Life after death' in Norfolk

It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive, Robert Louis Stevenson once famously observed.

These could seem wise words for anyone planning to visit Norfolk.

The county has been so ravaged by brewery mergers and pub closures that you might expect to have a hard time finding not just a decent pint but a pub in which to drink it.

But you can't keep a good pub down.

As I toured north Norfolk last week I was agreeably surprised by the substantial number of pubs in villages and small towns that were not only open and thriving but were also offering a good choice of beer.

It's a remarkable story of rural pubs coming back from the grave.

So much misery was inflicted on Norfolk between the 1960s and 1980s by the London brewer Watneys that some parts of the county became "dry".

By the early 1960s, Watneys owned three breweries in Norwich: Bullards, Morgan, and Steward & Patteson.

Bullards and S&P were closed down and Morgan became the Norwich Brewery Company until it, too, was axed in 1985.

As a result of its takeovers, Watneys owned some 2,000 pubs in Norfolk.

It was a monopoly supplier of beer to the county, controlling 56% of licensed premises.

It was determined to rationalise its estate, based on a policy of just one pub supplying several surrounding villages.

It didn't seem to matter to the directors of Watneys, who brought a big-city attitude to rural Norfolk, that if you close a village pub then the community it served begins to wither and die.

That was certainly the case with the village of Stiffkey, which straddles the A149, the North Norfolk coast road.

It's a substantial community of flint-faced houses that once had three pubs owned by Bullards and Steward & Patteson.

Watneys closed all three and Stiffkey lost its football and cricket teams, which had nowhere to meet or to host post-match drinks for their opponents.

Then in 1990 one of the pubs, the Red Lion, re-opened as a freehouse following 20 years of closure.

It has breathed life back into the community.

It offers excellent food, including locally-caught fish, and serves Greene King and Woodforde's beers, with a rotating number of guest beers from Norfolk micro-breweries.

The county now has 11 breweries.

Most of them are tiny, though Woodforde's has grown to become a substantial force in the region.

Its Wherry Best Bitter is a superb ale, bursting with rich malt and hop character.

The Jolly Sailors at Brancaster Staithe, near Hunstanton, was a Bullard's pub that was closed by Watneys on the grounds it was "unviable".

It also re-opened as a freehouse and is now one of the most popular pubs in the area.

As well as serving good food, including Brancaster mussels, it has a vigorousbeer policy.

Adnams and Woodforde's are regulars, along with the splendid ales from the tiny Iceni Brewery at Ickburgh.

The pub hosts regular beer festivals and acts as a shop window for small breweries in the area.

If this is an unviable pub, then let's have more of them.

Some pubs have spread their wings to take on more of a community role.

The Anchor at Morston, for example, is also a booking office for local sailors who run boat trips to see the seals on Blakeney Point.

Some change can be controversial.

I've known the George at Cley-next-the Sea for many years.

It was a famous watering hole for "twitchers", bird watchers who pursued their hobby on the marsh land across the road.

The hotel changed hands a few years ago and the new owners have concentrated on food, with two bars given over to tables for diners.

One substantial bar has been left for those who just want a goodpint of Greene King or Woodforde's, but the twitchers have moved to another pub in the village.

I dined twice ­ splendidly ­ in the George last week, and also enjoyed the beers on tap.

Some people get nervous at the thought of "foodie" pubs, but the George is busy and successful.

It wouldn't have been that way if Watneys, long ago, had got its hands on the place.

www.protzonbeer.com