White Hart - Corby Village

Mellow Ironstone, take that Cotswolds!

The White Hart is one of just a handful of pubs I'd already spent quality time in prior to this 'Every Pub In Corby' adventure. For several years it was a notable live music venue in the ©Heritage Quarter of Corby, supporting some of the more leftfield alt-rock bands and musicians in the area. So when local psych-garage-fuzz-rock legends Thee Telepaths chose the White Hart as the launchpad for their mammoth debut album The Velvet Night, it seemed like a good opportunity to punish the eardrums one last time, and hopefully get a copy of the pristine vinyl before someone devalued the cover by signing it. That night I was accompanied by fellow tinnitus sufferer Baggie Pete, the band ably assisted by The Venus Fly Trap, James Watt & The Avenues, and Corby's finest poet/compere/recording star Chuck The Poet. Practically a festival by my, admittedly limited standards.

Thee Telepaths, subsequently replaced by a Pool Table

It turned out to be a memeroble, if slightly odd night. Whilst the bands flailed and howled magnificantly in the function room, the final throws of what must have been one hell of a wake was noisily winding down in the public bar. Substantial remnants of a largely untouched Iceland-esque buffet started appearing on the bar, a large platter of mini Indian (style) snacks and sausage rolls deposited on our table whether we wanted them or not. Eating was clearly not what the mourners next door had in mind. Now I'd already eaten before coming out to play so wasn't much tempted by the deep-fried freebies on offer. Nevertheless, it was a nice touch, and it's worth remembering that hard rocking album launches in Corby are often accompanied by a light finger buffet, so maybe hold-off with the chippy tea...

The White Hart in the pre-Smoking Shelter era

Real Ales. Really!...

So the main bar was out of bounds that night, and I had no intention of blagging my way into a late Friday night wake. So with ears a-ringing, and clutching our precious vinyl like giddy fanboys (and a Sausage Roll for the road), we disappeared into the velveteen night, sadly never to return. Because shortly afterwards the pub closed and Corby lost its alt-rock venue...

Fast forward to a bright and nippy Saturday afternoon some two years later, and the White Hart is a very different venue altogether. Re-opened, revitalised, and comprehensively rearranged, the bar is now where the function room was, and the former bar now functions as a popular restaurant/lounge. I chose the bar of course, the busy vibrant afternoon hub of the pub. You can tell this by the Football and Horses on the numerous tellies, and the many eyes fixed on the sporting action.

"Pint of Poppy please..."

So, a quick scan of the bar... Guinness it is then, still settling as you read this. The barman kindly brought my pint(?) over, and after letting it settle for a few minutes I kindly took it back. To be fair this rather excitable pint was topped-up to the brim with good humour and a cheery smile. I couldn't help thinking it was some kind of test... "We're not in Australia..." commented one toothy barfly, noting my short-measure distress. Is this how they serve Guinness in Australia? Is this still a test? Whatever, it was tasty enough to consider another 2/3rds of creamy froth. Interestingly enough, cask ale is available at the White Hart, though sadly not on this occasion. Potbelly Brewery beers from nearby Kettering have featured recently, reason enough for a return visit at some time in the future.

It took a few moments to realise I was sitting in almost exactly the same place as on my previous visit, the room exactly the same and yet entirely different. The stage where the bands plied their trade was now an ante-room for the Pool Table, a Dartboard was a new addition, and the refurb has transformed the place into a proper buzzing locals pub. It's really very nice, and got considerably busier as the afternoon progressed and I went searching for beer in the depths of my glass.

When pubs were important enough to be advertised on matchboxes (ask your grandparents)

?

So what do we know about the White Hart. Well the impressive and ancient edifice we see today is in fact the replacement for an even ancienter village pub of the same name. A low-slung thatched beauty that met a highly traditional end when it burnt down in the 1930's, hence the 'new' White Hart. The 1990 CAMRA Pub Guide gives the pub a fulsome description, an honour only afforded to pubs which offer at least one real ale, in this case Ruddles Best Bitter. I don't think it was ever a Ruddles pub though, the Rutland brewery would have been in the hands of Watney Mann by then, Ruddles becoming a flagship brand for the brewing and pub-owning conglomerate. It's more likely that the White Hart would have been a Phipps NBC house, the recently revived Northampton brewing company falling into the hands of Watney Mann in 1960.

Railway buffs will surely appreciate the unusual 'carriage' seating in the bar (above). That and the pub's close proximity to the Rail Station, Corby's gateway to the recently electrified mainline south (and very occasionally north) which makes a trip to the town easier than ever pub fans! In fact the White Hart is the closest pub to the station, making it an excellent unofficial licensed buffet for travellers, particularly given that it's yet another heroic Corby all-day opener. More ambitious pub-goers might consider a short pub crawl into the village centre for quality Doom Bar at the excellent Cardigan Arms.

Note too the historic cast iron 'Flush Bracket' (left) mounted on a granite corner of the pub. A top quality 'tick' for the many Bench Mark scoopers I've hopefully tricked into reading this blog. Welcome, my new friends! Welcome...

Proper pubs have their own bus stop, fact!

So it was time for me to go. Time to hide my lightly thumbed Guardian broadsheet somewhere inconspicuous, leave the casually swearing locals to their pints, and football, and Pool, and head on home. The White Hart bar had certainly been worth the wait, yet another tidy and welcoming Corby boozer I'll happily visit again.