On Wednesday morning I got a text message from youngest son Matt.
“Soz Dad, short notice. Can I go 2 We Came As Romans gig tonite plz.”
“OK. Where ?
“Nottingham. London date sold out”
“OK”
“Radddd”
You can guess where he gets it from.
So at 6.30pm we were back here, having made two stops for travel sickness on the way. Simon has just been in that same seat. I cleaned it first.
No 16 year old wants to be seen in the same vicinity as his Dad, so as soon as Matt was sure I wasn’t needed anymore I was told to sod off and collect him from the Rescue Rooms later. The Rescue Rooms are a bit less scary than Rock City next door.
Having long completed Notts, I had free reign to pick a pub. I stood in the centre (green dot below), pressed “Find pubs near me” on the GBG App and looked for red dots to appear.
Oh. Not a jot/dot. They’re all spread around the ring road, it seems. Even the authentic boozer that is Annie’s Burger Shack has dropped out.
So on a whim, I picked the pub with Forest flags outside, just for Alan Winfield.
Actually, it was a County fan who put the Royal Children on a list of ten essential Nottingham pubs to visit when I stayed over in September 1995. No BrewDog or Crafty Crow back then.
If it still sold Home Bitter back in ’95 I have no recollection of it.
A lovely boisterous pub on that Wednesday 23 years ago, a lovely quiet pub last Wednesday; just a Notts couple playing pool to the accompaniment of “Don’t Stop Believin‘” and a welcoming barmaid. What happened between my 2 visits ?
Well, CAMRA has won the battle to make all pubs stock lots of beers, I guess. Just the one on here, and a good ‘un.
In fact, the Bitter was Beer Guide standard (NBSS 3+), winning the battle with the heat.
But will it ever get back in the Beer Guide ? What do you think ?, dear reader. But treasure pubs like this that know their customers while they still exist, or soon it will all be micros.
Loving the fact you are hitting more off the GBG trail boozers…wise words at the end…great looking pub
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That sign! I had to refer to Google it to find out more – hats off to the TripAdvisor review titled ‘The Kids are alright’! (that was no doubt your second choice blog title)
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I’m trying to picture myself asking my Dad to drive me to a gig:) At least he let’s you get him close.
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I’ll be devastated if he didn’t !
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“I was told to sod off ”
My wife and I are like that with regards to shopping. Put quite the strain on our marriage when I had to assist her for a month both this year and last after her surgeries. 😉
“I picked the pub with Forest flags outside, just for Alan Winfield.”
Slightly off topic but some bugger figured out those flags outside the Ring O Bells on Alan’s blog while I was wireless, um, less. 🙂
“Medieval haircuts”
They look nothing like George, Charlotte and Louis.
“What happened between my 2 visits?”
The passing of time, alas, dear boy.
“Unique hand pump ?”
I thought it was one of those drinking bird thingies:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_bird
“But will it ever get back in the Beer Guide ? What do you think ?”
Too deep for me at this juncture. I would heartily say yes, but apparently at my age I’m an old fogie (or some such). (sigh)
Cheers
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You ain’t no fogey.
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Or fogie.
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I was thinking in the plural obviously (but not thinking of my wife!) 🙂
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BRAPA and I met today for strategy meeting. We’re thinking of naming a country after you. Any you fancy…
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“Any you fancy…”
Well… Russtovich does slide really easily into Russia. 🙂
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Russ,
Having been struck down with a stroke nine years ago I am disabled to the extent that I can’t go shopping but there’s usually a decent enough pub nearby for me to have a sit down while my wife does the shopping.
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That really is tragic. Not being able to shop in Primark must seriously compromise your wellbeing.
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Sorry to hear you had a stroke of bad luck (too soon?), but if it gets you out of shopping that’s one minor plus (the plus is you have decent pubs nearby; sadly not the case for me).
Cheers
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Thought Russ would have already picked up on the free rein/reign homophone, unless he knows something the rest of us don’t about you being proclaimed King of Nottingham.
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Genuinely bewildered – free reign/Royal Children ?
And I won’t have any homophonia on this site, thank you, Matthew.
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Alright then, heterograph 🙂
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“Thought Russ would have already picked up on the free rein/reign”
I’ve never been very good with the *cough* ‘g’ spot. 🙂
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If you didn’t exist, we’d have had to invent you, Russ.
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I don’t want to get left out of the big word debate, so I’d just like to say I prefer the euphonium but can’t play it myself…
“But will it ever get back in the Beer Guide ? What do you think ?, dear reader.”
Definitely – just needs another 6 handpumps/real ales and it’s a dead cert…
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Correct answer !
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A bit late on this as i have been in hospital yet again for 10 days, i have big problems with my op and am now unable to eat or drink for a few months.
We used to go in the Royal Children quite a bit over the years, we stopped when the beer tasted really off.
You could get to 15 pubs on that map that are decent in our opinion and they are probably better than GBG pubs away from the City Centre.
The building with the dome used to be the Palais a night club with a revolving dance floor in the 80s.
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Really sorry to hear that, Alan. Did wonder how you were when the Forest pub didn’t get a response !
You’re probably right about the pubs. The main concentration of GBG pubs is down Alfreton Road (and will only become more so).
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