On to my last Staffordshire GBG pub.
The Hednesford Ex-Servicemens Club joins the similarly social Bridge which you might remember so delighted me last year.
My preparatory reading tells me that;
“The club plays host to many sports teams including darts, dominoes, bowls, snooker and pool. A pigeon flying club is also based at the club.”
But not tonight. Three rooms served by a central bar, darkened room to the right, large bingo hall in the middle and main club room ahead showing Juventus v Napoli.
Social clubs always give pub tickers that frisson of excitement that we might not get admitted or otherwise get involved in a breach of protocol. I get this;
Luckily, the bingo room (top) is free to all, and occupied entirely by women over 65, and I get to stand at the bar enjoying a full range of CAMRA-themed number calling;
“Special Resolution fix – seventy-two point six”
“Ten hand pumps in a line – number nine”
“Keg beer hate – forty-eight”
“One ale’s plenty, number twenty”
And one is plenty here, particularly since the Mikkeller Spontan Pentadrupel Blueberry seems to be off.
A unique Southern Comfort sponsored pump clip, too.
Only one thing could improve the experience; my beer being served in a Sharp’s glass. Voila, as the French say.
I then discover the darts room is not only open, but occupied, and join a group of four in semi-darkness.
If all this sounds a bit grim, it really wasn’t. Cheery staff, and a cheery creamy pint of Rev James that most Scottish CAMRA branches would kill for (NBSS 3+).
But what of the mobility scooters ?
They were across the road, outside the shiny Wetherspoons.
That Spoons was heaving at 9.45pm on Sunday, by the way. I might even have seen a pint of real ale pulled once.
NB There was another tick on this trip that was so grim I can’t bring myself to report it. I’ll let the beer speak for itself.
retiredmartin 
I’d be more impressed if they had a pigeon swimming club, or if they were the HQ of the Staffordshire Newt Fanciers Association
LikeLike
Ah, FINALLY a mobility scooter!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Mobility scooter ? Looks a bit like one of those trendy Italian motorbikes to me.
Maybe it is one of those trendy Italian motorbikes but with a blue badge for ease of parking ?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absurd. A thriving South London boozer, but with no real ale, could never dream of ever being entered into the GBG, but a deserted social club obviously deserves a place. Don’t get me wrong, I support both real ale and social clubs, but I’m first and foremost a supporter of great pubs.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I am curious about the process by which social clubs get into the GBG. Is it entirely a “real ale meritocracy” region by region, so that if there are few excellent real ale pubs within a certain region, a social club gets its chance to be included? Or does the GBG have a sort of “social club quota”, wishing to make sure there are a certain number of such places in each new edition?
LikeLike
It’s a good question. Stockport and Cambridge probably use beer scores more than remote branches where members struggle to visit all their pubs. In theory Social Clubs get in the Guide because they have better beer (consistently) than other outlets, but branches may well sub-consciously reward range and effort.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mid-Staffordshire isn’t exactly short of good beer – it may even have some pubs serving B**s. I do wonder whether clubs get in the GBG because a local CAMRA committee member regularly drinks in there. We (Stockport) have an unwritten policy not to even consider clubs for inclusion.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not sure how fare Cannock Chase branch stretches, but Cannock itself a bit thin. Definitely quality > quantity here.
LikeLike
Mark,
It’s all about favouritism – no, it isn’t really.
Peter,
Yes, “Mid-Staffordshire isn’t exactly short of good beer” including the best-pint-of-the-day Draught Bass in Stafford’s not-in-the-GBG Railway Inn.
Martin,
“Cannock itself a bit thin” but it includes Black Country Ales’s lovely 1930s not-in-the-GBG Crystal Fountain.
LikeLike
The spread of great pubs is very uneven ! South London could conceivably have a 100,rather than 30-odd entries in the Guide if there were no quotas =
LikeLiked by 1 person
But doesn’t a deserted social club need a place in the GBG more than a thriving South London boozer ?
That could be a question for the new GBG editor, that’s if there was going to be a new GBG editor.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s the same question as does South London deserve half of Scotland’s GBG allocation, I guess.
LikeLike
Haha – you certainly know how to live – semi-darkened rooms – that club environment sounds quite sinister – not sure CAMRA should be subjecting you to such environments – don’t they have a member protection policy?
Oh go on tell us about the other tick….that beer has lacings – does this mean lacings are no longer a sign of a good beer…?
Confused…
😉
By the way – this is a Simon style post…
LikeLike
Forty or so years ago, the club served a cracking pint of M&B Springfield Bitter.
What was I doing at the Hednesford Ex-Service Mens Club, four decades ago, apart from drinking too much? A long story, which I might get round to telling someday; but not now!
LikeLike
Paul,
Forty or so years ago I enjoyed many cracking pints of M&B Highgate Mild at a folk club in a Hednesford club but as I remember in being in Market Street rather than Anglesey Street I don’t think it was the Ex-servicemen’s Club.
I wouldn’t have cycled across Cannock Chase from and to Stafford for bingo, a pigeon club or televised sport.
LikeLike
Love the reference to whether you would get admitted or not. I’m sure we’ve discussed it, but my cousin is the stewardess at the club where BRAPA was denied.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Did you give her that fiver for me ?
LikeLiked by 2 people
I haven’t been ‘active’ in CAMRA since the 90s but as far as I know there has never been a specific quota for clubs. Locally, the Leyton Orient Supporters Club is a regular choice and I think this came about because various branch members go to games. They also do Beer Nights, featuring beers from one brewery, which are advertised in London Drinker, and are hosting the local branch AGM this week. I think that otherwise they only open on match days but for big games (in O’s terms) the bar might be members only to avoid overcrowding.
Assuming you need the tick, you can try before or after a home game (the bar is closed during the match) or check East London branch events in What’s Brewing as there usually seems to be a ‘social’ there on Beer Nights.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Ian. The O’s club is a Guide regular I’ve visited a couple of times, very good atmosphere post match.
I’ve no problem with variety in the Beer Guide, but cricket/sports clubs are very dull places.
LikeLike
I think there could be a market for a bingo caller using beer style links 👍🍻
LikeLiked by 1 person