BRAPA - London City Slicker Tour Pt 1

A layer of snow had fallen in York overnight, but London was at least dry but freezing cold as I arrived about 11am, with the kind of sun that seemed to be forcing itself as high into the sky as possible, only to get so far up and decide the effort was too great and it'd retreat back into dusk as soon as it possibly could.

I'd arrived in comfort, free first class train on the way down (thanks Dad and his reward points), and despite expected delays on the Piccadilly line, I wasn't affected and was soon at Baron's Court, where I changed for the district line to get to my first stop, Stamford Brook.

553 - Mawson Arms/Fox & Hounds, Chiswick

After a pleasant walk along the Thames footpath (was that Nigel Havers I saw jogging?), I was soon in the shadow of Fullers brewery and the smell of malt hung in the cold air.  This pub is their flagship brewery pub, next to the gift shop, and sure enough, a group of chaps were being led by a tour guide out of the pub and into the brewery, which freed up some seats for me.  Note the unusual double name, this dates back to when you needed separate licences for beer and spirits.  It generally uses just the Mawson name now.  This was a wooden boarded pub, with two friendly barmaids who seemed to have total control over all aspects of the pub, as people came and went, including many brewery workers.  I sat near the door, I wasn't the only 'tourist' by any means and sat down to the Fuller's seasonal guest, a real winter warmer full of berries called Jack Frost.  Just the ticket after a cold walk.  There was a foody section in the raised back half of the pub, but save for one couple, everyone was here for the beer.  Overall, an impressive start and I now have kinder thoughts about Fullers ales since this experience.

Freezing Fullers fun in Chiswick, brewery central.

554 - Speaker, Westminster

A little TV screen in the last pub made me realise 'Prime Minister's Questions' was in full swing so I felt even more of an urgency to go to this next pub, direct on the District line to St James Park.  Maybe I could get BRAPA government funding?  Or maybe not.  The pub was busy when I arrived and sure enough, lots of political style people abound, a young woman who's complex order came to £27 (not that the landlord could work it out without help from his regulars!) explained she'd been given the opportunity to attend PMQ and found it "fascinating" as I tried to scowl at the idea of listening to that Cameron windbag for more than 5 mins.  All the seats were gone so I had to sit at the bar and drank my most disappointing ale of the day, some spin-off Wells & Young just didn't inspire.  A Scottish man on my left watched Silent Witness on his phone until his friend appeared (he told me it wasn't too gruesome) whilst to my right, the affable young barman with an element of Greg Rusedski tried a glitterberry J2O, found it disgusting, I mentioned that I'd heard it comes out "the other end" with the glitter still present (I think my sister told me that!) so this was my 15 seconds of fame in the Speaker.  It's good to sit at the bar sometimes though I'd rarely choose to, and by the time I left this ancient one roomed pub (fittingly built on an old slum called Devil's Acre), everyone said 'bye' to me which is always nice!

PMQ's finished, let's all pile into the Speaker!

555 - Old Tom's Bar, Gracechurch Street

I stayed on the district line to Monument, where I 'alighted' for this hidden gem, pub of the day in my opinion, under the ornate Leadenhall Market and down some steps.  Plenty of city workers were present here, having boards of meat & cheese washed down with one of three Young's Ales.  The bar reminded me of "Friends of Ham in Leeds with 18th century balls" and the free wi-fi allowed me to check in despite being deep underground.  "Old Tom" was apparently a goose who escaped this former slaughterhouse, and had become a local legend!  I had the taste for dark winter beers by now, so went for the Young's Winter Warmer at 5% which was a bit devillish of me at this stage of the day.  I sat in a cosy armchair hidden round the side of the bar, and admired the green and cream tiling which meant you could somehow imagine geese being slaughtered here, and the smell of cured meat and cheese in the air added something too.  I would really recommend a visit here, though it'd have to be a weekday of course.

Pub of the day hidden beneath Leadenhall Market

556 - Peacock, Minories 

A short walk became something of a complex meandering trail due to my stupid GBG App incorrectly identifying where this pub was, not next door to East India Arms would be a good start!  After the last two, I was very surprised to find an empty pub, unless you include the landlord overseeing a new, timid barmaid, and the occasional upstairs howls of excitement which turned out to be 4 men playing darts on one of the pub's SEVEN dartboards!  This is also what the landlord was doing when he wasn't overseeing.  So as you can imagine, hubbub was thin on the ground and it was slightly airy (I'd been spoilt by the last pub) so comfort wasn't great either,  Having said that, this was my pint of the day so far, the only guest of real interest from the always reliable Windsor & Eton, Guardsman which had a strange taste at first but I really warmed to it.  Fact of the day was that this pub would have become Gestapo HQ had we lost the Second World War.  I'd like to think dear old Adolf would have fitted some carpets and got a wood burner had he had the chance.

Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler?  Peacock, Minories.

557 - Dispensary, Aldgate

Another short walk took me to the edge of the East End, of course, my favourite part of London.  With tales of a bustling Victorian building treating the howling poor in days of old, and JW2's more recent tales of the pub being overrun with howling Christmas parties, I was shocked to find that I was the only customer in this grand, impressive building retaining many original features that my pub heritage book is no doubt proud of.  It also had the best range of ales I'd seen all day, served by friendly young bar staff so I had a very fruity Surrey Nirvana from Hogs Back brewery.  There were some pockets of cold air but warm fan heaters counteracting them so with the whole pub to aim at, I strategically moved around to achieve maximum warmth.  When I had amused myself with this little game, a bald man came in and it wasn't "my private pub" any more so with time ticking on, I drank up and took the first tube I saw from Aldgate East to Farringdon.

Customer alert at the Dispensary, time to drink up!

558 - Olde Mitre, Hatton Garden

My Dad specifically asked me to sample this pub.  He is a regular London midweek visitor for his pension bore stuff, and he's worried he's getting a bit too predictable going to the Craft so needs a change.  It is nearly 500 years old and felt like many York pubs, all wooden panelling, oak beams, creaking floorboards, an outdoor loo, snugs etc etc, in truth, your perfect pub of comfort.  Beer range was okay if a bit uninspirational but a Dark Star "Hophead" is always a winner of a beer for me, despite not being a new one.  It had an interesting 50/50 mix of tourists and locals, the atmosphere was jolly and lively as we moved towards evening and I soon found my eyes closing due to a mixture of the rigours of the day (i.e. beer) plus the warm, cosy atmosphere, and it took a barman asking if I knew anything about an unclaimed handbag to wake me from my reverie.  As I came round, I rang Dad for a live report of the pub and heard my games room move had all gone swimmingly.  So, all in all, a lovely old pub but I'd be hard pushed to say I prefer it to the Craft.  

