The Crown came into view just as a light drizzle descended on Lime Street Station, overlooked but not overshadowed by the ongoing building works behind it.
What a wonderful pub to step into on a drab Sunday morning.
Inside, Stafford’s Paul Mudge seemed mildly surprised to see me nearly on time.
He hadn’t even finished his mid-morning snack.
I was meeting Paul in the Pool as much to present the coveted “Pub Man of the Year” award as to tick a few new micro pubs, though sadly I’d been unable to retrieve the trophy off the previous holder.
A quick look round the pub revealed little loyalty to the cask.
Paul was on the Landlord, but, following the lead of Stockport’s finest,
I felt obliged to go for the Pride before you-know-what happens*.
I could have had one of those weird guest beers if I’d looked right, and not been dazzled by the beauty of the ceiling.
Over a pint of Pride that wasn’t drinking well, but not that well (NBSS 3) Paul showed me his itinerary for the local CAMRA branch trip yesterday.
Note the Crown isn’t on it. Or the Phil. I guess Liverpool is so regular a day trip round here you can afford to be choosy.
There are people who would travel 2,000 miles for pubs as beautiful as this.
*Spoiler – nothing will happen, except London will continue to drink Peroni instead.
retiredmartin 
Seems I pressed a button that stopped comments when I posted it yesterday. Fire away now.
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The beautiful Crown has always been a favourite of mine. It was lucky to survive a period as the Florin and Firkin in the 90s. I seem to recall bare wood floors and barrels as tables, thank god they didn’t strip the ceilings!
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Well done Phil. First in when the Soviet-style embargo on comments was lifted.
A Firkin ? Grief, did well to survive that unscathed.
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Yes, but that itinerary for the local CAMRA branch trip the previous day with “The Crown” isn’t on it.
Or “The Phil” followed deliberations including “At some point maybe pop in to the Philharmonic for a wee!”. Me pointing out that “The toilets are nothing compared to the main rooms of ‘the most ornate pub in England’” was an irrelevance as they were seeking interesting beers not interesting pubs – just as I did in my misspent youth.
I had though opined that “Liverpool is a terrible choice for a branch trip as that city has far, far too many good pubs to be done in a day !” and explained that “I shall therefore be staying the night with two days hopefully meaning that I won’t miss too many of Liverpool’s really good pubs”, hence my most pleasant few hours with Martin on the Sunday.
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Expecting people to bring a packed lunch to a city with plenty of food-serving pubs is a bit of a poor do, tbh. B&PF wouldl
L never put up with that 😛
I suppose it represents single-minded dedication to the cause, though.
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To be fair, it was unfair of me to take a photo of Paul’s itinerary, but the Southworths and BRAPA will know how I love bits of paper with words on them. He has to put up with a lot, that lad (or la’ for Scousers).
I don’t think Paul or you or I would cope with the lack of regular food stops, however good the pubs.
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Yes, “a bit of a poor do” but not as bad as what I saw in a leaflet for a local branch of the Ramblers Association – those folk even older and more curmudgeonly than us – that for their day walks they might expect to stop off at lunchtime in a public house where they could eat their packed lunches, but they would be expected to buy a drink each there !!!!
But why take a packed lunch when there’s proper pies at £2.75 from a proper bar top pie heater in the Roscoe Head ?
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And we appreciate those shots of bits of paper. Especially itineraries so we can live dream from afar.
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Yours were particularly good…
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I have no idea where all that gobbledegook came from…
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Too much Cloudwater DIPA ?
Not sure whether to delete it as a mercy killing or award it a prize.
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Ramblers are notorious for their stinginess in that respect, and nowadays half of them would probably demand their free glass of tap water. Any publican worth their salt would insist on the rule that only food purchased on the premises can be consumed, but if the pub is otherwise empty maybe they are glad of the business, thin pickings though it be.
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Might the “Killowen” on the sixth line have something to do with the block-quoting-hater Owen ?
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Is “Killowen” about block quoting ?
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Mmmmm. Further to what others have said. I know it might be the Campaign For Real Ale, but one of the central tenets is supporting pubs, be that through campaigning, or resorting for drinking, and or eating. There’s a theme here, running alongside the predilection for ‘discounts’ that many branches seem to embrace.
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I agree, but what that does comment relate to?
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“overlooked but not overshadowed by the ongoing building works behind it.”
For some reason, that reminds me of the beginning of the movie ‘UP’. 😉
“Not the greatest pub sandwich ever”
I thought that was a slab of Brie… or maybe Tiramisu. 🙂
“I felt obliged to go for the Pride before you-know-what happens*.”
Indeed. Pride before the fall and all that. 🙂
“Beautiful”
They nicked that from Rome.
“There are people who would travel 2,000 miles for pubs as beautiful as this.”
Or just over 4,500 miles for me. 🙂
Cheers
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But very disappointing when confronted by gorgeous pubs with sub-par beer though.
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