Our rent-free night in Cheadle had a happy ending, of course.
Turned away from the inn at the White Hart, I was tempted to get some cans of craft from Sainsburys Local. But home drinking is for losers, yeah ?
And, boosted by the calories permeating through the glass from the Kinder cake (44,766 calories),
Mrs RM somehow made it the 8 minutes to the other side of Cheadle and the Red Lion.
Two more possibles were duly noted as closed on the way.
Well, actually the Cons Club wasn’t technically closed but the “NO !” from Mrs RM was decisive.
Only another 3 miles and we could have just missed “last orders” at Ye Olde Vic.
We nearly missed “last orders” at the Red Lion, mind.
What sort of time is 10pm ?
Quite a late one when you’re a hardworking Landlord or Landlady trying to run a business and staying Covid compliant, I guess.
They’d done a good job to keep it feeling like a pub despite the instruction manual. And the trade looked better than anything I’d seen so far, even on the Glorious 4th, though perhaps with the rest of Cheadle closed you’d expect that.
Big beams, nice buzz of chat, a child or two (good to see), “When will I see you again ?“, a group of lads laughing about sourdough VAR.
Two beers is plenty, you know.
In 5 years time there’ll be a little symbol in WhatPub to indicate that someone has seen ANY cask pulled in a pub.
Not much cask pulled, but a lot of beer, and that’s a good sign.
Enough for a 3 for the Best, though the Blonde was a bit dizzy (you can have that line for a quid).
Last orders sounded (first time I’ve heard that for months, sinceHalifaxin fact), we staggered home, I slept nearest the door so I could use the “en-suite” (joke).
In the morning, I noted the community cafe was selling cans, though possibly not at 8am (or at 10pm, come to that). Great effort by the dog walkers, which is who parks are run for these days.
It looked rather more inviting than the Costa I’d already visited to get Mrs RM’s morning cappuccino (Good Husband award (Silver) 2008).
When you see that, you realise perhaps pubs aren’t doing that badly on the restart after all.
retiredmartin 
Glad your quest had a happy ending. I recall back in the late 80s being a little surprised that English pubs had to close so early (compared to their American counterparts). Is there still a law requiring closing by a certain time, or is it more a matter of the marketplace these days?
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It was traditionally 11pm Mon-Sat in 99% of pubs. Opening hours were relaxed a bit but few pubs bar the city chains stay open to midnight; they have to pay a late night surcharge.
Most pubs seem to be closing earlier having re-opened. What’s the Michigan experience ?
Mind, Paul Mudge and I wouldn’t notice much if pubs closed at 3pm !
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You didn’t miss much with the Royal Oak, as it’s a typical example of Robinson’s current stripped pine, Farrow & Ball pastel style and apparently not a commercial success either.
The Red Lion received what was seen at the time as a pretty drastic makeover about thirty years ago. However, since then it seems to have “grown in” to its new skin, as often happens, and is now one of the nicest pubs in Cheadle. It won a local CAMRA Pub of the Month award in 2018.
I think both of us Mudges would aim to be safely tucked up in bed by 11 pm as a rule 😀
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I think the Red Lion works quite well, and you wouldn’t really notice the Covid measures bar hand wash, contact details and no standing at the bar, which sounds like a gain to me !
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“Two beers is plenty, you know.”
Maybe but not those two.
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But I thought you liked the pale hoppy ones like Dizzy Blonde 😉
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Not all pale hoppy beers are good (to my taste) Dizzy Blonde has a kind of metallic twang I dislike.
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Sort of know what you mean, but the Dizzy Blonde some of us had in Manchester’s Circus Tavern last year was stunningly smooth.
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If you’re ever stuck for a beer (cask especially), it seems these rules have had little impact on the vast majority of the pubs in Bent, Bongs, Robert Shaw’s stomping ground and especially that lobby eating postcode of Wigan borough.
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Yes, I’d wager Leigh hasn’t changed one jot.
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Yes, and I’m not sure if Leigh is still home to Here for Your Hospitality Ltd that gave us the PoundPub chain we all enjoyed so much !
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Pound a half, wasn’t it?
Reckon Craft Union your better bet 😉
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Yes, £1 a half and £1.50 a pint.
I only went to the Leek one. PoundPub didn’t make a go of it and then neither did Lymestone on returning it to the Quiet Woman – just couldn’t compete with the Wilkes Head at the top of the street.
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£1.50 ? Not bad. The sole cask beer in the Newark one was Theakston.
Leek doesn’t do bad for pubs but a train station would add to Proper Day Out potential.
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The sole cask beer in the Leek one was from Peakstones Rock ( not to be confused with the Rock in Cornwall ).
Beeching was to blame for the closure of Leek railway station in 1965.
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