Ancient beautiful pub Ye Olde Mitre at Hatton Garden

I took a quick tube back to Kings Cross and decided to forgo a swift one in Parcel Yard in favour of orange juice as I had dentist next morning, which is why I avoided York Tap too!  Sensible you see.  The train was heaving, but we got back about on time, I think York was the first stop as London had been on the way down.  

Still four of these "non-weekend" pubs to do, plus a couple with limited weekend hours, so I'll have to organise part two of the City Slicker tour later this year to get these done.

Si

BRAPA - West Brom & Jan update

With a little 'New Year' project to turn my spare bedroom into a games room (thus creating the ultimate bachelor pad), BRAPA is almost not at the forefront of my mind at the moment, but don't panic, I will soon be back on track with the kind of "25 new pub a month" ticking we've all become used to.    West Brom yielded just the solitary pub tick .....

551 - RED LION, Hockley, Birmingham (Sat 10th Jan, 2015)

Can you spot the shadowy figure of my Dad in the doorway?  Yes, we arrived in West Brom on a ridiculously cold and windy January morning delighted to hear this was a 10am opener, and just a short walk from the Jewellery Quarter station for ease of getting to the Hawthorns.  

After too much gallivanting of late on away days, due in part to the exuberance of Tom Irvin, it was nice to get back to basics with a 'designated pre-match pub session'.  This was a beauty and had the beer been better in terms of quality and quantity, it would surely have been a pub of the season contender.  The breakfast alone deserved awards, Dad and I agreed it is years since we've had one so good.  Even when the fried egg went missing, he brought it out on a separate plate later.  As always, the West Brom fans were chatty, friendly and quirky (take note other West Mids clubs) and the building was typically, old, ornate West Midlands brilliance.  Of the four beers, the two Merrie City ones were on the turn, Ben had to take his Czech Mate back, but full marks on them for putting a new Nottingham extra Pale on with no fuss.  The pub had it's own Urban Art lager (a bit poor for an ale drinker like me!), some quirky art work like Winston Churchill with a mohican and Marilyn Monroe with blue hair.

Now, had we known the train farce on the way back (landslip between Bristol and errm Bristol), we'd have had time to get some city centre ticks in such as this one below which looks very intruiging and is on my bucket list for 2015.  I do like the West Midlands, you can really tell that they were still into brewing proper ale and preserving old pubs before it became cool.

This pub between city centre and jewellery quarter is in the GBG, but i didn't go!

As some form of consolation, Dad reminded me that we had visited the SHAKESPEARE (552) just outside New Street station a couple of seasons ago.  As a 10am opening Nicholson's, I'm not sure we visited as a guide pub but just somewhere to get warm and have a drink before Old Joint Stock opened.  This was 17th November 2012 before a 3-2 win at St Andrews.  Despite some decent ales, the draughty doorway plus a group of Hens plus a group of bald headed men from Hull stopped us from feeling relaxed (especially Dad) and I never really considered it as a 'pre-emptive tick' (not that they existed in those days). 

COMING SOON

So, next week sees the a bit of long overdue time off work and Wednesday sees my "city slicker London tour", Friday could see a shock BRAPA tick after a game of golf whilst I am thinking either Saturday or Sunday for the next leg of my North Yorkshire trip, "Outer Northallerton" with four tricky ticks to negotiate.  I will also look to get my pictorial review of 2014 completed soon.  Thanks for your time,

Si

BRAPA : the archives (81-90) YORK SPECIAL

81 - BLUE BELL, York - At the time of writing, I'd probably rate the Bluebell the best pub in York, and that in itself must automatically qualify it for 'best pub in the country' contender.  Beer range, quality, staff, comfort (if you can get a seat in the backroom), hubbub - all top drawer.However, it nearly even isn't in the guide and herein lies the problem, it's strange inclusive policy.  On busy times like Christmas, bank holidays, new year, you may find a "private party" sign on the door, which actually means "locals only", not exactly living the "PUBlic house dream" is it?  And then, landlord Jim Parrack's unhelpful comments about CAMRA being a bunch of weirdy beardies (or something) didn't exactly help relations!  Unlike most pubs in York, I can actually remember my first time in here when myself and sister Lu (not a nun) used to meet on balmy, barmy summer evenings after she finished college (either June 2000 or 2001 - I'm guessing the latter) and we visited pubs we'd never otherwise get the chance to try out.  One of these was Bluebell, we sat in the front bar, probably unashamedly ordered 2 pints of Fosters if 2000, Guinness if 2001, Lu left her cardigan when it slipped down a hole in the seat, and I went back to get it for her just before our Jaronda travel bus was about to leave for Naburn.

A perfect pint of a now defunct Brass Castle beer - classic Blue Bell.

82.  BRIGANTES, York - Opening in 2006, this pub was revolutionary in immediately introducing a no smoking policy a year before it was due.  This gave it lots of bad Press, with moaning minis like a certain C.Milner and old men writing into the Evening Press to complain about unpubby smells like toilets, coffee and bleach.  Now commonplace!  A year into "dice nights", we now needed an excuse to incorporate this pub into things so I came up with ACDC (the Autoglass Cup Dice Challenge) involving York's 33-64th ranked pubs.  The likes of Stacey J and NatCsquared were present as Brigantes triumphed over Gillygate 5-3 and we realised we had a new good pub on the scene.  Nine years on, it still suffers from a newness but it is bedding in and has been as consistent as any York pub over the past few years.

John says "cowabunga, what a great pub!" at Brigantes

83. GOLDEN BALL, York - 2003 and John (pictured above) moved to York and we spent the next couple of years exploring our new GBG's and as a result, visiting a lot of York pubs for the first time - and I believed the likes of this one were in some kind of enchanted far away suburb until one day I was at our then favourite Ackhorne and realised Golden Ball was about 2 mins down the street.  I cannot put a time frame on it so will say early 2004 as it was dark and nippy but my first visit here was unique in that it was like no other since, thank goodness.  Lots of young athletic black men and perky giggly blonde girls clad in tight fitting Wells Bombardier t-shirts ran around the pub offering a full front room of students tasters of Bombardier, there was even a huge St George's cross hanging up - could it have been St George's day 2004?  An intriguing thought.  By the time dice nights started a year later, this became a classic place to visit, still retaining 'novelty factor' for a few more years til I moved and it became something of a local.  It had a dodgy spell around 2010/11 but since being taken over by the community, it has actually got better and better.  Love it in every way.

