Lunch at the Mernda pub

 

Today, Pearlie Shirley and I had a big day out at the end-of-the line northern suburb of Mernda.

Our destination was the Mernda pub. 

Mernda station is brand spanking new; it shouldn’t need an update for quite a number of years. Lifts take passengers up to platforms and bring them down to the concourse. Graffiti has not put in an appearance as yet and I noted the three young lads who arrived at the lift as we did, stepped back to let us enter first. Youth in the outer suburban north sometimes get bad press about their behaviour.  I have a couple of words for that perception: stereotyping and generalization.

The walk to Downtown Mernda takes about twenty minutes, past paddocks bleached by the summer sun with only a few trees scattered about in the paddocks for shade and absolutely no shade along the footpath.

The Mernda pub has a proper title: The Bridge Inn Hotel, has been in the locality in various shapes since the first one was licensed in 1841. The two Willis brothers built the original in 1841 on the site of a low ford across the river.

When I used to drive from Melbourne to visit my aunts in north eastern Victoria, I sometimes drove through Mernda. In those days, before urban sprawl crept out to that area there was the pub and nearby a small bluestone church and open paddocks all about.  How things change!

As we had arrived too early for lunch, we went to the supermarket to see if there might be a coffee shop hidden away there. No such luck. There was however a small caravan masquerading as a coffee kiosk, so we made do with that – there were no other options.

Midday came around and we crossed the road to the hotel; the Willis brothers would not recognise it these days. An elaborate children’s’ playground to amuse the littlies; a modern open area for the lounges. On asking where to eat we were directed to the Sportsman’s Bar. 

I cringed. There would be crowded tables and uncomfortable chairs and huge television screens blaring out sporting events.

I was wrong.

The Sportsman’s Bar was quiet, spacious, uncrowded and today they were serving excellent fish and chips with a drink: lemon, lime and bitters for me; all for the princely sum of $15. I was both gobsmacked and delighted.

We ate our meals in a leisurely manner, had another drink and headed back to the railway station and the return journey home.

                                                           Bridge Inn Hotel, Mernda