I’m not quite sure why the Circus was my Pub of the Day; the cumulative effect of beer, the quality of the pubgoers or the free pork pies.
The company was still high quality, but Joan and Dave and Tom had left us then, showing wisdom beyond their age and nationality.
The Two Mudgies (repeats on BBC2 at Christmas) accompanied Luke to the Peveril, which I’d done recently enough not to bother.
I checked into the Lower Turks Head (£21.60) and whizzed back at 5.25pm in the hope of nabbing a table at the Circus, which you’ll know isn’t quite the Moon Under Water.
Amazingly, I nabbed the last table in the glorious back room.
The best way to reserve a table for four seemed to be by buying four pints. So I did. At least I didn’t have to make a choice.
The Landlady, a hardworking wonder, brought them in and gave me a look that said “Oh yeah, I really believe you’ve got 3 mates coming“.
Four pints of Dizzy Blonde lined up in a row are certainly a great shot.
Two Old Boys looked seriously impressed by my World Record attempt on the four pints of Robbies before tea record, and as the clock ticked round to 17.46pm with no “mates” in sight they looked a bit scared.
Oddly, they left pretty much as the free buffet landed on their table, so the Landlady stuck it in front of me. She knew.
Typically, the Mudgies tipped up just as the freebies arrived.
I thought the Robbies was cool, rich and silky, a clear 3.5. Whether it gains or loses condition for sitting on a table for a quarter of an hour, I couldn’t tell.
A lovely couple of Woollybacks from Widnes joined us; they were off to a show in town but were enjoying proper pubs first. We shared our non-vegan sausage rolls with them.
I went off to admire the City room.
And the toilets
Honestly, this was as good as it gets. Shame it’s rarely this quiet.
Time had crept up on us, we skipped the Bull’s Head and said goodnight.
Or did we ?
retiredmartin 
Yes, what a delightful young couple they were, and from the town of my ancestry. The love of proper pubs is not dead yet 😀
You didn’t have to make a choice? What about Wolverhampton’s finest imitation of Yorkshire?
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Was it Runcorn rather than Widnes then ?
I’ll whisper this so Richard doesn’t sneer; the Wolves Tetley isn’t much cop. And I don’t see as much Robbies as you do !.
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I was dragged up in Runcorn, but both my parents came from Widnes, and that is where their ashes are scattered. I’d agree on Wolvo Tetley’s – that brewery doesn’t suit that beer.
Dizzy Blonde seems to be popular in Manchester’s trad pubs – also seen in the Hare & Hounds and the Unicorn. It would appear that Robbies’ haven’t yet come up with the more demure “MeToo” image for the pumpclip.
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Ha Ha. That free food looks about as bland and uninspiring as a pint of Dizzy Blonde. The Bank’s brewed Tetley is abysmal, just another case of Marston’s (aka Wolverhampton & Dudley) brewing any old rubbish and turning it out for themselves or other companies under a classic name bought from a company that ceased to exist years ago.
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But Marstons have NOT “bought” the Tetleys brand.
Marstons brew Tetleys for Carlsberg according to their specifications.
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Is there some code in Tetley’s pump badges? The huntsman seems to have disappeared in a regular pub I use, but to be replaced by a third variant ,from what we see here.
I’ve never complained about any aspect of complementary food, however – not having grown up in Yorkshire, perhaps.
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Etu,
Long ago there was an agreement that the Tetleys huntsman was only used up north so as not to be confused with Eldridge Pope’s huntsman in the Dorset area. Then I think they stopped using it, then brought it back and I think that one was introduced six years ago to acknowledge their rugby league sponsorship and I’ve known Yorkshiremen proud to wear such imagery.
I also have never complained about any aspect of complementary food and that in the Circus Tavern was delicious compared to the “chicken sandwich” for which I paid £6 in the Beer House a few hours earlier.
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Thanks Paul. The pub to which I refer is in Yorkshire, incidentally. It seems to be a recent thing, maybe related to a “brewed-in-Leeds” posturing?
