End/Beginning of Year Roundup

"But Mr EPIC, I thought your 'All the Pubs and Some of the Clubs' quest was complete. Please!...". Well dear reader, I thought so too. But, there is another...

Meanwhile the Corby Pub Safari blogging year has been nothing if not moribund. Several things have conspired against me in my efforts to complete Corby this year, and thereby join the hallowed ranks of ticking completion that all pub bloggers aspire to. Principal among these is that the long awaited golden handshake from my employer has once again failed to materialise. That's right, 40 years of toil and hurt compounded by yet another glowing year-end appraisal. Drat! A life of middle-class pub lunches and rubbing shoulders with octogenarian cruise ship tourists remains tantalisingly out of reach. I need to retire, in fact it's vitally important that I do because everyone knows Pub and Beer bloggers are at their most potently creative when economically inactive.

I intend to slog on for your benefit though, in the hope that closure will surely come in 2023. What a year 2022 was for Corby and its somewhat overlooked pubs though. A year end roundup seems entirely appropriate, if only to get some of these old photos safely uploaded off my phone before it needs changing again.

Most exciting pub development of the year is the application for a Pavement License for the Corby Candle, status currently unknown though hopefully it'll be in place ready for this years record-breaking heatwave. Corby needs more outdoor cafe style drinking venues, and the Candle is well positioned on the edge of the town centre to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. The dream of John Smith's Smooth in the sun is just one diminutive rubber stamp away.

In other news, I was delighted to see the Kingfisher reopen fully ahead of the festive season, bringing Corby back up to its full pubbing power after a shaky few months when it and the Talisman had closed their doors [Edit: Apparently the Tali' has closed again]. I will of course be revisiting all these pubs for updated posts later in the year, as well as bringing exciting news about the restored external signage at the Domino. Phew!

It's not all boozing and pubbing for this blogger though! Although to be fair it mostly is. No, this is a campaigning blog first and foremost, and no cause is closer to our hearts than the long-running campaign to remove the blight of Dimpled Beer Mugs from Corby's pubs for good! It's been a hard slog, the battle for hearts and minds a difficult one, but I'm delighted to announce a full Dimpled Mug Exclusion Zone is now in place for the whole of the commercial centre. Corby once again shows the way for good common sense legislation, and we hope that robust enforcement ahead of the planned countywide rollout will once again put Corby on the map for all the right reasons.

Far and away the best pubbing day out was the New Year Day bring a bottle knees-up at the Cardigan Arms in Corby Village. It's been a while since we bothered with the over-priced and over-hyped New Year Eve thing, merely the prelude to yet another unnecessary firework display in our experience. (What will they think of next? Absolutely nothing apparently...). New Year Day in Corby is a unique and special event though, how many pubs do you know that allow you to bring a litre of your own spirit (we brought three little ones c/o our friends in the north at Torkard Cider), asking only that you buy mixers, beer etc. over the bar. Nobody does New Year Day like Corby folk, a proper dress-up and party atmosphere absolutely everywhere. Except the Wetherspoons...

We arrived early last year and found the place absolutely rammed, so we arrived fashionably late this year, and found the place absolutely rammed. There was however room in the lounge bar for a little-one and his drummer, piping in the various fruit enhanced vodkas and blended whiskies to great effect. Corby being Corby, the football was on throughout of course. Some traditions are just too important to mess with.

Lightweights like ourselves bailed out just as the trays of chilled Jägermeister and some suspicious looking milky pink stuff started arriving over the bar. Our work was done, the sooner we can get 2023 out the way the sooner we can repeat the exercise.

'Pole Fair - The Movie' coming soon...

Cultural highlight of the year was of course the mighty Pole Fair, another of Corby's unique events that most people have never heard of. We aim to put that right with full coverage of next year's event, just as soon as the date has been agreed.

Cultural highlight of the year was also the Bill Drummond travelling extravaganza '25 Paintings' which visited Corby as part of its epic 12 year World Tour (current location: unknown). Cutting edge art and scones in what has been a vintage year for the arts in Corby. Local bon viveur's Baggie Pete and Saxy Jane went along for the popular 'Cup of Tea & Scones With Bill' option, kindly agreeing to review the experience for us down the pub later. The Scones were, and I quote: "Lovely", the man himself "Really lovely". Thanks guys, I'll go myself next time...

Some Buns, earlier

Non-cultural event of the year was the Corby Coronation Bun Trail preview day, which thanks to an unfortunate mix-up with dates was only attended by myself. Better publicity required next time I think. It's a testament to the organiser that what's already being hailed as '...the best Corby Bun Trail ever!' is reported to have boosted bun sales in the area a full 6 months ahead of the actual launch! We know this because the High Street Bakery had literally sold out of their famous Pineapple Cakes on Christmas Eve. That's impressive I think you'll agree! I'll be flagging up the trail again nearer the date, and there's still plenty of time to sign up for your free Compostable Corby Bun Bag and Mostly Edible Trail Guide ahead of the big day (May 6th, Bun Saturday, nothing much else on I believe).

Unbelievable as it may sound, some people actually read this blog for beer tips. I know! I am however, nothing if not a populist at heart, so here it is, my Corby Beer Of The Year.

The Salt Brewery Jute appeared like a breath of cloudy but wonderfully fresh air just in time for the long hot day of Pole Fair, and perhaps surprisingly it's stuck around ever since. The historic White Hart in the village is the venue where you'll find this delicious crafted beer, and we've done our bit to ensure sales don't slump by drinking it as often as we possibly can. You too can do your bit by drinking plenty of it, maybe accompanied by one of their delicious Ploughman's Lunches. That way there's every chance that 2023 will be an even Happier New Year than this one was for us.