84.  MALTINGS, York - A very early visiting pub for me, it's famous in York so it stands to reason I had the urge to go, possibly before the Bluebell but definitely around the same time as I remember Lu having to lie about her age to a bouncer and quickly change her date of birth to "8th May Nineteen Eighty errrrm THREE?" No idea how she got away with it but that suggests it was 2001.  We ordered strange foreign bottles that night but we had no idea what to make of them and Lu left some of hers for me.  However, I also remember going in there and ordering a pint of Grolsch and thinking "HA take that you beer drinkers!" which I reckon was 2000, I may have been temping nearby at Norwich Union.  I've trawled my phone for pics of here or the Ball, to no avail, ridiculous!  This is a great pub, always a fantastic pint, but doesn't ever seem to do well in our dice competitions.  Maybe the extension a couple of years ago will change it's luck.

85 - MINSTER INN, York - "Double Pig!"  I have no idea when I first came here, I think JW2 may have popped in on his way home from work having seen it in our new GBG's and recommended that we visit on one of our pre-dice nights in 03/04 season.  Early experiences seemed to centre around the front side room and dodging a floor full of docile dogs.  What I like about this pub is good staff, funny locals, multi-roomed and old school and it took me an incredible amount of time to realise the beer range was actually limited to the Marston's range (should be in East Yorks - ha!) but the pub really stands out for the fantastic games room, okay so that is usually limited to duplo, double pig, playing with an irritating knitted character and that weird 'ball in the holes' thing.  

Enjoying a pint of Sneck in the Minster Inn

86.  PHOENIX, York - Another impossible to predict first outing, probably around 2004 but it had more false dawns than a Hull City of the 1990's and was more often closed than not - I don't think I've visited a pub so many times as this to find it shut in my entire life!  It's location didn't help and this was used as the excuse as to why no-one could make a go of it.  Fast forward 10 years to the superbly run pub we have today, and that shows it really was a lame excuse.  On the few early ocassions it was open, there was a little hatch to a back room a la Waggon & Horses and there was always 3 or 4 handpulls on, even if they were a little boring by today's standards.  Even by Royal Wedding day, this pub was closed but this is the last time we've suffered this, and now it is quite rightly a jewel in the York pub crown.

City walled beer garden fun on a hot evening at Phoenix, July 2013

87.  PIVNI - Formerly 'Pivo' when this incredibly old and atmospheric creaky, timbered building became a modern bar with a nice feel (if you take away hipsters and over excitable students!)  The first floor room was a revelation with it's wide-ranging jukebox, playing the likes of Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly, and over the last 3 or 4 years, it has really got it's act together with real ale and no surprise to see it as a guide regular now.  Find the staff a bit aloof and clique at times, same goes for the barfly's but have had plenty of good experiences in here.  Think it opened as Pivo in 2007 so that is probably when we made our first visit.    Recently, it opened a second floor area somehow what used to just be a dodgy hallway and some loos and this has enhanced our enjoyment of the place cos none of the scenesters would be 'seen' up here because, they errm wouldn't be 'seen' (if that makes sense).

Easter 2013 and Pivni action in the first night of the current FUCKDUP dice competition

88.  ROOK & GASKILL, York - My least favourite of the current GBG pubs in York, conversely this place boasts the best beer range in York.  However, how they keep them is inconsistent, it isn't cosy, it feels dirty, it stinks, students abound, the staff are usually impatient when you are choosing your beer, and how the hell it could be considered for York Pub of the Year is beyond me.  However, it must have something as I always think "next time I go, it'll be really good and prove me wrong", yes it has potential.  It opened on the back of a new wave of York brewery pubs Last Drop Inn and Three Legged Mare (and eventually Yorkshire Terrier) and this one stood out as it was a joint venture with Nottingham's excellent Castle Rock brewery, and a great mosaic floor reflects that.  It must have opened around 2003/04 and it was establishing itself when dice nights began in 2005.  It is named after the last two people hanged in York, named by a woman named 'Chicken' I think, and many pubs of ill repute such as the Queen stood on this site in years gone by, maybe the site is cursed! My advice, cross the road and go to Waggon & Horses.  Funny, I wonder if this was a one-off football or BRAPA archive tick if I'd be raving about it?  It's true that familiarity can breed contempt.

89.  SLIP INN, York - The "Crawl of Neglect" (slogan - "the CON is on") was one the most underrated dice games of yesteryear where we'd select an area of York where we didn't know the pubs so well and visit 4 in a night.  Whilst the Groves crawl sticks in my mind the most, the one which took us here for the first time has to go down in memory (I'm thinking 2006) as back then, this pub was a rough local serving John Smith's only with a rumour that Maxine Carr was living opposite!  We came back once more, Milner loving its 'old skool' feel.  Me and JW2 like our old pubs, but friendly as it was, this was a dump which made the Cygnet look like a Wetherspoons.  News it was being taken over by the Swan people filled me, JW2 and Jig with joy.  Milner thought it was the beginning of the end (it was for him), Krzb having read something also had reservations that they were going to make it all fancy and restauranty, and when we then visited to find a very half finished look pub (which it still is today), complained they'd not done much with it, proving some people are never happy.  At time of writing, this is as good pub as any in York and is starting to eclipse it's neighbour.  

Slip Inn, Bank Hol Aug 2012 at the starts of a "wall crawl".

90.  SWAN, York - And speaking of it's neighbour, yes we really are spoilt for pubs in York and if you are asking me for the best York pub 2004-2014, this would be the winner.  Despite a lack lustre recent visit (I blame the still French Tour De France pub sign), this has been the model of consistency in York over the last ten years.  I believe my first visit was 2004 or 2005 and when dice nights kicked off, this was the only pub that could challenge the then brilliant Ackhorne for the title of best pub.  We were often just content to stand in the magnificent hallway bit, playing on the games machine.  Getting served has always been a problem here due to people sitting at the bar which I'm now putting down to admiring the heritage of the building rather than "getting in the way".  The rooms, especially the cosy one on the right were just impossible to get sat in.  More recently, we always get a place in here.  Is this the economy or the pub going downhill?  I also think the beer was marginally better - the Salamander, Anglo Dutch and Abbeydales they had circa 2005 were simply first class quality.  Or have my tastes changed?  Still, you've got to consider this a classic, my heritage book would agree.

Lu gags me from potential negative comment at the brilliant Swan

So there we go, nostalgia overload as we approach 10 years of dice nights in Feb 2015.  Two more York pubs still to come, so next time we'll incorporate them with some of the places we were looking at before this little interlude.