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PS, I used to see the hunstman clip at the Green Man in Wembley, as I recall, but that might be outside the period of the agreement that you mention?
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Oooh, the lucky Man City pub ! We might get there this year, but let’s not count chickens.
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Etu,
But I think that “brewed-in-Leeds” posturing is only for that new No 3 Pale Ale.
I doubt if Carlsberg would risk moving their main Tetleys cask beers from Wolverhampton.
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Yes, I need to keep up. That’s exactly what it is.
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Bit like Pedigree (or even Bass clips). All over the place. At least Doom Bar is striking and consistent (not joking).
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Now I’m thinking that the Circus Tavern was another contender for my highlight of the day – and, with having had a hearty breakfast, I’m not just saying that because of the freebie food.
The “hardworking wonder Landlady” told us that she had been there for several years and “loved it” which must be exceptionally rare for the lessee of a big pubco.
Should be an easy one this. What does the Circus Tavern have in common with the Roscoe Head ?
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Both were Tetley’s pubs back in the day?
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Tetley Heritage pub ? Similar stylistically of course.
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Yes, both were Tetleys pubs,
and both were then Punch pubs,
but also both get customers from Widnes,
although what I was thinking of is, looking at the front windows, both don’t just have bars inside.
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Doesn’t the Circus count as a virtual barn these days compared to many micros?
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Given that we actually found a seat, it’s virtually a mega-barn.
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Love the lived-in look of this place; you feel that a great many happy evenings have transpired there.
I remember having Tetley’s at a bar in San Francisco back in 2003. I wonder if that would have been reasonably authentic Tetley’s? Or one of these newer “degraded” versions? I quite enjoyed it, an any case.
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Mark,
Tetley’s Leeds Brewery was closed in 2011 but was that 2003 beer you had from a cask or a keg ? ,
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I’m sure it would have been keg; cask is so rare over here that bars always make a big deal out of it if they’ve got it on offer.
In those days I felt that Tetley’s was making a play at being “the next Boddingtons” here in the States. I’ll bet its availability in San Francisco was part of that effort (which, it would seem, was abandoned soon there after).
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Catching up, Mark. Yes, Boddies is the other beer that went downhill very quickly.
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Exactly, it’s a cheery place. You can read loads about The Circus on the web. Manchester City memorabilia in one room, United in the other, everyone mixes. I sense it would get more attention if the beers weren’t considered old-fashioned by some.
The Tetley you had in 2003 would have been Leeds, I guess, but presumably keg. Still enjoyable. Tets cask is one of the few beers I reckon went downhill by being moved, as contrasted with just selling a lot less than it used to.
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Martin,
I understand Yorkshire folk resenting Tetleys no longer being a properly local beer but “The Bank’s brewed Tetley is abysmal” is not my experience and the guide showing us round Banks’s Brewery last April told us of all the trails they did first to get it right.
It has been mentioned on here that Tetleys went downhill before being moved from Leeds and that will mainly explain allegations of it being “degraded”.
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“The Two Mudgies (repeats on BBC2 at Christmas)”
I didn’t know their first (or middle?) names were Ronnie. 🙂
“No I didn’t go for Tets”
Tsk, tsk. The one you chose is soooo non-PC. 😉
“Two Old Boys looked seriously impressed by my World Record attempt on the four pints of Robbies before tea record,”
They’d have been terrified if they’d known how many pints you’d had already that day.
“We shared our non-vegan sausage rolls with them.”
Pretty sure the word sausage pretty much implies non-vegan.
“Or did we ?”
Sigh. I was going to stop here and check the other blogs I’ve missed over the last three days. But… one more to be sure. 🙂
Cheers
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Google “Greggs vegan”, Russ.
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Good lord.
My respect for the UK has gone down every so slightly. 😉
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It’s too take the nation’s mind off a major disaster happening in the Spring*.
*Liverpool winning the League.
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