05/05/23 - A Preston Pub Crawl

 Preston - My New Gateway to the Lakes

I'm quite unsure why I haven't thought of this before. As an alternative to setting the alarm at stupid O'Clock in the morning, I'll break up Lake District journeys by investigating post industrial Northern powerhouse cities.

A first visit to Preston. Armed with the Good Beer Guide and an Adventure Lab Cache, I'll charge around as many locations as I can. 

Another blog, where I have probably taken on too much and will undoubtedly complain about beer prices but if you want a summary - a lovely City, with many types of drinking venue in close proximity.

First stop, after starting the ALC in the railway station, is Old Vic. A pub so close to the station, the bar has a departures screen.

Solid Start.  I love tradition.

Decent range of real ales (Kirby Lonsdale Pennine Ambler selected) - at a reasonable price - although I am sure that my scampi fries add-on increased the round price by 50%.  

A touch unsure that the battleship grey painted beams added to the ambiance. Unless you like the experience of drinking in a 1970's, underground car park.

A lesson in how to make wood look like concrete.

On the subject of car parks - comments welcome on why the pubs car park is only only on a Sunday?

The ALC takes me on a diversion to the hidden inner city beauty of Winckley Square. A hangout for teenage girls and their jazz cigarettes.

Inner City Preston

And soon back on the beer, at the other end of the drinking spectrum. A high number of craft beer micro's in Preston. The first is the Winckley Street Ale House.  A functional name, doing what it says on the tin, but the romantic in me prefers its original name.  

The Otter's Pocket.

The range is impressive. The prices are eye watering. I'm always waiting for Kernel beers to blow my socks off but £9 a pint for a 7%er?  Even if it is from "That London".

Taking half a Kernel with half a Burnt Mills did not make any savings

In a blogging first, concurrent siblings micro pubs coming up. Guild Ale House is the pick of the pair - an impressive building, with high ceilings contributing to a less claustrophobic experience than your typical Micro. Kept it local, by going for keg Rivington.

Guild Ale House - A Happy Place

Not so sure about their sister pub, Orchard. Housed at the end of the covered market - its a tiny bar. The sort of place where you need to ask where the loo's are and the information comes with a four digit code. Always the potential to end in disaster.  

Deya Steady Rolling Man, that I failed to check into Untapped. If I told you I was distracted by having to listen to a street poet perform a rendition of his entire act to just me, would you believe it? 

I was never going to turn down Black Pudding Crisps.

Some street art as part of the ALC.

From the Contemporary 

To the Topical......

..... striking protesters, shot by the Man.  Four Dead

Lune Street is Preston's Peterloo...  lets hope the Met didn't come to Lancashire for Coronation event training.

Back to the pubs and another Micro - Plugs and Taps. A busy place, where I sat at the bar and contemplated.  

Why is my Rivington Good Times Emporium (5.2%) sold in Schooners only? 

Why do both barmen have unusual moustaches?  

Why is someone blowing up a 2ft inflatable cactus? 

The answer to two questions - Mexican Theme Night - Street food available 

The Old Black Bull was a mistake. Two reasons to come. Reason 1 - I'm always seduced by external tiling. Reason 2 - it was on my list of 6 from a Camra recommened pub crawl. Timothy Taylor Landlord in poor condition. Threat of violence from a group of Geordies, trying to get the students off the pool table. To be fair - the Geordies had etiquette on their side - its your turn next if you put down a pound. Even if it is winner stays on.

Obliged to show you a Grade II listed, externally tiled pub

And in true game show style, I save the best to last. 

The Black Horse needs little introduction to pub connoisseurs.  A reason to visit in it's own right.  

Robinson's Black Horse

Lets count the reasons;

1. Central Lancs Pub of the Year, 2023
2. Nationally Important historic pub interior
1. Tiled Bar
2. Tiled Walls
3. Mosiac Floor
4. Intricate ceiling
3. Hall of Mirrors seating area
4. Old Tom both on cask and dangerously sold in pints
1. And I missed out on Baby Faced Assassin - never previously seen and been on my "to drink" list for ages.

Pretty much a perfect pub - with alcoves to separate the regulars from the tourists charging around, trying to take surreptitious photos for their blogs.

Sit and drink in wonder

The famous pub cat

Time was on my side. I could have stayed for more. I could have explored more - with 7 more Good Beer Guide Ticks waiting.

With tomorrow planned for ticking Wainwrights (mountains, not Marstons), I make the sensible decision and retreat to Lenny's Purple Palace.

A good evenings work completed. 

30/4/23 - The Hanbury Turn - following the Black Country Ales blueprint

 An adventurous Pub Walk along Britain's longest flight of canal locks

There's no finishing the Good Beer Guide. I managed to "green" Worcestershire last year. The new edition is released and there are 8 new entries.

The Hanbury Turn, Stoke Heath, becomes the penultimate tick before Worcestershire is green again.  And a chance to blog about Black County Ales - never has a brand had such a blueprint for expansion and identity.

