Not only is the Marlpool not in the current GBG (I did it years ago), I can’t even see the place on my map !
To the east of the station lies the wonders of Eastwood, as recently investigated by Life After Football. 16 micros in a 3 mile radius, he reported, which I make three per person.
I do like a nice clock, more so one that tells the right time. Well done, Eastwood.
One of these days I’ll visit the D.H Lawrence museum, or read one of his book about gardening or whatever.
But for now you’ll have to make do with this illustration from Page 349 of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover“, which I saw on the telly once.
I couldn’t see the the Gamekeepers behind the scaffolding, but scaffolding is THE sign of a hidden micro.
Having dawdled around for an hour waiting for the 15:00 opening, it was inevitable that it had opened at 14:45 with the regulation Old Boy installed at the bar.
It’s a small pub, rather than a high table. So you get babes in arms, pint drinking mums (hoorah !), lager AND Cloudwater cans, and proper seating.
You also get, as Old Boy at Bar delightedly told me, HAPPY HOUR from 3-4 ! (It wasn’t actually 3pm yet, but we’ll overlook that technicality).
So my pint of Lenton 36 Degrees North costs £2.50, saving me the 50p that CAMRA folk demand as of right.
One for the purists now, so folk looking for banter should move on a paragraph; the Lenton was superbly conditioned and presented (NBSS 3.5) but a bit plain. A session beer in an era of sipping beers.
“Reminds me of Mansfield Bitter” I remarked, after Old Boy had given me the beer name.
Old Boy then provided an astonishingly detailed analysis of the merits of Mansfield from his career as a drayman. Genuinely riveting stuff, of which I understood not a jot. Stafford Paul would have been in his element.
More folk wandered in with shopping bags (not full of Panda Pops bottles) and the discussion turned to the horses and the merits of 50p each way bets.
I held my empty glass up to the Old Boy.
“Look at those lacings. Sign of a good pint”.
“Aye”.
Genuinely wonderful. Perhaps I’m easily impressed, perhaps I’ve missed pubs too much. Yes, it’s that.
retiredmartin 
Well, the time on that clock may have been right, but it’s defo got the year wrong. Could it have stopped 21 years ago? Just guessing.
Sorry to hear that Marlpool has disappeared from the map. It’s still on the bus timetable.
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Oh no, I remember the trouble caused on the old CAMRA Forum by discussing clocks.
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It’s a good job there’s not a pub called “The Proper Pub” with an autovac that uses the AM:PM clock or Discourse would be in meltdown.
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You could always open one. Offend everybody if it’s a micropub called that.
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It’s only because Russ is on holiday that you can get away with saying things like “gardening or whatever” in a piece about the birthplace of Lawrence of Arabia. He’ll take you to pieces when he returns.
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I hope Russ is going to read all my posts when he gets back from larking about; I need the foreign views.
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I’m a little disappointed that no one picked up on my “birthplace of Lawrence of Arabia” gag. Well, I thought it was pretty funny.
Anyway.
Perhaps you could advertise for some sharper-witted followers, Martin? Or perhaps they’re afraid that I *really* can’t tell the difference between TE Lawrence and DH Lawrence, and would be offended if they point it out. I can, and I wouldn’t have been, respectively.
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You can be too clever for your own good on this blog, Will.
Isn’t TE Lawrence the one who dressed up a CAMRA member to gain admittance into a closed GBG micro or something ?
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Are you certain that statue isn’t the barmaid from Horsham who was allegedly more attractive than Simon?
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At last…a pub I know!!! Completely concur as it’s a cracker – about time Happy Hours made a comeback…should be law!
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