I could be clever and seamlessly lump two trips to Doncaster in a week together, but as least one of you has a brain and would notice some continuity flaw or other, I’ll stick to chronology.
Ah, Doncaster. How you’ve changed. Flashy town hall and theatre, Premier Inn (full on Saturday night) and what can only be described as a “cleansing” of the infamous bus station.
Some things remain, though.
Every time I visit Donny I promise myself I’ll visit the Plough again.
But not today. Today it’s the pub at the newly shiny railway station, which seems to be accessible only via the less than exciting Frenchgate shops, where I bought a lead to connect my phone to my infamous charger. Pleasingly, the town centre is bustling, even if they are all queueing for chicken and chips from Crawshaws.
TheDraughtsman (Draftsman to Americans) is small but perfectly decorated.
OK, it’s not quite the Stalybridge Buffet but I can’t think of many better station bars without the word Tap in them.
And they do proper homemade soup, spicy pumpkin out of the pot.
A good pint of Chin Chin (no idea) Belgian Pale was recommended as I asked for a recommendation, perfectly matched with pumpkin soup like the beer sommelier I am.
No-one visits Doncaster by train, and there was only one other couple to compare “Mmmm” noises with. Bet it was crowded on race day.
Anyway, proper seating and a lovely way to while away a half hour trying to find a way to get to Thorne (I failed).
Little did I know I’d be back within a week.
retiredmartin 
That looks good. Fine food and beer pairing- a future career awaits you, though probably confined to the Doncaster area; and you should really have chosen the Culinary Concept to put yourself in the shop window. Donny definitely starting to show off these days.
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There’s more posh food and beer matching from Doncaster later. Always wanted to be in Donny Drinker.
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“Always wanted to be in Donny Drinker.”
Hopefully not from the Donny brook. 🙂
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Chin Chin a play on Tintin or am I really stretching?
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Good call. Sadly, the brewery is called Chin Chin and their other beers aren’t remotely Belgian. I’ll bet you a fiver you don’t see any of their beers the week you’re over here !
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I always thought “chin chin” was the Italian version of “cheers,” i.e. something you say as you clink glasses?
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That’s exactly it, Mark, but the sort of thing British comedy actors used to say in Black & White films in the ’60s.
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Well it’s good to hear that life is keeping calm and carrying on.
If you read the New York Times Blighty is now a land of survivalists stocking up on essential supplies as a prelude to everything coming to a juddering halt/cliff edge at the end of next March as the country plunges headlong into the Stygian gloom of life after Brexit.
Pumpkin soup and Belgian beer in Donny ? Take that Yankee Doodle Dandy.
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That post-apocalyptic nightmare probably describes the borough of Trafford this morning, Prof.
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Wouldn’t they have all headed back to London yesterday?
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Salt of the earth, United fans. Watching their defeats all the way from Malaysia.
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I didn’t have to read the NYT prof, to hear that Mr. Trump is thinking of cutting federal money to California, on the pretext of their “poor forest management”. Is he also thinking of cutting it to Florida, on account of their apparent hurricane unpreparedness? Or does its marginal electoral standing offer some protection from such threats? Your ear is closer to the ground on these things than mine, maybe? Anyway, here’s to Donny. Last time I stayed there, I ate at a Berni…
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I think I know which one that is. If it still was a Berni, it would be the premier dining establishment in town (apart from the St Leger Champagne Bar).
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It’s the Red Lion in Market Place, now a Spoons, Martin.
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Yes, of course, was in there last Saturday. Lively.
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“I ate at a Berni” – prawn cocktail, steak and chips, black forest gateaux ?
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TOM, it must have been pre-1995 by definition. I think that you’re on the money with the courses, though it might just have been paté as a starter for me. My workmate huffed at the deserts, or rather at the “europuddings” as he called them witheringly, hoping for, say, golden syrup sponge instead.
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*desserts, even.
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“Train lines. For Tom”
And the lettering in the OS map below is bleedin’ tiny. All I can make out is some sort of suburb full of Mexicans to the west?
“(Draftsman to Americans)”
I thought that was checkers in American. You know, where the PM lives when roughing it out in the countryside. 🙂
“A good pint of Chin Chin (no idea)”
I thought that was Italian for good health?
“trying to find a way to get to Thorne (I failed).”
The schedule shows roughly 3 trains an hour. 🙂
Cheers
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Get bigger eyes, Russ (glasses I think they’re called). 3 trains an hour unless they’re on strike.
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Ah. Silly Google maps makes no mention of strikes (sigh). 😒
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Give it a couple of years…
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Glad that the “Donny” didn’t indicate a weekend Trump spotting. Or alfresco Donnington drinking.
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The former would be preferable.
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Taht looks very good…not enough train station bars…did you know Olton Station now has one?
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