The Hanbury Turn

Black Country Ales

First the walk - Adventurous in distance only.  Nine miles of easy canal and countryside walking, taking in the 30 locks that make up the Tardebigge Flight. The longest in Britain, it takes boaters most of the day to navigate the 2.75 miles, climbing a massive 220 feet.

Quicker on foot.

First of the Tardebigge Locks

Tardebigge Church, marking turning pint of the walk

The Black Country Ales Blueprint. There are expanding at a significant rate, with 47 pubs now in the group chain. Having found one in Tenbury Wells - distinctly not Black County - I hear rumours that they have presence in Hereford. Visit 25 between March and May and win a hoody.

They take over tired community pubs and refit in identical style, injecting a new lease of life. Inside, its impossible to tell them apart - clean, tidy, classically pubby.

Front bar of the Hanbury Turn

The Hanbury Turn Bar

They like couples to run the pubs, who become self employed, paid through a percentage of the takings. In a move that Humphrey Smith would class as anachronistic, this bounty is paid in cash on a Sunday. A condition of the insurance is that they live on site and rent is included in the deal.  Pensions and sick pay are not.

Drinks wise - they brew their own Pig On the Wall (usually the wifi password), BFG, Fireside and Chain Ale.  But the landlords are allowed to select other, often independent, breweries from a laminated A4 folder. Titanic and Salopian are likely to be the only breweries you have heard of. My pint on this occasion - Geneva IPA from Printworks Brewery. Well kept, delicious, previously unknown to me.  

Although not noticed here - there is a tendency for the landlords to go mad and have far too many cask offerings to match the demand. I spent an hour in the Prince of Wales, Birmingham, faced with a choice of a dozen but able to take my time selecting as I was the only punter.

They are also a good bet for ciders - either on handpull or from bag in a box around the back. Some eye-watering ABVs, proving the most cost effective bang for your buck.

And you are usually guaranteed a good cob or pork pie from a chiller cabinet. The Hanbury Turn providing a salad bar that would not be out of place in a Harvester.

The model is a success. I am grateful to have one as a local.  

Always busy, always welcoming.  

Walk Details

Distance - 9 Miles

Geocaches - 4 and an Adventure Lab Cache

Good Beer Guide Tick - #835

Walk Inspiration - Adventurous Pub Walks in Worcestershire - Walk 13

  

22/04/23 - The Good Beer Guide Pubs near Dale Street, Liverpool

 You can't truly know a City until you know its pubs

Much work to do in Liverpool. A City that I have only dipped a toe into, having previously found the classics of the Baltic Fleet, Philharmonic, Roscoe Head and Doctor Duncans.

The temptation, when faced with page after page of unticked pubs in the GBG, is to bite off more than you can chew. Both from quantity of pubs to visit and distance between them. A compromise (of sorts) is made by sticking to the half dozen around Dale Street. Four hours to kill before my 5.27pm from Lime Street.  Will I make it to the other side?

A narrow side street takes me to Denbigh Castle. Good news - I hoped to sample wares from Neptune Brewery and one of the 5 casks was theirs. Bad news - it had just gone. Oakham Citra a steady alternative.

Next door to Ye Hole in Ye Wall (love the double Ye's)

Football screens on high, with slightly out of sync sound pumped at excessive volume from Bose speakers. It didn't make for the greatest experience but their commitment to cask was obvious. Tasting evenings hosted by Neptune founders. Tables reserved for 17 members of a beer tasting club. Next time in the area, I will try Liverpools oldest pub next door.

Next, a glorious looking Grade II listed former coaching house and wine and spirit dealer. Thomas Rigby's looks the part, both inside and out.

Thomas Rigby's

An internal wood paneled dining room.

Plenty of exploring to do - which took me to an outside courtyard - shared with their sister pub - The Lady Of Mann. Funny how one makes the guide and the other doesn't but I suppose they can be classed as Siamese twins.  

Tap for the Okells brewery but after consulting an interesting beer board, complete with sliding "in/out" indicators, I boringly went for my go to beer. Timothy Taylor Landlord.

The Lion was easily the pick of the day. Liverpool's answer to Manchester's Pev? So many things that I admire. Multi roomed, gorgeous furnishings, etched windows, tiling, beautiful bar back, friendly punters, pork pie cabinet, free jukebox with quality tunes at a pleasant level.

My future go-to pub in Liverpool. Excuse the photo love in

Named after locomotive, not the animal

Bar from the back room

Bar Hanging fans had left for Anfield (at 2:35pm for a 3pm KO)

Lunch (Starter)

Last photo reminds me to mention the drinks.You can see the pin sharp Peerless Brewery Seven Streets IPA but I need to mention the whisky. The only place I can think of with a bigger collection of Irish Whiskey is Belfast's Duke of York. I'll be sure to avail myself of either/all of the £10, £15 and £20 tasting flights on next visit.

I can't blame unsampled Irish Whiskey for thinking I was in Ireland at the Vernon Arms. It was the racing - from Newbury - but every accent interviewed was from the Emerald Isle. £5 minimum card purchase was not enough to cover an Ossett White Rat until I added two packets of peanuts.