Si

 

BRAPA : the archives (71-80)

As we get towards the 'London' entries, I must apologise (mainly to myself) for not being able being able to pinpoint dates as accurately as I can for say 'Boston away' but it is hard to remember when we first utilised these places.  We started travelling on trains regularly for London away games some time after my trip to Ipswich in Aug 2006 when I convinced Dad that Tom n Chris had been right all these years!

71.  ROCKSTONE, Southampton - 9th Nov 2013 and I've never been colder and more drenched (well apart from my 2007 trip to the same town).  With Dad and Tom (who popped up from nowhere) in tow, we arrived as the first customer's at this 11am opener and settled down for a superb pre-match session.  On the downside, it wasn't the kind of pub you could get dried off in quickly, plus it was soon heaving with lunch eaters, for this is one of the 21 best places in the UK to get a burger - apparently!  Call me a miserable old curmudgeon, but I like my pubs to be pubs.  From a beer sense, it was just that with loads of ales and breweries I'd never heard of and the local Rolling Rockstone was a contender for pint of the season.  Incidentally,  a sign for the back door said to be careful as it "slams with the force of 1,000 tigers".  We tried it on the way out, where it pathetically whimpered closed, then we lost 4-1 - fitting!  Also, a point to the clientele.  Pretentious burger eaters they may be but returned my mobile phone which got left on a table when Dad left the pub whilst I was still in the loo.

A good omen at the Rockstone?  Perhaps not! 

72.  OLD BLACK BULL, Preston - All seemed to be well with the world, my sister was firmly established in her first year in Preston, she was now well into real ale like me, so I arrived for a visit with an Autoroute map of the centre, with the various 2003 GBG pubs dotted around.  This was probably spring 2004.  One of our later pubs on the Friday night, it was fairly busy but we ordered a dark guest ale and sat in the middle of the pub.  We noticed it tasted a bit vinegary, and there was a very disturbing congealed substance forming on the head of the beer.  I think we were with a couple of her friends/flatmates.  Never a shrinking violet, my sister took them straight back but the young bar man told her (and I quote) "typical students, if you can't handle the taste, go back to drinking lager!" and destroyed all the work CAMRA had been trying to do since 1974.  As an "experienced ale drinker", she called me over but he wasn't having it.  A local sat at the bar told us the barman was an ignorant arsehole by nature and we shouldn't take offence.  We composed and wrote a letter of complaint to send to CAMRA next morning, not sure if it was ever sent, but it was cathartic at least.  It has been in nearly every edition of the guide since, so may be he has left, but out of principle, we vowed never to go back, ever.

73.  CRITERION, Leicester - Dad and myself have had a few goes at finding a pub "home" on our many trips to Leicester, with nothing entirely convincing, from the early days of the Globe, to the good but less unatmospheric Slug & Lettuce and The Pub, to the "always closed when we visit" Salmon, to many I can't even remember names of.  This is as close as we have found to a regular, our first visit was good in that it was warm enough to sit out at the enclosed front beer 'garden' for the pub is nothing to write home about, basic 60's quite shabby but with fantastic ales, I remember a focus on Oakham which is always bonus points for me, and it is near enough to the ground for an easy walk but far enough away not to get as busy as the likes of Swan & Rushes.  This first visit would have been 24/3/12 and the following season, on a freezing Sunday lunchtime, we finished here after a mini-crawl of the town.  This time, we had to sit in.  Dad had his stool stolen in a very controversial incident where the 'spineless' friend was derided more than the stool pincher.  I thought the beer was less good quality this time but it may have been the stool incident!

74.  ORGAN GRINDER, Loughborough - Blue Monkey has always been a great brewery for me since I had my first sip of BG Sips in Donny's Cask Corner a few years ago, so to visit one of their pubs in Loughborough on the final A-Z day (15/3/14) was always going to be a treat.  They had the full range on from what I could tell plus guests from other breweries so I had one of their Guerilla stouts, absolutely gorgeous and it helped that the pub had been done in a low key, bare boarded way though the aimed clientele was obviously a younger crowd.  It had only recently been renovated as this name, having been the Pack Horse before, a not very good pub apparently.  This was mine and Krzb's pub of the day, though a huge mural of a monkey staring at you was a bit off-putting.

Quality pubs in Loughborough, was this the best? 

75.  BERKELEY HOTEL, Scunthorpe - Despite it's North Lincolnshire location, I've been reading about this recently in my YORKSHIRE pub heritage book I got for Christmas and probably didn't see  the whole interior to appreciate it's true beauty.  Having said that, if you can immensely enjoy being stood up in a corridor with a pint of Sam Smith's OBB, you must be in a pretty good place!  I like what Sam Smith's do with pub designs and style, despite their feudal flaws, and this is more magnificent than most but cosy and carpetted and probably very similar to when it opened in 1940.  It's not too far from the ground either and Colin taxied us around which was nice, considering we beat the Scunny bunnies 5-1 at their DIY superstore with the roof cut out AKA G(b)landford Park.

5/2/11 was the date for spreadsheet logging purposes.

76.  CRAFT BEER CO, Hatton Garden - 28/4/12 and it was time to escape Upton Park after the last day of the season (easier than usual as the east enders stayed behind to do that pointless 'lap of honour' bollocks, I mean Corry Evans had just scored against them, do they have no shame?)  Although Dad had gone missing, he knows his way around Farringdon so after a painful squashed tube journey, we found him lurking upstairs having just had a friendly chat downstairs with some fans of some other team I can't remember.  There were many strong dark ales on so Ben n Mark were loving it, and it left enough of an impression on me to suggest it as our pre FA Cup Semi final meeting point.  And to my surprise, everyone thought it was a great idea!  Even London pub expert Chrissy D liked my 'wrong way on the line' thinking.  Despite it's name, this pub has 16 handpumps, young friendly staff, and proper bar snacks - it is fair to say I love this place.  After the game, a one-man band who looked like Nicika Jelavic did Piano Man by Billy Joel, though he was cup tied so may have been really him moonlighting.  As the Semi Final was (eventually) a success, we made this our base for the final too and was surprised to see most of the ales were from Yorkshire micros like Salamander and Abbeydale.  A truly wonderful pub.

Great pub, awful rosette pre FA Cup Semi Final

77.  HAMILTON HALL, Liverpool Street - I've been here 3 or 4 times, probably pre West Ham but I think also before getting a train to Ipswich one day so no idea on dates, but I'd guess 20/2/10 on a very very cold day with Ben for my first visit.  For a station 'Spoons, this actually has some decent qualities with a really beautiful ornate upper level which has always been cordoned off on my visits.  The most notable experience was with Dad when some Norwich fans arriving in London for a lunchtime kick off swamped the pub, created an intimidating atmosphere (yes, I did say Norwich fans!) and in my haste, backed into a fruit machine, unplugged it from the wall, and nearly put it through the window.  I don't think anyone else noticed.

