OLIVES IN A TEA CUP IN KIRKBY-IN-ASHFIELD

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Last stop on the Mini Midlands Micro tour was in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, the “edgy” bit of Mansfield and a regular stop for GBG visits over two decades.

dandy cock

Sadly, George’s Tradition chippy seemed to have given way to an inferior copy, though you can’t complain at £3.70 for fish and huge pile of chips to last you all the way to Newark.

The Dandy Cock was the highlight of the day.

Situated next door to Shabby2Chic, who as you’ll see appear to have provided the bulk of the furnishings.

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Possibly more useful than IKEA
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Wait.  What ? Is that an actual pub sign

It’s not your usual micro.

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The domestic look

A bit of the Fez in Margate, a bit of Abigail’s Party, a bit of that chintzy teashop in Faversham that closed in 1976, and a lot to gawp at. We were in awe.

Usual beer range and jam jars, of course.

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Dime APA not Dime bar flavour
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Go for the Sniper

I ordered two halves, as Mrs RM was on a roll with her beer sommelier role.

“Is one of those in a ladies glass ?”  said the lady.  Mrs RM bristled.

“Er, no. Straight glass please”  I was a bit horrified at the casual sexism, before realising it was only 1976 in Ashfield. What are those weird things people are holding below ?

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Mrs RM calls the Casual Sexism Hotline from the cinema seats

Only joking (I think), I loved this place.  Perhaps I’m going soft.

The beers were rich and tasty, the olives (told you it was Abigail’s Party) decanted into an ancient tea cup rather disconcerting.  But I’m game for anything.

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Tea cup olives – a first for this blog

Mostly middle-aged couples (says I) but as far away from the atmosphere in Ramsgate or Sidcup as it is legally possible to get.  This is the side room.

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Looks like Russ’s Mansion

Great Notts banter to enjoy, mostly couples comparing the value-for-money of nearby chain pubs.  Youngsters reading this blog (Tom and Simon) should be aware you reach an age where comparing the price of a steak is high drama.  A few years later you start reading out the menu aloud.  Then you die.

“If I don’t drink for the whole of January my liver may recover” said the man with a pint.

And as for the loos.

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Ah ! that’s what those horns are for

More to see than a National Trust property, and a future Twitter avatar RIGHT HERE.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

44 thoughts on “OLIVES IN A TEA CUP IN KIRKBY-IN-ASHFIELD”

  1. I think, if Ladies would like a Ladies glass then it is nice for them to have one, or at least the choice. I’m sure people will be throwing their arms in the air and shouting sexist Dinosaur. If they want a pint glass then of course they can have one, or indeed whatever sort of glass they may desire. Maybe I am of another era, but I think the traditional stemmed ladies glass looks much more elegant, and probably suits most types of beer so much better than any straight Nonic or Sleever type, and God forbid the heavy tankard style. Looking around aren’t most of the ‘so called’ craft beer glasses stemmed anyway. If ever I required inspiration I would look to HM The Queen and ask, would you ever see Elizabeth II with a pint pot in her hand.

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    1. It’s the use of the term “ladies glass” that stereotypes women as wanting girly beer things, surely. To be fair, Mrs RM’s reaction was “Stick that in your blog !” rather than “I’m shaking with rage at the male patriarchy”.

      Personally, the battle is with the dimpled jug, not the ladies glass.

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      1. Who would have ever thought, that of all the things under the sun, that damned monstrosity would make a comeback? All we can do is to keep our eyes open, and be ready with a pre-emptory “Oh, no, a straight glass please”.

        But that looks a great place Martin. I knew the Kirkby-in-A to Bolsover patch quite well around 1976, and no, you would have found nowhere remotely like that there then.

        It’s an eye-opener that your blogs are giving, on what, during the 1990s and noughties would have been written off as forgotten, post-industrial wastelands, but which are now quite widely finding their feet again, thankfully.

