Odd tidy-up post, this, combining Preston, Penwortham and the Queen of Sydney.
Quite a good day out from Eccles, five new GBG pubs including two I failed to pre-empt on the legendary Preston trip back in the heady days of August.
I was a bit surprised to see Orchard enter the GBG mere days later, as it hadn’t appeared on Matthew aka Seeing the Lizard’s definitive list of “10 pubs to do in Preston before a Mick’s Mixed Grill“.
But in this season of charity I’ll excuse Matthew making me come back to Preston because;
- I wanted to explore retirement options further.
- Back in August I was drinking non-alcoholic options anyway
- I suspect we wouldn’t have all fitted in Orchard, a small bar in the indoor market.
No doubt Stafford Paul would have gone for the 10% Hop Suplex, but after a half of something on cask to get the tick I went for local Chain House “Hear My Rant“, which was a good as the Orchardman said it was.
Oh yeah, it was Pomona on cask. Can’t beat Pomona.
The guy was incredibly chatty about pubs and Preston, which on a surge at the moment.
If Mrs RM does decide to move up here (probably depends on the internet) I expect I (and she) will alternate between here and the craft John Smiths cask in the Market Tap.
Lovely collection of enamel badges too. Five points for identifying the PTSC one.
If I took notes (and I doubt it) they’re long gone, so I can’t tell you if Orchard played “Jessie’s Girl“, and I can’t tell you much about the Tap & Vine over the river in Penwortham, either.
It took me longer to get served than to walk from the bridge, due to some complex pricing system the lad was still mastering.
In that time I had a chat with a well-dressed gent from Much Hoole with a Preston Cricket Club tie and a pent-up frustration with A59 road closures. The beer, almost incidentally was crisp and superb (3.5).
As was Julia Jacklin, who ended my latest Manchester jaunt with a euphoric set at Gorilla, the least exciting of Manchester gig venues (O2 excepted).
But will she feature in my end-of-year roundup ?
retiredmartin 
How did you manage to get the top shot of the Donald’s badge collection?
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He’s made of wood. Doesn’t move very fast.
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“Feel the tension soon as someone mentions me
Here’s my ten cents, my two cents is free
A nuisance, who sent, you sent for me?”
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Van Halen, yeah?
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“1. I wanted to explore retirement options further” – and there was us believing that a “permanent exploration of places, pubs, people and new music” was the ONLY retirement option.
“No doubt Stafford Paul would have gone for the 10% Hop Suplex, but after a half of something on cask” – yes, either that or made my excuses for an hour and nipped out to the Black Horse and the Old Blue Bell.
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You still need a permanent address for CAMRA to send the 50p vouchers and the new Good Beer Guide to, Paul.
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I can think of a few other reasons as well, Martin.
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Respectability? 🤔
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I seem to recall you going to a Julia Jacklin show a year or two back. I will have to check out her music, she must be a real talent.
Had never heard of Much Hoole until now. Does the word “Much” figure in other village names in England, or is that a one of a kind?
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Mark,
Much Wenlock is the best known but there’s also a Much Marcle near Ledbury.
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Much Ado About Nothing is, of course, a suburb of a well known but dull Warwickshire town.
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I’m always loathe to declare music I like “great” or “the best” because all our tastes are so individual, and there’s so much I haven’t heard. But yes, I’ve combined Julia with pub trips half a dozen times in 3 years.
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All open pubs selling beer are good pubs is my baseline and these three do nothing to dispel this….boring but true!
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