My notes from Douglas peter out a bit now, just after the moment I started cackling hysterically at Duncan spotting a moth on the set of Love Island. In kinder times, moth spotting on Love Island would be a national sport.
The Quayside area contains several astonishingly basic Proper Pubs, the sort of places even Pompey and Plymouth would kill for.
My first visit to the Old Market Inn, apparently. I must have done well to miss it on three previous visits to the Isle, unless you can buy GBG stickers as a job lot and liven up your front door. Simon could put them on his micro pub entrance.
Bushy’s seem to have cornered the market in basic boozers on Man, helped by prices below £3 a pint, which always help.
That finger pointing to the Export isn’t mine; I stuck rigidly to the Bitter, which I seems to have scored NBSS 3+ even though I may have been asleep. In contrast the legendary Maltmeister was in sparkling form at 11.21pm, celebrating a great evening of ticking.
A lot of coming and going with plastic bags, I note. A real market pub. If only the Rifle Drum had been this good.
As so often, Pubmeister got the killer shot, illustrating the sense of “boisterous without being remotely aggressive” that characterised Douglas.
Classic seating, tat all over the place, a symphony in brown and tin.
And any pub with a Sooty collection box is surely worthy of your attention.
retiredmartin 
First!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wouldn’t the average moth be expelled from something like Love Island instantly for displaying too high an IQ?
You have to return to the Rifle Drum at 11:21 on a weekend evening to get a fair comparison.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You go first.
LikeLike
I had a day out in Northamptonshire on Wednesday but was several miles short of the Rifle Drum.
Once a year is enough.
LikeLike
Either too high an IQ, or for being too “flighty”.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Where those ladies are stood on the seats fighting, that was where I sat! Good times.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Am thinking of pitching a new programme called Moth Island – working on it just now. Just about managing to keep up with the typically ferocious pace of Martin’s posts. I have photos to sell/blackmail him from the rest of the night and the following day. Some Douglas pubs are like many towns had years ago and the Market is a great example.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Do you have one of.me getting stuck in turnstiles at Quidsinn ?
LikeLiked by 1 person
“A lot of coming and going with plastic bags” at 11.21pm,
Was that from the Chinese takeaway ?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Later, later…
LikeLike
If you ever get the time in between your travels and pub-updates, you could do a post on the theme “best area for proper pubs” etc.
LikeLike
Since when did I take requests, Morten 😉. Actually. Great idea. Pro-rata, the Isle of Man has more in the Beer Guide, along with Stockport. Pompey has lost it’s place.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“spotting a moth on the set of Love Island.”
Was that an actual moth or merely a tat?
“How had I missed you ?”
Especially since Bender has given it a thumbs up… twice!
“helped by prices below £3 a pint, which always help.”
Compared to £4.50, I would think so!
“That finger pointing to the Export isn’t mine;”
I see the pump clips say “brewed pure by Manx Law”. Is that the IOM equivalent of the Reinheitsgebot?
“illustrating the sense of “boisterous without being remotely aggressive” that characterised Douglas.”
Were they dancing or playing charades?
“tat all over the place,”
Tat means tattoos, the same as over here, yes?
“Checking Love Island moth count”
(chuckle)
Cheers
LikeLike
Charades. Like the Skids song.
The Manx purity law requires their beer is only brewed by virgins.
LikeLike
Those beaten metal table tops take me back a decade or three. Still ‘a thing’ on remote islands then?
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Beaten metal”. That’s the term I was looking for. Design classic. Still a feature on the Wirral, never mind remote islands !
LikeLike
Gleaned enough evidence on couple of Prenton Park trips to confirm The Wirral is a remote island.
(You set up the crosses, I’ll tap ’em in – back of the net!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
You couldn’t miss !
I really don’t see Man as a backwater. Love the Wirral but Prenton & Wallasey (& much of north Liverpool) feel much more cut off from 20th Century.
LikeLike
Unless I missed it , all the Rifle Drum was missing was a Sooty box, oh yes and proper beer.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Had the missing was a Sooty box been stolen ?
And I didn’t see any Bombay Mix – or a pub cat.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not been to the Man. Yeovil Glovetrotters overseas competitive matches encompass: Newport IOW, FAC 1935; Teramo and Parma in Anglo-Italian Cup,1977. It’s been a glamorous history.
(After 1948-9 cup run, Barca – pre Camp Nou, Les Corts only holding 60,000 – offered an away friendly with guaranteed £1000 gate share plus expenses, but Board turned it down – bit too furrin for ’em – and went on tour of Jersey & Guernsey instead.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a shame, bet you’d have loved that trip to Barca, could have had one of those Milwall style shorts “Isle of Wight, Barcelona, The Huish”etc.
LikeLike