retiredmartin

Onto Boothstown.

A rare visit beyond posh Worsley, but the Royal Oak looked familiar.

Ah yes, it was my anonymised pub 2 years ago, serving one of the best pints of Holt I’ve had outside the Hare & Hounds. Don’t see much Holt in the GBG these days, do you ?

You do see a lot of 4pm openers, or at least that’s what the Royal British Legion Facebook page says, and Facebook pages are 107% accurate.

Time to admire the gentrification stretching west from Eccles into Woollybackland, with a Gin distillery at Coal & Cotton and barrier to prevent the Man United players getting in from their Carrington training ground over the canal.

Clubs, eh ?

You never really know what to expect, whether you’ll be welcome, out-of-place, look like a Billy No Mates.

Well, I was first in, and got no grilling, and had a minute to admire the Salford styling.

Clearly the Legion doesn’t make the GBG this year because it sells beers you’ve never heard of, but a choice of Holt or Wainwright is a proper choice, albeit one I don’t need after I see the word “Bitter”.

I sit outside in a tarmacked garden that would seat a hundred, amongst the flowers, and the distinctive Holt taste hots straight away. It’s a 3.5, no a 4, as good as it gets.

But you can see that from the lacings.