retiredmartin

“What have you been writing about me NOW ?”

screamed Mrs RM as we set off down the A59. I’d forgot she very occasionally reads this stuff.  So, by way of correction, can I say that Mrs RM was walking at a perfectly brisk pace yesterday, as you need to be when trudging through a field of animals with horns.

My family have been delighted to be dragged to Preston for their Easter break, enabling them to explore the sightseeing shopping opportunities of Morecambe, Chorley and Fleetwood while I tick pubs.

Again for the record, Mrs RM is my No.1 Hero*, but Preston gave me a chance to meet a trio of other heroes. If I remember I’ll add my M People**  video later.

Despite that favoured status, I was quick to dump her and the boys at Tottos Pizzeria and finally meet Matthew of Seeing the Lizards  fame in the new micropub.

Disappointingly, Preston has no new GBG pubs this year (apart from one in nearby Walton-le-Dale I spectacularly failed to get to). But thanks to Matthew’s insider knowledge it was fairly clearly the Guild Ale House is what we tickers call a guaranteed pre-emptive.

I’ll say one thing about Mr Lawrenson; you can’t miss him. I’d recognise him in a pub before I spotted my own wife.  Matthew was already in residence on a posing table, though admittedly one with excellent views of proceedings.

The Easter weekend was just starting, and the Guild was unusually boisterous for a micro, though no match for the keg chaos spilling out of the Golden Cross.

Some smart suits, and nice jumpers, failed to compete with the sartorial elegance of Preston’s top beer blogger.

To be honest I couldn’t hear myself think, so not my pub ideal, but this felt quite pubby and on a quieter lunchtime the proper seats would give you a chance to appreciate some decent seating.

The hazy beer from Dark Wave was, not unreasonably, a little hazy, but good enough for the GBG. Plenty of folk drinking the dark beer from Great Heck.

We debated the Cuckoo Bar (ex-Fox & Grapes I think), but ended up in the Black Horse, possibly the only thing in Preston more colourful than Matthew.

I did express some disappointment that Mr L was wearing a different shirt to the one in the classic interior photo of the pub (Google it), which suggests his own wardrobe may be more extensive than my own.

Proper seating here, proper banter on topics forgotten or verboten, and an unexpectedly good Unicorn (NBSS 4) on a par with those in Stockport.

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

It’s a bit rude to take notes while you have company, so the only word I wrote down in the Black Horse was “ABBA“. Whether this was because Matthew knew all the words to “The Day Before You Came“,  Bjorn Again were playing next door, or Frida was spotted in the Gents, I can’t remember.

One of the best looking pubs in the world, and tonight one of the best full stop.

My lads had a walk round town later, and declared Preston a bit “daggy”, which  means nothing to me but is the name of their Norwegian barber.  I hope to bring you news of less “daggy” Preston tomorrow.  Happily, my views on towns are generally at polar opposites to those of my children.

*You can smell the backtracking, can’t you ?

** M People are some way below Maidenhead on my list of favourite things