Hot, hot day at Beckenham yesterday

watching Kent wilt against Gloucestershire.

No shadeat all at the ground, so thought I'd be burned to a crisp, but seem remarkably ok today.
Shockingly poor beer facilities at the ground - no hand pumps on in the pavillion - and Spitfire is my favourite beer too ;-(
Richard and I consoled ourselves with the thought that it was too hot for bitter, and a pint of cider would go down well - it was Gloucestershire after all, and they drink cider down there don't they?
Unfortunately, the cider was also off. Leaving us with the only option: Oranjeboom (its a lager not a tune) - better than nothing, but only just... Rob did buy me a bottle of Spitfire, but I'm not convinced its a drink for a hot summers day.

We only managed to last in the sun until 3 o'clock - just before Kent colapsed. We then headed off to find a pub to cool off in. Beckenham doesn't seem overly blessed with pubs, so after what seemed like miles of walking - with lots of comments such as "are we in Bromley yet?" and "I'm sure I can see the sea from here", Jan finally brought us to his chosen destination - The Jolly Woodman:
http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/19/19597/Jolly_Woodman/Beckenham

what a cracking pub - well worth the hike.
Several beers on tap - Landlord and Harvey's, but as I get both of those at home and we were in London, I went for the Young's ordinary - very nice, and not too strong. There was also some Phoenix related beer, not sure exactly where that was from - the heat and the earlier beers were starting to take their toll. Excellent atmosphere and lovely and cool - the street it was in was full of beautiful cottages - highly recommended if you happen to be lost in the wilds of south London

This is an attempt at a google map to show exactly how far we had to walk:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&msa=0&msid=113463879632785179726.00046da3f1a1097d41b58&ll=51.415214,-0.018969&spn=0.027086,0.055962&z=14

seemed like miles in the heat.