Well, we got some nice photos, anyway. And a decent title. It’s a start.
I’ve always wondered why the Staffordshire Moorlands between Stoke, Uttoxeter and Ashbourne is so poorly represented in the Beer Guide, bar the Yew Tree of course.
There’s plenty of pubs, 5 in Alton alone, so I guess it all comes down to GBG branch allocations.
One thing for sure; Alton Towers itself is never getting in the Guide with perhaps the worst beer selection anywhere in the UK. Visit Copenhagen’s Bakken for a demonstration in how to run a bar at a theme park.
The village itself is a gem, a little Switzerland without the overpriced hot chocolate. Look at the OS contours;
Based on the state of my stomach after I rode on Oblivion last year, I’d have been better off sitting it out at the Alton Bridge, which looks a picture postcard of a pub.
And mysteriously, seems to have its own pub in the grounds.
Now, I can find nothing about the Talbot at all on the internet, so it’s over to you.
It looks more pubby than the Bridge, which is your archetypal “country pub and restaurant“. Or “Dining with rooms“, the sort of place that appears in “Staffordshire Life” rather than “Stoke Staggers” or whatever.
So early evening you get a handful of pashmina-wearing gentlefolk drinking coffee, and a lady looking for rope (don’t ask). Staff bustled around delivering lattes while I stood forlornly at the bar with a handful of change.
The Doom Bar looked tempting, but I guessed the Wincle Rambler (the beer, not the person) might have been pulled more recently. That’s the advantage of being able to peer over the bar at the drip tray.
As you’ll see, not a pub for the trad pub fan, as I made do with a corner of a lone table set for dining. Not a great Wincle either (NBSS 1.5), but however sour I wouldn’t have taken it back.
But interesting loos (stop now, Russ).
And some tat beloved of the country house hotel. Who remembers chicory ? Who remembers chicory with affection ?
retiredmartin 
Masterfully gratuitous use of the word sour to get a good headline.
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Thank you Prof. The team here work very hard to produce naff blog titles for your delectation.
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Blimey that’s an open air pub shed. Not sure it counts as a pub shed though without any walls so it won’t be challenging mine for the ‘Smallest Pub Shed in the UK’ title.
Most unnerving presence in the toilets – I think I might be tempted to hold on until I got home. What is she holding?
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I forgot the open air smoking shelter ! And it was bitter outside. “Unnerving” is the word.
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“What is she holding?”
It looks like a cake in the shape of a Native American drum?
This one’s better in my opinion:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Xz6s7AyvNeuWPKS13
Cheers
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Just goes to show…Wincle is usually decent round here. Clearly three beers is far too many.
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If only it was spelled with a K.
RM would be wetting himself at the thought of a headline for that.
So to speak.
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Probably literally, tbh.
Still can’t see how you spell Alton with a “K” though ;-(
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“Still can’t see how you spell Alton with a “K” though ;-(”
Well done (golf clap) 🙂
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As always it might be me. Not off, just very dull, as it nearly always in Cheshire/Staffs dining pubs . See here
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Arguably your best headline yet…sub editors of the UK will be doffing collective caps 👍 pub looks a bit average though
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My best headline, voted by me, was this one;
It was wasted on you lot…
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Very good …probably a bit too Guardian for this readership though!!! Think more red top!
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I certainly remember Chicory Tip 😛
I have been in the Talbot many years ago and ate a Wiener schnitzel in there. When did you last see one of those on a pub menu?
Don’t forget that Leek (and Blythe Bridge) are in Staffordshire Moorlands and probably snaffle up most of its GBG allocation.
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Yes, that’s what I was getting at, the small allocation doesn’t stretch far. To be honest, Leek probably deserves a good 3 or 4 more entries than it’s got.
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Love schnitzel but leave it to the experts !
Actually, the Teeside parmo is as close as you get, you see that on a few pub menus up there but needs to be made fresh.
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I certainly remember Chicory Tip 😛
Me too! – great!!
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You won’t believe this, but I had no idea how “Son of my Father” went before Mudgie prompted me to look up that You Tube clip. More of a Donny/Gary fan.
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“But interesting loos (stop now, Russ).”
I was the embodiment of decorum and good taste… above. 🙂
“which looks a picture postcard of a pub.”
Agreed. Too bad the beer wasn’t at least as half as good as that view. 😦
“(the beer, not the pesron)”
Pesron? You’re going all Welsh again aren’t you? 😉
“Now, I can find nothing about the Talbot at all on the internet, so it’s over to you.”
Not a sausage unfortunately, and that’s a rarity in this day and age.
Cheers
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I stayed near Alton the first December weekend through the 1980s and ’90s and the Talbot was a Proper Pub with excellent DBA and a couple of other Allied beers, a Buntings (Uttoxeter) Brewery jug behind the bar and proper primitive toilets across the track.
What is now the Alton Bridge Hotel was a most unnoticeable guest house.
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