78.  EAST INDIA ARMS, Fenchurch Street -Wednesday 28th Jan 2009 and it was time for my first trip to Upton Park for 19 years, when we actually won making me amongst an elite band of Hull City fans to see a win at WHam.  This was an overnight stop and little birthday outing for Dad and Christine, with Ben and me in tow having checked in at the same travelodge.  This was our second pub of five or six that night, and the best of the lot.  Amazing building shape and design from the outside, small one-roomed inside and being one of those which doesn't open weekends, it was heaving with city workers with braces and briefcases but they were actually amusing, polite and friendly which shattered my stereotypes!  This is a Shepherd Neame pub which is a rarity for me, and I remember my pint of whichever guest I chose being superbly clear and quality.

Walked past this pub on my recent London trip.

79.  CROSSE KEYS, Gracechurch St - I've been to this absolutely gigantic Wetherspoons twice, once before one of those jolly end of season Watford away games with Dad, but before that, on my own probably before West Ham on 20/2/10 before meeting Ben at Hamilton Hall (see above).  I'd been wandering around Pudding Lane looking for Great Fire of London remnants when I decided to come here for breakfast.  I was amazed to see a plasma screen listing about 50 (normally 24 but they had a festival on) and it took the staff about a mile to walk around the bar to serve me.  This huge former bank has marble pillars and is very grand.  I sat not too far away, but my table number was still something like 239 (honestly), I've never seen anything like it before or since.

80.  MABEL'S TAVERN, St Pancras - In our early days of away London trips, finding a pub around Kings Cross was not difficult but the quality of the establishments was sometimes questionable.  Doric Arch never quite lives up to expectations, Euston Tap is limited, Euston Flyer is downright scary, Bree Louise goes from the sublime to the ridiculous, there's been a couple of others two which don't stick in the mind quite so much, and this, despite being a GBG regular, is one of them,  I think you are looking at 2007-2008 when my only 2 or 3 visits here occurred, and yes I can appreciate the cosiness and again, being a Shepherd Neame pub is almost quirky for me, and I don't doubt a former landlady called Mabel still haunts it, but is it really Guide quality?  I've never been begging Dad to go back with me, and what's more, I''d never convince Tom after the most memorable experience here.  As a blackcurrant drinker, we always find it amusing when ordering him a drink how the prices can vary so wildly, from "free" to about "£2" and beyond probably if our recent trip to Wimbeldon was anything to go by.  Here was the best, "no we can't give you it with tap water because it isn't safe to drink!  And that for me, says it all.

Next time up in archives, we'll mix things up a bit and have a York special..... watch this space!

Si

BRAPA - Grandma Tribute Day

Buoyed by last Sunday's first East Yorkshie trip in ages, I thought I'd start 2015 in the same vein. This also gave me chance to pay a special BRAPA tribute to Grandma, who died in November and when she'd visited me a month before, our last proper conversation had been about pubs in East Yorkshire villages.  She knew them all, and had a story to go with each one!

Grandma enjoying my ale at her 92nd Birthday do 

So on a rather chilly Saturday morning, I arrived in Brid, having whiled away a 40 minute wait at Seamer chatting to a nice chap called Chris who was about to have an internet date with a local Brid girl so hope it went well for him.

546 - SHIP INN, Sewerby - I had a bracing walk along the seafront from Brid to Sewerby but was pleased to see it open slightly before the designated 11:30am opening time.  It was a Marston's pub which I'm getting used to in this part of the world (strangely) and although it only had two on, both were interesting and I did enjoy my Cinder's Doppleganger, with a real fire on one side and a parrot called Charlie Green (I asked the landlord of few words) on the other.  It was a two roomed pub with an extra dining area in the back of the lounge.  The friendly dark haired barmaid could probably get a bit grating if you had to listen to her all day but all in all, a good, solid start to 2015 pub ticking.

Green parrot and real fire fun at the Ship, Sewerby

A more direct route back into Brid was interspersed by a quick half (Jennings bitter) in the SEABIRDS, a pub we have a family in-joke about "lined glasses" every time we've arrived for a Grandma visit.  I guess you have to be there!  Pub was okay, two Marston's ales on (again) but the quality less good, one local was an annoying man who seemed to have all the answers to life, and I didn't get the lined glass I'd been hoping for.....  I can't see this as a "pre-emptive" tick! 

547 - TELEGRAPH INN, Bridlington - I've said it before, I'll probably say it again, but "expectations" play a massive role in my enjoyment of BRAPA pubs and this was an occasion of when I've built up a pub in my mind only to be disappointed.  Having heard it was local pub of the year 2013 and that they brew on-site, I expected a lot but all I found was a rather characterless building, some strange and edgy locals, and even my guest Great Newsome ale (a fine brewery) was a let down.  Although a friendly chap sat next to me and told me where the loos were, I didn't feel comfortable here and was glad to leave.  And no sign either of this fabled micro-brewery, only 2 or 3 guests I could see.  Not Marston's owned, maybe this is why it stands out!  My taxi driver later told me he didn't like the landlord of this place, and these things usually follow.  Bridlington Town play nearby and may have been at home as a bit of activity around.

Telegraph - a bit of a lead balloon syndrome

548 - BOARD INN, Skipsea - I had a long wait for the bus so a bit of time to sober up, explore Brid's Promennade shopping centre, buy some wet wipes and toothpaste from Bodycare (a BRAPA first) and ring Dad with the exciting news of where I'd got to! I was falling asleep by the time the little white bus trundled into tourism backwater of Skipsea and I suddenly realised how remote it all was.   I found the pub with a little effort and was glad to have chosen the left hand side, a cosy low ceilinged bar with a wood burner which I hogged for my entire stay.  The pub dated from 1642 and it really felt like it, top marks for comfort.  Unsurprisingly, this was a Marston's pub (getting beyond the joke now!) with only two on due to the time of year but my Wychwood 'January'S ale was solid if not spectacular.  Just when I thought it was going to be a low key session with me, mine genial host and one local man, three lively middle-agers from Leicester arrived who used to live local and got to work on seeing what and who had changed whilst they'd been away.  The gobby woman, all leopardskin and bleached hair quizzed me on BRAPA in a psychoanalytical way ("don't you get lonely?" "don't you want a wife and kids?")  In my early days, I might have caved in and ran off crying but not any more - this is how I live my life!  With no bus and no phone signal, I enlisted the help of the landlord in ordering me one.  He found an area in the hallway where he could get a signal on his Orange network, thankfully it just held up.  Just as gobby woman started quizzing me on banking issues, taxi arrived to get me out of jail.  I shook the landlord's hand and bid them farewell.

