This blogging lark is easy, at least once Matt goes to College and the internet improves a bit (it was brilliant in the Eccles Trivelles this week, but I can’t move there permanently).
Just a picture of a cheese & onion cob and a nice half of pale on a beer mat; cue frenzy over “Barm/bap/cob” and the lack of BBB.
Plenty of good food options in Lichfield; the new micros and craft bars like Beerbohm and the Whippet compete with dozens of cafes and chain pizzerias for the grey pound. Rather like Ely, it’s a great place to wander without fear of being harassed by street entertainers.
I’ve already been reminded that when in Lichfield one should always go in the Horse & Jockey, the GBG stalwart. I just stood outside and took a photo of the GBG stickers.
I passed the H&J on the way to the other new Guide entry, under the arches at City station.
First and foremost, you’re always happy to find a micro open, as Pubmeister notes in half-yearly report.
Fairly good hours at Bitter-Suite, and an owner with a hospitality background who wins the pub welcome of the month award.
Possibly the pub equivalent of Terri and Jethro’s stint at Cambridge’s Carton, with loads going on, a kind word for every visitor (even children till 5pm) and those all-essential pub games.
Cool, tasty beer from Artisan might win Beer of the Month, too; you’ll have to see what I thought of Brighton.
Irresistible cheese and onion cobs and some of the best but most controversial political debate kicking off among my fellow retirees. BeerMat would be enthralled/appalled.
Only open since December 2017, which meant it made the Beer Guide in what some branches would think indecent haste. But it would be a travesty if this one had had to wait 18 months for its GBG debut. Discuss. Over a pint and a cob.
retiredmartin 
Bore Street? Is that where all the beer enthusiasts congregate?
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I was thinking Bore Street resulted in Wade Street just below; due to drilling bloody big holes in the ground so all the water started to well up in Wade. 😉
And Cross Keys? Is that where lost keys congregate? And, because they’ve been lost, they’re a tad cross?
Cheers
Russ
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Yes, “when in Lichfield one should always go in the Horse & Jockey”. It wasn’t on the itinerary last time I was in Lichfield but, being very near the B&K, I suggested it and we all had TWO pints and lunch there.
The “mind the pigeons” photo unusually shows the Lichfield Brewery ( acquired with 182 pubs by Allsopps in 1930 and closed in 1935 ) framed by the railway bridge.
I’m sure the “owner with a hospitality background” could more easily make a former pub, the Bridge Tavern, into a nice place than if it had formerly been shop premises like t’Whippet.
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If we were in a group the Kerplunk would definitely be chosen -it would get very noisy (like the Jenga incident in the Thomas Tallis in Canterbury ) The cheese things have always just been rolls to me so no debate
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Haven’t been to Lichfield for about 20 years but I do remember a pub specialising in cheese, pate and sausages and I’ve been racking my brains trying to think what it was called. Found the answer (I think) lurking in the comments here https://retiredmartin.com/2016/10/30/lichfield-tired-of-micropubs-tired-of-life/. Now I can rest.
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The Duke of York has only been “Joules” for several years and I’m not sure what it was between then and it ceasing to be a Davenports pub with the cheapest beer in Lichfield. .
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It was the Queen’s Head, Bill. And I remember the cheese and pate too. It was renowned for it, along with the Mark Addy and a pub in Didsbury.
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I knew the Queens Head many years ago as a proper Marstons pub but that was long before all that cheese, pate and sausages malarkey.
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“Malarkey” -great word.
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– and I usually leave the big words to t’other Mudgie.
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“cheese, pate and sausages malarkey”
Who brews that?
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Marston’s brews everything these days.
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Beginning to think this hospitality background for micros might be a clue to the ones I will really enjoy. Early Doors in Skipton and The Newsroom in Matlock both fit the mould and are much better for it. In contrast I went to a micro on the edge of Burton recently. Physically it was ok, but, as the ex-Thwaites regional manager I was with commented, “that bloke just shouldn’t be running a pub”.
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Tut tut.
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The “that bloke just shouldn’t be running a pub” comment about a micropub makes me think that “CAMRA membership and possession of social skills often seem mutually exclusive” also applies to SOME micropub owners, and I emphasise SOME in the same way that I suggest that SOME micropubs are opened ‘on the cheap’.
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Where SOME = 27.3%.
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“Name the Prolapse LP”
LP? Phew! When I read ‘prolapse’ I thought the next word would be rectum, in regards to the person bending over. 🙂
“Architectural & Ecclesiastical”
Churches aren’t considered architectural?
“Mind the pigeons”
Ok, now you’re just trolling us. 🙂
“A debate I won’t repeat going on there”
Give us a hint. 🙂
“Kerplunk”
Yahtzee for me.
“Discuss. Over a pint and a cob.”
Or a half. 😉
Cheers
Russ
(see, just starting to try and put my name down in case I forget to fill in the bloody details)
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Looks a nice place, never been. Anywhere serving Kelham Island beers will do for me though.They did a variation of that Night Rider with a Gene Vincent reference/name which was rather excellent at the time, few years ago though and the brewer (just retired) told me they only did it as a one off, or maybe twice.
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“A nice place”, yes, and likely to get a wider variety of customers than some recently opened premises.
And convenient for the City railway station.
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It must help that it has a pub structure. But it’s proud of being a micro as well. Just top people.
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Agree. Kelham Island never let me down (Pale Rider in Selby Spoons was superb).
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What Jenga incident 🙄
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Dropped in for the first time today- while it’s only up the road, I’ve not been to Lichfield on a Saturday for a long time, and Bitter Suite isn’t always open midweek. Lovely micro that feels like a proper pub, but without all the things that can ruin them these days. Saw a Backyard employee in there too, but then, the beer was great.
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Glad you enjoyed it. It was great.
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