MATT BAKER
Stay merry this Christmas by a pub fireside (or with a bit of ginger wine).
BELOW After a day of filming, Matt says there’s nothing better than a steak and ale pie in a classic pub There is nothing quite like the sight of little yellowy-orange lights twinkling in the distance as we approach a country pub for a bit of respite during Countryfile filming. Especially when the wipers of the Land Rover are on full tilt.
To be honest, the majesty is made all the more special because these pit stops week-to-week are few and far between on location (all the more ironic that the Craven Arms was such a big feature of Countryfile Live). But to shake off our waterproofs, lay our gloves on the radiators and stare like a caveman at an open fire is something you can’t put a price on – especially if it’s all accompanied with a steak and ale pie, jam roly poly and good company.
TRADITIONAL APPEAL
I guess I’m pretty old fashioned when it comes to pubs. I’m not into acres of laminate flooring and wine bottles displays up to the roof with bar staff all dressed in black. I like to bend down to get into a pub, not climb up to a table, and I like a menu on a chalk board, not a piece of A2 card. I also like to feel the definite air that a darts team lives there. When I find a pub that satisfies all the categories, it’s hard to leave.
As I’m getting closer to the big 40, my parents’ Christmas and winter traditions seem to be taking hold. Not that I particularly like getting on the drink early, but on the farm, a bottle of ginger wine is always on hand. Coats only keep you so warm when you’re out feeding up in the snow of the Durham Dales. One Christmas my wife bought me a very handy belt with a buckle that doubles up as a hip flask... very much a farming accessory, not a filming one!
CHEERING DRINKS
When it comes to my tipples, like most I’m quite seasonal with what I like to mark the end of a long day with. In winter, the lagers and sauvignon blancs are a distant memory and in stomp the red wines, the ales, the whiskeys and sherry, plus a new addition to my beverage chalk board – perry. We visited Westerns the cider makers in Herefordshire for a recent Countryfile and I was really taken by this beautiful perry pear cider and I would highly recommend it to any one to try. My advice is to get a bottle and drink it out of a wine glass rather than a pint glass, and it could well be your prosecco of the winter. So happy times everyone – and drink responsibly, especially when you’ve got sheep to feed!
“You can’t put a price on shaking off waterproofs to stare like a caveman at an open fire”