I wasn't "board" on my characterful outing in Skipsea!

The taxi driver was a nice chat, the fare not too bad, he was a proper Janner, and a Plymouth Argyle fan to boot who were away to York so he got to listen to a rare commentary, despite me wittering over the top of it!  After a quick mosey round Tesco, I made the train to Driffield with the light now starting to fade.

549 - MARINERS ARMS, Driffield - I arrived in the decent little town of Driff ("one street, you've only got one street") to find that this pub actually wasn't on the street which isn't great when you have a full bladder.  It was bustling with a Saturday evening crowd of 20 something's, locals with their girlfriends, some playing pool, some watching FA Cup highlights, it was a proper old local pub this but very lively and obviously a real hub of the community.  Again the pub was two roomed, again it was bloody Marston's but this time I had an excellent Banks' Sunbeam which I'd had before near Manchester Piccadilly so knew it was good.  The slightly chavvy locals (am I snob?) were actually friendly as I sat down to watch the cup highlights, well away from the pool table where things were getting raucous.  This was another ancient feeling pub, yes I was quite impressed.

More night-vision "light shining on pub sign" problems in Drffield.

BUTCHERS DOG, Driffield - A pre-emptive tick next, after Christine, Chris D and Mark were raving about this new micro-pub when we were in the Whalebone on New Year's Day.  It took a bit of finding on the main drag, but I got there and found this lovely tiny former butchers (and many other businesses) and really, was just relieved to find a seat.  They had a couple of local breweries on show including Ellerton's Half Moon, but I opted for a lovely porter called Bruce, just as robust and characterful as the manager of the same name.  This place had an older set of clientele, most probably in their 40's so a bit more of a calming atmos than the Mariners.  And as per usual the micro-pubs, one unisex toilet.  This place got even busier after I arrived and with them getting top reviews already on pub websites, they may need to expand 'Friends of Ham' style sooner rather than later.

550 - CORNERHOUSE, Beverley - Although I'd agonised over the decision of whether to go to the Great Kelk pub all day (I'd got the timing right for this 17:30 opener), I'd been told in Skipsea it had recently changed hands and I'd already done one taxi so decided to instead focus my attentions on completing Beverley which is also more alphabetically pleasing as you know I like to do them in some kind of order.  Opposite to my experience at the Telegraph, I had no expectations for this pub just outside the centre and was pleasantly surprised to see a huge range of beers, loads of enthusiastic staff, and Saturday night in full swing with every seat taken and this really was a huge pub!  I didn't mind about the seat shortage and leant on a back wall and chatted to a local chap who told me he wasn't concerned about it's reputation as a gastro pub as the food was good and enough people come here just to drink.  Judging by the Abbeydale Deception, an immaculate beer kept as well as it should be, I could see why and this is a regular beer.  A refreshing change from all the Marston's.  

With time before the train, I popped back to Chequers for a half feeling I hadn't really done it justice last Sunday and my half of "Blend 1 - Camomile" from the local Atom brewery was as calming as you'd expect!  Is this is best pub in Bev?  Probably, but Cornerhouse on a quiet afternoon might run it very close.  

The Cornerhouse - a pub worth crossing a busy road for! 

So a productive day out, the pubs got better as time went on, speaking of which time had really raced on and by the time I got to Hull, I realised I'd have to change at Leeds to get me back to York so it was a very late do by the time I was home - plus Burger King ran out of burgers in Leeds station nearly causing a riot!  

Si

p.s. Hull City have just gone out of the FA Cup so BRAPA on Sat 24th Jan is now all systems go.  Not that I have a clue where I'm going yet!

BRAPA - East, East, East Yorkshire!

A very Happy BRAPpy New Year to each and every one of you!

My New Years resolution is to make the first full calendar year of BRAPA ticking a good one, and achieve the 750 mark even allowing for September's 2016 GBG cross-ticking exercise which will no doubt slow me down.  Last Sunday, I made my first ever BRAPA trip to East  Yorkshire, here's the report .....

Despite telling Dad on several occasions I didn't want a ticket for today's home game v Leicester, he still got me one so the first part of my morning was spent worrying I'd be hijacked by him until he confessed he'd forgotten to bring the bloody ticket anyway!

540 - BLUE BELL, Cottingham - It wasn't even 12 noon when we arrived at the surprisingly picturesque outer Hull village of Cottingham, this pub was opposite a village green.  Despite it being Sunday and early, this pub was very much open so bonus points for that, as two friendly young bar-babes (if that's not sexist) served ale from the always slightly dispiriting Marston's range.  My seasonal Jennings Red Breast was good quality, a grower, but more than a bit bland.  The pub area we sat in was warm and cosy, but the majority of the building was white-walled, food orientated, high brow well-to-do fodder, with some modern but tasteful Christmas decoration including strangely, an owl (not real).  Dad was more impressed than me, the staff were very much gearing up for Sunday lunchtime rush, and the first dithering oldies started arriving just as we were leaving.

Morning Marston's food-pub fun in Cottingham

541 - RAILWAY, Cottingham - The bonus of the Blue Bell's early opening was we had time for a second Cottingham "tick" before going our separate ways.  After the sedate, gentleness of the last pub, this one, near the station (obviously) was a real culture shock .... it was absolutely heaving.  The back room was full, and the front room was also packed with plastic people watching Man Utd on a giant screen.  And believe me, this was a very large pub.  I wondered if there was some wedding party on at first, or stag or hen do, but no real evidence of it.  The hard-working staff were whizzing around at a million miles an hour, and despite Dad and myself (notoriously impatient in bar situations) having to wait a while, you could not fault the excellent staff effort.  The ale range was probably 4 or 5, none of which were too earth shattering but I had a perfectly nice Roosters Yankee though it isn't the beer it used to be, unless my tastebuds have been spoilt over the years.  We sat behind the screen in a very sunny raised area which must be where live bands play.  Despite the popularity, I can't say this pub will be winning any BRAPA awards, decent at best.

Heaving pub at 12 noon on Sunday in Cottingham, what's going on?

