Yes. The source of that famous quote can now be revealed*.
The most famous PubMan of them all (per RetiredMartin, anyway), can’t even pop in the Gents at the Philharmonic for a quiet p***, ithout pub bloggers hunting him down for autographs.
Anyway, as good as ever, even if smaller than I remember.
The journey to the Phil had taken us through the heart of nostalgia-mad ‘Pool.
We strode past the Primark where Ringo bought the suits the lads wore in Hamburg, stopping only to see if the Bass was on in the “World Famous” White Star.
Unbelievably, it was !
“Just a half of Bass then ?” said Paul
“One can never have a half of Bass”. We marched on, past the long-ruined Everyman bar.
Oh yes, still lovely, even if it is long out of the Beer Guide.
Looks quite quiet, doesn’t it ?
It really wasn’t. Paul nabbed the last table in the main room, full of Sunday diners. There were some good views from there.
Paul did the honours at the bar. Note that Nicholsons are sticking to “Beers you’ve heard of” to guarantee The Phil avoids the Beer Guide ticking crowd. Wise move.
The Pride was drinking well, as McCartney probably sang on a 1972 Wings B-Side. Cool, chewy, great lacings, NBSS 3.5. Probably cost a bit more than the pint in Spoons later though.
My first visit for a decade, and I’d forgotten how multi-roomed it was. If the coffee cups had been cleared away we’d have nabbed this table.
Anyway, there’s the classics, though you might add the Ship & Mitre, Baltic Fleet, Peter Kavanagh or the Cambridge, depending on your preferences.
We had craft to do.
*For the truth, as always, read Boak & Bailey here.
One of those pubs that people living 1000 miles away has heard of. Not my idea of a local though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nor mine. Roscoe Head for me.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Peter Kavanagh felt pretty special too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Next time.
LikeLike
I went to Peter Kavanaghs the previous day and the Roscoe Head both days.
Of thirteen pubs the Roscoe Head was undoubtedly my highlight of the weekend.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Boak & Bailey beat me to it, with the John Lennon reference. Great pub though, but 30+ years since I last called had a drink there.
LikeLike
visited the Phil when the CAMRA AGM was up there, have to say I wasnt as impressed, dont get me wrong its a nice building with bag fulls of history,even if its not lit well to show off its best features, but the beer was below average even for a Nicholsons, and we found a free table, in what seemed a very busy pub with standing room only at the bar, and then worked out why it was free, because it was nearest the entrance to the toilets, and the toilets absolutely reeked,like they hadnt been cleaned since John Lennon had actually last visited.
It certainly struck us at the time, as very much one of those tourist trade places that does well off just being a Beatles place to visit so wasnt putting much effort in. So I wasnt surprised to see it drop out of the GBG and far preferred the Roscoe Head, though it was the Baltic Trader which was our favourite pub
LikeLiked by 1 person
Don’t remember the Baltic Trader.
Possible the Phil has upped it’s game, or I struck lucky picking a popular beer.
LikeLike
“and the toilets absolutely reeked,like they hadnt been cleaned since John Lennon had actually last visited” – as if something he left there couldn’t possibly be flushed away ?
I couldn’t fault the Roscoe Head on either day.
I don’t know a Baltic Trader pub but, and I’m not quite sure why, I was disappointed with the Baltic Fleet which was just yards from where I was staying.
LikeLike
That was definitely Wings’ best song ever….
LikeLiked by 1 person
(slow golf clap)
LikeLike
😉
LikeLike
I first visited The Phil at the age of 17. We were on an A Level Geography field trip. Our tutor bought all of us a pint each. For the life of me I can’t remember what beer it was.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What NBSS did you score it though 🤔
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wes,
That depends when you were 17.
Up to 1921 it was a Cains pub, then probably Walkers, Tetleys and Allied Breweries before possibly being a free house when I remember Draught Bass on freeflow electric pumps as being the only real ale.
LikeLike
It was in 1981. For some reason I think it may have been Ind Coope Burton Ale. Was definitely served by hand pump. I didn’t become aware of electric pumps until I was a student in Sheffield in 1982. Even then most pubs had beer engines.
LikeLike
Yes, DBA in an Allied pub during 1881 sounds about right.
It was mostly Banks’s on my Geography field trip in Aberystwyth nine years earlier – not that there’s anything wrong with Banks’s ( as we all know ) but I thought I might find something less familiar to me having travelled 115miles.
LikeLike
Well, there’s that “All I’d need is a pint a day” line in Band On the Run– clearly McCartney was a CAMRA sort, even if he never formally joined. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Heh.
And now I can’t that bloody song out of my head. 😉
LikeLike
“Do the job”
I think you’re getting that mixed up with the stalls. 😉
“Dangerous walk past shops”
For most of us married men that’s a given (with the better half of course!). 🙂
“Certainly is”
Indeed. Consider (excessive) drinking affects the liver then ‘liver’ is most definitely the pool of life. 😉
“Mitchells & Butler ?”
Tsk, tsk. Surely that’s the famous orthodontic team of Mitchell and Bartlett (and Bell):
https://www.mbsmiles.com
“We marched on, past the long-ruined Everyman bar.”
You could’ve shared a pint with two straws.
“Pies and dogs”
My cynical side says the ‘speciality pies’ on the left are due to the ‘dogs’ being allowed on the right*. 🙂
* – a la Chinese restaurants and cats 🙂
“Detritus”
They named a table after one of Pratchett’s characters?
Bloody beautiful pub though to be sure.
Cheers
LikeLike
Yes. Beers you’ve heard of. Which is why on my last visit I walked in, looked round and walked out. The Philharmonic is not the pub it used to be, as others allude, it’s a tourist attraction.
Fair play to Nicholsons for taking it on and keeping it going. It’s just not the pub its used to be when I used to drink in there regularly, but like I say, it’s still there and accessible to everybody. Mind you, 35 years ago the beer wasn’t much special, in fact in 80s Liverpool you’d struggle to find a very good pint of real ale anywhere, unless you asked the bloke in the corner who could always sort you out with whatever you wanted.
LikeLike
Richard,
But tourist attractions make a significant contribution to the British economy.
I have always been interested in history and would far rather be sat with a pint of St Austell in the Philharmonic that plod round some National Trust property alongside folk even older than myself.
LikeLiked by 2 people
National Trust and me don’t get on, unless they’re running a pub, and then it’s likely to be rubbish (Bretforton apart).
LikeLike
The Fleece, yes, and they’ve got the Westgate Brewery’s beers on at the George in Southwark for you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fair point, but when you’ve experienced something, something truly real, then it’s not quite the same. I guess Cardinal Wolsey would say the same about Hampton Court 😜.
LikeLike