I know there’s a few of you who like looking at pictures of old pubs, so here’s a pub I looked at for a few minutes while waiting for the 9.43 from Heaton Chapel to Manchester Piccadilly last Wednesday.
I’ve never been in the Plough, or any pubs in Heaton Moor, which may be a selling point to some.
This part of Stockport, known locally as Curmudgeonville due to the proximity of Cheshire’s legendary pub blogger, has been assessed by The Times as one of the best places on earth to live.
Tellingly, the Times says “Type Heatons into a search engine and all you get is cats”.
From Piccadilly, I bound past the sludges on their way to the office towards a mid-morning rendezvous with my PubMan of the year.
But first, I nipped into the Art Gallery, being all cultured like.
Always good, sometimes unmissable, and today dispensing free art prints.
The usual half of Doom Bar in a pub of my choice for identifying the one I’m about to frame.
Despite walking these streets a thousand times, I still get a bit lost in the centre. And not because I don’t know left from right.
But after passing the Old Monkey I suddenly see our Young Pubman waiting semi-patiently for the Lost Dene to open.
Setting a precedent for the new year, even this Stonegate pub is half an hour later than planned in opening. Expect that new Thanet micro to re-open in April.
What a cutting-edge cask line-up to greet 2019.
I order the second Pedi of the day, and insist on a proper glass.
So does Luke, who joins us from Sowerby Bridge, the posher but less trendier younger half-niece of Halifax. It’s the first time he’s left West Yorkshire since the End of Times or something.
I enjoy my heritage pint (2.5/3) in a heritage glass in a heritage pub mysteriously omitted from the Official CAMRA Heritage guide.
Fifty-one TV screens tell us simultaneously that Christian Pulisic, younger half-cousin of Tony Pulis, once played for Brackley, a pub desert.
But the pub drama is reserved for the breakfasts, as Paul somehow, through a combination of substitution and CAMRA card flashing ends up with six (6) sausages, that see him through to tea.
And that was just the beginning.
Is that what the Chinese sent to the Dark Side last week? Have they started an agricultural colony already?
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I think Scott is referring to your sausage haul, Paul !
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Triple cooked chips, maybe, but…sausages?
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There are hundreds of pre-raphaelite pictures of Sleeping Beauty, Briar Rose, call her what you will, and I’m not sure if that’s one of them or not, Martin.
I’ve zero idea why “scritti” might be a clue too.
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Ah. Got it. It’s Cupid and Psyche by Burne-Jones. I gather that Scritti Politti had a track with that title.
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1985 Album. Amazed Mark didn’t get that but it’s probably still New Year’s Eve over there.
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Ah, the 1980s. Funnily enough, Tim didn’t have a mullet back then, if the pictures that I’ve seen are any guide.
That’s quite enough on that decade for me to be going on with for some time.
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The article you link to erroneously places the Heatons in Cheshire, whereas in fact they are in historic Lancashire, the Mersey forming the boundary.
The six sausages didn’t stop Paul having a chicken sandwich at lunchtime in the Angel, although he was a bit miffed to find that it consisted of chicken goujons on a bun.
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But confusing Cheshire and Lancashire can’t be as bad as placing one of them t’other side of the Pennines.
Indeed, it was definitely my worst sandwich this year in t’Angel.
But then I had a wonderful turkey sandwich next lunchtime in t’Arden Arms – washed down with a lovely drop of Old Tom. .
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A drop ! A pint I heard ;-0
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I’m not one for doing things by halves if I can help it,
And didn’t someone once tell us that proper men don’t drink halves ?
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What a sensible man that must have been.
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Cultural appropriation by Cheshire of Lancashire then ;-0
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The only thing that would make that picture of The Plough perfection would be a mobility scooter. But they probably don’t roll up until 10 am.
And we know how arty you are just from the well framed pictures!
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The Plough isn’t a mobility scooter type of pub.
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But the Plough doesn’t quite look like a hipster’s pub or a crèche.
I’m intrigued.
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You’ll just have to suggest a Beer & Pubs Proper Day Out in the Heatons, Paul !
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It’s one of M&B’s “Castle” brand pubs. I’d say it’s targeted at an affluent younger clientele. Plenty of posing tables; sky-high beer prices.
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“a Beer & Pubs Proper Day Out in the Heatons” – yes, especially as I didn’t get to the Nursery last Thursday
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“a Beer & Pubs Proper Day Out in the Heatons”
Could be done – and the Navigation (Beartown), Nursery (Hydes), Crown (Robinsons), Griffin (Holts) and other Crown (Regional Inventory) would make a pretty strong core. But it would involve a lot of walking, or maybe the odd taxi ride.
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Sausages Tony Pulis relations pedigree in a JS glass and it’s not a spoons!!! How good is this place
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Best pub summary of the year so far ! No doubt you’ll beat it soon.
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Real Ale Corner is a classic!
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“Tellingly, the Times says “Type Heatons into a search engine and all you get is cats”.”
I was going to type ‘(chuckle)’ but then I checked and it does indeed say exactly that!
“Clue – Scritti”
Is that where the band relaxes after a gig?
“No coat, Paul ?”
He his it in his backpack (rucksack?) before you arrived.
“Class in a glass”
But is the glass class?*
*(Alan Winfield would say ‘yes’) 🙂
“Fifty-one TV screens tell us simultaneously that Christian Pulisic, younger half-cousin of Tony Pulis, once played for Brackley, a pub desert.”
Good lord. That’s akin to those ‘guess who’ thingies at the movies before the main feature starts.*
*(I could be dating myself here as I haven’t been to the ‘pictures’ in many a year)
“ends up with six (6) sausages, that see him through to tea.”
I think PHE would say that lot would see him through to next month! 🙂
Cheers
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Paul kept getting pub trail leaflets out of his rucksack, there was no coat !
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I posted on another excerpt that I was disappointed I was unable to accompany you in Manchester. Having read this and references to a second pint of Pedigree I obviously didn’t miss much and would have to ask why go to Manchester to drink Marston’s c**p and not drink some of the excellent beers, despite all it’s innate Mancness, the city produces?
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And we didn’t even go in either the Bass pub or the Marston’s tied pub.
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Good job too, there are plenty of excellent beers to drink in Manchester without dipping into Marston’s portfolio.
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Richard,
There was nothing ‘c**p’ about our Pedigree but for future reference maybe you could let us know where we could get Holts, Hydes, Lees or Robinsons thereabouts with a hearty breakfast.
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Nothing good will ever come out of Marston’s these days, mark my words. Right minded real ale drinkers and Pubmen should be boycotting them.
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Enjoying your industrial lager and imported bottles over there in Malta, mate ?`
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When in Rome and all that …
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Really enjoyed the beer in Malta, particularly Valletta and that micro in Gozo.
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HopHeads from Poland is the current fave.
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Think you were considering a trip to Poland, weren’t you. In 2016 I did a tour of craft bars in small town near Katowice that had some of best beer I’ve had anywhere at half BrewDog prices.
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