“He’s not STILL moaning about opening hours, surely !”
You lot love it. Only today a post I wrote about a Margate craft bar in 2018 is getting read, probably in Moldova.
And the Royal Oak in Curthwaite was an absolute gem for lovers of unexpectedly closed pubs.
The Royal Oak is a dining pub relying on weekend trade, and their Website and Facebook promised all day opening and Morecambe Bay Shrimps on Toasted Bread for £7.45 (starter).
With half an hour till opening I did my usual walk of the bounds (what are “bounds” ?) while Mrs RM did whatever she does on here phone in the campervan.
It’s a gorgeous little village, bar the yapping dog that chased me down towards the railway line and one of only three railway buildings in Britain that aren’t yet a micropub. The listed water tower could be recommissioned as a brewery, surely.
Wiki has nothing at all to say about Curthwaite, whether in total or the Western section.
I thought Matty Lonning was a Fairport Convention album track, and there’s definitely a Fairport feel about the place.
The best building in Cursworth cleverly survived the 1666 Great Fire of London by being built in Cumbria;
Of course, I didn’t know that at 12:00, with no sign on the door or the social media, and told a couple in a sports car from LiVARpool to wait ten minutes as they may be open late. They kept the engine running for five, then drove off.
At 12:10 I phoned up, and got a message along the lines “We’re closed for refurbishment, call back later“.
Ah, “later”. Later never comes.
Anyway, good luck with the refurbishment, and finding staff, and see you again later this year.
retiredmartin 
Closing times are really the main impediment to your finishing the guide this year. Kind of sad. Tough spot to get back to later in the year.
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Mrs RM expects we’ll be driving up the M6 fairly regularly this summer to visit Scotland so not the end of the world. The problem is if we get to Autumn and it still hasn’t re-opened.
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But it won’t count if it doesn’t reopen before the next GBG, will it?
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Don’t go there. There’s only been 10 deletions from the GBG this year, and they’re mainly lack of real ale, but I can’t believe GBG pubs are immune to closure.
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Martin now has to squat and suck the end of the pump in a vain hope of something tickable coming out the end.
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If the pub is closed, there can’t be any real ale. Get it deleted.
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Well, yes, in principle, but I think things work differently in Cumbria !
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I always feel bad when I read about you getting to a pub and finding it closed. And not just because it means I’ll never know what obscure pop songs you’d have overheard during your visit. 😉
Who do you reckon gets stuck with a shut pub more often between you and Simon?
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I reckon all the pub tickers (there’s at least half a dozen who do it “seriously”) get at least a couple of closed pubs each month. Despite, or perhaps because of, social media, there’s a lot of conflicting information on times. If it means hanging around an hour and visiting the local church or graffiti we can hang about, but often we find no clues at all to when it’ll open ! Supermarkets don’t work like this.
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And it’s nothing a motion in Sheffield next April couldn’t sort out ?
That’s if we’re still (life) members.
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We’ll be (banned for) life members by then.
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Hi Martin, just testing to see if WordPress will let me comment. 😊
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Okay seems I’m allowed.
I always feel bad when I see that you’ve arrived at a pub that’s closed. And not just because I’ll never find out what obscure pop songs you’d have heard there. 😉
Who do you reckon gets stuck with a closed pub more often, you or Simon?
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Oh no ! It does !
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