NO HELLO, NO GOODBYE, NO SPACE AT THE BAR

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My trips to Burnley haven’t always been successful, setting aside the 6-1 in 2010.

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Prosecco preposterousness in Padiham, pole-dancing pubs by the bus station (sorry, no pics) and some drab home-brew from the likes of Reedley Hallows (brewed by Harry Potter).

But I admire their dogged if dull football team, and their generous GBG allocation, which this year includes a genuine country pub in Mereclough.  I wish it didn’t.

Pretty setting for the Kettledrum.

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Baaaa

And there’s a pub cat, though frankly this might have been from Rawtenstall.  Don’t lose sleep, it’s just a cat.

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Unimpressed with my lack of precision
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Not your typical Burnley pub
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Beer drop – where you drop the beer

Anyway, I arrive at the end of the lunch session so most tables are empty, but EVERYONE is sitting at the bar or next to it.  Why ?

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Can’t see the beers
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And an ankle biter !

See what I mean.  And I had to jump over the Twog to peer over Rapunzel to notice they had a Worsthorne on.  Hoorah for Worsthorne !

Wordless service, worthless Worsthorne homebrew* and high table hell. At least it gave me a prime view of the group who then came in and all stood at the bar while one of them ordered.  SIT DOWN !.  As Tim Booth says (still).

It was a horror show, though I’m sure Mrs RM would have loved it.  I looked for somewhere to tip the beer.  THREE successive doors that might be the Gents said “STAFF ONLY“, a fourth said “NO ADMITTANCE“.  Only the one that said “Toilet” led to the toilets, oddly.

I fought through to the bar to return the glass and say “Thanks”.  Not a word. And they were playing Ed Sheeran’s “A-Team”.

 

*My notes say thin caramel rubbish, competently kept, so NBSS 2.5 to be fair. No-one drinking this would ever ask for cask again.

26 thoughts on “NO HELLO, NO GOODBYE, NO SPACE AT THE BAR

  1. “If you’re not from here, don’t come here”. Famliy, neighbourhood, community, tradition – increasingly rare down south. The pub doesn’t look half-bad to me.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. No, that’s just an it’s-grim-up-north expression.
        None of the people in the pub can manage a smile.
        That’s what Hebden Bridge would have been like without Richard to liven it up a bit.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Modern windows, modern porch, modern outdoor seating, modern plant tubs ( for Martin ), newly painted – that’s not the way to get me venturing in the pub.
      if it’s like that outside you just know that EVERYONE will be sitting at the bar.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. “My notes say thin caramel rubbish, competently kept……. No-one drinking this would ever ask for cask again” Good job it wasn’t badly kept then Martin. What would you have said then?

    Liked by 1 person

  3. I suppose I can understand why people want to sit or congregate at the bar, so they can be close to the action, whereas I want to be as far away from it as possible. But licensees shouldn’t allow them to completely block access for anyone else, or to obscure the view of the handpumps.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes, Coachhouse, or Cockroach as it’s known down here. is just about top of my list – and I’m quite sure it’s no coincidence that it was set up by ex Greenall Whitley employees.

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    1. There you go, never said a word to me, and beer wasn’t great/ And I’d just been to a good one in Rawtenstall. We need an independent juror to decide on this one..

      When things are

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  4. “My trips to Burnley haven’t always been successful”

    With regards to the OS map just below, is Saville Green (top right) where they keep all of the money they make selling suits on Savile Row?
    (bloody ‘el’, they don’t match)

    “pole-dancing pubs by the bus station (sorry, no pics)”

    No worries. Never been a big fan of watching some Polish peeps doing a cultural clog dance. 🙂

    “Baaaa”

    And what looks like a ‘moooo’ just left of centre.

    “Unimpressed with my lack of precision”

    Cats are pretty much unimpressed with everything!

    “Beer drop – where you drop the beer”

    Probably as the result of tripping over the floor grate thingy.

    “And an ankle biter !”

    All I see is a dog (over here ankle biters are twilds).

    “THREE successive doors that might be the Gents ”

    Does that mean you had to go through them successively to find out? 😉

    “No-one drinking this would ever ask for cask again.”

    But thanks to you (and others) some will always be curious. 🙂

    Cheers

    Liked by 1 person

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