542 - WOOLPACK, Beverley - Having bid Dad farewell and a fruitless "good luck, please win" message as he went to meet the Welly gang at the excellent, rejuvenated Whalebone in Hull, I took the 13:02 to Beverley where after sorting out a little financial problem in the market place, I headed down to the Westwood area to this cracking little 1831 built pub, in my new heritage guide book.  Unfortunately, I could not enjoy it at it's best as it was packed with Sunday lunchers and I thought back to my Sunday lunchtime Bedfordshire crawl last April (Flitton and Clophill) - NOT a good time to go pubbing, must make mental note!  I perched on the one spare stool at the bar and chose from another Marston's range, this was better because Jennings Sneck Lifter is an excellent drink still, dark n wholesome on a chilly day.  Sitting here, again you could see how hard the staff had to work, fielding ridiculous questions like "can my wife have an Earl Grey tea?" and "do you have colouring books to keep the kids entertained?".  Honestly, this was an old fashioned pub doing lunches, not a Happy Harvester or a bloody tea rooms.  I had to laugh as I booked a taxi out to Walkington.

Woolpack : a nice pub but avoid Sunday lunchtimes

543 - BARREL INN, Walkington - I could have walked but the road/lack of pavement situation concerned me a bit, I booked with a local chap cos I liked his webpage, though being teetotal for 28 years and hating football meant golf was all we had to discuss!  As we arrived, I noticed to my horror that Hull City v Leicester was being screened live via a dodgy foreign satellite thing.  Not a problem I thought, I'll be gone by kick off.  Being a village pub, it had a nice rural feel and walkers and bikers replaced diners and boneheads.  This was probably pub of the day, warm and comfortable, fire was in, staff and locals friendly, and despite being Thwaitesy owned, they had a few good guests on - my Castle Rock Elsie Mo-El being a stand out Christmas spiced classic.  The ceiling height (so important in pubs) was nice n low, just right for me!  A few irritating bearded biking hipsters in shorts came in and made an exhibition of themselves, so I went to catch my bus.

30 mins later, no bus, in need of loo, I returned to pub for pint two and was laughed at for expecting the bus to actually arrive!  By now, the match was in full swing and with sound 15 secs ahead of the picture, it was even easier to predict Leicester would take the lead.  My Hull City gene kicked in after this, and I had to see it out.  Rang for a taxi to take me back to Beverley (the last bus was gone, if it existed) and at this point, we bombarded Leicester to no avail, taxi driver popped in to watch the last few mins/look for me (I thought he hated the sport).

Down the East End!  (Of Walkington that is)

544 - TIGER INN, Beverley - Another beautiful looking old Tudor fronted beamed pub, this felt lovely, old, creaky traditional inside as well, 17th century building but 1930's design (love my new Heritage pub book!).  The friendly barmaid thought I'd just finished work(!) such is the haggard look of someone who's had 5 pints and watched another useless Hull City display.  Sadly, the beer range (which had promised Great Newsome amongst others) was particularly poor and a friend on Untappd confirmed this pub's beer range has gone downhill in the last year.  I fittingly went for a Wells "Good Stuffing" but it was average beyond belief.  I briefly stepped into the street to sober up in the freezing Beverley evening and rang Mum to rant about THAT performance.  I'd probably describe this pub as Beverley's answer to York's Black Swan.  Only longer, thinner and smaller.  And friendlier.  Hmmm. 

You'll have to trust me when I say there is a depressed looking tiger on the pub sign!

545 - CHEQUERS MICROPUB, Beverley - I pushed myself to make one final pub tick, in the form of new guide entrant Chequers, highly recommended by all I know who know East Yorks pubs.  Micropubs seem to be the new "big" thing, I went to an excellent one in Carnforth and another cracker in a Manchester shopping centre, and yes they are a bit "pop up" but they have a nice, demure clientele and a good pub hubbub even if the buildings leave a bit to be desired.  For me, it was nice to get a really interesting beer range for the first time today, with local breweries like Atom, Great Newsome and Cropton (NOT Great Yorkshire!) all represented.   I had a nice pint of Old Ebeneezer by the Yorkshire Brewing Co (whoever they are) and as a spiced porter, well kept, it was pint of the day and this may have been pub of the day had I been a bit more focussed and sober. 

My phone died pre-Chequers so here's where Dad was instead!

It had been a good day as I returned home via Hull and a strange train journey where I chatted to a couple about subjects such as reggae, the York drugs scene, and had a sing-a-long with the guy to "Up with the Cock" by Judge Dread, certainly a highlight of the day.  Beverley had been a lovely town and I have to return to both there and Cottingham for one more tick each, Walkington was a great pub too but a shame it got messy with the cancelled bus and Hull City.  

I tried to get into York Tap but being Sunday, last orders had rung so it was home for a late supper before a painful Monday at work.  For the love of pub ticking.

Si

BRAPA : the archives (61-70)

Welcome back, ten more pubs currently in the 2015 GBG which I visited when the idea of visiting every one of these pubs would have seemed ridiculous.  Well, more ridiculous .....

61 - VICTORIA INN, Durham - Finally, a Durham pub I can picture in my mind!  No surprise really, often regarded the jewel in the crown of the Durham real ale scene, it was John's most highly anticipated on my first ever 'tour' with him in the spring of what was probably 2002.  I've been a couple of times since too, which helps.  I think of a lovely, warm friendly two roomed pub with real fires, a great range of local ales from breweries like Durham, Jarrow and Big Lamp.  Locals who like a joke, pub snacks but nothing pretentious, students but not too many, great staff .... hell, I feel like I'm describing my own 'Moon Under Water', Orwell style.  The defining moment of the first visit was John's reluctance to push the door into the other room as we perched, almost pinned to the wall.  My last visit 3 years ago, a bit worse for wear, some crazy wallpaper in a nice snug seat made the room spin.  Pubwise, you can't do much better.

62. OLD CUSTOMS HOUSE, Portsmouth - 4th Feb 2012, I felt the man -flu coming on, it was a bitter cold, icy morning, Ben text me saying "I'm staying in bed" but no definite announcement that Hull City's game at Portsmouth had been postponed.  So in agony, Dad and I travelled down and met Tom at Waterloo.  As we trained it to Havant, the game was finally called off.  Oh dear!  Well, we were there now and determined to make a day of it (even in my state) so after the sun came out and a mosey around HMS Victory, we went for 'refreshments' at this vast Fullers eatery on Gunwharf Quays.  I felt we stood out like a sore thumb as staff kept wheeling around, wondering if we'd ordered the latest plate of over-priced slop.  Still, a Fullers Discovery sorted me out healthwise.  Dad didn't like the atmosphere predictably and we left to carry on what proved to be a great day out, well until the snow really kicked in on the way home!