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      2. I can see the appeal of a quirky, homely micro for the couple on a night out; it’s the “six high tables round the walls and no soft furnishings” micros that bemuse me. These places do pop up where there are empty shop units, cheaper rates and a bit of ale culture – see: Margate, Gillingham, Folkestone, Middlesbrough (!).

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      3. It depends on setting, atmosphere, décor, lighting etc. The Black Dog in Whitstable has narrow high tables around the walls, but its busy, bustling setting and the rest means that it suits me fine. They’ve got the footrests and benches just right, so it is still comfortable.

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      5. I NEVER got asked “Is one of those in a ladies glass ?” in a pub’s Men Only bar up to the mid 1970s.
        Life was much more straightforward when I were a lad.

        Never mind about a third of a tea cup of olives, I was getting a FULL half pint glass of them in the Dog and Duck, Bateman Street over ten years ago

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      6. What about the people who still consider themselves Ladies and would wish to be regarded as so. My Mother would certainly expect to be offered a beer in a, to her mind, appropriate glass. What price her viewpoint, a, now elderly, independent business women who did most of the things modern feminists seek, off her own back.

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      10. “What price her viewpoint”?
        Indeed one of the most unfortunate aspects of twenty-first century Britain is the lack of intercourse between different generations and thus the absence of understanding of those of another age.

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    3. Surely in this enlightened age men should be allowed to drink halves in elegant stemmed glasses, and women to drink pints out of dimpled mugs and Noniks, if they so desire, and nobody bats an eyelid. And the other way round.

      Although it must be said that when the issue of “why don’t women drink more beer?” comes up, one of the frequent complaints is the “offputting glassware”.

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      1. I’m quite happy to drink halves out of tulips, much prefer them to dull unbranded half glasses. Mrs RM likes a pint. It’s all patriarchy driving those survey results, of course.

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  2. I don’t drink beer but if I did a ladies glass would be nice (I do occasionally indulge in a Belgian beer -fruit or sour ,which usually comes in a lovely glass ! ) Sorry to disagree with you ,but I think this “pub ” looks awful -all that horrid furniture -I quite like a high stool -there I’ve said it !

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      2. It’s the fact that somewhere like that is doing OK, in what I remember K-in-A to be, which redeems it.

        I wonder if there’s a pie-and-mash shop in Chipping Norton?

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  4. Love the sequence of sentences about reaching the “age where comparing the price of a steak is high drama.”

    Sadly I am at the worst age of all: the one where I won’t even allow myself to order steak, and will instead sit there asking, “What’s worse for my cholesterol, the chicken or the shrimp?” 😉

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  6. When you get to the Sweffling White Horse you will find a full range of snacks in teacups – but no olives I’m afraid! I’m rather partial to the roasted broad beans myself.

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    1. I have been to Sweffling when it first made the Beer Guide about 5 years ago and was astonishingly good from memory. Limited opening hours though ! May return just for broad beans if they promise not to serve beer in those Adnams glasses ;-0

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  7. “We were in awe.”

    You might say it covered the range from Shabby 2 Chic. 😉

    “What are those weird things people are holding below ?”

    The modern equivalent of a security blanket. 🙂

    “Mrs RM calls the Casual Sexism Hotline from the cinema seats”

    When you ring up do they just call you ‘babe’, ‘schnooks’ or some such till you hang up?

    “But I’m game for anything.”

    Except jam jars or dimpled mugs.

    “Looks like Russ’s Mansion”

    I keep forgetting to put tape over my computer camera when not in use.

    “Ah ! that’s what those horns are for”

    Also handy if one has ‘wheelnuts’ that the toilet paper can’t deal with. 😉

    Cheers

    PS – “should be aware you reach and age”

    Perhaps an vice and?

    ““If I don’t drink for the whole of January my liver my recover” said the man with a pint.”

    My, my. With talk like that I doubt he’ll recover. 🙂

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