The Sole Bay Inn, Suffolk

It was the proverbial dark and stormy night. A biting, bitter winter wind whipped in across the North Sea, sliced in two every few seconds by the beams from Southwold lighthouse. A warning to sailors tossed upon the spume – but a signal for me that I had found my pub: the Sole Bay Inn, directly under the lighthouse and just 50yd from the Adnams brewery.

Inside, I found a bright and modern bar and a generous welcome, with a few diners polishing off their (posh) pub grub and some locals enjoying a warming pint or two. At the bar was the full range of Adnams beers: Old Ale, Ghost Ship, Broadside, Southwold Bitter and Mosaic Pale. I went for Ghost Ship, full fat 4.5% alcohol (careful not to order the 0.5% version, great if you’re on a dry-ish January, but not for me just now).

Adnams do spirits too – a very classy Triple Malt Whisky made with oats, barley and wheat, with the same ingredients going into its First Rate Gin and Longshore Vodka, twice crowned the world’s best. As tempting as these might be, I stayed on the beer.

I fell into a conversation with some locals regarding what they call the “hurdy gurdys”, that spinning sensation that you get in bed after a few too many libations – and why you don’t get this as an adult. “Oh,” I said, “you mean the whirling pits,” which is my family name for the condition. After a long debate, we decided that as you get older you simply know your limits. Either that or your middle ear packs up.

Satisfied by my Ghost Ship and the Broadside that followed in its wake, I tiptoed out again to brave the elements – although not before trying a nip of that world-class vodka: strong (43% ABV) and warming. Lucky I’m too old to get the hurdy gurdys.

Pete Turner

7 East Green, Southwold, Suffolk IP18 6JT 01502 723736; solebayinn.co.uk