Med Dogs And Abyssinians

At the weekend, Liz and I headed over to Victoria for a trip down to Gillingham.

Not a place we'd go to other than for football - and this trip certainly wasn't to congratulate the Gills on their recent elevation to League One though we are heartily pleased to see the back of their small-minded chairman, Paul Scully.

Mr Scully had recently called for more severe punishments to befall the likes of Darlo and Rotherham this season. Thanks for the solidarity, you git - wait until you're in the clarts!

Instead we'd come down to view the prospective new member of our household - an Abyssinian kitten at the home of breeder Val - just a goalkick or so from the Priestfield Stadium itself.

(right) a cute candidate for the Rowles-Beard household

We've had a couple of Abyssinians for the past 17 years but Dusty died at Christmas and we thought now was the right time to get another to fill the void - get back to full cattage so to speak.

Val had a litter of three ruddy kittens - she was keeping one of the two males for herself and we were having the other once she decides which is best for breeding.

However she sprung a bit of a surprise by showing us their sister who was born with three legs - possibly as a result of some antibiotics given to the mother during pregnancy - and she wondered if we'd like to take her as well?

After a few seconds to consider this offer it didn't take long to say "yes" - it would seem a shame to let her go somewhere on her own and I'm sure they'll both fit onto my lap without much trouble. No doubt our current cat-in-residence, Emma, will appreciate the catty company.

On the way back home, we took the opportunity of dropping into nearby Rochester to try out a few of their pubs. I'd not come unprepared - a map of the better establishments had been knocked up in typical DAFTS-stylee and chum Chris Turner had not put up much of a fight when asked to come along.

The first port of call was the Man of Kent where we found that Chris had got there before us and was into his opening pint.

I say the first port of call but in reality we ended up staying here the whole afternoon - it was just the sort of pub that I love.

(left) Man of Kent

The exterior was described to me by a local as "Medway Tudor" - it's certainly a classic in the same way that many Watney, Combe, Reid pubs are in London - the pub sign itself is a beauty with a Viv Stanshall-esque character as the Man of Kent.

On entry you're met by a big roaring fire and a large hairy but friendly landlord - no TV screens or loud games machines either - just a cosy atmosphere with plenty of liquid choice.

I started off with a pint of the Larkin's 3.4% Traditional - an easy entry into the day - whilst we perused the range of Kentish beers (or Beers of Kent as I suppose it should be) on offer.

They had a Kentish Dark and Kentish Gold from the Millis Brewery, Golden Braid from Hopdaemon, Faversham Creek from the Whitstable Brewery, Gadd's Dogbolter and finally Silver Star and Gold Star from Goacher's.

In addition they had a fairly decent range of foreign bottled beers - including an exotic range from Mongozo (Coconut anyone?) - plus three taps for the Meantime Brewery.

One of the Meantime offerings was the Elderflower Maibock which a few of us in the bar had a small taster of. Quite a flowery smell as you'd expect but not a lot of flavour - rather disappointing on the whole.

One feature of the pub that you simply cannot ignore is the pub dog, a big black Staffy called Dude - he likes to sit amongst the regulars but was more than happy to come and spare some time with we newbies.

After buying some nibbles we were put under strict orders from the landlord not to spare any for the pooch.

(right) Dude, the pub dog, and a regular in perfect harmony

And Dude seems to be well aware of this - he eyed us up with interest as we opened our packets but knew it would be pointless to come over and beg for some.

After trying a few more beers, Chris and I settled on the Golden Braid - the best of the bunch for me - before finally we headed home as hunger pangs got the better of us.

The Man of Kent comes highly recommended - on our next visit we must start the crawl somewhere else...

Medway Misery

I was a little early at London Bridge for my train to Gillingham and as I was a bit peckish, I got the opportunity to visit what is supposed to be the oldest pie and mash shop in London, Manze's on Tower Bridge Road.

Apparently the liquor here is "uniquely different" (err...of course) to other pie and mash shops due to some secret ingredients - I suspect that it's something that removes the flavour as this was probably the most tasteless I've ever had. I'm beginning to think that my local shop rules...

A nice quiet journey down to the Medway - just before the rush hour - and not one I've made for many years. The town of Rochester is the highlight and since it apparently has some decent pubs, it could be somewhere we'll be popping to in the close season.

For today though it's Gillingham and on arrival I head off to the Frog and Toad - just two guest beers on, Fullers Pride and Otter Amber. I have a couple of pints of the latter and listen to the handful of locals bemoan the lack of business (they're builders) - seems a friendly enough place though.

My next port of call is closed but I had expected that - it's the Roseneath on Arden Street - this was a nostaligic visit to a pub that we used a lot when we came to games here in the 90s - the highlight of which was the 4-0 thrashing of Brighton in 1999 which saw a Gabbiadini hat-trick - the beer tasted great that day.

Sadly the place is now closed, one of the many pubs now heading for redevelopment into private residences - once they're gone, they're gone for good.

The next venue, the Will Adams, is closed when I get there - ever prepared though, I've got the number of the pub and give them a call - I'm told it will be open at 5:30pm as there's a match on and so I have a wander for 15 mins. There's not a lot to see in Gillingham, believe me.

Just two beers on in the Will Adams when I finally get in - Landlord and Summer Ligtning - but the landlord Peter is putting on a new barrel which turns out to be Harveys Best.

Peter is a keen Gills fan and like we in DAFTs, he's a veteran of many way trips in the lower leagues and inevitably we end comparing our experiences from our away visits this season.

After a few pints, I'm joined by Iain Swalwell and then John Wilson and after a couple more pints of Harveys we trundle off to Priestfield.

This is a ground that has undergone quite a lot of development since my last visit - the FA Cup defeat in 1999 when we were given another chance as the lucky losers and ended up with a plum tie at Villa Park. Gillingham for their part had a great cup run that season which ended in a 5-0 quarter-final defeat away at Stamford Bridge.

The away end is at one side of the Brian Moore stand - an open terrace of the temporary sort you see at the major tennis and golf events - thankfully the forecasted rain holds off for the game as we'd have got soaked.

That was the only luck we got though - a bit of a cobbled together side with players playing out of position - put in a very hard-working performance, frustrated the Gills for most of the game, defended well and even had a few chances of their own.

It is debateable whether we had an element of luck after the ref blew for a foul by Valentine whilst Gillingham had played on and scored.

But to lose in the last minute of injury time was so cruel - a very harsh penalty after the ball seemed to bounce up and hit White's hand - hardly deliberate - but it summed up the lack of luck we've had this season.

Not surprisingly, the players looked utterly dejected as they trooped off at the final whistle but were still heartily cheered by the 70 or so Darlo fans who'd made the trip to this distant corner.

Let's hope they can pick themselves up for Saturday's game at Vale Park - we need to nip this losing streak in the bud.