Reader qq (Querulous Quentin ?) has requested I zoom out to show you where some of these places are. That’s a little disappointing as I assumed everyone knew Chester was a suburb of Runcorn.
Anyhow, just for qq;
Yes, a rare trip to the Edge of Ellesmere Port.
The posher bit, certainly, though you wouldn’t know it as you walk up to the Halfway House.
Wow. The Proper Pub way to finish a county chapter, with a traditional (ex)Marston’s pub during a Sunday lunch session. Well done, Chester CAMRA.
I enter to the sound of ’70s M.O.R., a display of “Greatest Dad” balloons and a discussion about Corbyn round the corner.
Interesting beer range, I note as I wait for the Landlady to return from the crisp cellar.
I also lean over to note the Purple Moose is dripping so I have that. Saves me asking which beer is going fastest which I know Beer Twitter disapproves of, believing the Cask Lottery is something to embrace.
I get a great welcome, an enquiry about the weather, and the Moose in a branded glass, so I win at life.
“There ya go, sweetheart !” she says. Even BRAPA doesn’t call me that after six pints.
Obviously the seat opposite the Sunday Politics pub calls me. To be honest the discourse is predictable, but the spectacle is pure pub.
The Moose is more than adequate to finish Cheshire, cool and smooth (NBSS 3+), and leaves epic lacings.
Meanwhile, at the bar, nothing much happens.
The Old Boys move on to hearing aids and lawn mowers (not literally) and I reckon I’m back in pub heaven.
And that, my friends, is Cheshire GBG19. Somehow, I survived.
retiredmartin 
We’ll make sure somebody opens a micro on Mars.
Yourself, Duncan and Simon can then share a capsule for the trip to tick it. There may be a lack of pot plants.
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Oh, you haven’t see “The Martian” then. We can grow plants in the 3 months it takes for the micro to open.
The lack of atmosphere isn’t a problem in micropubs.
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I thought the lack was compulsory under Herne rules?
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The Welsh works better, doesn’t it? “Puce Moose” as the pronunciation would approximate, I suppose.
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“The Moose is more than adequate” even if it is a bright beer.
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I don’t even know what a bright beer is, Paul.
I thought “dropped bright” meant ready to serve.
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A bright beer is usually a beer that leaves the brewery bright such that it doesn’t need to drop bright in the pub.
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Is that a bad thing? (serious question).
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Yes – but not as bad as pasteurisation and / or pressurisation.
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Another county falls under your spell. I can see that pink bloc spreading west. Very concerned however, that the era of the spreadsheet is in terminal decline.
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Oh, spreadsheet shaming.
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Things are getting desperate. You left me no choice.
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Well. It’s out of the closet now.
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About time. It’s a thing of great beauty. Daily updates would be even better.
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Real time updates available for Patronised readers.
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It’s these posts where you really make us green with envy.
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Green? That’s BRAPA and Duncan. I’m strictly pink (marker).
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Is that Mudgie in the purple jumper?
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Mudgie is more sophisticated than that, I tell you.
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It’s (always) too warm for jumpers.
But a nice idea having one to match the moose.
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I thought that too for a second. Mudgie hails from nearby Runcorn, so the guy’s probably a distant cousin of his.
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People often caricature parts of East Anglia as having a shallow gene pool, but on my travels I’ve found that it’s Pennine valleys where you spot the most lookalikes. And Welsh ones, come to that.
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Ha 😀 that sounds perfectly feasible!
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Oh, and among the royals and landed, it goes without saying.
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Well this is my first Martin blog read since getting back from my travels, and I could hardly have chosen a better one, what with it being all about a right proper pub, and also including the classic line, “Even BRAPA doesn’t call me that after six pints.”
Looking forward to getting caught up with recent posts, even if I can’t promise I’ll get to everything I’ve missed in the last three weeks. Your blog has been sorely missed, believe me!
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I should warn you, there’s some scary characters in Duncan and Simon’s recent posts, I’d head there now 😉
Plus Proper Pubs on BeerMat, he adds quickly…
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“Anyhow, just for qq;”
I just use Google Maps whilst reading. 😉
“First time at Hooton station”
And that’s about the oddest name of the lot.
“The posher bit, certainly, though you wouldn’t know it as you walk up to the Halfway House.”
A posh halfway house would be a tad ironic.
“Admit it. The first thing you noticed was “Prosecco””
(shyly raises hand whilst blushing)
“to return from the crisp cellar.”
They sell that many bags of potato chips?
“Even BRAPA doesn’t call me that after six pints.”
(slow golf clap)
““Irish backstop etc etc””
Was that in relation to hockey or baseball?
“Gorgeous”
It’s lacings all the way down!
“Stained glass Gents”
Yes, we can see that.
Oh, sorry, I thought you were calling us gents. 😉
Cheers
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Some people just don’t make the effort with this blog, do they Russ.
I’d never start to read BRAPA without the Official Guide to Woke so I get all his woke references (or a guide to zoo animals if he’s in Yorkshire).
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“Some people just don’t make the effort with this blog, do they Russ.”
Not everyone can be on their game 24/7 like you buds. 🙂
Cheers
PS – As for Si, pfft! I’d just pull the ‘over 60’ card and say I’m too old to learn new things. 😉
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Heh, you would choose an area I used to go through all the time as a lad for your first expanded view!
Marston has been selling off a lot of that kind of pub to fund their shiny new Harvester-style places on the outskirts of town.
Quentin.
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Yes, the Rhyl pub I just blogged on is ex Marston by the look of it. See quite a few of their sold off places in the Guide.
To be fair to Marston, their dining pubs seem a rare pub success story and are at least giving folk a chance of a pint in the suburbs. (Discuss).
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The Pedigree in Marstons’s new build Knot and Plough is the best and most reliable beer in my four nearest pubs
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Is that because the traditional family brewers maintain decent standards in their pub stock and people drink beer they like, Paul?
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There might be exceptions but by and large yes.
And 84% of ale drinkers want to see at least one nationally recognised ale brand on the bar and Pedigree is especially recognised in its native Staffordshire.
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