No Beer for the Boys

It was a hot and sultry day when we gathered with our SLG friends for our Christmas Lunch get-together at Speights Ale House in Petone.  Not one of our fellows chose a refreshing Speights ale to sip, surprisingly.  Some of us had a long drive home in the hot afternoon and decided that the alcohol might well go straight to the head, so sipped on Adam’s Ale (nice cold water)  instead. 

Barrels on the wall

The bar at Speights Ale House, Petone

Our group all chose from the Christmas menu, with the main’s being fish, turkey or pork belly.  There was no way the pair of us would ever pass up a meal of slow cooked pork belly, and what a great choice we made.  The pork was cooked to perfection, soft and succulent, and came with crispy crackle, just divine.

Waiting for our meal

Slow cooked pork belly, so tasty

Speights sent a version of their iconic Ale House all the way to London in 2007. Speight's built and transported a fully operational Speight's Alehouse from Dunedin, New Zealand to London, England by sea aboard the MV Lida. The campaign was brought about by Kiwis in London missing their favourite beer who regularly send emails and letters to the brewery. Tim Ellingham wrote a particularity touching email that would front the campaign and his good friend James Livingston put his hand up to lead the voyage tasked with getting the pub to London. After a nationwide hunt for 4 southern men to accompany James the MV Lida, Ale House secured on deck departed Dunedin on July 25, 2007.  The voyage took 76 days arriving in London via Samoa, Panama, the Bahamas and New York on 7 October 2007.

Check out the story here:   

Sadly, we could find no trace of Ale House when we went looking for it in London during our UK trip in 2008.  Has it been moved to another location, or perhaps it’s time in London has came to an end?  We would love to find out what happened to it.  Does anyone know?