3 BORED BILLS OUTSIDE THE A601 RING ROAD, DERBY

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Only the very best cultural references for you on this site (though I clearly can’t compete with Si on the latest BRAPA ). And one of the best films I’ll ever see, too.

Three new pubs in Derby in GBG18, and some stragglers nearby, means an overnighter close to Alan Winfield’s favourite ground. The only time I’ve ever been inside Pride Park I was recruiting graduate bean counters for the NHS, which hardly counts as “ticking the 92” but I’m having it.

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“Pride” Park – a shadow of the Baseball Ground

Last time here I was complaining about the quality of the Bass (that pub dropped straight out the Guide). No Bass in the 3 new entries, but a delightfully varied bunch allowing a leisurely stroll round Derby’s bucolic suburbs. A job normally reserved for BeerMat.

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That Derby

For some reason I did this on a Wednesday afternoon, and expected the worst. Who goes to suburban Derby pubs on Wednesday lunchtime in Dryanuary ?

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The Coronation

Loads of old folk, that’s who. Yes, older than me.

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The owner must be a Bill, surely ?

At the Coronation in Alvaston the mobility scooters were parked up inside out of the rain, and the gentlefolk were listening to what I can only call “stomping jazz“. It was rather brilliant, though the moose seemed unimpressed.

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A Bored Bill playing synthesizer ?

Like all the best things, Steaming Billy’s star has faded a little since they kicked off on a farm in Oadby, but their pubs and beer are as cheery as ever. The Billy was cool, cheap and tasty (NBSS 3.5), helped by having a couple of dozen drinkers in midweek.

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Billy. And an unusual guest.

I managed to escape before the hat came round, but given I was still finding dimes in my pocket after Vegas they didn’t miss out.

Back in the West End of town, and the inevitable micro, tucked on the edge of Derby pub central.

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A sea of Bass microbrew

Some decent architecture here.

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Vernon Gate. It said private so I went in
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The West End

And The Last Post isn’t shabby, either.

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Last Post

I was studiously ignored at first, struggling to get to the bar, but the regular professional drinkers opened up a bit when I asked about Bass, pointing me to a nearby pub that had apparently earned the praise of local CAMRA (this one, in fact).

“It’s not brewed in Burton anymore, ya know” “Really. I think it is”

“Or Pedigree. And Marstons is s**t anyway. Got bits floating in it.“.

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Tankard fail

Proper pub arguments, I loved it, though Bill Bass would have been very bored.

The regulars were happy with their pale beers from microbreweries, and to be fair the Little Critters was another cool and tasty NBSS 3.5, so I couldn’t complain. It was a proper pub too, selling lager and all.

But I didn’t want to be found dead on a back street off Ashbourne after defending Marstons plc.

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

30 thoughts on “3 BORED BILLS OUTSIDE THE A601 RING ROAD, DERBY”

      1. Is Bill Stickers anything like Bill Posters?*

        Cheers

        * and if Bill Stickers is anything but bored then he can’t be related to Bill Board(s). (heh)**

        ** And yes, I’m really reaching as I’m in a hurry to pack and hit the road in a bit.

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  3. Excellent headline.
    Sadly,unlike you,I found the film a terrible disappointment.
    Flew for about 45 minutes then went flatter than a London pint the moment Woody Harrelson pegged it with increasingly unbelievable plot turns.
    The Cohen brothers would have nailed it.
    Still trying to work out why a Missouri sheriff had an Aussie girlfriend who couldn’t act.
    As you were.

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      1. Never saw it,old cock.Not a big fan of screen musicals.
        I used to review films for a living.Sitting through yet another pile of dross at the Empire,Leicester Square at 10am every Monday morning for a few years put me off going to the flicks for a long time.
        The nadir was the 1995 John Boorman-directed Beyond Rangoon when one of the characters suddenly turns in to a sausage ( I kid you not ).
        I only went to see Three Billboards because herself insists I do dry January with her to help her give up the fags.Otherwise I would have been in my usual spot at the local.
        Once Upon A Time In America and Kelly’s Heroes are my favourite two films.
        And every frame shot by the Cohen Brothers.
        Basically anything that doesn’t have CGI will do for me.

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      2. Oh, Professor, you should have told me you’re doing DryJan. It would have explained EVERYTHING.

        Seriously, La La Land isn’t really a musical (I can’t stand them). Give it a go.

        I’m no film watcher but since retirement get to see the odd morning airing for a fiver.

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      1. Dry January really is the pits.
        Okay so I sleep better but who cares – I’ve been existing on five hours a night kip for decades so an extra two or three really doesn’t amount to a hill of beans when you’re my age.
        The dog is at least an inch shorter since I’ve walked the legs of him as there’s bugger all else to do at 6pm when I normally head off to see my chums for a chinwag.
        And I never realised how much unadulterated crap there is on TV these days – normally when I get back from my two or three pints and have a bit of of nosebag I snooze through most of it.
        But … herself has tried everything under the sun to kick the fags over the years so if I do Dry January it means we don’t go to the pub at weekends and she has a better chance of giving them up.
        It’s bollocks,of course.The old girl will be back on them by the end of the month and normal service will be resumed.It’s a shame because the gaspers really are getting to her but I suppose it’s like asking me to pack in my pints.
        I’m torn but giving it my best shot for her.
        Sharpens the brain ? You’re probably right but it’s been blunted by booze for most of its adult life and functioned perfectly adequately.
        Bloody hell this is turning into a novel.Bugger all to do you see.

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      2. I was being sarcastic, of course. Beer, as long as served in appropriately shaped pint glasses, kills of the inefficient brain cells first, Read that in Viz once.

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    2. “There’s not a lot else to do in Canada.”

      You’re thinking of the True North*, where it’s dark six months of the year and snows for nine.

      Round my parts we have lots or rain… a bit like your island.

      Come to think of it, we’re a bit like a smaller version of the UK; so yup, not much to do. 😉 (j/k)

      Cheers!

      * the True North is those bits north of the 49th parallel that aren’t on the west coast (due to its climate being better). 🙂

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      1. There’s only one True North lad and that’s Yorkshire.
        If it’s not Yorkshire it’s shite.

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      2. “If it’s not Yorkshire it’s shite.”

        Fair enough. We can be Yorkshire Shite, um, Lite then. 😉

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  6. I’m ignoring the derogatory comments about GOC from foreigners and sticking purely to Bass, seems like Boak & Bailey are in accord with me, serious beer writers you see, we know these things. I also know about the Pedigree situation, despite Marstons insisting it is brewed in the Burton union vessels an old bloke told me the thing about Burton on Trent is the water. He said that at times of high demand Marstons just dipped a big pipe into the Trent and called it Pedigree. Apparently they’ve stopped doing it now because with the demand created by Wolverhampton and Dudley’s mega brewery they are having to send all the river water to the W.Midlands where it is casked as many diverse brands of once independent brews.

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