08/10/16 - Keswick Pub Crawl

Distance - All the Pubs are together
Pubs - 6


Keswick is mental.  We know, we tried to park up after our ascent of Skiddaw and would have been better off leaving it at the mountain.  We arrive on a Saturday afternoon, with the market in full flow and no single tourist able to provide directions to the Royal Oak, our lodgings for the night.

Eventually the staff at Blacks Outdoor Shop provide assistance, by announcing a request for directions over the shop tannoy system.

The good news, once we are settled, is that all the pubs are in, or slightly off, the square.  There are two 2017 Good Beer Guide entries, but we're explorers.  We're not stopping at 2.

The Royal Oak, Thwaites Lancaster Bomber

On ordering my room, I was asked whether I wanted to pay an extra £10 for a large room.  Wanting to impress Mrs Mappiman, I threw caution (money) to the wind.

The sign outside shows that we in good company with previous literary writers have lodged.  Maybe the sign will get updated in future years with 21st Century bloggers.

Mappiman blogged from here

The Royal Oak

Its a fine place.  We should have eaten here.  The cooking smelled delicious and dining was fully booked, but I'm sure as a resident, we could have negotiated.

As with all the places in Keswick, beer was taken seriously.  A wide choice of hand pulls and I went for a Lancaster Bomber, waiting for the feeling to come back in my legs following 2846ft of ascent earlier in the day.

Pint taken, we head up to the room.  To check the dimensions, we look for a cat to swing.

Good experience as both a hotel and pub.  Recommended.

The Wainwright, Skiddaw from Hesket Newmarket Brewery

When in doubt, go for the pub named after the person who's tick list you are very slowly completing. When in doubt, go for the beer named after the Wainwright you have just climbed.

This is Keswicks newest pub - an entry in the 2017 GBG and offering a range of discounts to members of both the Wainwright and CAMRA societies.

New Pub Ahoy!

20% off if you are a member of both societies. 

Nice, bright pub with a separate dining area to the front and typical pub furniture in the bar.  But why sit there, where you can clog up the high bar stools and stop tourists from seeing what's on offer.

The Skiddaw was perfect quality but lacking any sort of kick.  I made a vow to not drink anything less than 4% again.

The Lake Road Inn, Hartley's Cumbria Way

With much work to do, we don't hang around for long.  Our table is booked in the Dog and Gun for 8pm and we have just enough time to check out the Lake Road Inn.

Lake Road Inn

A fine establishment in its own right, although seemingly more geared up for diners than drinkers.

We clog up the high bar stools and make the most of the Hartley's.

The Dog and Gun, Nothing

I came here four years ago and it was mentally busy that night.  I saw the signs offering their famous 50 year old goulash (recipe, not meal).  I am a massive fan of Hungarian Food and didn't want to miss out again.

GBG Entry #2

A week before setting off, I phone.  No one answered.  I phone again.  I made a booking with a man called Chris who didn't sound entirely confident in his own abilities to take a booking.  I emailed for confirmation.  I checked my spam filter every day before leaving on the M6.

We walked in.  Four deep at the bar.  We see the sign - "please take a table, make you choice and order at the bar".

At least our table is waiting for us - reserved for Mappiman at 8pm.  A little flowerpot next to the chalkboard telling leg weary mountaineers to back off.

We sit and take all of a nanosecond to decide on goulash for and pie for the lady.

I go to the bar and nestle into someones armpit to wait my turn to order.  Plenty of time to decide which beer would go with a paprika stew.  15 minutes in (I stood by the till and used puppy dog eyes) I was served.

Me:   Can I order food?
Barman:  We have no goulash.
Me: No goulash!
Barman:  Or pie, or pie of the day, or steak or....  {use your imagination here}
Me:  What have you got?
Barman:  Scampi

Mrs Mappiman was reaching for Tripadvisor before I had got back to our table.  Genuine disbelief that a restaurant could run out of food at 8pm on a Saturday.

The Lake Road Inn, Steak and Ale Pie

Hurrah.  We swallowed our pride and headed back.  Table waiting, perfect service, good food.

Thank you Lake Road Inn.  We should never have left you.

The Bank Tavern, Keswick Taverner's Ale

Time to venture to the bottom of the market place.  I ignore Oddfellows (no reason) and the Kings Arms has an unhealthy 2/10 on Beerintheveening and we venture into the Bank Tavern.

Another one to try

A typical lakeland pub, noted only for the size of the barman's mustache.  He really should have been polishing whisky glasses and waiting for the cowboys to come.  Instead of men in chaps, its just men in goretex deciding how to replace fluids after a day on the hills.

Cask Marque accredited, I manage to both get on the wifi and scan the certficate.  Did I tell you my bottle opener had come?

The Pack Horse Inn, Robinsons Unicorn

Last of the evening and I want to make it a good one.  For that reason, we walked in and out again of the Golden Lion.  All the hand pull pumps had clips in reverse formation and I knew I would have been seduced by the darts on the large screen tv.

Google shows a not too obvious pub down an alley.   That alley is called Packhorse - and within its bowels lay pub of the night.

Put out the Bunting - Its Keswick's Pub of the Night

Like most places, its heaving.

They also have live music on.  A very decent singer/guitarist who has the good humour to deal with heckles (god knows what they do to comedians in these parts).  The crowd were right, he could have been John Thompson off Cold Feet in Disguise.

He did a fine job of modern indie classics and just plain classics.  He was that good we stayed until a break in his set (we're not staying to 1am, soz) and after the dancing had started.

Fleeces were discarded with the gay abandon of soho strippers.

Walking boots stomped.

Lady Ramblers a-dancing