A shabby un-chic boozer, every table taken by friends meeting up, tired shoppers and presumably, racing fans.

That's why the floor seemed to be sloping

Final two of the half dozen are next door to each other and getting me closer to my carriage away.

The Excelsior left a lasting memory but only through the friendly staff and carb heavy menu. Eating may be cheating, but I need something substantial and I've been wanting to try Mac N Cheese for some time. Mrs M - and my Doctor - found it surprising that it came on a bed of chips. I should have a) read the menu better and b) waited till the Ship and Mitre.

First of a pair of Nautical Good Beer Guide Ticks

The Ship and Mitre has a pop up restaurant offering traditional local food. If I wasn't full of pasta, cheese and chips, peanuts, pork pie and five pints, it would have been a battle royale between the Scouse or the intriguingly named but giving little away "Beef Dinner".

Certainly one to come back to - to take advantage of its food and equally significant Belgian and German beer menu.

The One Pan Band Catering Company - Ossett Silver King

An Artists Impression - I was in a rush, waddling for the Train

6 pub crawl - all around a single street.

Find me a City with a higher concentration of Good Beer Guide Pubs?

22/04/23 - Psychogeography in Liverpool

 Discovering a City through Adventure Lab Caching

March 2023 and several new A-Z Hidden City Walk books were released. Liverpool, an excellent addition - a city I will be exploring more, now that I have discovered cheap advance tickets on London Midland railway.

Before hitting the pubs, I combine walk 1 and 2 from the book with many Adventure Lab Caches. All goes well, until the battery on my phone dies at 1pm. And I remember that my return train ticket is an e-ticket. 

Walk 1 - Seven Streets

This is an architecture based walk that takes me along the original seven streets of medieval Liverpool.  Dale, Castle, Chapel, Tithebarn, Water, Pepper and Juggler.

Things learned;

• Liverpool had a castle, the masonry used to build the docks
• Ye Hole in Ye Wall is the oldest pub
• Their history with the American Civil War
• First shot was from a canon made here
• The last act of the war was Captain Waddell surrendering his ship to the Liverpool's Lord Mayor
• The last lowering of the confederate flag was on the River Mersey
• The buildings that make up the "three graces" - Royal Liver, Cunard and Port of Liverpool

Royal Liver Builidng

Town Hall - The Beatles waved to fans following their 1964 world tour

Down at the Dockside

Walk 2 - The Mersey Beat

A musical based walk, mainly looking for statues or plaques on walls for former live music venues. A queue of a 100 Japanese meant I got nowhere near the Beatles effigy at dockside but Ronald Wycherley did not make it as big in the Far East. As a Cold War Steve fan, I refused to photo Cilla.

Things Learned;

• Beatles music blares from every doorway in Matthew Street
• Most commercial enterprises are named after one of their songs
• Frank Hessey's music shop that sold the merseybeat groups their instruments
• Brian Epstein's record store

Somewhere along Matthew Street

The Less Popular Ronald "Billy Fury" Wycherley 

This walk pointed out the White Star pub. Not troubling the Good Beer Guide (although it should). An 11am opener and an authentic Victorian Pub that only concession to the tourist is the relatively high prices. I had the place to myself, so could explore the photos and memorabilia shared 50-50 between the Beatles in the Snug Room and sailing / The Titantic. Still more to do - I missed the gold figures at the end of the radiators and the carved staircase post.

Bizarrely, the beer was a first London Pride (far, far way from home) for a very long time. It was in absolute perfect condition and setting a high bar for the afternoon's pub crawl.

  

Was never going to walk past this

Why pay for the Beatles Museum?  Drink where they drank.

ALC Locations

Adventure Lab Caches are an on-line treasure hunt that usually add a bit of unnoticed interest to City Walks. They didn't disappoint in Liverpool. Amongst the usual war memorials and items of civic pride were a couple of gems.

Things Learned;

• Freddie Mecury and Queen had quite the history in the City. The Queen Insurance building a potential reason for the bands name, although other theories are available
• A Lost Public Art of Liverpool pointed out locations unlikely to be found by accident.
• As did "You May Not Have Noticed" - interesting items hidden in plain sight, such as the boundary stone and busts of Swiss psychologists 

Ray and Julie - commissioned to last 6 months.  27 years ago

Jung proclaiming that Liverpool is the "Pool of Life"

Liverpool Fans

With them playing at home on a rare 3pm Saturday kick off, the city was awash with Full Kit W*nkers.  

I have questions;

• Why are they going on guided City Tours? We don't get this in Smethwick for the Baggies
• How did the Scandinavians get so drunk at 10am in the Morning?
• And did they make it to KO?
• How did the locals who left the Lion Pub at 2:35pm get to their Anfield seats in time for KO?
• And how was my 5:27pm Lime Street return train packed with them? 

Off the 10:15 train, outside Lime Street

Walk Details

Distance - 5 Miles

Walk Inspiration - A-Z Hidden Walks in Liverpool, Walk 1 and 2

Geocaches - 26 ALCs and 1 micro