No, not Simon ! He does that job from the Public Bar in the Sam Smiths pub near his York home, now Sir Humphrey welcomes the use of electronic devices again.
I’m writing about the Bankers Cat, which Mrs RM and I managed to pre-emptively tick in the 37 minutes between our Hebden and Sheffield connections last week. Whoever invented breaking a journey deserves an award for services to ticking.
Only a few yards from the station, though of course that means 342 steps to get out of the station, five roads to cross,
and the temptations of Tetley at the Scarbrough to pass by (next time, Scarbrough Hotel, next time).
Leeds has looked like a building site for 3 decades now, since the fleeting success of their dirty team somehow convinced they were a BIG city. I blame the bankers.
My job brought me to Leeds a few times of year, which was useful for ticking, but Mrs RM hadn’t seen it for a decade or more.
It’s impressive and colourful, and I was nearly dragged into the Griffin for an IPA,
but a little research had revealed the Bankers Cat (note lack of possessive apostrophe as bankers don’t possess cats) as the most likely banker for GBG22. Unless there’s another Head of Steam.
Mrs RM was immediately impressed with the woodwork and styling here, and the loos.
I was more impressed with a rapid cask turnover (a dozen varied pints in ten minutes) that frankly Sheffield’s Bath Hotel in Sheffield could do with.
Yes, Thornbridge‘s latest venture into the beating heart of our cities (see also: Birmingham and York). was doing a roaring trade at 15:45 on a damp Thursday, full of casual afternoon drinkers as well as the odd skiving futures trader (what future ?).
The Jaipur was a silky 3.5, the keg Bad Kitty a bit thin, the private room with its self-serve wine bar getting more appealing by the second.
But that’s the thing about me and Mrs RM. We know our limits.
A new bar with dark wood and comfortable seating – it will never catch on! 😮
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It’s quite upmarket, but I wonder what Stafford Paul would make of it !
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This place is a new one on me. Going to try it next time I am in town. Looks great.
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Sell your gold first, it’s not cheap (not sure anything near Leeds station is, mind).
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Looks similar to Thornbridge Den Bosch, which could but dream of that amount of cask turnover.
I sort of vaguely recall Leeds looking like a building site in the 70’s; are you certain it hasn’t been that way since the Luftwaffe visited?
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Oh come on, Russ, you can’t blame the Germans for EVERYTHING.
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That’s the second time you’ve called me Russ. Were we separated at birth?
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I think you’ve eaten Russ (or vice versa).
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I doubt I could manage an entire Canadian.
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Actually the pub is the Scarbrough rather than the Scarborough. Are we allowed to point out spelling mistakes?
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Yes. It’s the main object of the blog. What’s the reason for the difference ?
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A bit of googling and I may have an answer. Apparently the Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding from 1892 to 1904 was Aldred Lumley, the 10th Earl of Scarbrough. Perhaps the pub was named after him.
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The same spelling applied to the former pub The Scarbrough Arms in Sheffield (see my photo of a plaque high on the wall and dated 1857 where it’s spelt Scarbro: https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubpictures/43359/).
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Blimey, close to home. Shame I missed that one.
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More information. According to WhatPub ‘The Scarbrough is possibly the most misspelled pub in Leeds as it is named after its first owner, Henry Scarbrough, rather than the seaside town’.
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The late, great, Richard Coldwell used to call the town “Scarbs”, which is even more confusing.
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