THERE’S no doubting where you are when you go to The Ship.

The old pub which, it says here, earned its name because it was built from ships abandoned in the Tees 260 years ago, has recently undergone a refurbishment complete with ship’s rope, model ships on the wall, ship’s timber poles, ship’s lanterns, pictures of sailing ships...you get the idea.

It’s fun and nothing like as tacky as it sounds. There’s a hearty, cosy atmosphere as befits an old pub and it’s comfortable.

The same kind of description, “hearty and comforting,” goes for the food. For a start you get a lot. It’s all there in the names. The starter (we can only manage one) is actually called a ‘boat;’ a deep-filled potato boat with feta and red pepper, (£4.45) to be precise. There’s several women I know who could easily take it as a main course. Full of taste and done to a turn, it was, well, hearty and comforting.

The portions for our main course are equally impressive. My sea bass fillet (£12.95) was big, but not over done and dry on the outside, as we’ve all had with pub grub. It was served on a bed of sweet potato mash with fennel and garlic sauce. The mash was claggy and it was hard to taste the fish over its stronger taste. Ignoring my mother’s voice about starving children in Africa I left at least half of it.

The fish would, surely, have been better served on the potato and mustard mash with a cream sauce which was served with my partner’s pork in cider (£11.95). Again there was a lot and the pork wasn not over-done.

For pudding we split a brulee, (£4.45)unable to have anything heavier after all that mashed potato. It was fine.

So there you have it: a good, old pub, recently refurbished and some big portions of slightly-better-than average food. It’s convivial, the kind of place where it feels better to have a couple of pints of beer rather than going for a nice wine. A family Sunday lunch type of place, somewhere you can relax and know you’re not being ripped off. Easy to see why it’s so popular.

A special word should go to the staff, who took it out of the ordinary. Admittedly it wasn’t too busy on our Tuesday night but I have often found service in these kind of places functional. No wonder, and no criticism. The rushed waiter who manages to remember all these orders and drinks in a busy pub setting without spilling the gravy and smiling at the half-drunk customer wins nothing but my admiration.

But the staff at The Ship were a step up. For a start we were late to the point that we wouldn’t have argued if the staff had said, ‘sorry, come back tomorrow.’ Instead of which they went out of their way to put us at ease and relax us. The friendly waitress was knowledgeable, giving us extra information on the food on offer and even suggesting we take more time to choose, despite our lateness. It all fit with the general genial feeling about the place.

Nice and relaxed, we decided to stay on after our meal for a second drink. I began to feel better disposed to the nautical gimmicks. Why not? The pub has a genuine connection to the sea and it makes the place different from the next village boozer.

It was too dark when we left to walk around the Grade I-listed church: 12th Century, predictably named for St Cuthbert, and beautiful. Missing the chance bothered me enough to make a quick detour when heading into Stockton to cover a borough council planning meeting for my day job as a reporter a few days later. Reflecting that a stroll around the pleasant grounds of the church and the village green would be an excellent way to digest a heavy meal, I cursed my luck that there wasn’t time to go for a pint in The Ship.

My mind turning to the planning meeting, I considered that I would love to live in a place like Redmarshall and, of course, I’m not alone. It’s no mystery why construction companies are so desperate to build ever more homes in villages like this. And it’s entirely understandable why the people living here do not want to see the place ruined.

My mind full of the issues of work, I fired up the car, determining to return for a big meal, pint and stroll around this beautiful village church once again.

FOOD FACTS

The Ship, Church Lane, Redmarshall, TS21 1EP
Tel: 01740 630378
Web: theshipredmarshall.co.uk
Open (for food): 12pm to 9pm every day (although customers asked to arrive before 8.45pm)
Disabled access
Vegetarian: Plenty of options

Ratings: Food quality: 6 Surroundings 7 Service 9 Value 8