After three days break for “planning”, it was off to Halifax with Curry Charles.
With Charles starting at Dereham, the town that makes Wisbech seem modern, there was always going to be a need for multiple “comfort breaks“.
But there’s nowhere up the A1 that I haven’t stopped a dozen times.
Except Pontefract. Charles became animated at talk of Pontefract cakes and rhubarb, which clearly have different meanings in Norfolk.
No new Guide pubs here since the Greene King diner on the edge of town, and the Carleton is now the only GBG entry in a solid town of 30,000. That makes Castleford look exotic.
Charles was taken with the cobbled streets and stately architecture.
But a walk towards the castle reveals a more mixed picture.
It was tempting just to eat liquorice for lunch, but the sausage rolls and cheesy slices at Pickerings proved the healthier option we craved.
Five minutes to the castle, which was in the process of being redeveloped into a Brewhouse & Kitchen. Probably.
The views weren’t bad, and we could just make out Drax power station.
The town is rather dominated by a giant bus station, which famed Rugby League team Featherstone had come on a day trip to visit.
We had 20 minutes left on the parking (20p), just enough to buy Charles a half in the Spoons, admirably equipped with real fire, dartboard and regulation Old Boys.
Plenty of attractive pubs left in town, but zero obvious craft, apart from at the keg Sam Smiths, of course.
Just enough time to buy the eponymous cakes, find the quaintly named alley,
and buy Charles some emergency clothes for our night in Halifax.
retiredmartin 
A dartboard in a Wetherspoons !
Does Tim know ?
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The branch near me doesn’t only have a darts board, but has a team in a local league.
But you won’t find a dart board in a prestigious city centre branch !
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I don’t think “prestigious” is a word I have read in connection with Wetherspoons before.
Oh, or maybe that’s a branch in a prestigious city centre ?
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In some towns the Wetherspoons are the most attractive building around – see Huntingdon, St Neots, March and Tunbridge Wells. Gentlefolk think they’re smart.
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Quite like the “Commercial Rooms” in Bristol myself – a bit of prestige in there !
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…and Bristol certainly is one prestigious city.
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Yes, that’s a rarity. It actually felt like a Spoons where it might be used, too.
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Tim’s magazine/propaganda sheet sometimes likes to big up darts and other teams in the interests of “community”. Never seen a darts board in a Spoons myself though. Maybe I’ve just been using the “prestigious” ones…
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Ah yes. Drax. Another pretty Yorkshire name. Is that what that vampire got called by his mates?
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Many Spoons have a cozy appearance, but they always look like everything inside will be sticky.
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What, they look like a heavy metal drummer, dick?
Everything inside some of them is sticky quite often, but not all by any means.
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I guarantee you my brother had to google that joke.
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It passed me by too !
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Sorry!
Is it a typo, or is “cozy” a US etc. variant of our “cosy”?
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Incidentally, re Spoons, I read that Tim is implementing his non-marketing of rest-of-EU products as I write.
As some wag remarked, “what about Guinness?”
Love it.
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And what about Tim’s four venues in or near Dublin ?
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Our variant😀
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As Paul Bailey asked on his blog, what about Jamesons, Bailey’s etc. too?
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Yes, the joke went well over my head. Almost missed it. I can never remember to which posts I respond, they go by so quickly!!
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Life is sticky, Dick(y).
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These days even more so with the grandson here three days a week.
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I’ve heard that all too often the jazzy carpet is as sticky as the toffee pudding !
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I’ve been brooding over the prices in the various Spoons featured on here recently. In Bristol, the cheapest ale in Spoons was Ruddles Best at £1.99 and not all their pubs had it. The default price is/was £2.29 (before voucher) Elsewhere, it seems Ruddles is £1.69 or less and loads of cask at under £2.00, as in the photo in this post. Anyone else have any experience of big Spoons price differentials and how much is a pint in their airport branches these days?
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The January sales may have affected prices. I’ve mainly seen £2.15 as price for all beers apart from the house beer. A pint at the airport is over £4.
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Yes, you and Fred have reminded me of the sales which I’d forgotten about.
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Don’t forget that the January sale ended in ‘Spoons branches on Thursday. Hence, for the period from 2 January 2019 to 17 January 2019 inclusive, guest ales and Ruddles Best Bitter were generally reduced by 10 pence per pint. So the branches featured on here “recently” might have been showing sale prices.
The default price in the South but outside of city centres is now £1.99 per pint for guest ales and £1.79 per pint for Ruddles Best Bitter. But prices are higher in city centres or affluent areas. So those are the prices in The William Morris in Cowley. But go three miles down the road to the two branches in Oxford city centre and the guest ales are £2.59 per pint.
RM recently featured somewhere on the outskirts of London – possibly Ruislip – and his photograph suggested that £1.99 is the guest ale price in that branch too.
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I entirely empathise with the break for “3 days planning” – much of our work is unseen in this way, thrashing out the detail with the back office boys etc. I sense this is building up to a big night out in Halifax.
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Unfortunately, a very big night. Why can’t all GBG pubs stock a 1.4% cask bitter for us, rather than and 8.5% DIPA ?
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“which clearly have different meanings in Norfolk.”
I think Norfolk folk folking love to bugger up the King’s English. 😉
“Cobbled streets”
Good lord. It looks like something out of a zombie movie.
“I was after a Lloyds”
Isn’t that where Simon works? 😉
“Future mic..”
If I win the lotto, I’m buying it!
“I spy Drax”
It’s where all the clouds converge, innit?
“and regulation Old Boys”
I hear they’re pretty cheap to rent for the day.
“Rare Spoons dartboard”
And no wonder; bloody difficult to score any points throwing spoons.
“Nettle Thrasher “pretty good” said Charles”
I’d have gone for the Winterfell; if only for the Game of Thrones reference. 🙂
“and buy Charles some emergency clothes for our night in Halifax.”
Here’s me not asking what the bloody hell you were up to in Halifax.*
*(although it looks a bit like the ‘lost night’ I missed out in in Hamburg back in ’81) 😉
Cheers
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That Elland beer described as a “Premium Session” – do they think “Best Bitter” will deter the craft drinkers?
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