POMPEY ! PRESLEY ! PUMPS ! PISH !

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Petersfield endured, it was onto a bumper Hampshire derby showcasing the best and worst of the South coast.

Starting in Pompey, which isn’t short of pubs. 

Portsmouth

An admission.  I was a teenage Pompey fan during the glory years  (Div 4); an attachment based seemingly only on a visit to a Chichester convent and Bognor Regis Butlins in 1979.

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Authentic fake Pompey scarf from 1979

Today I reckon the city is in the top 10 pub cities in the country, with the boozers of Fratton and Southsea remarkably attractive and boisterous, if a little less busy that they were in 2007 (for some strange reason).

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As required by “New Pubs in Portsmouth, GBG regulations (1973 as amended)“, three new ticks again this year, with a traditional looking newbie in North End.  See if you can see the Proper Pub giveaway below.

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Classic Pompey

I reckon 80% of the pubs in Pompey look like this, and the other 20% look like the modern open plan craft diners taking over Southsea, of which more later.

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Only the dog missing from this shot
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Lovely wooden bar

There were six (SIX !) beers on, and I sensed a polite inquiry as to which was selling fastest would end in disappointment, so I went for the weakest (not being hardcore like BRAPA).

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Dead useful those jam jars

I sense you can write these posts yourself now. The Irving was tired but not returnable (NBSS 2), a perfect advert for cool, refreshing lager.

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NBSS 2, mate

40 years ago we needed a Good Beer Guide to point us to the presence of a handpump (apparently).  These days we just need an app to point us to pubs where anyone is drinking a pint of real ale, so we can rush to have that second pint.

 

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

20 thoughts on “POMPEY ! PRESLEY ! PUMPS ! PISH !”

    1. I think Portsea Island is one of the most densely populated pieces of urban real estate in the UK, and still has plenty of street-corner pubs. When I stayed there about 20 years ago I spent a day and a half looking round the Victory, Warrior and the naval museum.

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      1. I’m sure you’re right about Portsea; that density should mean plenty of custom, though as you’ve often written that’s not always the case.

        Walked the place a lot, but never been to the naval area. Old Portsmouth is something else, still some naval character there.

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  2. This must get very depressing – “I’m almost certain this is going to be lacklustre, but sadly I have to drink it.” 😦

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      1. Well, I possibly wouldn’t be in those pubs at that specific time of day. I’ve been in one or two on holiday when eating lunch where it’s been a charitable 2½, but I can’t think of any recently where I’ve thought “I really don’t want to finish that”. Thinking back over the years, there have been a few situations where the cask offering has looked so unpromising that I’ve just defaulted to lager. For example, a pub in Scotland where there was a solitary handpump, hidden away at the end of the bar, dispensing a local beer I’d never heard of.

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      2. I often use pubs not long after they have opened and use so up the beer that’s been in the lines overnight ready for those who “possibly wouldn’t be in those pubs at that specific time of day” !

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    1. Before Russ Auto-Correct hoves into view with a boarding party of spellcheckers it’s malarkey.
      Generally if I’m one of the first in and no-one else is supping a pint I’ll gravitate towards the fridge praying there’s not just a collection of fruity ciders.

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      2. “Before Russ Auto-Correct hoves into view with a boarding party of spellcheckers”

        Russ’s (Russs’?) boarding party are currently mutinying. The past few days I’ve been up to my eyeballs in heat, work, assisting in catering, driving the lunch truck and power outages (probably due to the heat). I’m only now just catching up with checking the Brit Beer Blog posts. 🙂

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      4. “I hope you’ve got your priorities right, Russ.”

        Indubitably. ‘Tis why I’m a few days late in replying. 🙂

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  5. I was thinking more of those Kopparberg fruity ciders.
    Crikey,I tried one a couple of years ago to see what the fuss was all about and nearly passed out from the sugar rush.
    Magners is known in Ireland as Knackers’ Champagne.

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  6. “Starting in Pompey, which isn’t short of pubs. ”

    Must be all those sailors. 🙂

    “Only the dog missing from this shot”

    There’s one between the scooter guy and the standing guy. 🙂

    “Dead useful those jam jars”

    Perhaps. But that sign about Hokey Cokey… ok, scratch that. Over on your side it’s Cokey not Pokey for some odd reason.

    “These days we just need an app to point us to pubs where anyone is drinking a pint of real ale, so we can rush to have that second pint.”

    There’s no decent response to that. 😦

    Cheers

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