Next up in Cobblers land is the obligatory craft bar.
Jon, of Bass braces fame, suggested the Princess Alexandra, so blame him. It was over the road from the Black Prince, too, so hard to make our excuses.
But if we’d dodged it we’d have missed a wonderful welcome from the barman. I assume he’d recognised Mudgie, and rushed into the street shouting;
“Come in ! Come in ! We’ve got you want ! ”
Yes they had.
Look how excited Mudgie and the Other Mudge were.
I think they were looking at the remains of the last person to come here and ask for Banks’s Mild,
or contemplating nicking the Beastie Boys cap,
or possibly they were staring up at the tops of the keg fonts.
There was cask. The usual Northampton selection.
But Mrs RM and I, and others, succumbed to the well-priced Beatniks Mandarina Magnifique. We’re not daft. It was close to its description.
Mrs RM was wilting in the heat by now, and enjoying cold, fizzy keg. My notes say “Dinosaurs beat guerillas“. This may be a reference to the CAMRA revitalisation vote, or it may be a score on the video gaming machine we perched our beer on.
I was convinced this was a chain craft effort by Greene King or worse (it resembles a GK place in central Cambridge), but apparently not. See Richard’s report for details. For an independent pub it was very well done, even if it wasn’t appealing as much to the Cask Liberation Front.
Anyway, I know you enjoy photos of my boots and glasses, so here’s the latter;
And some unidentified shoes.
retiredmartin 
We never saw any of that Mandarina Magnifique in the Mandarina Bar and Kitchen during our Proper Day Out in Macclesfield. Maybe we were distracted by all the mothers and toddlers that were noticeably absent in Northampton, even in the Waincorder,
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Interesting point about lack of children. Were they all in the Rifle Drum (in the stew)?
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Well, according to the witty repartee below all the children are in an underground bunker under Mount (undisclosed) checking for spelling errors when I’m either eating, drinking, sleeping, or can’t be arsed.*😝
* Such as now, when I’m miles from home enjoying a pint. 🍺
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I approve.
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Lovely bit of near alliteration there Paul.
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The Macc Mandarina refers not to the beer but the colour of the clientele.
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Rust instead of tan?
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Oh, much more mandarin-er than that.
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Er, it’s the Princess Alexandra, not Alexander.
The Saddle Tank was a surprisingly un-crafty offering. Maybe by no longer calling it “Bitter” they get it into places like this.
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It’s Russ’s job to find errors. Demarcation and all that.
Yes, just re-read your rather pacier write-up. Do you think there’s a supply agreement with Marstons ?
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“Demarcation and all that.”
I usually don’t begin checking for errors until 8pm UK time, so I’ve farmed it out to others in the interim. 🙂
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Subcontracting is the way forward.
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I now have this image of an Indian sweat shop of Twild Russettes manically checking online dictionaries and maps.
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It’s in Volgograd, actually.
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Can’t believe that, the spelling mistakes would nevet be splotted
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“Look how excited Mudgie and the Other Mudge were.”
Is there a rule as to which one should be called Mudgie or Mudge or vice versa?
“or contemplating nicking the Beastie Boys cap,”
Since I don’t see their heads, that confirms they really did wind up in the year 3000:
“It was close to its description.”
So… a Belgian IPA that tastes like Chinese oranges? 😉
“or it may be a score on the video gaming machine we perched our beer on.”
Pfft. I don’t see Donkey Kong anywhere. But the dinosaurs, maybe. Everyone knows they really came here from outer space. 🙂
“Anyway, I know you enjoy photos of my boots and glasses,”
We enjoy all of your photos. 🙂
Cheers
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Quality Beastie Boys reference.
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Looks like a marvellous place.
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You’d love it. None of that Bass nonsense.
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I really liked it in this place. If I lived in Northampton – I never would, I would go to this place. Okay the cask line up was uninspired (a theme of the town) but you have the opportunity to try different things. As the Quran says – God made tribes and nations so that you may know them, or something similar. It’s the same with beer, go out and try something new.
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Did Mudgie pick that head tan up just in Northampton or beforehand??
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Bathing in the radiance of craft beer, Ian.
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Or flushed from the heat 😳
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What a fabulous welcome. Pleased to see more of Mrs RM, I hope this isn’t a cynical casting decision to grab the female viewership before she’s killed off in the series finale to ‘raise the dramatic stakes’. I’ve seen this before.
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I am that cynical, Kirsty. And yes, I hope to see much of more of Mrs RM and her pint glass, though the Fosters in the next pub was a tipping pint.
And yes, Northampton throughout was an example of how to welcome visitors.
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