Saturday lunchtime fun in Pompey, not snowing at this stage!

63.  PLATFORM TAVERN, Southampton - 15th Oct 2005 and my first ever trip to St Mary's, Dad and myself met our "newbie away friend" Ben in this pub on my only venture to the south west of the town, and what a clean, attractive part of Southampton it seems, even if there seemed to be plenty of old people's homes around.  Before Kevin Ellison's incredibly satisfying late equaliser, I'd found this to be a good pub choice.  Not the cosiest maybe, I think it had prints or decor in African style (I could be making this up completely), Dad left the pub to either find Ben, get food, or check on his car (it was a long time ago!) and in the one minute i left my seat to get us a round for when they returned, a couple came into the previously empty pub and scooted straight into my vacant seat.  It was one in a million chance of that happening, and so shocked and ashamed I was, I told Dad and Ben I'd simply decided on a change of scenery.

64.  OLD TOWN HALL TAVERN, Poulton-le-Fylde - Part of mine and Jig's letter "P" day out on 28th September 2013, a rare example of an A-Z outing which, for whatever reason, just didn't really do it for me.   The entrance was quite narrow and wooden but opened up into a huge area with loads of depth (it used to be the Town Hall, hence the name) and the back room was very much dedicated to sport with big TV's and plenty of murals on the walls showing football club badges etc, similar to the first Ulverston pub we went in.  We both went for a Saltaire Hopfen which was well over 5%, powerful but very tasty and at the time, my favourite ale from this brewery.  I think we felt it was probably pub of the day (until Halifax at least), but the standard wasn't too high.

Very strong pints in the sporty OTH.

65.  MARKET TAVERN, Preston - My main memory about this pub is trying to find it!  Of course, back in 2003, I didn't have the benefit of a smartphone, with GBG and Untappd Apps so all I had to go on was that it was in the market place.  I think I took this a bit too literally as a peered around the market stallls, even climbing some steps which took me into a boutique/gaming shop.  When my sister finally showed me the way a year or two later, it was just literally there on the street!  Lots of light came in through the windows, there were some quite ornate snugs and nice to see a range of beers that wasn't Robinson orientated.  I also took Dad here several years later, before our only win I've ever seen here on Fri 12 Nov 2010 where we found quite a busy pub but despite my stool constantly being nudged by jolly locals, Dad really enjoyed it wondered why I'd not taken him here before.

66.  ALE WAGON, Leicester - Another father/son pre-match effort as we went in search of an early opener before meeting up with the Welly gang.  The date most probably 22/3/07 and we probably then went on the Everard's pub The Globe.  I remember a nice early morning sunny glow, a very old looking green staircase, and some good ales, one of which by local brewery Hoskins who own the pub.  I mentioned it to the local real ale aficionado "Uncle Richard" (not as dodgy as he sounds!) on a later trip but he turned his nose up at it which surprised me, because I was quite impressed.

67.  GENEROUS BRITON, Loughborough - Ah, the final A-Z day having been to Zouch on 15th March 2014 and with my heart by now in BRAPA, I was very much seeing this as much as a pub ticking day (not that A-Z was much more than a glorified BRAPA anyway, but I'd already had two 'trial' runs).  Zouch's pub had been lame but me and travel companion Krzb found a high standard of pubbing in Loughborough,  We went to 4 and voted this the weakest.  It had a nice old wooden boarded feel but i did not appreciate a large group of plastic Man City fans cheering on their team against poor old Hull City.  Perhaps sensing my frustration, or most probably to be contrary, Krzb felt it was warm enough to sit out so we sat in a non-convincing "beer garden" at the back of the pub.  I had a pint of Nottingham Legend which has never been a classic ale, average I'd say, but as a bustling indoor wintery pub, I could imagine this could be very good.  It had only re-opened in 2011 as a free house, you'd not have guessed that.

(at this point of the archiving, I had to break off to take a phone call from Mark 'Beefy' Bainton about what the best Wetherspoons was in York!)

68.  BOAT, Melton Mowbray - Remembered most probably for "hand-dryer-gate", this was a fine pub experience which was overshadowed by events beyond it's control.  It was quite a small one roomed pub, with a long thin bar area and although the beer range was poor and mainly from nationals, quality and staff were good and it felt like a proper locals pub, on the old canal, and we sat in a kind of side area with a selection of old annuals, quiz books etc to rival the Fulford Arms before it became 'York's premier gig venue .. pfffftt'.  Had we performed "scottish voting", it would have won the 'comfort' category all ends up and I was loathe to go for my earlier train and leave my travel companions Krzb and JW2.  I was later amazed to learn they'd missed their train all because JW2 spent too long at the hand dryer - the station is less than a 5 minute walk.  Ridiculous.  This was on the otherwise highly successful A-Z day letter "M"  6th April 2013.  

69.  EAGLE, Boston - Saturday 12th April 2003 (10 years prior to Melton Mowbray) and Hull City's first and only Saturday kick off at this aggressive little Lincolnshire town. Having had a wander around and visited the 'stump', we visited a couple of decent pubs (the New England hotel bar was one) but this was the stand out pub of the day with a fine selection of guest ales, an interesting mix of shoppers and locals, and with quite a few eating, we sat on the back wall and had my last ever tuna mayo sandwich before I couldn't stomach these any more!  Nowt to do with the pub, the food was good.  These days, it is a Castle Rock pub so may be it is even better but the chances of seeing Boston v Hull City/Tigers in the next year is pretty slim.  Boston v FC Allam Out however is a possibility, and good.

70.  VICTORIA, Lincoln - Lincoln is a town I've never liked, despite everyone saying how pretty and lovely it is.  All I can see in my mind's eye are hooligans, riot police, small minded club chairmen, inbreds and having the flu but going to game anyway on a freezing January day where we played the least successful 4-3-3 in the history of football and I got constantly punched in a jokey way by a weird friend of my Dad's who was almost certainly Todd Unctious from Father Ted. (phew, long sentence).  Therefore, the advent of using the real ale guide and our decision to visit this 'jewel in the crown' is undoubtedly the happiest I have been in Lincoln.   This pub has two bars, was very friendly even when it filled up, great beer range, and had one of the nicest pub cooked breakfasts I have ever had. Dad still remembers it as the time "I just kept eating and eating" (rare for me!) We saw our 'new football friends' Chris and Tom in the opposite bar and think they joined us, or maybe stayed where they were.  28/2/04 where we lost 2-0 was probably the date though it could have been the season before.

More to follow, I might need a bottle of ale.  A dry Saturday is confusing my liver.

Si