retiredmartin

Just as in the Readers Digest of October 1977*, “I am Simon’s stalker“.

The week before my visit to bucolic Blackpool, BRAPA had visited the exact same pubs as I did, attracting much weirder company than me.

And despite being six pints to the good, he seems to have got better photos and remembered to take notes.

I’d forgotten I finished my night, not as is traditional in the Layton Rakes (another chance to offload a Spoons voucher wasted), but in the much maligned Pump & Truncheon.

On the way there I evaluated my Chinese takeaway options.

Disappointingly, the Lucky House had the worst reviews in history, and the Magic Lantern was plain dead. So that was my culinary night ruined.

Bonny Street, home of the Pump, is tucked away in the wastelands of the south, as Blackpool’s glitter fades a little.

Some good street art for the connoisseur though.

The Pump & Truncheon is one of a small chain of police-themed pubs (I think there’s one in the chain), with cover bands singing “De Doo Doo Da”, plastic handcuffs for hire at £3 an hour plus deposit, and batons disguised as hand pumps.

That apart, it’s the original (only) real ale house in town. If you had a squint you might mistake it for the Platform in Southampton.

Simon had some iffy cask there on Punk weekend, I reckoned the Golden Mile, probably brewed under the Pepsi Max Big One, was cool and tasty (NBSS 3.5).

As always, a good mix of Fylde folk, few on the ale but with those that were making up for it by drinking extra.

There’s nothing as fun as this in Cambridge. If there was, they’d close it.

Starting soon. Some posts where I actually took some notes.

*Russ will check this. He has every copy back to 1952.