Great little local at heart of cask revolution

I hesitate to describe the Farriers Arms as “old fashioned” but it’s my idea of a no-nonsense, street-corner pub that serves its local community in St Albans with a good welcome, good beer and good food. What more could you ask for?

Some people might answer “a wider choice of beer”. But there’s plenty of choice in St Albans these days. The Farriers is a rarity: a “tied house” owned by a brewery – in this case McMullen’s of Hertford – which means it’s restricted to selling mainly the brewery’s beers.

That’s fine by me. I’ve always enjoyed AK and Country Bitter. And so have a legion of real ale drinkers, for the Farriers has a special place in the history of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, with its head office in Hatfield Road. A blue plaque on the exterior wall of the pub records that the Farriers was the meeting place of the first branch of the campaign in the early 1970s.

That branch, South Herts, kept the real ale flag flying in the city when few other pubs served cask beer. Beer lovers beat a path to the Farriers to sample the impeccably-kept AK and Country – but their presence was not always welcome. In those days the landlord was an irascible man named George Vardy whose simple rule in life was: “Don’t meddle with me”. By the time I arrived to live and work in the city, George had barred from his premises several leading CAMRA members, including founder member Michael Hardman and national chairman Chris Hutt.

On my first visit, when I politely enquired whether I paid for my lunch when I ordered it or when it was served, George grated: “You pay for it now and if you don’t like it, you can eff off back to ‘Ardman.”

It’s all very different today. The pub has been run for nine years by Tony and Janine Passmore and a warm welcome is guaranteed. Janine is from Johannesburg in South Africa while Tony’s background is casinos. They joined forces to run a hotel on the Isle of Wight before moving to the Farriers.

They are full of praise for Fergus McMullen and his team at the Hertford brewery. The pub has been given a loving face lift that doesn’t change the homely atmosphere but gives greater attention to creature comforts with better seating and new oak floors. The walls are decorated with old photos of St Albans and advertising posters and I was glad to find that the old dart board in the corner of the public bar has kept its place.

The building didn’t become a pub until 1920. It had been a shop for some time and was a butchers before McMullen turned it into a pub. In the early days it had three separate rooms: public bar, saloon and “jug & bottle” for take-home sales. The take-home service ceased a long time ago and there’s no partition between public bar and saloon – though watch out for the steep step if you venture between the two L-shaped rooms.

Tony says it’s a tough time to run a pub. Business took off when he and Janine took over, but then reached a plateau. He says the Farriers was never a smokers’ pub but the smoking ban did drive away a few regulars who enjoyed a cigar with their pints. Now he says people are using the pub less frequently as a result of the recession, with some losing their jobs and others struggling to meet their mortgage payments.

And don’t get Tony started on the subject of unfair competition from supermarkets, with their “loss leader” beer prices, sections of the media that blame pubs for some people’s bad behaviour and heavy rates of duty that make pub prices high.

Beer prices in the Farriers are keen. A price of AK costs £3.20, Cask Ale £3.30 and Country £3.40. AK is a remarkable beer, a rare example of a light mild – most mild ales are dark – that takes its name from 19^th-century branding on wooden casks. It has a fine malty and nutty character and, in keeping with all Macs’ beers, uses only the finest English whole hops for bitterness.

One major change in the pub is the arrival of “guest beers”. With Fergus McMullen’s support, Tony can now choose a beer free of the brewery tie. On my visit it was Doom Bar from Cornwall. Woodforde’s Wherry from Norfolk has also featured and Taylor’s Landlord from Yorkshire may arrive soon.

Food has moved a long way from the 1970s menu of sausage, egg and chips or ham, eggs and chips. Janine’s lunchtime menu features Thai prawns, moules and frites, grilled salmon or cod, burger and chips and ploughman’s lunch. There’s a popular roast on Sundays.

But there’s one throw-back to the 1970s: ham, egg and chips is still available. Come back, George, all is forgiven.

*Farriers Arms, 32 Lower Dagnall Street, St Albans, Herts; 01727 851025. Image shows Tony and Janine Passmore This article first appeared in the Herts Advertiser, 28 June 2012.