But, I think the photos tell a better story than mere words.

When you’re in Dartmouth, you will want a break from feverish shopping and a breakneck pace of sightseeing.  The Singing Kettle is the perfect place to relax, have a cuppa, nosh a bite or two and remember that you came to Dartmouth for a vacation from life’s cares.  Settle back.  Now, one lump or two?

Britannia Royal Naval College: Back to the Future

Britannia Royal Naval College sits proudly on a hill overlooking the River Dart

Looking down on the town and river from the Naval College.

On a bright, sunny day in Dartmouth, England, close by the River Dart and surrounded by green rolling hills, a small, white bus met us at the Tourist Information Center.  With a retired Royal Naval Officer (and BRNC graduate) as our guide, we took the winding road up Chestnut Hill and toured Britannia Royal Naval College.  We were lucky.  Normally tours are Mondays and Wednesdays, but this was Tuesday and with the midshipmen on maneuvers, and my wife showing her radiant smile, the college flung wide its doors. Lucky for us because this is a very special tour indeed!  History, art, tradition, valor, all come together in a magnificent setting.

The regal red brick and sandstone building, which houses Britannia Royal Naval College, was completed in 1905, and stands proudly on the hillside, with a commanding view of the River Dart.  A grand dame.  The first of her kind and perhaps the last.  Always true to her motto:

           To deliver courageous leaders with the spirit to fight and win.

It’s a promise that has stood England in good stead in conflicts around the globe.  But, the story of the Naval College, often called simply Dartmouth, goes back to more humble beginnings, when the wooden-sided HMS Britannia, no longer seaworthy, ended her days moored in the River Dart, just below where the college now stands.  

HMS Britannia enters Portsmouth harbor

In 1864, another hulk, the HMS Hindostan, was moored beside her. Until the building of the permanent quarters, the two ships provided home and classroom to young men, aged 12 to 14 who aspired to be Midshipmen in the Royal Navy.

The now plaster-covered figurehead from the original HMS Britannia.

Hard to believe mere boys were deemed fit to serve.  Different days and a different Navy.  The days of Empire. At present, most entrants range from 18 and 27, with the average age falling somewhere between.  Most have degrees.  Since 1990, fifteen percent have been women.  But, Dartmouth has never been an all-English boys club.  Students arrive from around the world.  As our guide told us, “Graduation photos show nearly as many turbans as hats, and always have.”

Prince William and his father before him attended the college, along with other royalty, including several British Kings. In 1939, on a front lawn of the college, a Naval student, Philip, met a young thirteen year old named Elizabeth.  In 1947 they married and in 1952, Elizabeth became Queen.  Terribly hard for women to resist a uniform!

The famous garden

But, as with so many western militaries, wearing the uniform sublimates social position and birth status. Mixed in with the nobility are (and have always been) men and women for whom joining the ranks of the college are a huge step forward and step up.  In uniform, egalitarianism reins supreme.

Don’t buy that?  Take a look at Admiral Horatio Nelson, by all accounts England’s penultimate naval hero.  Born to a clergyman in Norfolk, he joined the Royal Navy as an ordinary seaman when he was 13!

His place in naval history is reflected at the college, both in stone and with a powerful painting of his greatest victory, The Battle of Trafalgar by William Lionel Wyllie.  Should you want to read more about Nelson and the famous battle, I suggest a book that reads like a thriller: Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and Nelson's Battle of Trafalgar (P.S.) by Adam Nicolson.

As we strode through through the wondrous building designed by Sir George Aston Webb, whose previous commissions included Admiralty Arch and the East Front of Buckingham Palace, we embraced both a wealth of Naval history and the future.  The future you say?  Yes I do.  Polite young men and women, lean, but smartly dressed, and looking tired from a couple of nights in the pouring rain, passed us in the hallways.

Two views of the dining hall, where manners begin!

Ever wonder where the term 'square meal' came from?  In the old days, plates on English ships were square.

What takes place at Dartmouth?  Is it like our Naval Academy at Annapolis?  Yes and no.  Yes, Dartmouth produces Naval Officers, but instead of four years, it does the job in three ten week sessions, with only the first two being at Dartmouth: Militarisation, Marinisation, and Initial Fleet Time.  I think you can guess the details.

Of those who apply, only 36% pass the initial qualification tests.  There are physical and mental tests, of course, but also a great emphasis on what I would term psychological suitability.  Do you work well with others in the spirit of teamwork and mission accomplishment?  Can you combat the rigors of extreme stress?  In short, aside from having an education and being physically fit, do you have ‘what it takes’ to serve as an officer in the Royal Navy?  The halls are lined with portraits and monuments to those who came before and had the right stuff.

But, strolling the building and looking at statues and painting were not the main points of the tour.  Dartmouth is not a museum in the usual sense.  It’s a working establishment that molds young men and women into something more than they were when they entered.  Not only history, but also a sense of responsibility, determination, and purpose permeates the walls, all anchored in tradition and the spirit of service to the nation.

Dartmouth captures the spirit, not only of the Royal Navy, but of Britain's long seagoing history

Britannia Royal Naval College is a cornerstone of what it means to be British.  If you get to the city of Dartmouth, this tour is essential.  The things you see, the stories you hear, the footsteps of the future passing you in the corridor, will all leave lasting impressions of the Royal Navy, as it was and is.   Britannia Royal Naval College…Don’t miss it!

The naval term 'starboard,' meaning right, comes from 'steer board,' which in the old days was used to steer rudderless ships and was always on the right side.  'Port,' meaning left, was the side of the ship facing the port, when docking.

The Entrance.

The archway leading to Britannia Royal Naval College