Yes, I know that’s not Weller. That’s not how this blog works.
My last Staffordshire tick should always be in Newcastle-u-Lyme, one-time home to legends.
A great county for pubs, but sadly this year’s crop is a bit micro/craft bar heavy. I guess it’s hard to build an original Victorian three room boozer from scratch in 2018, and Joules seem to have run out of steam.
So Newcastle has gone full-on craft bar, like a posher Middlesbrough, if you can imagine that.
But of course, they’re modern bars (and hairdressers) firmly rooted in the 1980s.
You have to pass Britain’s best collection of street art to get to Wellers.
I’m starting to get bewildered by central Newcastle, and Wellers is marked as being exactly where the Lymestone Vaults is.
But the Vaults has a few customers over 30.
Wellers clientele weren’t even conceived when the Style Council made the worst record of all time in 1987.
Two bouncers outside tell me that they’re expecting a lively Pravha-fuelled Bank Holiday Sunday.
All looks a bit civilised to me.
Mudgie reflected, in the comments on Sanctuary, on the growth of small vertical drinking establishments in towns like this.
There’s actually a bit of Proper seating here, underneath the “Cost of Loving” deluxe reissue, but I quickly realise I’ve picked the wrong day for a reflective visit.
But the service is quick, two blokes in front risk a public flogging by favouring cask over Pravha, and the peppery Wild Wood is the beer of the month, matched only by the view from the pub garden.
One question. Why is the lady drinking pasta with a fork?
retiredmartin 
“Humph”
(I could only continue your heading in Grease, Summer Nights mode, Martin)
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One day, all beer gardens will look like that (written from a prone position in a club with more comfortable seating than the last 20 micropubs I’ve been in).
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“written from a prone position”
Supine, surely.
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Very comfy seating, almost horizontal by that stage of the afternoon. No chance of ever falling asleep with your pint sitting on a micropub high stool, the bit about getting old I was most looking forward to…
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I’m intrigued by the identity of the Style Council’s “worst record of all time”. They did a few good ‘uns and a couple of clunkers but I can’t think of an obvious candidate for this high honour.
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It doesn’t matter.
That’s a clue 😉
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Oh yes. That was a bit of a stinker wasn’t it?
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We in the States were spared “It Didn’t Matter”– never heard it until curiosity got the best of me and your post led me to check it out. Wow, that is indeed a very feeble track!
I was also intrigued by the line “and Joules seem to have run out of steam”; are Joules pubs often the sort of old-fashioned 3-room boozer you referred to?
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I’m rather a fan of unexpectedly rubbish singles by well known artists. See also “This Wreckage” by Gary Numan.
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Oh, Joules. Yes, their pubs have a fair bit of character. Haven’t had a new entry in the Guide for a year or two so I haven’t been in one of their pubs for a bit.
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Mark,
The new Joules pubs are full of tat.
The old Joules pubs were all Proper Pubs, often three roomed, until Bass Charrington took over the Stone brewery fifty years ago and closed it in 1974.
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Paul is right, but I reckon Mark would find Joules pubs and beer to his taste 😉
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Yes indeed. Joules’s new beers are better than from many a microbrewery and their plastic beams are actually wooden and so they’re to many people’s taste
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The growth of small, economic new openings (and brewery taps) is as inevitable as the decline of the behemoths. Apart from Marstons no one is, or is likely to be, building pubs and they aim at a family market. Life is a lot less communal these days and pubs evolve to reflect social changes. Perhaps I should submit a thesis on the matter to the University of Tranmere using you as a referee? At least they mostly sell good beer, unlike many pubs when I was an apprentice drinker.
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“and Joules seem to have run out of steam.”
(slow golf clap) – well done sir. Joules/Steam. 🙂
“they’re modern bars (and hairdressers) firmly rooted in the 1980s.”
Isn’t that a bit of an oxymoron?
“Weird shape”
Maybe it’s twinned with the Brown Derby in L.A.?
“Two bouncers outside”
Bouncers? Get out!
“Bar flies excusable”
Love how Tiny Rebel’s offering is Pump Up the … Jam. 😉
“matched only by the view from the pub garden.”
I’d say you don’t get out much but that would be a lie.
“Why is the lady drinking pasta with a fork?”
Judging by her, um, physique, I’d say she’s ‘milking’ it for all it’s worth. 😉
Cheers
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I don’t get out much, Russ.
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Interesting building – Google StreetView reveals that it was previously a fashion retailer called “Katwalk”. The adjoining building to the right was previously a public lavatory – remember those?
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Public lavatories? That’s socialism, dear boy 😀
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I have to say I liked Weller’s when I visited 🍻😉
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